Features

Valentine’s Day Spotify playlist: Love is in the air!

Sing along with us!

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Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! Are you feeling the love? For those of you who are lucky enough to have that special someone in your life, it’s definitely a day to look forward to.

The right Valentine’s playlist is essential to set the mood for you and your SO, and the playlist we put together is a celebration of love! Our list here is a combination of high energy tracks that you can sing along to, and some intimate tunes that you can cuddle to.

Lany — ILYSB

We’re starting off our list with a song that put Lany on the map. They’ve come out with a bunch of hits since the release of this one, but nothing screams “love song” like their first hit “ILYSB,” the perfect song that just spells out what you’re feeling.

Maroon 5 ft. Sza — What Lovers Do

Off their Red Pills Blue album, this one is going out to all the newbie lovers out there still figuring out how to play this game of love.

Lauv — I Like Me Better

Isn’t it nice to know you’re with someone that makes you feel like a better person?

Ed Sheeran — Shape of You

You can basically put any Ed Sheeran song into any Valentine’s Day playlist and it’s just going to work. We decided to go with “Shape of You” to keep the upbeat vibe going, and let’s be real: Having someone basically say they love you inside and out is something you’ll never get tired of.

The Weeknd — Earned It

If you want to add some sexy to your Valentine’s Day playlist, a great place to look for inspiration are the soundtracks from the 50 Shades of Gray movie franchise. A series and soundtrack that just oozes sexy, no further explanation needed on this one.

Alina Baraz ft. Khalid — Electric

While some may argue that the original version is much better, we chose to go with the Khalid collaboration for Valentine’s Day. The electricity in the room when there’s that special connection is exactly what you feel when you listen to this one.

Honne — Warm On a Cold Night

Another smooth sexy track that just encourages you to get closer — cuddle weather or not.

Robin Thicke — Lost Without U

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, if there’s no you then there’s no reason to celebrate.

John Legend — PDA

What’s Valentine’s Day without a little PDA? *wink wink*

Bombay Bicycle Club — Always Like This

When things are going good, all you wish is that things will always stay like this.

Stars — Elevator Love Letter

Upbeat and the kind of song that just makes you want to dance or sing along, “Elevator Love Letter” is just one of those great mixtape songs.

Bright Eyes — First Day of My Life

They say real love is nothing like what you see in the movies, but sometimes it happens!

Zac Efron and Zendaya — Rewrite The Stars

Last but certainly not the least, here’s a song from the recently released The Greatest Showman movie. While the song is good, it gets even better once you see it performed in the movie. So, go do that!

Features

How well do PlayStation games run on the ROG Ally?

Spoiler: Pretty good

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ROG Ally, PlayStation Dual Sense

The ROG Ally has caused quite a buzz in the gaming community at large. Personally, I’m thrilled at the prospect of owning a handheld gaming PC/console to play games I otherwise would not have access to. I mainly play on my PlayStation 5 (PS5). Naturally, I was curious how some of my favorite games will run on the ROG Ally. 

Things are promising on paper. The ROG Ally is built to be able to run AAA titles. Here’s a quick look at the specs of the unit we had for recap:

Model 

RC71L

CPU 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 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 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

PlayStation Studios on PC 

PlayStation, in the past couple of years, has decided to spread the love and let PC players experience some of the best they have to offer. Currently, there are 12 PlayStation exclusive titles playable on PC. And they’re available on either Steam or the Epic Games Store. 

In case you’re curious the available games are as follows: 

  • Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
  • God of War (2018)
  • Uncharted: The Legacy of Thieves Collection
  • Destiny 2: Lightfall 
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Returnal
  • Days Gone
  • HELLDIVERS
  • Predator Hunting Grounds
  • Sackboy: A big Adventure
  • The Last of Us Part 1

PlayStation Asia was kind enough to give us codes for three of the 12 titles now available on PC. Here’s how they ran on the ROG Ally. 

