Our bi-annual search for NXT’s next female lifestyle tech writer is here!
Meet the 2019 NXT Angels. Our ten contestants are putting their reviewing and writing skills to the test, with the winner selected by our readers to become our next lifestyle tech writer.
Starting 1 September 2019, you can cast your vote for your favourite Angel. Voting will end on 30 September.
The 3 Favorite Angels as voted by NXT readers will be specially treated to higher-value goodies than the rest, so be sure to cast your votes, and you could also walk away with great prizes and a one-year subscription to NXT magazine.
Read the Angels’ reviews and cast your votes below!
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Averyl Vlogs with the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III
The new Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III a very pocketable compact camera for everyday shooting and good for general photography, but I was sold by the ability to flip-over 180-degree. The ability to rotate allows you to view from the front of the camera which is best for vlogging enthusiasts. Personally, I love taking selfies and this camera is best for vlogging and selfies which is perfect for me, especially as the touchscreen works just like a phone (I might even start vlogging)!
The autofocus (AF) system is very fast, especially when you use the touch and shoot function of on the touchscreen. Image quality is sharp which is a bonus for something this small and I love the fact that you could change the settings of the shot on-the-go which makes editing so much easier! For example, you can adjust the saturation and colour tones based on the surroundings.
As a newbie myself, I found it really easy to use as compared to a DSLR. In addition, the ease to directly transfer photos with the Canon Mobile Application is an added bonus! I felt that the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III is a fun camera to carry around and is good to invest if you are first starting out with photography.
Avrrey Snow with the Canon EOS RP
I have a decent amount of photographer friends whom all agreed with me that the Canon EOS RP is a very lightweight full frame mirrorless camera, and one of the lightest I’ve ever held and tried.
I brought this camera out to a karaoke session with my friends just to test out if it will perform well in darkness and bad lighting. To my surprise, it has excellent low light performance which lived up to their words of capturing beauty in darkness without compromising the autofocus.
Approximately after 20 minutes into playing with this camera, I realized that it has a touchscreen that you can use to snap pictures with just a double tap. The WiFi connectivity made transferring 250 photos I took with this camera to my smartphone a breeze, and the following day I snapped another 90 shots the following day without needing to charge the battery.
Lastly, the 4k video feature will be great for vloggers or photographers who are looking for a hybrid of full frame mirrorless camera and vlogging camera that you can carry around with you everywhere conveniently.
I really enjoyed using the Canon EOS RP and will definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a light-weight mirrorless camera with the qualities and features of a traditional DSLR.
Candice Naps with the TravelMall Massage Pillow II
I was thrilled to have been assigned to review the Premium Inflatable Massage Pillow II by TravelMall because I’m known for being able to fall fast asleep in the most unlikely of places: on planes, in cars, and even in the make-up artist’s chair! Most of the time, I wake up with an excruciating neck-ache, and I was excited to see how this pillow will change things for me.
What really caught my attention with its promise of delivering “3-level massage function for relieving fatigue and relaxing”. Having tried it on myself, it definitely lived up to my high expectations.
The pillow has an integrated pump for inflation and deflates to fit into a compact little pouch, which makes it easily portable. It fits perfectly in my backpack which I bring for my long-haul flights. After inflating the pillow I secured it with the adjustable front sliding toggles, then connected it to my mobile power-bank. The magic began as soon as I switched it on with the remote, with the soft memory foam pillow immediately buzzing into life, creating gentle vibrations around my neck. It was absolute bliss to lean back into my seat, having my neck well-supported by the massage pillow while I took a snooze after a long hard day of work.
Grace Tunes In with the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless
I love taking long bus rides while listening to my favourite music and to be honest, I never really cared about how good my earphones are, just that they were with me whenever I am outside. This was until many friends around me started to use true wireless earphones, which piqued my curiosity.
I finally found out for myself when I tired Sennheiser’s first pair of wireless in-ears, the Momentum True wireless earphones, and the experience totally blew my mind!
At first I was amazed by the design: two refined metallic chrome spin rings with matte black bodies enclosed in the rigid, fabric-covered grey case. Despite the large-sized and seemingly heavy earbuds, they were unusually light and durable. The earbuds can be controlled by just simply tapping on the touch-sensitive spin ring of each earbud for different control functions, including a transparent hearing function, which I feel that is definitely a must feature for hearing MRT station announcements.
If you are particular with the bass and treble sounds, you can even control and personalise the music to your liking with the Smart Control app. I personally feel that the sound quality of the earbuds is clear and precise with a powerful bass, and these earbuds are the best for bass-heavy music genres.
Han Yun with the FiiO M5
When I was first set eyes on the FiiO M5 Hi-Res Lossless Music Player, I was surprised with its sleek design and small size, which is similar to the Apple Watch, so its very portable and convenient to be brought around. It also has a number of pre-installed apps and comes packed with a pedometer, recorder and watch. The M5 can also perform as both a Bluetooth transmitter and receiver making it multi-functional, so I could connect the M5 to my phone to play my Spotify playlist or pair with my wireless earphones to play my music.
Speaking of music, as the FiiO M5 is a lossless music player, the music transmitted would not have lost any components of the file due to compression. This is translated into higher music quality and an enhanced melodic experience allowing the music to be crisp and dynamic. Additionally, it has customizable settings to tweak the equalizer or change the playback gap based on personal preference.
