I have never been particularly fond of heights, yet I always find myself pulled to stand on a mountain ridge. The world feels vast and slightly intimidating from that vantage point.

When I put on the DJI Goggles 3 and enable head tracking, that physical boundary disappears. I’m no longer standing on a ridge holding a controller. I’m inside the flight, soaring at an altitude that makes my stomach drop in a way that feels visceral and real.

This is the core of the DJI Avata 360 experience: It’s about piloting a machine while inhabiting a new perspective.

Seamless transition into flight

The first time you take the DJI Avata 360 up, it meets you where you are. Using the standard RC controller feels familiar right away because the system behaves exactly how a pilot expects it to.

The flight remains stable and predictable, which allows for a high level of trust during the initial minutes in the air. Getting started follows a familiar routine of firmware updates and device pairing.

While the process is not instant, the interface is intuitive enough that most users will reach a comfortable flying state quickly.

Finding creative safety in the open sky

The experience shifts when you enable head tracking and unlock the full 360-degree view. You are no longer just watching the drone fly, but instead, you feel as though you are part of the movement.

This immersion is especially powerful at higher altitudes. This drone fundamentally changes the creative workflow because it allows you to capture the moment first and decide on the framing later.

Traditional shooting requires careful planning and repeated takes to ensure you nailed the angle. With the Avata 360, that pressure is reduced.

Because the sensor captures everything, you can focus on the movement of the drone rather than the boundaries of the frame.

Each battery provides around 15 minutes of flight time, which sounds limiting on paper but proves to be manageable in practice.

Because the shooting style is so efficient, I often capture exactly what I need within a single flight. This drone is a partner for those who document fast-moving situations like races or extreme sports where moments happen only once.

 

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Refining the story in post-production

The visual output feels polished and gives the editor plenty of room to work. Colors are clean and balanced straight out of the camera, which provides flexibility during the grading process.

While the sharpness can lean slightly artificial, dialing it down creates a much more organic look. The inclusion of D-Log and 8K resolution at 60fps provides enough detail to build slow-motion edits without sacrificing quality.

Tracking remains reliable in good lighting, though the system requires more manual awareness once the sun goes down and the obstacle avoidance sensors lose their effectiveness.

Though, the flight experience is strong, but the editing workflow currently introduces some friction. Editing relies heavily on DJI Studio, and the lack of seamless integration with professional tools like Adobe Premiere Pro on Windows creates extra steps.

You often need to pre-render angles before you can bring clips into a main timeline. When compared to the Antigravity A1, the DJI ecosystem still feels more polished and easier to integrate into a working setup, yet the software gap remains a point of frustration.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

The DJI Avata 360 offers a different way to tell a story by shifting the focus from technical precision to complete immersion. It allows the creator to stop worrying about missing the shot and start thinking about how to feel it.

Swipe Right if your life involves fast-paced environments like extreme sports or travel where moments only happen once.

This is for the person who wants to feel like they are flying rather than just operating a camera. It fits the routine of a creator who values creative safety nets and the ability to reframe a story in post-production.

Swipe left if your workflow requires a fast, seamless turnaround on Windows without extra processing steps. It’s not the ideal choice for those who primarily shoot in low-light conditions or urban areas with high interference.

If you prefer the traditional control of a specification-heavy technical breakdown, the reflective nature of this system may feel less efficient.

Price, availability

The DJI Avata 360 starts at PhP 38,290. With the Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) or the Motion Fly More Combo (DJI Goggles N3), it retails for PhP 47,890.

Apple has never made it easier to get into their fruit ecosystem.

At US$ 599, the iPhone 17e sits right beside the M4 iPad Air and the all-new MacBook Neo.

There’s a lot to love about it. It’s got everything you need, and nothing you don’t.

What’s the justification? Head over to our in-depth review of the latest Apple iPhone 17e to know more.