Quick note: I played on Performance mode with brightness hovering at around 50-55% indoors in an air conditioned room. 

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered

Marvel’s Spider-Man, along with NBA 2K, is my comfort game. Whenever I feel frustrated or just having a bad day, I fire up either game. On Spider-Man, I just swing aimlessly around the digital Manhattan that Insomniac built. 

It was such a delight to learn that I can do this on the go now too with Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered playing pretty darn well on the ROG Ally

I had the framerate limiter turned on, maxing out at 60. Despite that, I only reached a max of 31 fps with dips to as low as 15. It looks bad on paper, but is much more tolerable during actual gameplay. The dips usually happened during cutscenes. Majority of the gameplay hovered around 25-30 fps. 

ROG Ally, Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered

I knew it was never gonna reach the level of detail and smoothness that I get on the PS5 and LG C2 combo that I usually play on. There was plenty of noticeable stuttering especially during the busier sections of the game. But I didn’t think any of it was game breaking. 

Audio wasn’t as loud as I hoped it would be despite me playing in a pretty quiet room. I opted to pair it with Bluetooth earbuds (OnePlus Buds Pro 2) to get the most of the audio. There were no audio delays whatsoever which was a very welcome development. 

My average play time was about one hour and 20 minutes. That’s with the battery going from 100% to 20% each time. 

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Coming from the same Studio and pretty much being essentially the same game, Spider-Man: Miles Morales didn’t run too differently from Spider-Man Remastered.

I played in the exact same conditions: Indoor room, AC on, started at 100%, performance mode, and medium brightness settings. Curiously, the frame dips happened more during open-world swinging and not as much during cutscenes. This could be because of the busier version of New York due to the events of the game being set during the Christmas season. 

But the numbers weren’t too different. I still maxed at 31 fps, with most of the gameplay hovering around 25-30 fps, and the lowest dip coming in at 16fps. 

Again, nothing game breaking and it is much more tolerable during gameplay. Naturally, you have to have your expectations set properly. The ROG Ally is, after all, a handheld gaming PC. 

Average play time is around one hour and 25 minutes with about 75% to 80% of the battery life being consumed. 

Returnal

Returnal

Returnal is one of the titles I was most excited to try. I was curious about how the audio and controller rumble would translate to the ROG Ally. On the PS5, Audio and DualSense implementation are two of the game’s many strengths. 

Due to audio cues on enemies’ locations, this game is best played with earbuds/headphones on. The experience on the ROG Ally isn’t quite 3D Audio on PS5 levels, but it’s as close as it gets. 

The same can be said for the controller rumble. It’s not as precise nor finely implemented as the DualSense – that’s a unique feature after all. However, I was still thoroughly impressed with how the ROG Ally implemented rumble in certain sections of the game. The rumble effect is also a testament to how well-built the Ally is. Despite the internals shaking, the Ally never felt brittle nor that it would suddenly come apart. 

Knowing this is a shooter game, I turned the framerate limiter off and reached highs of 115 fps. The framerate did dip to as low as 15 fps which is about the widest variance I got from any game I played using the Ally. This did affect gameplay especially during sections where I had to deal with multiple enemies. 

I did experience plenty of crashes which isn’t ideal for a game like Returnal whose progress relies on you surviving as long as you can on a single run through. But this only happened during the first few minutes. After a while, it seemed like the ROG Ally had adjusted to the performance-demands of the game. 

It took about an hour and 10 minutes before I had to plug-in the Ally to not lose a playthrough. 

Remote Play?

ROG Ally, Dual Sense, Horizon Forbidden West

Since the ROG Ally is essentially a handheld gaming PC, you can certainly install the Remote Play app on it. However, you can’t just immediately use the gamepad. To play Horizon: Forbidden West, and generally just run the app, I had to pair the Ally with my DualSense controller.

