JBL Tunefest celebrates camaraderie, dynamic car community

JBL Car Audio Philippines is celebrating a solid month as the brand successfully staged its flagship event for the year — the first-ever JBL Car Audio Tunefest. Held last November 11, 2023, JBL Tunefest was created as an avenue for car audio enthusiasts and installers to engage and showcase the best in-car JBL set-ups, as well as bring together the dynamism of the Filipino car community.

For one whole day, JBL Car Audio hosted different facets of industry and community in an exciting car meet at the rooftop parking of O-Square 2 in Greenhills Mall, San Juan City. Co- presented by Stance Pilipinas / Manila Fitted (SPMF), Manila Street Chronicles (MSC), and Bumper2Bumper Car Show (B2B), it was inspired by the glory days of weekend and late nights meets, culminating in a nostalgic affair that highlighted the best of cars, music, and wholesome fun.

The key agenda for the day was the JBL Car Audio Competition. It was nearly a 2-month journey for the participating JBL installers and car owners as they prepared their vehicles for the official judging on the morning of Tunefest. There were a total of 15 competition entries across 3 categories: STADIUM that featured the premium JBL line, OPEN STAGE that cut across all JBL product lines, and SOUND & STYLE, a special category that spotlight the Club and ClubSQ range and split points between audio performance and the car’s aesthetic styling.

In addition to the official categories, there were 3 special awards that were included. These were the People’s Choice Award that encouraged the involvement of the event attendees, as they listened to the audio set-ups and submitted their preferences via QR code, the Mayor’s Choice Award, chosen and presented by Rocco Zamora, on behalf of San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora, and a Special Style Award chosen from among the car clubs and attendees that joined the event.

The car audio entries were judged on-site by an esteemed roster of judges that were trained under the European Mobile Music Association (EMMA), namely Adison De Ocampo, Bong Matias, Dong Matias, Arvin Ramos, Martin De Costa, and Peter Gaw. Style awards were selected and judged by Bryan Revilla of MSC, Jonathan Chio of B2B, and Kevin Carlos of SPMF.

More than a stage for the car audio competition, JBL Car Audio Tunefest was a gathering of enthusiasts. Designed to be the venue for an exciting multi-brand car meet, the event was well-attended by owner clubs, communities, and personalities, like B2B, MSC, SPMF, Grupo Toyota, Miata Club Of The Philippines, Nissan Kicks E-Power Club, FJ Cruiser Club Of The Philippines, Porsche owners, Buzzhype Motorsport, BanaweBoy, EverSince Street Club, and more.

Apart from the competition cars and clubs, JBL Car Audio Tunefest was supported by some of the biggest names in the industry. These brands included BMW, BYD, Changan, Chery, Ford, GAC, Honda, Hyundai, Jeep, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, and Subaru. Each manufacturer highlighted its hero model of the season, from conventional to hybrid to electric, and opened up the opportunity for attendees to check out the latest features.

As an exclusive treat, attendees were given the chance to listen to the first JBL ARENA set-up that was installed by JC Car Audio into Franz Gaw’s Toyota GR Yaris. MSC also introduced its Porsche Cayenne off-road build, fitted with a full JBL ClubSQ system and the JBL Basspro Go portable subwoofer. On-site professional-grade car cleaning was provided by SONAX.

Philippines, with an exclusive event trial promotion of its new Ceramic Series product line. In addition, one set of a special full SUV wrap was sponsored by Vinyl Frog Philippines.

For refreshments, attendees were treated to crowd favorites, like Bahn Mi Kitchen for filling Vietnamese-style sandwiches, Coffee Nook for specialty coffee and custom coolers, Crepe Talk for savory and sweet treats, EDSA BDG for cocktails/mocktails, and Slap Stacks Burgers for all-around grill fare.

It was a Saturday to remember. JBL Car Audio Tunefest was not just about showcasing the best of car audio. More importantly, it aims to be a reminder of how an industry can be uplifted by an entire community that comes together, in celebration of common passions and interests.

Below is the list of winners from the following car audio competition categories:

STADIUM CATEGORY
Champion – Mickey’s Autosound 1st Runner Up – MSO Audio 2nd Runner Up – SimpleSound

OPEN STAGE CATEGORY
Champion – Natune Car Audio
1st Runner Up – David’s Street Sound 2nd Runner Up – Team Car Center

SOUND & STYLE CATEGORY
Champion – JC Car Audio
1st Runner Up – Team Car Center
2nd Runner Up – David’s Street Sound

MAYOR’S CHOICE AWARD
Stadium – SimpleSound Open Stage – Audio Essential Sound & Style – JC Car Audio

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Stadium – SimpleSound
Open Stage – ZT Car Accessories Sound & Style – Audio Essential

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OnePlus 10T 5G: Our favorite features!

11/10/2022

OnePlus merging with OPPO meant different things for different people but here in our part of the world, it just means we’re finally getting local access to these phones. There are currently three OnePlus phones now locally available in the Philippines but today we’re looking a the OnePlus 10T

There are already a lot of reviews out there since this phone has been out for quite a while now so let us share with you instead our favorite features of the OnePlus 10T 5G and what makes it worth getting.

