Features

Is the Peloton bike worth it?

Fitness does not come cheap

Published

July 22, 2020

Nicole Scott

Getting a Peloton is more than just getting a bike; it’s joining a community. When you first start talking to someone who has the bike, they always talk about how irrationally in love they are with it. Now that I have it, I finally understand why.

After all, the bike isn’t just for taking classes and Peloton isn’t just another fitness company. Peloton is a technology company that’s creating communities and experiences that enable you to get the most out of your workouts. All of these, however, come with a pretty hefty price tag.

Peloton versus a gym membership

The bike costs EUR 2230 (US$ 2245) and an additional EUR 39 (US$ 39) a month for the classes and digital services.

Think of it like this: The digital services are like what you would pay for your monthly gym membership, and the cost of the bike is your sign up fee. If you look at it as a 3-year commitment, it ends up around something like 102.89 a month.

If you compare it to a high-end spin studio it starts to look cheap. BeCycle in Berlin, for example, offers 12 classes a month for EUR 200, and 16 for EUR 239. SoulCycle in London offers 30 classes that can be used over 12 months for around EUR 700.

It’s clear the way SoulCycle expects you to take their classes as something you add to your fitness routine a few times a month. The cost of 30 classes over the year with SoulCycle is the price of unlimited classes with Peloton, and you can do more than just spinning with the latter.

If you start to think of Peloton as a long term fitness commitment, the pricing no longer seems outrageous.

Four things that make Peloton worth it

Well-rounded classes that go beyond the bike

With Peloton, you get access to hundreds of on-demand classes and a dozen or so live classes a day. Peloton might have started with just cycling but they’ve added dance cardio, sleep coaching, running, meditation, walking, and strength training. They even have yoga classes — some of which cater to expecting mothers.

Social aspect

New research shows exercise can be contagious, and social pressure is a fantastic motivator. With Peloton, you can schedule rides with friends or join group classes — live or on demand. You can also connect with friends to see how often they ride.

Built for competitive people

The leaderboard on the right hand side pushes you to pass the next rider, and this is by far my no. 2 motivator.

Ugly sweat brings the drama

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not too proud to be a sweaty mess in public. But working out at home also means I can bring the drama. Often I find myself falling over and gasping for air like I’m JLaw in Passengers trying to breathe in that floating water bubble. If we’re talking about worth, the ability to be extra dramatic at home is priceless!

Two girls, one Peloton

Both Carol and I have a Peloton bike at home so we thought it was worthwhile to give you two takes on the same question. Is it worth it?

Nicole

If you’re like me and have a 20-euro monthly gym membership, it’s going to take a lot more than comparing Peloton’s pricing to a high-end fitness studio that I wouldn’t have paid for in the first place.

If you’re someone who has the self-discipline and already goes (or used to go, before quarantine happened) to the gym multiple times a week, Peloton is a good alternative. It’s a high-end fitness studio in your home. The best parts of having your own gym at home is not wasting any time travelling to the gym and the workouts and instructors are varied enough that you won’t get bored.

If you’re someone who thinks that getting a Peloton would be like buying the willpower to work out, you also won’t be disappointed.

In a separate article, I talked about living in a 38sqm flat during lockdown and still managed to find excuses NOT to work out. At the end of the day, even though I struggle with consistency, I’m in better shape now than I was over the past year of having a cheap gym membership and supplementing it with ClassPass.

Having a Peloton bike at home is great because you constantly see the bike. It’s like getting constant reminders that you’re not working out. This is what I’ve come to realize — it’s not that I’m not working out enough; it’s that I would feel guilty about not working out.

If this sounds terrible to you — which it should — don’t worry. Half of the time this guilt is replaced with motivation and a desire to get on the bike and get stronger.

The only way for me to stomach paying that much for a bike is to convince myself that it’s essentially a gym membership. After five months with it, I’m not even sure that I could go back to any other way of working out — especially since gyms are high risk areas and I’m just overly cautious.

Carol

As someone who grew up skinny, working out was never part of my routine until I discovered spinning back in 2014. Through spinning, I learned that fitness doesn’t have anything to do with your dress size and that working out can actually be fun. It’s not the most affordable choice for workouts, but the music and the endorphin rush always left me with such a high.