Why are some of today’s smartphones enamored with rear-mounted lighting systems? ASUS, Nothing, and Infinix all have recently released devices that show off with LEDs at the back. To me, a good number of these phones are either tacky or too gimmicky to be of any practical use. One, however, stands out as a true premium offering for the segment: the Infinix NOTE 60 Ultra.

Smartphone meets supercar

Designed with Pininfarina, the NOTE 60 Ultra subtly mixes the contours of a premium car with the curves of a flagship phone. The result of this pairing is an artistic piece that shines in its simplicity but also stands out in an industry inundated with over-large camera islands.

The rear offers a subdued carbon fiber pattern. The included case accentuates this even further in a tactile sense. Reminiscent of other premium phones, the metallic sides have the usual array of buttons and design quirks, except for a sparkling Pininfarina logo and an optical fingerprint sensor.

Meanwhile, the camera island embraces the current era by extending itself from end to end. A full fourth of the rear is enclosed in glass just for this area. It’s surrounded by pleasantly tactile grooves. The area itself contains the camera system, the Active Matrix Display (which we’ll get into later), and a floating taillight.

Overall, the NOTE 60 Ultra’s design is amazing in its uniqueness. I’m tired of the same-old. Infinix’s latest offering doesn’t break away from the ongoing tradition of over-large cameras but instead pushes the trend to its capacity without ruining its premium feel.

Active Matrix Display: Feature or gimmick?

The last Infinix phone I reviewed was the NOTE Edge. That particular midranger had the Active Halo Lighting, a simple ring that breathes in and out to signify notifications. Though the oddity was largely unobtrusive, I still thought that it was too much of a gimmick to be of any use to most users.

On the other hand, the NOTE 60 Ultra’s Active Matrix Display is something entirely new. Instead of just a notification ring, it’s an actual display. It also has a plethora of uses, including icons for notifications, a graphic for music playback, a quirky “screensaver,” and a few minigames.

Just by sheer numbers, the Active Matrix Display feels more useful than most rear LED systems including my own Nothing Phone 3. Though there were still moments when I ignored the feature, there were more times when I engaged with the interface. The games weren’t difficult but were great ways to pass a few minutes of boredom. The light effect widget, which includes a few personas, looked visually interesting enough to be kept on all the time.

This doesn’t even include the aforementioned floating taillight yet. Much like the NOTE Edge’s Active Halo Lighting, this one breathes in and out. However, the NOTE 60 Ultra’s version is shaped like a car’s taillight and more effectively melds into the contours of the island. This makes it even less obtrusive than the Halo and adds to the phone’s premium feel.

I’m still on the fence about these lighting systems, but the NOTE 60 Ultra actually complements its design and offers something unique. For me, it’s the best version of this ongoing trend.

A set of peepers

The huge camera island isn’t just a gimmick; we’ve established that much with the Active Matrix Display. But besides the LED display, the island also houses a ginormous 200-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL HPE sensor, paired with a 50-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL JN5 periscope telephoto lens and a 112-degree ultra-wide camera.

Just on paper, this feels like overkill already. Do you really need a camera that can zoom in on your blackheads? Well, even if you don’t use the 100x zoom, the camera combination helps eke out so much more detail from moderately distanced subjects. Just take a gander at this bird I took.

The camera is also great at close subjects. It added so much juicy bokeh to focus on this flower. And it doesn’t look too artificial.

Wide-angle photos aren’t too bad, either. Personally, I’m not a fan of the format, but if you are, it’s a great shot.

Can we measure this in horsepower?

Under this supercar-slash-smartphone’s hood, you’ll get a Dimensity 8400 chipset from MediaTek. For all of its looks as a premium phone, the NOTE 60 Ultra misses out on a true flagship chipset. It’s still only a step behind, though.

It’s also adequate enough to play my HoYoverse vice of choice, Zenless Zone Zero. Though the phone put my settings under low to medium graphics settings by default, it had no complaints when I pushed everything to high at 60 frames per second.

My only problem was the immense coverage area of the camera island. Because of how huge it is, no case can ever cover the island completely. So, when you hold the phone horizontally, your hands are making bare contact with the phone.

