Retro Handhelds

[Harrison]

Has anyone bought and played around with any of the recently released retro gaming handhelds?

There have been loads coming out of China in the last couple of years and this year we have finally been seeing some really nice, good quality products at great prices.

Retroid Pocket 2 - I grabbed this one on preorder and finally received it in November. Very nice build quailty and screen. Big battery and great hardware spec. It even has HDMI out, wifi, and bluetooth so you could pair controllers, connect it to your TV and use it as a full console. And unlike many other this runs full blown Android, so you have access to all Android emulation.

Brilliant system if you don't mind putting a bit of work in to get the most from it. It can emulate right up to N64, PSX and even Dreamcast and PSP.

The best part. It's only $80 and available in loads of colour combinations based on retro colour schemes. Best ordered directly from Retroid, but expect a wait to arrive.

Anbernic RG351P - Anbernic have built a reputation for brilliant build quality, surpassing all others, and very near to something from Nintendo. Anbernic offer great support and also have a great community supporting they hardware and we have seen a lot of releases and ports.

Their RG350 released last year was their first truly great retro handheld, but being quite expensive and a bit limited in some regards it wasn't prefect. The new RG351P builds on it and is a really nice handheld.

Unlike the Retroid that is Android based, the RG351 runs on a Linux based OS (and is inspired by and as with many retro handheld releases this year often referred to as a Odroid-Go Advance clone). It uses the Emulation Station frontend and is really slick and easy to use. There are already 3 different firmwares available to download and use from SD card for the 351, these being EmuELEC, 351ELEC or ArkOS. All use the Emulation Station front end but offer different things. ArkOS f.ex. is based on Ubuntu, has a more up to date file system, 64bit support and a separate partition for roms.

The hardware is really nice. Similar spec to the Retroid. One thing to note is that it's resolution is far lower than the Retroid. That has a 640x480 display, whereas the 351 has a 480x320 display. The display is actually higher quailty with wider viewing angles and better colours than the Retroid, just lower resolution. But for retro gaming it's exactly 2x GBA resolution so those games look superb. And most earlier systems fit within that resolution fine. Including PSP. Only once you get to PSX will you see it starting to be scaled down, and for the newer systems I would recommend the Retroid Pocket 2 because of its resolution and ability to handle newer system emulation a bit better.

The 351 is also more limiting in ports. Unlike the Retroid it didn't have hdmi out so is purely handheld.

Price wise it's more expensive than the Retroid. Full price is about $100. But I just grabbed one from DroiX.net for £72 advertised as a Christmas sale, which I didn't think was a bad price at all.

Which to buy?

If you want great build quailty, good manufacturer and community support, and a handheld that runs a frontend out of the box setup that just works buy the Anbernic RG351P. You won't regret it.

If however you like a bit more freedom. The ability to run anything Android based, including Retroarch and the other bonus is all Android games too. In fact you can even run Steam Link and madly stream current PC games and play them on this little handheld. And don't forget the higher resolution display. Then you won't regret the more versatile and cheaper Retroid Pocket 2.

But whichever you choose you won't regret it as they are both great handhelds for retro gaming.

[Demon Cleaner]

I bought is the RG350M from Anbernic (M stands for the metal version which also has a 640x480 screen). It has a great finish and feels great in your hands, definitely a fantastic handheld. Has a seperate SD slot for games only f.ex, so your ROMs are always safe. Only downside is that it doesn't have the power to run DC, PSP or N64 games, PSX run fine though.

I run SimpleMenu as frontend.

https://i.imgur.com/3dT3xuB.jpg

I recently also bought the PowKiddy RGB10, which I didn't set up yet, but wanted to have it, as it's more powerful than the RG350M and it WILL run DC, PSP and N64. The RGB10 is also a lot cheaper than the RG350M.

https://i.imgur.com/EYrgcUb.png

[Harrison]

The RG351P I mentioned above is basically an updated 350, but without tge nice metal case m, with P = plastic. But build quality is superb. The other big difference is the lower screen resolution, but honestly you don't actually notice for most retro games as their native resolution is lower. Its also got a newer CPU and GPU then the 350 so can handle PSP, N64 and some DC games far better.

