YugaTech’s Most Viewed Gadget Reviews of 2017

Smartphones have always dominated our collections of reviews for the past so many years. In 2017 though, a lot of attention went to the mid-range segment of gadgets priced somewhere between Php10,000USD 170INR 14,446EUR 162CNY 1,241 and Php15,000USD 256INR 21,669EUR 243CNY 1,862.

For the year 2017, we made 220 written and video reviews of close to 200 different devices and services then we looked at how many people read them.

Check out our 20 most viewed gadget reviews of 2017 (ranked based on page views from January 1 to December 31, 2017).

Huawei Mate 9: 15,769 pageviews

The Mate 9 arrived quite late with the release spilling over from 2016 to 2017. Despite that, it still managed to get a lot of attention to get to our list of most popular reviews for the year. It’s also the first Mate to come with the dual Leica optics that was originally introduced with the Huawei P9. With a Kirin 960 chip that’s almost as powerful as a Snapdragon 820/821, the Mate 9 also sports a huge 4,000mAh battery and Android Nougat right out of the box.

Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom: 23,766 pageviews

The Zenfone 3 Zoom was among the top phones from Asus of 2016 but the release in the Philippines was slightly delayed (1st quarter of 2017). Nevertheless, it was still one of the more popular smartphones from Asus due to its camera capabilities.

LG Q6: 24,617 pageviews

The LG Q6 was the first mid-range smartphone released in the Philippines with a FullVision display, similar tot he 18:9 aspect screen ratio of the LG G6. It’s also one of the most affordable in its category at Php12,990USD 221INR 18,765EUR 211CNY 1,612.

OPPO A39: 24,636 pageviews

A successor to the OPPO A37, the OPPO 39 is the company’s entry-level smartphone. It feature’s a 5.2-inch display powered by an octa-core processor paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage.

Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro: 26,542 pageviews

Released in the Philippines at the start of the year, the Galaxy C9 Pro is the first smartphone from Samsung to sport 6GB of RAM, ahead of its flagship devices for the year. The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 653 and packs a large 4,000mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy S8: 27,705 pageviews

The Galaxy S8 is perhaps one of the most awaited smartphones this year and it certainly did not disappoint. Samsung put everything it got on the Galaxy S8, including a large 5.8-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display. It runs on a powerful Samsung Exynos 8895 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage.

Huawei P10: 31,994 pageviews

Huawei continued its winning streak with the P10 and the P10 Plus. The duo featured an improved dual rear camera with Leica optics, a powerful Kirin 960 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage. The Huawei P10 was also one of the most affordable flagships to be released in the Philippines at Php28,990USD 494INR 41,879EUR 471CNY 3,598.

OPPO F5: 33,284 pageviews

OPPO joined the 18:9 bandwagon with the F5, a 6-inch smartphone powered by a Helio P23 chip with 4GB of RAM and 32GB expandable storage. OPPO also pushed their “selfie-centric” device with a new AI Beautification Technology.

Vivo V5 Plus: 37,268 pageviews

Vivo went ahead to launch their new mid-ranger with an 18:9 AllScreen display, the V7+. This 6-inch smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chip with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage.

OPPO F3: 37,424 pageviews

OPPO was in a lot of pressure to match the performance and popularity of their F1s model and the F3 did not disappoint. The OPPO F3 features a 5.5-inch display protected by Gorilla Glass 5, runs on an octa-core chip with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage.

OPPO F3 Plus: 39,479 pageviews

OPPO released the F3 Plus ahead of its sibling, the F3, which meant it took much of the attention for the quarter. The 6-inch smartphone is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The 4,000mAh battery also gave it pretty long battery life.

Nokia 6: 46,997 pageviews

There was a lot of excitement over the Nokia 6 and this is evident with the eyeballs we got from all the articles we wrote about it. Our video review was the top video of the year with close to 500,00 views. However, the Philippine release was delayed several times and with limited stocks. It was a great phone at Php11,990USD 204INR 17,321EUR 195CNY 1,488 but not distributed well, much to the disappointment of many long-time Nokia fans.

Vivo Y53: 47,757 pageviews

Vivo’s budget smartphone is quite popular among first-time users. The 5-inch smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 with 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage.

Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime: 48,129 pageviews

Samsung’s budget smartphone, the J2 Prime, was a strong contender in the sub-Php6k price category despite its meager hardware.

Vivo V5 Lite: 49,386 pageviews

This is the more affordable version of the popular Vivo V5 which sold for only Php9,990USD 170INR 14,432EUR 162CNY 1,240. It has a lower RAM and battery capacity than its older sibling but still managed to attract more eyeballs due to its price.

Globe Prepaid LTE Home WiFi: 53,372 pageviews

Globe released their prepaid LTE Home WiFi in December of 2016 and we were quite late in doing the review (about 6 months later) but it’s obvious the device was so popular it even managed to get to the top 5 of our list.

Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro: 59,528 pageviews

Samsung’s mid-range segment got more attention with the release of the Galaxy J7 Pro. It strengthened the company’s position as it battles it out against OPPO and Vivo for market share in the Php15k to Php20k price range. It was so popular that even our first impressions managed to make it to the top 5.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X: 62,935 pageviews

Considered by many as one of the best value smartphones for money, the Redmi Note 4X certainly took everybody else up to task. For just Php10,500USD 179INR 15,168EUR 170CNY 1,303, the Xiaomi managed to include a Snapdragon 625 with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage. To top it off, there’s a huge 4,100mAh Li-Ion battery as well.

Asus Zenfone 4 Max: 83,352 pageviews

The Zenfone Max series from Asus has always been one of the more unique lines of mobile phones because of their huge battery. In 2017, the Zenfone 4 Max continues its dominance in terms of battery life.

Huawei Nova 2i: 130,870 pageviews

Our most popular review of the year goes to the Huawei Nova 2i. The device came out of nowhere to become one of the hottest smartphones of 2017. It features 4 cameras (2 up front and 2 at the back) and a large 6-inch FullView display with an 18:9 aspect ratio.

Observations for 2017

Big global brands dominated our list. Vivo and OPPO lead the along with Samsung with 4 devices each. While Huawei only took 3 spots, it topped our list with the Nova 2i. Asus got 2 spots on our list while LG, Xiaomi, and Nokia got one slot each. Our only non-mobile phone that got into our top 20 reviews in the Globe Prepaid LTE Home WiFi but it’s still related to mobile since it comes with a SIM card.

Most curious for us is that none of the local mobile brands made it to our top 20. The shift in attention became much more apparent this year (Cherry Mobile got 8 out of 20 in our 2013 top list and got 17 out of the top 50 in our 2014 list).

As we welcome 2018, we’re curious as to what category in the smartphone market will make a huge wave. We’ll certainly know for sure by the end of the year.

P.S. Happy New Year to all!