Powkiddy X55: Classic gaming made portable

The Powkiddy X55 is a portable console to re-enjoy the classic games that marked our childhood. This is characterized by its ergonomic design, which accommodates analog joysticks, full set of shoulder buttons and a large screen with HD resolution. Additionally, it has an HDMI output that allows you to connect the console to a TV and other connectivity options such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. That said, it can emulate even PlayStation One games perfectly and the occasional PSP title, but it’s best at 8-bit and 16-bit titles.

On the other hand, if you were looking for a portable console with an even bigger screen, we can recommend the Powkiddy X70 , which exhibits similar features and performance together with a 7-inch IPS screen.

Powkiddy X55: Design and screen

As you can see, this is a console with a horizontal design that emphasizes a large central screen . The body is made of plastic and is not exactly very robust, but in this price range we cannot aspire to higher quality. With that in mind, on the front we’ll get a standard button layout, which feels responsive, although they do have quite a bit of travel due to their height, but are generally very pleasant to use.

The triggers are similar to what you’d find on a Nintendo Switch, they’re stacked and feel responsive, though they do make a bit of noise. The D-Pad is on par with the other buttons in terms of quality, but it’s not the most accurate we’ve seen on a handheld.

Looking closely at the body, we will notice that the main ports are at the top. We are talking about two USB-C, a mini-HDMI output and a 3.5mm headphone jack . At the bottom we get a couple of TF memory slots.

In another vein, the screen is absolutely impressive with its 5.5-inch diagonal and 1280 x 720 pixel resolution . The image truly stands out in the quality of its colors and brightness, as well as denoting great sharpness in this price range. The only negative is that going for a 16:9 aspect ratio will cause black bars to appear on older console titles that only run in 4:3 aspect, but this is to be expected.

The sound quality from the stereo speakers is very good, and the X55 has to be one of the loudest laptops on the market. Fortunately, it is not only loud, but also crisp and clear.

Emulation and games

The Powkiddy X55 comes with over 30 emulators for different platforms and over 8,000 games spread across them , and as you might expect, most are 8-bit and 16-bit era games, though there are a handful of titles (and emulators) of the fifth generation of consoles. Be that as it may, the emulation limit is PSP and all previous consoles are fully playable, but not always perfectly.

You can have a great time playing GameBoy Advance titles on the Powkiddy X55 , as the emulation is seamless and the image fills most of the screen. NES is another console that behaves without problems, but as we already anticipated, there will be black bars on the sides. The story is similar with the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and Arcade machines; its CPU is powerful enough to move all your titles smoothly.

Similarly, PlayStation One is another console that lends itself to emulation on the X55 , which can easily handle your titles at full speed at 2X resolution.

However, it is from here where sacrifices will have to be made to achieve a playable experience. For example, the Sega Saturn requires performance mode to be activated and in several titles it also requires the support of dropped frames (which is activated by default in your emulator), so it will not be an authentic experience. With Sega DreamCast and Nintendo 64 the same thing happens, it is possible to move almost any game, but with the help of this option, since a stable 60FPS cannot be maintained in all of them.

With PSP we will find playable titles and many others that are not , for example, Tekken 5 works well, but God of War will give many problems to be playable.

Connectivity and other features

Interestingly, the Powkiddy X55 has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi , so we can pair peripherals (including controllers for multiplayer) and connect to the Internet to update firmware and the like. Here it is important to highlight the presence of a Mini-HDMI port , which allows projecting the image on a TV and using the console as if it were a desktop.

We will also find a couple of USB-C ports, a 3.5mm audio jack and two SD-slots, although one of them will always be occupied by the card that contains the operating system (JELOS or EmuELEC). The second slot is available to insert an SD card full of game ROMS, and when buying the console we can choose to come with a 64GB, 128GB or 256GB.

Battery

Finally, the console is powered by a 4,000mAh battery that provides around 4 hours of use , although of course, that depends a lot on the kind of games we are playing and the adjustments we make to the screen brightness and volume. With that said, the recharge time is 2 hours.

PROS:

• Large, high-resolution screen
• Controls are decent
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
• Mini-HDMI output

CONS:

• The directional pad leaves a little to be desired
• plastic construction
• It is not powerful enough to emulate PSP 100%

 

Powkiddy X55 Specifications: