Hands-On

realme C55 Hands-on: Modesty at its finest

Definitely not an iPhone 14 Pro Max killer

Published

April 18, 2023

Vincenz

The much-anticipated realme C55 has finally landed in the Philippine archipelago. It’s the first of its kind Android smartphone to bring the iPhone-like Mini Capsule functionality. Can the realme C55 be a “just right” phone to those who have a “just right” amount of savings to spend?

My quick unboxing and hands-on with the phone might help you decide.

Usual unboxing

Like we all expected, the realme C55 comes in this usual, highly-energizing yellow packaging.

Lifting the box lid reveals us its packet of extras. Beneath it is where the phone rests.

Opening the “motivational” packet reveals the SIM tray ejector pin, usual paperwork (specifically user manual and warranty card)…

as well as the typical smoked jelly case.

The deeper level of the box is where we can find its 33W SuperVOOC charger…

and USB-C to USB-A cable.

Unfortunately, there are no free wired earphones unlike before.

Visually pleasing

At first glance, the realme C55 is visually pleasing on both sides.

It boasts a flashy back — at least with the colorway that I have.

It is a stunner compared to other boring-looking plastic afforda-phones.

On hand, it doesn’t feel very cheap.

It looks and feels solid. Moreover, it’s just 7.89mm thin.

And while we’re at the topic, the realme C55 has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for the phone’s security and biometrics.

On the flip side, it features a large 6.72-inch display perfect for users who always want a bigger screen for multimedia consumption.

It doesn’t stop there. There’s the oh-so-crispy and juicy Full HD+ IPS LCD screen that’s great for watching visually-magnetizing content.

The fast 90Hz refresh rate is also a great addition instead of the outdated 60Hz panel for slicker scrolling, swiping, and multitasking.

Dynamic Island ❎
Mini Capsule ✅

The main highlight of this phone is none other than its iPhone 14 Pro Max-like UI feature.

Dubbed as the “Mini Capsule”, it mimics iPhone’s Dynamic Island functionality even when the realme C55 doesn’t have face unlock sensors and only has a single punch-hole camera cutout on its massive display.

For now, it can only display charging, low battery, and data consumption alerts. So yeah, definitely not the iPhone 14 Pro Max “killer” you’re hoping for.

Modest performer

The realme C55 is equipped with MediaTek’s Helio G88 processor based on a 12nm process. You can choose between a 6GB or an 8GB memory.

Internal storage is limited to either 128GB or 256GB options but the additional microSDXC slot will be helpful not just for that extra storage, but also for offline backups.

For light to moderate tasks such as scrolling through social media, browsing the web, listening to music, or watching videos, it’s adequate.

But if you’re the type of user who frequently uses apps that need extensive CPU and GPU power, the realme C55 shouldn’t be on your radar.

I’m not saying games aren’t totally playable. It’s just that, you cannot truly enjoy any game just by choosing the lowest playable graphic setting.

Reliable power

With the 5000mAh battery capacity of the realme C55, it can last a whole day on moderate use — and more than that if it’s on longer stand-by hours.

But the lack of a beefy chipset means we can’t maximize the phone to its extremes.

Just in case you forgot to fully-charge your realme C55, it has a decently-fast 33W SuperVOOC charging.

It’s not the fastest but definitely a lot faster than the 25W charger of iPhones and Galaxys.

Essential camera

You read that right! The realme C55 only has ONE usable camera — its 64-megapixel AI-powered shooter. The other circle? Well, just a 2MP depth sensor.

With enough natural light, photos should look good — better than its competition even.

But if you’re a huge night mode user, photo quality is enough but expect nothing too grand.

Its camera UI displays “2x” and “5x” zoom options — even if it doesn’t include a dedicated zoom lens.

Surprisingly, they came out alright with fair exposure, sharpness, and contrast.

But with the absence of the “quintessential” ultra-wide camera, you have no choice but to back out more if you’re opting to shoot “wider than wide” photos — or just completely ditch the idea overall.

This also means you’ll miss the ongoing “Gen Z selfie” trend — a.k.a photos taken using the rear 0.5x ultra-wide angle camera. Not that it’s a huge dealbreaker but will probably be if a parent decides to buy his/her Gen Z child a realme C55.