To top it all off, the FiiO M5 comes in 4 stylish colours (Red, Blue, Silver & Titanium) and is inclusive of a transparent clip case that allows the M5 to be both equipped & protected. A watch strap add-on can also be purchased to use the FiiO M5 as a watch.
Jasavelle Tries the TravellMall 3D Stereo Sleeping Mask
I’m Jasavelle! When wearing this TravelMall 3D Stereo Sleeping Mask I honestly felt that it was super comfy and ultra lightweight. I feel it was a very good product for long distance travellers people who have insomnia or are light sleepers, as the built-in headphones help muffle a noisy environment.
One main point is that it was designed to ergonomically follow human facial contours around our eyes and nose, so I could hardly feel it against my face. It’s also not too bulky and doesn’t press down on your eyes, so I could blink without any discomfort. The headphones delivered high quality music and while I was wearing it I opened my eyes and realised that it really blocked 100% of light, plus I couldn’t hear any outside noise above the music I was playing. When I took them off I discovered that my brother was noisily playing on his PS4 in the next room!
I discovered that this 3D Stereo Sleeping Mask with integrated over-ear headphones is actually made using an inner high elastic material called “SBR” that stands for “ Styrene Butadiene Rubber. The benefits of this material is that it has good abrasion resistance and good aging stability, so will hold its elasticity and shape longer than other normal type of rubber.
Jia Min Jogs with the Sennheiser CX Sport
Personally, I love listening to mandapop and spend minimally few hours a day listening to music. As someone who is often on the go, a huge plus point of the Sennheiser CX Sport is that it’s light in weight and easy to carry around, plus sweat and splash resistant. Compared to the earphones that I am currently using, the CX Sport really sparks joy with its brilliant, high-quality sound, especially bass reproduction, and I foresee myself ditching my old earpiece soon. I also really like the fact that both the earbuds and fins fits very well in my ear and don’t shift when I’m working out.
The only difficulty I experienced was during the initial pairing of earphones with my phone where I spent a couple of minutes scanning through the instruction menu before finally getting it. After the first setup, I’ve had no issues with connecting the earphones to my phone.
A further added convenience is the three-button remote that allows me to effortlessly control pause/play, volume and change songs without having to touch my phone. This is a good point especially when I am busy with the house chores and unable to hold my phone all the time.
Jie Ying Tries the Canon iNSPiC [S]
Canon’s latest addition to the instant camera printer market is one of the smallest yet. The iNSPiC [S] weighs only 188g, so bringing it around (or even putting it in your pocket) is not a problem at all. It comes in 3 colours: white, black and rose gold and lets you print photos anytime and anywhere, especially for selfies (or wefies).
One common problem with taking wefies on instant cameras is that subjects are often being cut out of frame, and the iNSPiC solves this problem via a large circular mirror around the lens that makes it easier to compose selfies. There’s also a built-in LED ring light for taking selfies in low light while the flash can be set to automatic mode, or switched on/off manually.
Photos can be printed in a square (2×2) or rectangle (2×3) format, though I personally prefer the square format as I use the blank space to jot down any significant date or milestone that I want to remember!
Sync your smartphone to the iNSPiC [S] via Bluetooth and you can use the Canon Mini Print App to print photos from your phone’s camera roll, and you can even add text and stickers to your photo before printing it.
Natalie Multiplays with the Lenovo Legion Y540
The Lenovo Legion Y540 brings functionality and affordability together and carries off a minimalist look that can fit a business setting. It comes with a 15.6-inch anti-glare display with a Full-HD screen and is powered by a 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H processor with 16GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card, allowing popular games like PUBG and Dota2 to run smoothly on the Y540. Most of the ports are located on the back of the laptop, including the power adaptor which I personally like as it maintains the clean feel of the laptop.
The Y540 also comes with a full back-lit keyboard featuring a soft white light, with a number pad on the side which some gamers may find it a convenience if the games played have specific functions for them. Dolby Atmos is supported by Harman speakers, giving one an immersive and realistic audio experience especially for FPS (First-Person Shooter) games when listening out for minor details like footsteps could change your game entirely.
Ultimately, I would say that the Lenovo Legion Y540 is an understated yet powerful laptop that’s a bang for your buck, making it a top contender if you are looking for a mid-range gaming laptop that runs your modern games smoothly.
Nicolle Games on the Lenovo Legion Y7000
Lenovo’s Legion Y7000 is an affordable gaming PC sporting very decent specifications: 9th generation Intel i7-9750H 2.6G processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6GB of VRAM, 32GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 1TB HDD storage.
As a university student, a high performance gaming laptop is a plus for me when it comes to doing work, especially when I edit videos. This laptop’s performance definitely helped speed up the process of my regular video editing session, not the best way to use a gaming PC but it my way.
As a casual gamer, I installed the one game I knew how to play: PUBG. Not the best player according to my teammates but it is subjective as being a portable inventory, medic and scouter is no easy job. After a few rounds of the game, I realised that the built-in sound system sounded pretty basic and lacked bass, but that’s why I wear headphones.
I have a pretty crazy school schedule, so I rely on Skype a lot to conduct my meetings and that’s where I found the one feature I disliked on the Y7000 – the webcam is placed at the base of the screen and gives me a distorted look.
