For this week of Tech Unboxed, our community was engaged when Sony announced the Xperia 1 VII and when Nothing CEO Carl Pei hinted that the Phone 3 might cost close to Php 60,000. There’s several tech announcements this week, with HONOR releasing an affordable tablet in time for payday. 

Here are the Tech Unboxed stories you need to know for the Week of May 10-16:

We miss the Xperia (1 VII), but others don’t. Sony unveiled the Xperia 1 VII globally, but it has been years since we last saw Xperia phones sold in the Philippines. While we wished Sony sold phones locally, the majority of our community thinks its no possible because of the current pricing of Xperia phones–and that they only target a niche market in the Philippines. Maybe if Sony made budget or midrange Xperia phones that can compete with the established Chinese brands in the Philippines.

Nothing CEO trolling us? We’re happy with the Phone 3(a) and the CMF Phone 2 Pro especially with their pricing, and we were shocked when Nothing CEO Carl Pei said that the Phone 3 will be priced at around 800 Pounds or around Php 60,000 pesos. That’s a big jump from the Phone 2 that was priced at Php 40,000 in 2024, but Pei promises the Phone 3 to be a true flagship. We will have to wait and see, but Nothing hasn’t disappointed us yet so we have high hopes.

Xiaomi bucking downward trends. Xiaomi may still be number 2 in the Philippines, but it is the only brand that experienced growth at the early months of 2025, and we give props to them with their solid releases that include the POCO X7 Pro, POCO F7 Ultra, Redmi 14 Pro+, and Xiaomi 15. Those phones received praise from us and from our community, and we think Xiaomi will have a good run for the rest of 2025.

Sony’s Answer to the AirPods Max. Everyone’s favorite noise-cancelling headphones finally gets an upgrade with the WH-1000XM6. While it is more expensive than its predecessor, we think that the price hike is worth it with upgrades on its noise cancellation performance, audio quality and a revamped design that brings back foldable hinges to the earcups. We can’t wait to get our hands on one and see if it’s worth the upgrade.

An affordable tablet? HONOR has unveiled the Pad X9a in time for payday sale, and we think is its competitively priced for what it offers: a nice screen that’s complemented with good speakers, a large battery, and a metal build that we rarely expect on a budget. We recommend getting the bundle with a keyboard to transform the Pad X9a into a productivity machine.