Senseless sensor

As previously mentioned, that second camera bump houses the realme C55’s 2MP depth sensor.

It just felt like a waste of space because it’s very evident that its depth segmentation is a hit or miss when taking portrait mode shots.

Pleasing portraits

And while selfies are (and will always be) subjective, my selcas (or “self-capture” in the dictionary of any Korean/Koreaboo) show how they are naturally-looking and human-like — no unnecessary smoothening. smearing, and blatant whitewashing a la K-Pop idol.

Still, you can keep your selfies with beauty mode turned on with various levels of adjustments.

Is the realme C55 your BudgetMatch?

The realme C55 is available in two configurations: the 6GB + 128GB base model starts at just PhP 8,999 while the 8GB + 256GB variant retails for PhP 10,999.

Here are the perks when you pre-order the realme C55:

realme TikTok Shop (April 18, 7:30PM to 11:30PM)

PhP 1,000 OFF for both variants
6GB+128GB variant: FREE realme Mobile Game Finger Sleeves for the first buyers
8GB+256GB variant: FREE realme Mobile Game Trigger for the first buyers

realme Lazada Flagship Store (April 19 to 21)

Php 1,000 OFF Flash Sale Discount for both variants (limited quantities only)

realme E-store (April 19 to 25)

5% Upfront discount and FREE TechLife Power Bank (worth PhP 799) for both variants

If you’re looking for an affordable smartphone that has the “essentials”, the realme C55 should be in your list. Its cameras perform great albeit the lack of an extra ultra-wide camera might shoo away some of you. For gaming alone, you really have to look elsewhere.

It’s better as an all-around multimedia smartphone especially with its vibrant and fast display, wired earphones-friendly, plus that microSDXC expandability that even flagship smartphones fail to supply in this modern age.

Hands-On

Final Cut Pro for iPad Hands-on: Game Changer!

But is it worth the subscription?

Published

May 25, 2023

GadgetMatch

Ever since Apple launched iPads running the ever-powerful Silicon chips like on the M1 and M2 MacBook Pros, many have wondered when will Apple put macOS onto the iPad.

While we don’t have anything like that until today, the closest thing we can have is the Final Cut Pro made specifically for the iPads.

Now, it’s finally available for download on the iPad App Store.

Starting at US$ 4.99 per month and US$ 49 annually, is it actually worth the subscription?

In this video we’ll show you all the features and tools exclusive to the new and game-changing Final Cut Pro for iPad!

Gaming

ROG Ally Hands-On: Light, white, ready to fight

Handheld gaming goodness

Published

May 11, 2023

Rodneil Quiteles

The ROG Ally is now official. ASUS’s handheld PC gaming console has been a hot topic for gamers leading up to its launch. We’ve had the privilege to try the ROG Ally for a little less than a day and here’s what we think of it so far.

But first, Unboxing!

Inside the box are:

ROG Ally
65W PD Adapter
Proof of purchase, user guide, and warranty
Cardboard stand

Light, white, ready to fight

The ROG Ally tips the scales at 608g. Seems hefty but ASUS did a good job with weight distribution that you don’t really feel it as much. It certainly feels like something you can use for a couple of hours without feeling strain on your hands.

The reason why it’s white is because of the polycarbonate material that they used which is naturally white. ASUS opted not to paint over it to not put on any more unnecessary weight.

The sides curve to the edges to make it easy to hold. You’ll have no trouble reaching the left and right sticks, directional pad, and face buttons. The triggers are also easy to reach but it feels a little tougher to get to the shoulder buttons. Perhaps, it just takes some getting used to.

You also have extra triggers at the bottom of the device. These are also easy to reach and can be assigned any function based on whatever you’re playing.

As for the buttons themselves, they feel durable and tactile. I could use a little bit more click on the shoulders, but overall, have no complaints.

Windows + Armoury Crate SE

The true pain point of this thing is how Windows 11 is not at all optimized for this kind of device. Setting up and signing in to your accounts to get to your games can get a little bit cumbersome.