But the one thing that actually made me buy the 351 is community support. It's huge and far larger than any other handheld. And it's something else that's different from tge 350. That's got a pretty fixed firmware and OS, based on Emulation Station and retroarch. The 351 still uses both, but what's happening at the moment is really cool. There are multiple firmwares and OSs in active development for the 351. The 2 most interesting are Elec51 and ArcOS.

ELEC51 is based on the same frontend as the default bundled firmware, but running on Linux taking it to a whole level further. To the point they are porting Raspberry Pi emulators and other software over. And it can do live wifi os updates.

ArcOS goes another route too as it's running Ubuntu 19.10 with emulation Station and retroarc frontend on top the same. But adds a ton of features and abilities.

The 351 is looking to be really gaining community support, with each branch OS/firmare have discord accounts and github pages.

And the other I mentioned, the Retroid Pocket 2, has finally received its Android 8 firmware update. It makes the system a reported 25% faster, adds a nicer Android 8 interface with far more setup options. It's also compatible with far more Android software, plus it's own Retroid Pocket OS frontend now has far more options and settings. The downfall of the Retroid Pocket 2 is conpared to the Anbernic systems it feels more pkasticy and the buttons and controls not quite as nice. But it does have the 640x480 IPS screen, compared to the 480x320 screen of the 351P. But each screen lends itself prefecture to different systems, so I will use each for different systems abd setups.

Still so much more to explore on both systems, it will take me months. Plus with one of the 351 firmwares now starting to see Raspberry Pi software crossover, I also have my new RPi4 to play around with and test things across both systems.

Retro is really getting cool and exciting again.

You will have to let me kbow what you think of the PowKiddy RGB10. I read a bit about it but not much. Probably somewhere bwtween the Anbernic devices and tge Retroid in terms of performance. I personally like having the 2 analogue sticks. I also like that tge 351 even has R3 buttons and rumble too, which is now starting to be supported in more emulators.

[Demon Cleaner]

The Odroid Go Super is also coming out of January, looks very promising and has a 5" IPS screen. The very sad downside of it, it still uses the same CPU and 1GB of RAM, same like the older Odroid Go Advance. I like the form factor of the device, but until they don't upgrade the CPU, I won't be getting one, seems redundant.

[Harrison]

Anbernic is now releasing the RG351M.

It's identical to the 351P internally, but with a nice metal case similar to the 350M. However they have managed to fix the wifi issue and it's included internally again. With the P they had to remove it because the antenna was causing audio interference. And instead bundle an external USB wifi dongle.

Bit annoying as I only just got the 351P. I'm not bothered by the metal case so much as the plastic case is still good quality, but the built in wifi would have been good. Not too much of an issue though. The wifi is only really to update things like the artwork and I'm not likely to use netplay.

The RF351M is quite a big upgrade from the RG350M though. It has a 1.5GHz quad core cpu vs a 1GHz dual core CPU, and also has 1GB ram vs 512MB. Plus Linux based rather than OpenDingux means you have more firmware/OS options with ever growing community support and Raspberry Pi OS/Emulation/frontend cross platform development and porting.

[Demon Cleaner]

I'm tempted, if I manage to sell my RG350M. As the specs upgrade is quite significant, and I want to run those N64, PSP and DC games from it. The only thing that bothers me is that it's still running in this older RK3326 chip, which might not be able to run ALL of the PSP or N64 games.

[Harrison]

No current handhelds can run all N64 or PSP games. But the 351 can run much better then the 350. But for these the best is currently the Retroid Pocket 2, but although I really like the system it's design and build quailty and button/thumbstick layout isn't as good as Anbernic's. That's why I own both. Play the lower systems on the 351, and the newer systems on the RP2. The perfect solution would be to combine the RP2 inside an Anbernic case design.

If you want the best handheld for PSP, then a hacked Vita is the best solution by a huge amount. It's the only handheld other than the actual PSP that can run God of War perfectly f.ex. in fact a hacked Vita is the best solution as a handheld Sony systems setup as it runs PS1, PSP and Vita perfectly.

[Demon Cleaner]

Yeah I know about the Vita, unfortunately I sold mine some time ago, almost like new.

But I wanna have one single handheld that can play everything, if I go on holiday, I don't wanna take 3 different handhelds with me. That's the whole point.