You can map the gamepad so that it works but mapping isn’t an activity I enjoy nor did I have the time (I had to return the review unit) to do it. Other reviewers pointed to using a third-party app called Chiaki. But again, I didn’t have time to test it. I did see gameplay of it though so it seems to be working just fine. 

Knowing that you can do all these on the Ally actually makes you question the upcoming PlayStation Q handheld. Sure, the integration will likely be seamless. But its core function can already be replicated on other handhelds and handheld-like devices. I digress.

It’s worth noting that the relatively smooth experience I had with the ROG Ally was also aided by an internet connection that constantly hovers in the 250+ mbps range along with a Wi-Fi 6 router. 

The ROG Ally is PlayStation friendly 

If you want to know what it’s like playing PlayStation 5 games on a handheld device, the ROG Ally is easily one of the best devices to play with. The gameplay isn’t quite as smooth but you shouldn’t expect it to be. And yes, you’ll find yourself reaching for the power adapter after a little over an hour of playthrough. But being able to play AAA titles on a handheld device still feels crazy to me.

Having started gaming on a family computer and covering tech for a living, it’s still mind-blowing to me how far technology has come. The stuff I only dreamed of as a little fat gamer is coming true thanks to the ROG Ally and its contemporaries. 


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.

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Hands-On

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

But is it worth the subscription?

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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!

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Camera Shootouts

HONOR Magic5 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Camera Shootout

Which camera delivers a 5-star quality?

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HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

2023 is a year where phone brands focus their flagship smartphones towards professional photography — Samsung and HONOR are no exceptions.

Samsung headlines the Galaxy S23 Ultra with its astronomic 200MP camera. That’s with the inclusion of three more cameras. On the other hand, HONOR offers a completely different setup for the Magic5 Pro: triple 50MP cameras to be exact.

While the phone’s naming superlatives don’t actually feel like they are the direct competitors of one another (as HONOR also has the Magic5 Ultimate), this is still the best comparison we can deliver to you because the latter is China-exclusive.

Best of both worlds

Just like in other camera shootouts, it would be amiss not to talk about the specific camera hardware these two smartphones possess.

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Wide 50MP f/1.6
1/1.12” sensor size
OIS + Laser AF + Multi-directional PDAF
200MP f/1.7
1/1.3” sensor size
OIS + Laser AF + Multi-directional PDAF
Ultra-Wide 50MP f/2.0
122º FoV
12MP f/2.2
120º FoV
Telephoto

 

10MP f/2.4
3x optical zoom
Periscope  50MP f/3.0
3.5x optical zoom
10MP f/4.9
10x optical zoom
Selfie 12MP f/2.4 100º
ToF 3D (depth + biometrics)
12MP f/2.2
Others Rear ToF 3D (depth)
Up to 4K/60fps

Up to 8K/30fps

Aside from the obvious difference in megapixel count, the wide camera of the HONOR Magic5 Pro is slightly brighter at f/1.6 (versus f/1.7). Moreover, the Magic5 Pro has an overall bigger pixel count in its ultra-wide and periscope lenses.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (2023)

I just find it weird how HONOR decided to choose a “periscope” camera that only zooms in optically at 3.5x. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 10x periscope zoom lens with a separate 3x telephoto zoom shooter. Of course, both phones are capable of up to 100x digital zoom.

HONOR Magic5 Pro (2023)

Lastly, the HONOR contender is equipped with a ToF 3D sensor on its front and back for depth (plus biometric scanning through Face Unlock). While the Galaxy S23 Ultra doesn’t have one, it can record videos up to 8K/30fps whereas the HONOR maxes out at 4K/60fps.

5-Star Michelin?

There are four sections (plus a bonus segment) in this special smackdown. To make it equally distributed, I’ve carefully picked five (5) photos for each category (except for the bonus part).

This is in favor of HONOR’s Magic “5” naming. And coincidentally, by adding the two digits in the S23 naming scheme also gives us a total of 5 (2+3 = 5 💀)

Disclaimer: Just like other camera shootouts, photos were all taken straight using Auto or Night Mode. These images were collaged, resized, and labeled for faster loading and preview. No other manipulations were applied.

