Lifestyle

How a smartphone became my travel buddy

To Taipei 101 and beyond!

Published

June 22, 2018

Marvin Velasco

I’m the kind of traveler who turns a trip abroad into a process. I plan beforehand, execute every planned move, and adapt to situations along the way.

Normally, this approach requires me to bring a handy notebook, high-quality mirrorless camera, and printed maps in my backpack. For my trip to Taipei, Taiwan, I tried something a little different.

This time, I set out to do everything on my smartphone, going from an analog kid to grownup with an all-in-one gadget. Being the traditional type, it was a bit hard to do, but finding the perfect travel buddy certainly wasn’t.

I’ve been using the Huawei P20 Pro as my daily driver for a while now, and I’ve been having a tough time letting it go for another handset, so it was, without a doubt, the first choice to spring to my mind.

With the phone in hand (and no old-school items packed), I set out to explore Taipei using only my newfound travel buddy.

Or maybe I still need to visual my routes on a bigger layout before heading out. This was me being stubborn and giving conventional maps one last look before going full digital.

A journey through Taipei means lots of eating and drinking. While searching for routes and places to visit on Google Maps, I make it a point to find highly rated restaurants and juice bars along the way.

Doing so in Taiwan is a cinch. Mobile internet here is incredibly fast for any standards, and quick searches on both Maps and Chrome take only a few seconds.

Taipei is the kind of city that requires a lot of walking and commuting to get around. For the longer train rides, I whip out my phone to play a game of Asphalt 9: Legends or Dragon Ball Legends — two games that require a lot of power to run.

Fortunately, the P20 Pro can handle both with ease. Not only is it powerful enough to max out the in-game graphics, its battery is long-lasting enough to get through the day even though I play hours’ worth of games, and that’s with mobile data always on.

Don’t let the low number of steps above fool you; even though it was already close to sunset, my day was just starting. Taipei wakes up at night with its numerous markets filled with fantastic food and affordable clothing.

To get from one point to another, there’s lots of walking involved. It’s great to have a smartphone that can readily show you how many steps you’ve taken at a glance so you know you’re burning all the food you ate.

Just to prove it, here’s me actually walking in the city. Aside from bringing the right travel companion with you, it’s also vital to dress up properly for the weather.

My annual trips to Taipei normally happen around June, which is when Computex goes on. During this season, it can get quite humid when the sun’s out, and a little chilly at night. It’s best to be prepared for both.

I must say, Taipei is a beautiful city — easily one of my favorites in the whole world. There’s no shortage of landmarks to see, but if there’s one you must visit, it’s Taipei 101. Once the tallest building in the world, the skyscraper is still a sight to behold no matter what angle you view it from.

For this shot, I chose to shoot it from below, and the P20 Pro handled the challenging lighting with ease. Every detail was captured, and there’s the option of zooming in for another take on the iconic view.

What’s great about having a phone with artificial intelligence built in is that it can detect scenes and subjects for you. This came in handy when I went around Taipei Zoo.

Although I was obviously going to take photos of animals at every turn, I liked how my phone could adjust settings on the fly and tweak images for me automatically.

At the end of the day, it’s nice to relax and scroll through all the photos I’ve taken while sipping from a cup of Taipei’s signature milk tea — even better when it’s on phone as attractive as the P20 Pro both inside and out.

There’s so much more you can do with the P20 Pro on a trip, but no travel piece can cover every single feature. For more, you can watch our hands-on video below.

This feature was produced in collaboration between GadgetMatch and Huawei.

Apps

The No-Nonsense guide to mid-year shopping

Let AI do the heavy lifting for you this Lazada 6.6 Super WOW Sale

Published

June 5, 2026

MJ Jucutan

The mid-year sale season is here, but the days of mindless impulse buying are over.

Shoppers are shifting toward intentional, value-driven decisions, focusing on quality, authenticity, and actual utility over flashy, low-quality gimmicks.

From 8:00 PM on June 5 until 11:59 PM on June 8, 2026, the Lazada 6.6 Super WOW Sale is dropping major discounts. But the real win is using the platform’s tools to maximize your budget.

Lock in the baseline discounts

Before diving into specific items, map out how to stack the core offers.

