September has been packed with launches and tech news that are good or bad. As we enter the month of October with more launches in store, we look back at the best (and worst) of September. Here’s our roundup of the biggest winners and losers of tech this September:
WIN: The PHANTOM V Flip is a foldable for the masses.
TECNO wants to change the game by making the PHANTOM V Flip the most affordable foldable in the market–and the first mid-range device of its kind. It’s under Php 40k price tag is undeniably good, and there’s a possibility that TECNO might push the pricing of the PHANTOM V Flip in the Philippines to under Php 35k–or even under Php 30k. We like the PHANTOM V Flip in general in our first impressions, and we can’t wait to have more time with it to see if it’s really worth the asking price.
WIN: The Xiaomi 13T Series makes Leica accessible to everyone
Beyond being a luxury brand, Leica is always synonymous with superior image quality, and Xiaomi wants to let everyone experience Leica quality at an accessible price point with the 13T series. What makes this even more impressive is that people can get a phone with Leica-quality rendering and colors for under Php 30k with the standard Xiaomi 13T. To top it up, the Xiaomi 13T Pro comes with a 1TB option for under Php 40k–making it offer great value for money compared to the Galaxy S23.
WIN: Huawei gets 5G again with the Mate 60 series.
Huawei’s decision to have a surprise launch for the Mate 60 and 60 Pro in China has made waves in the industry as both phones (along with the Pro+ version) have 5G capability thanks to a mysterious processor–allegedly known as the Kirin 9000s–that Huawei has developed in-house using SMIC’s 7nm process. As much as we’re excited about the Mate 60 series, it still remains to be seen if Huawei will make any of the three variants available globally for the world to see their progress with its in-house chips. We’re hoping Huawei makes these devices available globally especially given their stellar reputation when it comes to computational photography.
LOSE: The iPhone 15 Pro is off to a rough start.
While there are a lot of reasons to be excited about the iPhone 15 Pro, it is being plagued with issues. Aside from quality issues with the titanium frame’s coating and reported throttling issues with the A17 Pro, no one likes the thought of a Php 85k phone having a fragile back panel with a minimal amount of pressure. iPhone 15 repairs may be more reasonable, but Filipinos cannot accept that they paid for an expensive gadget that needs a lot of TLC to handle it.
LOSE: GMA News’ AI reporters is an ugly look at the future
No matter how many times GMA wants to make its AI sportscasters a groundbreaking development in tech, no one likes the idea of hardworking and talented media people being replaced by AI. Some may argue that we should adapt to emerging technologies that involve AI, but the main concern is how GMA plans to use this technology moving forward. Considering the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike focuses mainly on how big companies plan to use AI to cut costs, we’re hoping that GMA does not go that far with its AI sportscasters.
