February Gadget Reviews Roundup 2016

With the arrival of a new month comes a new compilation of gadget reviews. For the month of February we played with the Samsung Galaxy S7, Gionee Elife E8, Cherry Mobile Flare S5 Plus, MSI GS60 6QE Ghost Pro 4K, and ASUS ROG GX700VO. Check out our Gadget Reviews Roundup for February 2016.

Cherry Mobile Flare S4 Plus

Cherry Mobile has always positioned the Flare to be the king of the budget tier, but this line has gone a premium facelift as it introduced three new models last year. The biggest of the three, the Flare S4 Plus, is a device bearing a capable performance, a good camera, a near-stock Android experience coupled with occasional wireless updates, and a fairly modest battery life (not for power users) for a price commonly reigned by bang-for-the-buck champs.

Gionee Elife E8

Gionee has a powerful device in the form of the Elife E8. It has a great build and looks, generous 6-inch AMOLED display, good camera and performance, and really nice speakers. It’s a multimedia powerhouse and a strong Android gaming device that would satisfy a lot of users.

Bose SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II

The Bose SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, even with such a long name, is a very desirable audio device. It is convenient thanks to its wireless capabilities including NFC for easy pairing, fantastic sound, and good battery life. The build feels good and sturdy. Design-wise, nothing much has changed in two years. Size is a bit big though compared to the Bose SoundLink On-Ear Bluetooth Headphones which we liked bringing with us on trips since it’s small.

Starmobile Engage 7i

The Starmobile Engage 7i is a very useful yet not so impressive device. Its main features are the call-and-text function, affordable price of Php3,990USD 68INR 5,764EUR 65CNY 495, and the freebies provided by Smart. However, if you’re looking for something that can do more than that, you’re better off looking somewhere else.

MSI GS60 6QE Ghost Pro 4K Gaming Laptop

The MSI GS60 6QE Ghost Pro 4K is a really powerful machine that will appeal to those who prefer a gaming laptop with a slim build, sleek design, high-resolution display, really nice keyboard, and high-end specs to deliver those demanding games and software. It’s not perfect though as there’s the very short battery life, gets really hot when playing games, and doesn’t have enough power to run games in UHD resolution. It’s also pricey at Php134,995USD 2,300INR 195,014EUR 2,191CNY 16,753, but if you have the budget and you’re looking for the advantages mentioned, this laptop is worth considering.

Polaroid C270 Dashcam

The Polaroid C270 has an overall good form factor. Although the entirety of its shell is made of plastic and could easily attract smudges and fingerprint, it didn’t really matter much since it was tucked away behind the car’s rear-view mirror anyway.

Polaroid C201 Dashcam

Once again, Polaroid proved that you don’t specifically need a high-resolution camera sensor to produce decent images. The 2MP shooter generally performed well even in low light situations, although understandably with some digital noise present.

Samsung Galaxy S7

This year’s release of the Galaxy S7 is a testament to the confidence and solid performance of Samsung’s flagship handsets. They’re confident enough to retain the same design and incorporate a slew of improvements that will continue to solidify its position. It might look incremental but we think it’s definitely a step towards the right direction. It’s more evolutionary rather than revolutionary — and perhaps, that is a good thing.

Bose SoundTouch 10 and SoundTouch 20 Series III

The SoundTouch 10 and SoundTouch 20 Series III are an impressive set of speakers that not only can deliver great audio quality that Bose is known for but also packs wireless features that take advantage of today’s popular music streaming services.

Samsung Gear VR

In the end, what will really keep anyone from using the Gear VR on a regular basis is the availability of interesting content. Otherwise, it will just be left stored in the drawer until something new comes around. For those who own a Samsung Galaxy S6 and its variants as well as the Galaxy Note 5, the Samsung Gear VR is definitely a really good buy.

CloudFone Special Edition

For less than five thousand bucks, you’ll get a Disney bundle and a decent performing smartphone. Specs are average and there’s really nothing ‘special’ about the device itself apart from the included Disney accessories. If you’re rooting for that, then the CloudFone Special Edition is available for Php4,999USD 85INR 7,222EUR 81CNY 620.

ASUS ROG GX700VO Liquid-cooled Gaming Laptop

We’d like to think of the ASUS ROG GX700VO and the ROG Hydro Overclocking System as Iron Man and his Hulk Buster suit. On its own, it’s already a powerful machine and a solid multimedia powerhouse, but if you require more power, just bring out the Hydro Overclocking System. From there the ROG GX700VO becomes one of the powerful laptops out there designed to deliver one thing – top-notch gaming experience.