Author: Jayvee Fernandez

Every year, I get to review a pocket Leica camera. It also happens to be a phone from Xiaomi. In my past reviews, I’ve described the numbered series of Xiaomi as the most affordable Leica camera you can buy, and I’ve stuck with that pitch to friends who have always wanted a small flagship phone – a true rarity. Now, In between these flagship launches, Xiaomi would also introduce variations in the form of the “T” series. The Xiaomi 14T was an affordable follow up to last year’s Xiaomi 14 flagship. This year I get to play with the Xiaomi…

The realme 15 Pro 5G is the latest successor in realme’s mid-range line. Historically, the number series has always been a hit as it balances true performance with price. The 2025 refresh follows this tradition because it offers a number of in-demand premium features as a practical daily driver for shooting, play, and productivity. Aesthetics and performance At its core, the realme 15 Pro 5G is powered by a 4th generation Snapdragon 7 4nm SoC. Compared to its previous 3rd generation ancestor, the big changes are in NPU performance, which makes it a good base for on-device AI functions and…

It is 2025. This is a good year for HONOR, having braved through a bit of uncertainty and speculation from the public and tech critics as “the other HUAWEI.” HONOR has thrived, to a fault, with aggressive marketing tactics and out of the box ideas to increase their market share. I’ve asked dealers and retailers which phone brands people should watch out for and the answer has consistently been HONOR. Long Day One lines, amazing pre-order promos, devices selling out in 24 hours. It looks like the public verdict is out. The HONOR Magic V5 is the 2025 refresh of…

It’s been a while since I last reviewed an HP device. In the traditional IT space, HP has always been about the company laptop and printers. But as tech goes, HP is the sum of its parts and yes, the American company that started off in a backyard (sounds familiar?) has been making strides in gaming with their Omen line of laptops. On the test bench is an Omen 16 running on a Nvidia RTX 5060 and 16GB of RAM. Reviewing this device at this configuration is perhaps a good benchmark of the minimum capabilities of HP in the gaming…

I remember that during the pandemic, the vacuum cleaner brand I had at home launched a pair of headphones that came with a built-in air purifier. Straight out of a Call of Duty Battlepass, the Dyson Zone resembled something in between Bane’s mask from the Dark Knight and Immortan Joe’s breathing apparatus from Mad Max. The fact that this device exists gave us a glimpse of the sign of the times during the pandemic years, where devices that measured air quality and air purifying gadgets were in top demand. And oh, the headphones were pretty good. Fast forward to 2025,…

So much has already been said about the Samsung Galaxy Fold7. So here’s a slightly different take. Yes. It’s a money clip. I inadvertently discovered this after parking at a nearby S&R for my usual milk run and wondered if there was a better place to keep my parking ticket rather than the wallet. As the day was blessed with a barrage of brilliant ideas, I looked at the Galaxy Fold7 before tucking it in my pocket and wondered “hmm, what if…” Guess what: the parking ticket fits. Since then I’ve been using it as a secondary wallet for small…

When it comes to real-world use, I’m quite immersed in the Maya ecosystem. Apart from the usual Maya Savings account, I also have the Landers Credit Card that doubles as a membership. As someone who travels frequently for work, I’ve always welcomed more options for credit card companies with travel perks – at the minimum, airport lounge access. When Maya Black was announced, I immediately applied. I chose the Maya Black Express option, which meant placing a security deposit upfront (more on this later), but the process was super straightforward. All it took was literally clicking “APPLY,” answering a few…

I recently got a firsthand look at iX Hero, the latest generative AI-powered solution from Concentrix — and let me tell you, this isn’t just another productivity tool. It’s a full-on assistant that lives inside the workspace of every customer experience advisor, giving them what I can only describe as real-time superpowers. At the launch event in Manila, Concentrix brought out the big guns: Chief Product Officer Ryan Peterson, Global VP for Product Craig Cotton, VP Ratna Puri, and PH-based leaders Amit Jagga and Larah Sta. Maria. Even the DICT’s Assistant Secretary Migui Planas was there — which, for me,…

Short of being called a SteelSeries simp, I’ve been personally using both their headsets and mice since the pandemic. Since then I’ve upgraded my headphones twice, from the Artis 9 to the Arctis Nova 5, and now discovering the more affordable but equally impressive Arctis Nova 3P wireless headset. With mice, I’ve been using the Rival 3, and now upgraded to its wireless sibling, the Rival 3 WL Generation 2. I’ve had preference for these two accessories because I’ve grown accustomed to how they feel on my mouse hand and head. Specifically, I’ve gotten used to the controls of the…

There’s a portion in Taylor Dane’s ‘Love Will Lead You Back’ pre-chorus where she pleads, I won’t try to stop you now from leaving Cause in my heart I know, And then she belts out this ballad’s thesis statement: Love will lead you back! Someday I just know that Love will lead you back to my arms In the same way that you can truly feel Taylor Dane’s melancholy as she ignites her power ballad with the chorus, the Tour One M3 will definitely lead you back to love with your most cherished playlists. I’ve been revisiting my playlists with…