Wide (1x)

On paper, their main cameras seems like a day and night difference — but is that actually the case when they almost share the same lens opening minus the inclusion of 1-inch camera sensors?

W1

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

W2

W3

W4

W5

Ultra-Wide (UWA)

Choose your weapon: 122-degree + f/2.0 aperture or a 120-degree Field of View + f/2.2 ultra-wide camera?

Lastly, 50MP versus 12MP?

U1

U2

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

U3

U4

U5

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Zoom (3~3.5x)

As already stated, the HONOR Magic5 Pro rocks a 3.5x periscope shooter while Samsung is equipped with a telephoto lens that zooms in to 3x. But which is actually the better deal?

Z1

Z2

Z3

Z4

Z5

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Farther Zoom (10x)

As previously mentioned, HONOR markets its 3.5x lens as “periscope”. Meanwhile, Samsung’s periscope is rather farther at 10x. While having that huge optical zoom gap, this doesn’t mean we can’t do a comparison as the HONOR can do its “Magic” using its periscope shooter.

P1

P2

P3

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

P4

P5

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Night Mode

Shooting low-light photos using Night Mode is and will always be the dealbreaker in every camera shootout we make. Proven over many write-ups, Samsung is notorious for its bright night AI algorithm and post-processing techniques. But can you even tell which is which?

N1

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

N2

N3

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

N4

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

N5

BONUS: Faces

The closest camera spec we could have are the selfie cameras of each phone. But actually, one has the advantage of having an ultra-wide angle lens. Also, there’s a lone comparison which showcases how each phone shoots portrait subjects.

B1

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

B2

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

B3

HONOR Magic5 Pro Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

BONUS: Farthest Zoom (Day)

In this comparison we’re going past 10x to actually know how each model performs when it comes to digital zoom.

B4 (30x)

B5 (50x)

BONUS: Farthest Zoom (Night)

I also did the same comparison during the night to actually test out how each phone can withstand the lack of ample light when taking zoomed shots.

B6 (10x)

B7 (30x)

B8 (50x)

Results

Confused with your picks? Well, you’re not alone. Even I had a hard time determining photos side by side.

Photo A – HONOR Magic5 Pro

Photo B – Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Conclusion

For the most part, you would barely distinguish the differences between each phone’s camera quality since they both looked similar. But in other shots, the Galaxy S23 Ultra still has that distinct saturation-boosting among its samples that Samsung always does in its phones (refer to W5 / U3 / U5 / Z5 / P5 / N2 / B5).

But to my surprise, the HONOR Magic5 Pro also delivered an almost equal ratio of photos that lean more towards the warmer and more saturated spectrum (W1 / U2 / Z1 / Z2 / Z4 / N1 / N4 / B6).

HONOR Magic5 Pro

When it comes to HDR, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has the obvious advantage by not bumping up the shadows too much while still preserving the highlights of each photo taken. On the other hand, the Magic5 Pro delivered photos that has an overall brighter exposure — which honestly isn’t my cup of tea (W1 / W2 / W3 / W4 / U2 / U4 / P5 / B4 / B5). It’s either caused by the larger f/1.6 aperture or just HONOR’s HDR algorithm.

Zoomed shots in 3-3.5x look crisp and clear on both phones but if you go past the 10x mark, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra easily beats the HONOR Magic5 Pro with its dedicated 10x periscope zoom lens. With the provided moon shots, well, Samsung isn’t safe from the previous fake moon AI controversy so I’ll leave the judgments to you.

Lastly, selfies are down to your personal preference. In my opinion, the HONOR Magic5 Pro overtakes the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra especially because it has an even wider lens plus a ToF 3D sensor for both portrait depth and biometric scanning (or Face Unlock). The compromise is just the longer pill-shaped cutout instead of the Galaxy’s cleaner punch hole camera.

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