You can stretch your money by hunting down LazFlash Deals for up to 90% off, collecting up to PhP 3,000 in stackable vouchers, and ensuring every order qualifies for the free shipping offers available throughout the event.

True value comes from combining these three layers of savings on things you already need.

Jisulife: One of the participating, trusted brands you can get from LazMall

Filter for authentic value

Shopping smart means avoiding the trap of “too good to be true” counterfeits that end up in the trash.

Data shows a massive consumer shift toward trusted quality, with LazMall growth vastly outperforming standard listings during major sales.

To ensure your money goes toward genuine products with real warranties, restrict your browsing to official, brand-certified stores.

If you are upgrading your tech, parenting gear, or wardrobe, look to trusted names anchoring the sale like UGREEN, JisuLife, ANTA, Maserati Watches, Momcozy, and O.TWO.O.

UGREEN: One of the participating, trusted brands you can get from LazMall

Outsmart the noise with built-in tech

Don’t waste hours scrolling through endless listings or guessing which product is better.

The smartest way to navigate a massive mid-year event is to let the platform’s built-in features cut through choice paralysis.

Tools like AI Lazzie and AI Picks allow you to instantly compare similar items, analyze prices, and get personalized recommendations based on actual data rather than generic marketing hype.

Smart Shopper Tip: True value is a mix of the right price, verified authenticity, and a seamless return policy. Use this sale period to stock up on everyday essentials and high-quality upgrades rather than panic-buying items you’ll regret later.

Entertainment

X-Men ’97 returns to Disney+ for second season

Emmy-nominated series to continue mutant team’s story

Published

May 30, 2026

GadgetMatch

Marvel Animation’s Emmy-nominated X-Men ’97 is returning to Disney+ for a second season, starting July 1.

Along with this announcement, a trailer and poster have been made available. The first season of the animated series was one of the most-watched Disney+ originals, and a hit with fans and critics alike.

Season 2 continues with the heroic mutant team of X-Men, divided and thrown across different eras in time as they struggle to navigate their return home.

Meanwhile, back in the 1990s, suspicious foes and new strains of mutant intolerance are on the rise in the wake of the protagonists’ absence.

The second season will be comprised of nine episodes. The voice cast includes:

Ross Marquand as Professor X
Matthew Waterson as Magneto
Ray Chase as Cyclops
Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey
Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm
Cal Dodd as Wolverine
Lenore Zann as Rogue
George Buza as Beast

The series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, Julia Lewald, Eric Lewald, Larry Houston, and Beau DeMayo.

Jake Castorena serves as the supervising producer. Episodes were written by JB Ballard, Beau DeMayo, Bailey Moore, Antony Sellitti, Brian Ford Sullivan, and Mariah Wilson.

The episodic directors are Emmett Yonemura and Chase Conley.

Lifestyle

Next-gen Ploom AURA offers smokeless but real tobacco experience

Brand’s latest non-combustible alternative

Published

May 25, 2026

GadgetMatch

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has officially expanded its reduced-risk product portfolio with the introduction of the Ploom AURA.

The fourth-generation device marks the next phase of the company’s global rollout of non-combustible alternatives, aimed at both traditional smokers and those looking for electronic alternatives with the real taste of tobacco minus the smoke, ash, and other particles.

The Ploom AURA introduces architectural design updates and upgraded thermal engineering to the brand’s heated tobacco platform.

The system utilizes an inductive heating methodology that processes specially engineered tobacco sticks, rather than burning them.

By heating the processed tobacco leaves significantly below combustion-level temperatures, the device generates a nicotine-carrying aerosol without producing smoke, ash, or solid tar particles.

Part of the Ploom AURA’s updated design is a slimmer form factor. The more compact profile weighs just 75.5 grams.

Inside, the updated platform uses a micron-precise elliptical heating cup structure.

This deep-drawing manufacturing layout increases the contact surface area against the tobacco stick, enhancing heating efficiency and ensuring a more consistent vapor output from the first puff to the last.

As a high-tech device, the Ploom AURA even boasts of integrated Bluetooth connectivity.

This allows users to pair the device with a companion application to toggle between four distinct heating modes: Standard, Strong, Long, and Eco.

Lastly, the CleanSeal Mechanism’s interior chamber isolates the tobacco stick tip to block loose particle debris from building up. This makes the frequency of rewuired manual maintenance a lot less.