I have to admit I was never a fan of the physical high fives and the loud classmates who love to go “Wooh!” throughout the class. They made me hyper aware of how much I’m struggling through the pushes and how much of a mess I look during the whole ordeal. Palm sweat on palm sweat with strangers always gave me the heebie-jeebies even before social distancing was a thing.

Having a Peloton at home brings all the things I love about spin class and leaves the things I hate about it somewhere else. I can enjoy the music, add some extra dance moves if I want to, and even sing along without worrying if I get a little too loud over that Sia song. I even started answering instructors as if they could hear me, screaming how ready I am for the ride and throwing in my own “woohs!” into the mix.

Before the pandemic, I was already really happy over the fact that I have the bike at home. Time is money and having the bike at home has given me more free time since I don’t have to make my way to and from the spin studio I frequent here in Berlin. While spin studios tend to go all out in their facilities, nothing beats showering or taking a long hot bath after a workout.

When the pandemic hit and gyms in Berlin were shuttered, I was just so thankful to have the Peloton at home. It’s a common misconception that Peloton is just for spinning and I made sure to get into the other workouts they offer while we were spending most of the time at home. During this time, I committed to doing at least one thing with the Peloton app every day.

It doesn’t even have to be a heavy sweat session. It could just be a good stretch or even a short time allotted for meditation. So even if you’re not a big fitness junkie. Trust me, it’s worth it. I’m so far from being in the upper half of the leaderboard but the fact that I get to burn most of what I ate during the day and work on relaxing my mind before bed has been such great help for my whole well-being.

Since the restrictions have been relaxed and the weather has gotten so much better, I started going out more and one of the challenges, as Nicole said, is sticking to your commitment to work out. But seeing the bike at home really makes for a great reminder. If you’re someone who always has a full calendar, someone who’s busy at work, and is in need of a way to get fit and forget the world for a little bit then this is something for you. My husband and I both feel the guilt over missing a day of working out. Not because of anything else but the fact that we missed out on doing something we enjoy.

Is the Peloton worth it?

Of course it is, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to you to make the most out of it.

Let us know in the comments what you’re looking forward to when you get your bike! See you on the leaderboard soon.

Accessories

OBSBOT Meet Flip Hands-on

It’s tinier and folds this time

Published

August 14, 2026

Phones flip and fold. Now webcams do too.

Foldable screens have found their way into phones, tablets, and laptops in recent years. Now, OBSBOT is taking that idea in a considerably smaller direction: the webcam.

The OBSBOT Meet Flip is the company’s first foldable 4K webcam packing:

1/2-inch stacked CMOS sensor
intelligent audio
a collection of AI-powered meeting tools

All of these inside a body weighing just 37.7 grams.

A fold that does something, not just a gimmick

The OBSBOT Meet Flip isn’t foldable just to make it easier to throw into a bag.

Closing the webcam physically blocks the lens and puts the device into sleep mode. Open it when you want to be seen, flip it shut when you don’t.

A physical privacy cover isn’t novel in itself. What’s clever here is how it’s part of the folding design.

As someone with a love-hate relationship with data privacy, I almost always keep some physical barrier over my laptop webcam. And if I can avoid having a webcam there entirely, even better.

Serious camera hardware in a pocket-sized webcam

Despite its size, OBSBOT hasn’t treated the Meet Flip like a basic laptop-camera replacement.

Inside is a 1/2-inch Exmor RS stacked CMOS sensor with Quad Bayer technology, capable of recording 4K UHD at 30 fps or 1080p at 60 fps. It also packs an f/1.8 aperture, HDR, PDAF autofocus, ISO 100–6400, and up to 4x digital zoom.

At its core is a 1/2-inch Exmor RS stacked CMOS sensor with Quad Bayer technology.

It can record:

4K UHD at 30fps
1080p at 60fps

You also get:

f/1.8 aperture
HDR
PDAF autofocus
ISO 100–6400
up to 4x digital zoom

On paper, that gives the Meet Flip a better shot at handling the situations built-in laptop webcams often struggle with: dim rooms, harsh backlighting, changing lighting conditions, or simply moving around in front of the camera.

HDR helps keep faces visible against bright backgrounds, while PDAF autofocus continuously adjusts focus as you move closer to or farther from the lens.

The wider f/1.8 aperture should also help in less-than-ideal lighting.

The point is that once the Meet Flip is set up, you shouldn’t have to spend much time thinking about the camera itself.