This is naturally terrible for smudges, but it also doesn’t protect your hands from the phone heating up. And it does heat up after around 40 minutes. Though this ultimately depends on how you use the phone, playing ZZZ for an extended period of time was scalding.

The NOTE 60 Ultra has all the capabilities of a true powerhouse, despite lacking a true flagship chipset. It just gets too hot for comfort. Maybe for the next iteration, this supercar can get some air conditioning.

Now Playing: Steel Ball Run

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure wouldn’t have lasted seven seasons (or nine, if you count the manga) if it weren’t a good series. Having read the manga, Steel Ball Run, the seventh part, is my favorite one, and it’s finally getting an anime adaptation.

It’s apropos that I’m watching a racing anime on a motorsport-themed phone. With the NOTE 60 Ultra’s 6.78-inch 1.5K Ultra HDR display, Gyro Zeppeli bounces to life in full color. Every character — Johnny Joestar, Diego Brando, Sandman, and Pocoloco — looks amazing in the anime’s signature style. It’s less shadowy, more vibrant and smoother.

Hearing Gyro’s signature “Nyo-ho!” was likewise great. The phone’s JBL-tuned speakers made it seem like I was holding my own mini cinema.

It was a bonus treat that the first episode was double the length of a traditional one and included everything in the first leg of the race. Unfortunately, the second episode still doesn’t have a schedule. Plus, who knows if the second “batch” will include more than just one episode? Netflix has been atypically cagey with this release.

Finally, some good mileage

The NOTE 60 Ultra has an impressive 7000mAh battery. A single hour of ZZZ used up only 18 percent of the battery, despite being on the highest possible settings. Following this trend, it took four hours with the game up before the battery dropped to concerning “I need to find a charger” levels, which was around 25 percent to me.

There was no reason to worry at all, though. The battery has spare juice left in the tank even if it’s low. It took an absurdly long time to completely drain the battery from 1 percent. I even turned ZZZ on again to speed things up, but it still lasted around 30 minutes on a single percent.

Because of how big the battery is, it also supports 100W wired charging. To be transparent, I don’t have a 100W charging brick, but I do have a 90W one. It took me 1 hour and 6 minutes to fill the tank from empty. If you’re not particular with filling the battery to full, a short 7.5-minute charge was enough for 10 percent.

Midrange software inside a premium package

When I buy a premium phone, I expect a premium-looking phone when I power it up for the first time.

To be fair, the interface’s custom theme does exude an expensive-seeming feel. However, it prioritizes being thematic over being functional. This isn’t something I expect from a flagship. To me, a flagship should have the easiest interface to use with no bloat or unnecessary frills.

Infinix’s XOS is blatantly unused to the flagship segment. The interface has rolls of suggested apps and games that clutter the home screen. It also has a bunch of pre-installed apps (like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Shopee) and proprietary software.

This was the same problem I had with the NOTE Edge. Since it’s a midrange phone, it was a lot more forgivable, though. After all, that much bloatware usually lets the brand price their lower-end products more competitively. That shouldn’t be the case for flagships.

There is some leeway because it’s Infinix’s renewed shot at the premium flagship market, but hopefully it’ll be fixed in the second go-around.

Is the Infinix NOTE 60 Ultra your GadgetMatch?

For a flagship product, the Infinix NOTE 60 Ultra is a worthy try. It looks and feels premium out of the box. However, the brand clearly has some work left to do on the inside. It’s a tiny step behind on performance, and its interface doesn’t reflect the advertised flagship status.

Still, it’s a Swipe Right if you’re looking for the best version of over-large camera islands today. The NOTE 60 Ultra’s design philosophy should be an inspiration to today’s trends. Indeed, it’s a supercar packed into a smartphone.

However, Swipe Left on this phone if software is just as important to you as a phone’s looks. Though it’s strong enough to perform like a flagship, the phone’s operating system makes it harder to use than most of its contemporaries.