Retro handhelds

Retro handheld consoles look like a tonne of fun, and the market has exploded with options for whatever power and aesthetic someone could be looking for. If you have experience with these devices, please let me know what you like/dis about the ones you've used. And if you have wisdom, I'm looking for guidance. I would like to purchase two of these devices, one home unit for early 2000's console titles ( specif. a WindWaker machine for my wife), and a smaller pocketable unit for me to play some GBA/SNES games (with no analog stick) on the go. My biggest factors, for the home unit: >GameCube/MAME/mild PS2 emulation >Multiplayer, local and online >Good dpad, for 2d fighters specifically >Stand up to use/abuse by younger children >Play stuff like Stardew and Spelunky? Devices considered: >Retroid pocket 5 >AYN Odin >ANBERNIC RG353P >ANBERNIC RG405M > ANBERNIC RG556 Then for the portable: >Playcase mostly JRPGs, tactics, falling block puzzles, etc >Very pocketable, smaller than a smartphone, thin >Good screen in all light environments >Battery life >Headphone jack Devices considered: >ANBERNIC RG28XX >Miyoo A30 >Miyoo Mini V4 >Trimui Smart I would only like a clamshell device that is very comfy to pocket when folded (not too thick). I like that clamshells protect the buttons and screen while in storage/pocket.

Isn't it just cheaper to get an old PSP and throw a bunch of emulators on it?

For the home unit, why not just use a PC with a couple usb (or wireless if that's your thing) controllers? >GameCube/MAME/mild PS2 emulation Yes, as long as you're not using a 20yo machine >Multiplayer, local and online Yes >Good dpad, for 2d fighters specifically Use whatever controller you want >Stand up to use/abuse by younger children Teach your children not to throw stuff. Use wireless controllers if you can't >Play stuff like Stardew and Spelunky? Obviously Bonus: - Can be used to watch torrented movies - Not locked to whatever OS/firmware was installed in your chinese box

These cheap chink emulators are never good. Even for the pricepoint you can afford old original hardware instead, a PSP or a beat up 3DS comes cheaper than these usually. If you seriously want to try having a capable emulation box then you'll want at least mid-range hardware, and again, getting a PS2 off a flea market or finding a Wii U to softmod will be kinder to your pockets.

>>8182 RG556 owner here. Like >Nice screen >Nice sound >Really light so you can take it anywhere >Pretty good hardware for the price >Super comfortable on the hands >Emulates up to Gamecube/Wii although I haven't tested it. PS2 emulation runs pretty sweet tho. Dislike >Buttons are kinda soykaf >Button locations make using the touchscreen super uncomfortable, be it for video games that need the touch screen, or writing on it >keymapper software doesn't allow much customization and is lackluster for some android games I used it for like 6 months and ended up switching back to my Steam Deck Oled for retrogaming cause I prefer the buttons and screen size, although I miss the size and weight of the RG556.

>>8186 How's the battery life?

>>8183 PSPs vary in price a lot, they're about as much (or more expensive) than a chinese handheld. also not good for SNES and much of the GBA library which happen to be two of the most popular consoles to emulate. if you only want native PSP games and good emulation for PS1, genesis and 8bit stuff it's a good option. the PSP display isn't good either, but display mods are cheap.

I haven't found a reason to use anything other than a PSP/Vita for retro emulation. Vita's biggest drawback is the sticks that seem to extend a bit too far for comfort. My left one is already ghosting, but I only play 2D games anyway so it doesn't affect me too greatly for the time being. The PSPGO's formfactor applies well to being pocketable, but its button placement can cause handcramps with extended use. >>8182 Any decent handhelds usable for Saturn emulation? Or at least just for SF3. I was thinking of getting a TrimUI for Dreamcast, but I find myself just using it to replay Sonic Adventure for the billionth time. >>8183 As much as I love the PSP, it's starting to show its age. Thankfully, most SNES and GBA game I throw at it run reasonable well, but for those consoles a 3DS with VC injects blows it out of the water.

>>8182 What's that Pico-8 one? Was there an actual Pico-8 handheld? That would be cool.>>8182 If you put retro gaming emulators on a thumb drive, and then you hold it in your hand, is that a retro gaming handheld? I say yes. So I'm going to wage slave this very related YouTube video: https://youtu.be/LzKpdnfspA4?si=nvYUin-MdpDWeysz

It me OP. Some good thoughts brought up so far, and I think it just goes to show that there are so many varied tastes in gaming that there is a product or setup that scratches everyone's itch differently. I like the feeling of a gaming on the go machine, I think for me its growing up with GB pocket and then into GBA then DS, it feels more intimate, almost more like a book. A good emulation setup on a PC or a hacked console is a must, but it doesn't let me play Qbert on the bus. Or take my gaming session with me to bed, or to the bath, or to the deck if it's nice out (for the home unit) >>8183 I was never really a big fan of the PSPs formfactor or the analog sticknub. I have a 3DS and it's hacked and great, but imo it's way to big to keep in my pocket all day. >>8205 The retroid and the Odin are apparently the top teir for the Chinese market ones, but I've also heard said if you're putting that much money into it you might as well just go Steam Deck or Asus Rog Ally >>8216 I don't know the name of that consle your referring to, but the picrel handheld I just received comes with a Pico-8 emulator so you can load and run it like any other emulator. I think it comes standard built in to many of these devices which have the same or similar OS. I ended up impulse preordering pictured the Gamekiddy Pixel 2. It's very small, with a greatly improved screen from the first iteration, and is made of metal. Overall so far very impressed, the quality is nice and it's not uncomfortable to hold. The trigger buttons take a lot of pressure to press (with a satisfying click) so I can hold it easily with my index fingers on the buttons, but still click them comfortably if I need to. Some people on other boards are complaining about the bezel around the screen but I straight up don't notice it. When you're playing the game, are you ever even thinking about what's outside the screen? I just care about a good quality screen with good depth of light and colour, and that's what I got. Haven't had a problem reading text in menus and JRPGs. The built in OS isn't amazing, but that's to be expected. It does come with RetroArch and thousands of games... just barely any first party Nintendo stuff (other than all the Pokemon plus a good amount of Pokemon romhacks). I haven't even begun to tinker with everything or add my most wanted games and I've already sunk some solid hours into it from what just came out of the box. Best games I've played so far: QBert (NES), Diablo (PS1), F-Zero (SNES), Wario Land 2 (GBC), Billy Bob's Huntin' 'n' 'fishin' (GBC),