ASUS’ Armoury Crate software tries to help out with this, but even its “Desktop Mode” for its controllers doesn’t work as well as we hope. Thankfully, the gorgeous 1080p display is touchscreen making it a little easier to navigate the tiny Windows screen that you have to work with.

Microsoft is reportedly already working on a version of Windows that supports this particular form factor. Anyone trying the ROG Ally right now will tell you that it can’t come soon enough.

The sooner they can get something like Steam’s Big Picture mode running, the better for every manufacturer looking into making this kind of device.

All your games, all the time

Speaking of Steam, the ROG Ally does deliver on the promise of making all of your PC games available to you all the time. When you fire it up, Armoury Crate launches right away. From there, you can access both Steam and the Xbox Game Pass Apps right away.

Like Windows, launching and moving around the Xbox Game Pass app isn’t intuitive. Microsoft really has their work cutout for them in developing a Windows Handheld mode.

What’s interesting is that launching Steam takes you directly to Steam Deck mode. In fact, the app thinks you’re using a Steam Deck, even showing ‘Verified’ tags for games that have been tested to work well on Valve’s own handheld console.

In our limited time so far, we’ve played Dragon Ball FighterZ and NBA 2K22 on Steam. On Xbox Game Pass, we tried Hi-Fi Rush and Doom Eternal. That’s a couple of hours jumping through four games, but all of them ran well. There was no noticeable screen tearing or hiccups. That’s a testament to both the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme Chip as well as the multiple display tech meant to help run games smoothly.

We’ll have more detailed tests on the review.

Oh and the front-firing speakers sound great. So good that I didn’t mind watching the “No Return” fancam of LE SSERAFIM Chaewon on it. 🫶🏼

#ROGAlly
Expectation: Gaming.
Reality: Chaewon Fancam. pic.twitter.com/0hJh5WKDcF

— rodneil (@rodneilquiteles) May 10, 2023

ROG Ally Specs

Some of it has been leaked, but here’s the actual, official specs of the ROG Ally.

Model	RC71L
CPU	AMD Ryzen™ Z1 Processor 4nm Zen 4/ 6 cores & 12 threads 22M cache CPU Clock: up to 4.90 GHz AMD Ryzen™ Z1 Extreme Processor 4nm Zen 4/ 8 core & 16 threads 24M cache CPU Clock: up to 5.10 Ghz TDP: 9 – 30 watts
GPU	With AMD Ryzen™ Z1 Config: AMD Radeon™ Graphics RDNA 3 & 4G RAM capacity/ 2.8 Tflops 4 CU GPU clock: 2.5GHz With AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme Config: AMD Radeon™ Graphics RDNA3 & 4G RAM capacity / 8.6 TFlops 12 CU GPU Clock: 2.7GHz
Panel	Full HD (1920 x 1080), 120 Hz / 7 ms eDP1.4b, 500 nits, IPS-panel, 100% sRGB, FreeSync™ Premium, Gorilla® Glass Victus™ and Gorilla® Glass DXC, 10-point Touchscreen Gyro support
Memory	16GB (LPDDR5 6400Mhz) dual channel LPDDR5 8GBx2 on board memory
Audio	2 x 1W speakers with smart amp technology, Dolby Atmos®, Hi-Res Audio, AI Noise Cancellation
Wi-Fi / Bluetooth	WiFi 6E (802.11ax) / Bluetooth® v5.2
Storage	M.2 NVMe 2230 Gen4x4 SSD 256GB (for Z1 config) 512GB (for Z1 Extreme config) +SD card slot UHS-2
I/O PORT	ROG XG Mobile interface (8PCI express lanes) and USB Type-C combo port (with USB 3.2 Gen2, DP 1.4 support) — (1x) 3.5mm Audio jack — (1x) Micro SD slot (UHS-II, Micro SD 4.0) — (1x)
Battery	40Wh
Adapter	65W PD adapter, supports pass through charging
Dimensions	280.44 * 111.18 * 21.22 mm 608g

Price and availability

The ROG Ally Z1 Extreme retails for US$ 699. The ROG Ally Z1 variant retails for US$ 599. Pre-orders begin on May 11. It will be available for sale worldwide on June 13, 2023.