Beefy performance

First on our list and one of the most notable and probably one of the best features of this phone is its performance.

You’re given a flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor that’s able to sail through all sorts of tasks – intensive or not. For the average user, it may even be a bit too much considering it’s partnered with a capable 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

In other regions, you’re even given a more powerful 16GB+256GB variant. But considering this is OnePlus’ debut entry into the Philippines, it makes sense for them to test the waters with just a few phones first.

If you do need that extra push, virtual RAM is available which borrows from the phone’s storage to increase the phone’s RAM capacity. You can expand up to 15GB total with 7GB maximum virtual RAM. We also have UFS 3.1 storage which makes transfers fast and easy as well.

But expanded or not, intensive tasks like gaming or photography are also handled with ease and grace. Resource-heavy games like Genshin Impact ran smoothly even at high settings. If you’re an FPS gamer, games like Apex Legends are also no problem on this device.

You will experience heat however but the new cooling system on this phone does a pretty good job. I would personally put the included case on, however, as it makes it more comfortable.

When it comes down to performance, the OnePlus 10T 5G knocks it out of the park. That’s expected, though, with its flagship chip. Heating is probably its major issue but is something you can find fixes for.

Clean UI

With OnePlus and OPPO merging, there were a couple of software concerns. Would OPPO inject too much of itself into the well-loved OxygenOS of OnePlus? Or maybe there would be no difference at all?

With the OnePlus and OPPO partnership, there were a couple of concerns on how OxygenOS would look and feel with OPPO’s DNA inserted into it.

I would like to disclose, however, that this is the first OnePlus phone I’ve handled since the brand wasn’t readily available here in our country.

I can’t deny that, at first glance, you can feel OPPO’s ColorOS DNA with the overall look. OnePlus and OxygenOS have been known to closely stick to Google’s stock Android but not for this version of the OS. I’ve heard some OnePlus fans were rather disappointed with the new UI and software but as for someone looking at it with pretty fresh eyes, it’s still neater and more minimalist than a lot out there and there are a couple of things that I really appreciate.

The overall software experience was painless but that’s thanks to the flagship processor we were talking about. As for functionality, OxygenOS 12 offers fun and nifty features that I’ve come to love during my time with this phone.

First up is OnePlus Shelf which offers easy access to frequently used widgets and apps. Bring it up by swiping on the top right side of the device. The look of the UI also offers deep customization as well. From icon shapes, accent colors, and even layout.

Another notable and useful feature for this day and age is Work & Life mode. If you’re familiar with Focus Mode on Apple devices, it’s quite similar.

You can set up a schedule for work and for life and delegate the time, apps, and notifications that can come through. Work mode automatically minimizes the use of entertainment or gaming apps and silences notifications. But you can easily “take a break” anytime by tapping on the notification.

What’s next isn’t really a feature but just a fun OnePlus easter egg. Bring up the system calculator and type in 1+ and you’ll get a cute little animation.

Delightful display

In terms of the overall design, the OnePlus 10T 5G isn’t really putting out anything groundbreaking. The company has always stuck to minimalist designs which makes sense because we see a lot of the work go into its processing power and other internal features,

There’s more effort in the 10T’s display for example. Offering a 6.7-inch OLED panel with a maximum 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit color, HDR10+ support, and Corning Gorilla Glass protection make it a well-specced flagship-fit display.

The smooth display has excellent touch response as well which can help make it a gaming phone as well. And with a peak brightness of 950nits, it’s also usable even under direct sunlight.

Enough juice for the day

And last but definitely not least on our list is the OnePlus 10T’s battery.

Carrying a battery with a 4800mAh capacity, the OnePlus 10T 5G was able to accompany me through the day given I didn’t game or use the camera too much. And while it’s not at the 5000mAh capacity most of us are getting used to, the OnePlus 10T does make up for it by offering incredibly fast charging speeds.

On the OnePlus 10T 5G is support 150W SuperVOOC Endurance Edition and comes with a 160W charger in the box. So even if your phone taps out mid-day, you can quickly recharge and go. How fast? We were able to fully charge the phone from zero in just 20 minutes.

Some folks are still iffy about fast charging for safety reasons but OnePlus did enforce measures within the phone to keep you and it safe.

What about its cameras?

OnePlus has been known to equip their phones with pretty capable cameras as well so why didn’t it make it to the list?

For a device in its segment, the OnePlus 10T 5G’s camera comes up just a little bit short in my opinion. Not saying that it’s not a good camera because it is.

In optimal conditions, photos come out sharp with punchy colors. Cutouts are pretty good though not the most natural I’ve seen but are more than acceptable for social media. Even during low light, a steady hand and good ambient lighting can give you really nice photos as well.

Again, the cameras are not bad at all they’re just not the most exceptional thing about this phone and probably won’t be the main reason you’d pick it up.

Final thoughts

With a price tag that boasts less than most of today’s flagship devices, the OnePlus 10T 5G offerings may not be well-rounded enough to call itself a flagship killer. But it remains that this phone bodes really great qualities, especially in the performance and battery department.

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