I may be too late to chime in, but oh well… I have some chink handhelds: - retroid pocket 3 plus (black) - Anbernic rg28xx (orange) - fpgbc (dark clear) - and my old gameboy in a new case (the light gray one) Pictured. The first one does simple ps2 games and a lot of GameCube, but it would be better to get a retroid pocket 4 plus for the best price/performance/eegonomics combo. For simple games up to PSX I’d recommend the Anbernic rg35xxH because the rg28xx is tiny for some psx and SNES games. The FPGBC is an FPGA gameboy color and works great for my old gameboy carts and my flash cart.

>>8182 If you don't need it to be pocketable, and just want something portable enough to easily take with you when traveling, or to play comfortably in bed, I'd recommend using your smartphone if it can run emulators well, with a telescopic controller, the size of the whole thing is pretty similar to a Nintendo Switch, but really cheap depending on the controller you get, and considering you've already got the smartphone to begin with. I'd say the main issue is negative space, I've "solved" this with the bigblur.glslp shader.

>>8282 I'm >>8216 , and hey that's pretty cool. Is it some Chinese slop, though? Are you Chinese? The words seem to be in Chinese. I like that it looks very portable and small, although it would probably make me have to really really crane my neck and strain my eyes to look at it. I like Wario Land 2 quite a bit. I always liked the NES version of Wario's Woods quite a bit, too.

How’s the actual long-term durability on these things? Not talking about performance or buttons feeling mushy, I mean real-world wear like hinges, ports, battery degradation. I get that they churn out a new model every 6 weeks, but some popular models have been around for 3-5 years now. Has anyone actually daily-driven one of these for a year or more without it falling apart?

>>8467 All my devices have had good lives. I had an Anbernic rg351mp bought when it launched (2021) and I sold it as good as new to buy the current retroid pocket 3+, which is now three years old and still perfect. I haven’t noticed any battery degradation, but I don’t spend all my time playing on it either. Before that I had an Anbernic rg350 bought in 2019 and sold it three years later and it was also in top shape, though it was showing its age performance wise by the time I sold it (I couldn’t play PSX perfectly with it).

>>8457 I just pulled a pic off the web. The OS has many language options. Yes it is Chinese made, many of the products in the market right now are slop for sure, do your research and check reviews on button/shell quality, and whether it can smoothly play the systems it claims. The screen is small but the quality is very sharp, and the brightness range is nice. I've definitely had to find some postures and holding positions in the hand that allow for a more comfortable experience in longer play sessions. For on the go, quick sessions, it hasn't been a problem yet. It's not harder to hold than a smartphone.

>>8182 As someone whose only handhelds are a simple Famiclone, and their smartphone/tablet if it counts, the R36s is the only proper handheld I can really afford at the moment... for someone who really wanted a GBC back then, but never got it, and who got a GBA eventually, but didn't enjoy it much for the lack of a backlit screen... can a R36s fill the gaps for me? I'm tempted to get it.

The Insane Engineering of the Gameboy Real Engineering 5.02M subscribers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKm45Az02YE

>>8448 On this topic still, using a tablet is also great if you want to use CRT shaders.

ive seen some of these chink handhelds at a supermarket before, interesting though... i wouldnt get one of these chinesium box like the gb advance sp light that i still have (the screen is gone)

I've been using a hacked old 3DS to play my retro games and the community is awesome. There is a ton of documentation and support. I highly recommend to anyone that likes NES/SNES. However, it doesn't do PSX or N64 very well.

I used an Anbernic RG35xx for a while and was quite good for the price. It was actually pocketable, and I would take it with me everywhere, like I did with the PSP at the time. I had a blast with arcade games since I made it auto-save and load, so I could do Don Don Pachi for a couple of minutes, turn it off, then hop in again quickly some other time.

>>8579 R36s is a pretty solid machine for it's price. The issue is that it's "open source" (the components inside are commonly available and original producer did not scrapped any markings) so there's a lot of clones and knockoffs flying around and everyone's using different screens with different drivers and that makes using custom firmware a massive pain in the ass. If you can get one from a good seller or don't care about custom firmware, it's a good first purchase.

have you considered getting a newer psp and a new 3ds xl? once hacked you have access to pretty much any major retro console via emulation and the huge plus size is the psp family can natively run psp and ps1 games and the new 3ds can natively run all ds family games and all gameboy advanced games. this is better than most emulation options because the games will be 1:1 with no major glitching. i dunno i just think its something to consider before buying a machine specifically for emulation.

i saw one called the ayn thor that looked cool. might buy one and put emulators that support retro achievements on it

>>9332 Ayn Thor is kind of meh. Dual Screen sounds cool is you play a lot of DS and 3DS games, but besides that they are just a meme. Also the stock Operating System has major issues with screen sync.