It listens differently depending on the room setup

The Meet Flip also uses an intelligent dual-microphone system combining omnidirectional and directional microphones.

Instead of relying on one pickup pattern for every situation, it offers four audio modes for different setups:

Directional Mode focuses on sound coming from the front, making it the obvious choice for solo calls.

Dual-Directional Mode listens to both the front and rear of the webcam, which could be useful for interviews or conversations between two people sitting across from each other.

Smart Omni Mode is designed for group meetings, picking up voices from around the room.

And Pure Audio Mode provides unprocessed left and right stereo channels for users who would rather handle the audio themselves in post-production.

Auto Gain and AI Noise Reduction also work across the first three modes, helping clean up audio without requiring much manual adjustment.

It gives the Meet Flip more flexibility than a typical webcam microphone, especially if you regularly switch between solo calls, interviews, and group meetings.

AI that doesn’t intrude

AI has become an almost obligatory addition to new hardware in 2026, but several of the Meet Flip’s features put it to work on real-world meeting annoyances.

AI Auto Framing keeps you in frame, with options for:

Group
Single Close-up
Upper Body
Full Body

Gesture controls can also toggle Auto Framing or adjust the zoom without reaching for a keyboard or mouse.

More interesting is AI Magic Notes.

Through OBSBOT Center, it provides real-time transcription and can automatically generate meeting summaries with key points, decisions, and action items. It works across Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams.

Although AI Magic Notes is offered as a subscription service, every Meet Flip includes 120 complimentary minutes to get started.

MORE with OBSBOT Center & OBSBOT Live

There are plenty of other software features as well. OBSBOT Center includes:

Background Blur and Background Replacement
Real-Time Beauty Mode
Picture-in-Picture overlays
Smart Eye Tracking
Teleprompter support
Detailed image adjustments

The Meet Flip isn’t limited to laptops or desktops either. Through OBSBOT Live, it can connect directly to smartphones and tablets over USB-C for mobile streaming and content creation.

Flip it open. Fold it away.

None of those features reinvent the webcam on their own.

Taken together, though, they make the Meet Flip a more thoughtful take on a piece of hardware whose basic design and features have barely changed.

The flip may grab your attention first, but it’s how OBSBOT uses that design alongside its camera, audio, and software features that makes the Meet Flip interesting.

The OBSBOT Meet Flip is now available at US$ 119 and is currently available through OBSBOT’s official store, Amazon US, and select retailers.

Features

Getting the latest Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 at 0% Interest with Maya Mini Payments

What convinced me to upgrade and how Maya Mini Payments made paying for it easier~

Published

August 11, 2026

MJ Jucutan

I don’t upgrade simply because there’s a newer model on the shelf.

Last year, I upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 after spending three years with the iPhone 13 as my daily driver.

Even then, the decision wasn’t about chasing the latest release. It was about finding a device that better matched how I work.

I’m a firm believer that every upgrade has to earn its place in my pocket, especially when there are already perfectly capable phones sitting on my desk.

So when I decided to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8, the decision wasn’t simply about getting the newest device.

It came down to two questions: It came down to two questions: Is this a smart upgrade? And if it is, what’s the smartest way to own it?

The first question was answered by the device itself. The second is where Maya Mini Payments entered the conversation.

For me, the Flip8 addresses the reasons to upgrade. Maya Mini Payments addresses one of the biggest reasons people hesitate: big purchases that could be paid in 3, 6, 9 or 12 monthly payments.

Changing how I shoot and use my phone

I spend most of my day switching between shooting, editing, and posting, sometimes all within the same hour.

One of the biggest reasons the Galaxy Z Flip8 caught my attention is the cover screen. It’s finally useful enough that I can shoot, preview, and interact with content without constantly opening the device.

That may sound like a small change, but it makes a difference when you’re trying to capture candid moments before people notice a camera pointed at them.

It also makes everyday tasks easier. I can check a script, review a shotlist, reply to messages, or glance at notifications without unfolding the phone every few minutes.

For years, foldables often felt like they required some compromise. You gained a unique form factor and flexibility, but sometimes gave up a little on the camera experience. The Flip8 feels like it’s closing that gap.

Samsung’s improvements in low-light performance and stabilization are especially noticeable for the kind of run-and-gun content I create.

I haven’t spent enough time with it to call this a full review yet, but my first impressions have been positive. The experience feels more refined and more dependable than previous generations.

Features alone don’t convince me to upgrade. They have to solve a real problem. The more useful cover screen, the improved camera experience, and the overall refinement were the first signs that the Flip8 was offering something I’d actually use every day rather than another feature to add to a spec sheet.

The battery and multitasking finally match my day

The less exciting reason I’m upgrading is also the one that affects me the most.

Between filming, reviewing footage, answering emails, coordinating campaigns, and managing social media, my phone is constantly working.

My old device usually drops into battery-saving territory before dinner. It gets the job done, but I spend too much time thinking about charging instead of working.

The Galaxy Z Flip8 feels better equipped for that reality. The battery efficiency is improved, and multitasking feels more natural when juggling multiple apps throughout the day.

Those aren’t flashy features, but they’re the kinds of upgrades that quietly improve everyday productivity. They’re also the features that convinced me this wasn’t simply a want. It was an upgrade I could actually justify.

Once I was convinced the Flip8 was worth upgrading to, I realized the decision wasn’t really over. A smart upgrade also deserves a smart way to pay for it.

Making a big upgrade more manageable

Of course, deciding a device is worth upgrading to is only half the equation. The other half is figuring out how to pay for it.

The Galaxy Z Flip8 is a premium device, and for most people, the upfront cost is what gives them pause. That’s often where upgrade decisions get delayed, even when the device itself makes sense.

That’s why Maya Mini Payments stood out to me. Any Samsung purchase paid with a Maya Credit Card can be converted into Mini Payments directly through the Maya app, making it easier to spread the cost into monthly installments instead of paying for everything upfront in one go.

You can choose installment plans of up to 12 months at a fixed monthly add-on interest rate of 1%.

For Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Flip8 purchases, cardholders can enjoy a 3-month Mini Payment plan at 0% interest, making the upgrade more manageable without additional interest costs on the installment plan.

What I like about the concept is that it mirrors the reason I like the Flip8 itself.

The Flip8 makes it easy for me to shoot, edit, communicate, and multitask throughout the day. Maya Mini Payments makes it easy to purchase by turning one large expense into a payment plan that fits more naturally into a monthly budget.

Both are practical solutions to real-world problems. Also, the entire process can be managed directly within the Maya app, making it easy to track and manage installment conversions without additional paperwork.

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Still on the fence?

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 feels like one of the strongest cases yet for upgrading to a foldable.

For me, the cover screen is more useful, the camera experience feels more capable, and the battery and multitasking improvements better match how I actually work every day.

If you prefer a larger screen for productivity, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 follows the same philosophy while giving users even more room to multitask and create.

If you’ve already decided Samsung’s latest foldables are your next devices, there’s also a smarter way to make that upgrade happen.

All your Samsung purchases made using a Maya Credit Card can be converted into a 3-month Mini Payment plan at 0% interest, with zero processing fees until September 30, making it easier to enjoy Samsung’s latest innovations without one big upfront payment.

Pre-orders run until August 13, with devices available in-store beginning August 14.

Tutorials

How to set up Apple Pay on your iPhone

It’s as easy as a single tap.

Published

August 4, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Apple Pay is officially in the Philippines!

Pushing the country forward into a cashless and cardless future, Apple has now brought its contactless payment system to the Philippines. As with other countries, Apply Pay will work seamlessly and easily even for those who have problems with technology.

Now, despite how easy it is, sometimes we need to be pointed in the right direction. Here’s how you can set up Apple Pay on your iPhone:

Everything starts with the Wallet app. First, open your Wallet app. Tap the “+” button on the top and select “Debit or Credit Card.”

Normally, this is where you can input your card details (which you can still do, by the way), but the default method now is to just tap your card on the back of your iPhone. Your phone does the rest. You might need to confirm with your bank, but it’s as easy as a single tap.

Pick which cards to use. Once you have your cards online, you might need to change which one is the default card. Again, it’s easy. Just drag your preferred card to the front.

Afterwards, you can tap to pay in supported stores by priming the Wallet app for use. Tapping to pay is also available for Apple Watch. Meanwhile, online transactions can also work on MacBook.

Secure, all the time. If you’re worried about your security especially with online transactions, Apple keeps your information only between you and the seller. They don’t store your data.

Also, it’s not easy to make a transaction without your consent. You need Face ID, Touch ID, or your password. If you lose your phone, you can easily shut your phone down with the Find My app to prevent malicious parties from making transactions.