I just have to wait a bit for the next gen handhelds with upgraded chips, or one with an integrated Pi4, like the N+:

https://i.imgur.com/x8vz5iM.jpg

The new GPD Win 3 kickstarter campaign starts today, looks great, saw a review from Linus, looks promising, but here we're probably talking about the 1000$ mark, so not really calling it "handheld" anymore.

https://www.gpd.hk/default

[Harrison]

There are definitely more powerful budget CPUs and hardware starting to appear that hopefully we will see in the next generation of handhelds. These provide the next level of performance needed to run N64, Dreamcast, PSP, PS1 etc really well.

Take a look at this video of a Chinese budget 10.1" tablet review, called the M40. It's only £126 but can handle emulation of PSP at full speed, including God of War. It seems to handle N64 fine too. The big surprise for this price is near prefect Gamecube emulation and even able to handle some PS2 and Wii. Imagine in another year we might see something from Anbernic able to run nearly everything up to the PS2 and Wii. That would be very nice indeed. Would never be able to decide what to play!

https://youtu.be/OSvin0iA3Ug

[Demon Cleaner]

The tablet looks nice, but then again, do I want to carry around another tablet? I like the form factor of handhelds. even my 7" screen JXD was fine, everything bigger I wouldn't want.

We have ace CPUs in every Chinese mobile phone, if they would put something powerful like that, it would be fine, but I guess they want to keep them lowest cost possible.

We will probably see in one year or so.

Btw, GPD Win 3 campaign started over at Indiegogo, I was quite right, price is 949$ for the top model.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gpd-win3-the-world-s-1st-handheld-aaa-game-console#/

[Harrison]

That's the thing. It's all about price. My current Samsung S20 phone is far more powerful than any of these retro handhelds. Even my 3 year old Samsung S8 is far more powerful. But that's comparing a $1000 phone with an $80 retro handheld, and that price difference just highlights what amazing value for money these newer ones are, especially the RG351P, which I got for £72. Amazing price really.

I I suspect you are the same. Although our smartphones are so much more powerful they are just not practical to play retro games on, and the physical controls of these little retro handhelds makes all the difference between watching a game running well and actually being able to play it.

[Demon Cleaner]

I suspect you are the same. Although our smartphones are so much more powerful they are just not practical to play retro games on, and the physical controls of these little retro handhelds makes all the difference between watching a game running well and actually being able to play it.
Exactly. I like gaming on my iPad, but games meant to play on tablets, definitely not retro gaming. There are loads of great strategy, adventure, RPG, puzzle and even racing games that work well on the tablet.

[Harrison]

Have you tried using an 8BitDo controller with a smartphone mount?

Personally I know it would give the best Android emulation preformance far more powerful than any dedicated retro handheld, but I just think it's a too cumbersome a setup to use out and about. I could see me using it if I were camping or somewhere static, but not on a train, bus or sitting in the park.

The other issue is battery life. Smartphone drain their batteries really fast playing games. They are much better with far larger batteries and super fast charging is brilliant these days. I can charge my S20 from 15% to full in 45 minutes, which is quite impressive, but then gaming you would be lucky to last 2-3 hours. On something like the Anbernic handhelds you can easily get 6 hours and being so small can just drop it in your bag or coat pocket.

I also think other than the price point the hardware components in retro Handhelds are lower powered than current smartphones to reduce power consumption to increase battery life.

Although not an Apple fan I'm hoping their shift from Intel to fully adopting Arm based M4 processors in all their Macs could see a big knock-on effect in a year or 2 for more powerful mobile processors that are more enery efficient. And that could greatly benefit the retro Handhelds in the future.

[Demon Cleaner]

I have absolutely no interest of using a controller together with my phone, the point is being mobile. And when I'm home, what is the point of gaming on a handheld or a tablet with a controller, when I can play on my 75" TV or 108" beamer in 4K?

I have a 12.1" iPad Pro, and the battery drains quite fast when playing, a lot faster than on a normal iPad, I guess it's due to the large screen. Plus charging takes also quite a while until full 100%, only negative thing about it. But I don't mind too much, as I'm never playing longer than 30 minutes or such.

[Demon Cleaner]

There's also the AYA NEO starting on Indiegogo soon, looks very interesting too.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aya-neo-world-s-first-7nm-handheld-gaming-device--2/coming_soon/x/19138613?status=confirmed

[Harrison]

Droix.net keep posting previews about this one. Looks interesting, although pretty big for a handheld.

47Wh Battery! :o

That's quite a battery.. must be heavy. But you would need something quite powerful to power what is basically PC hardware in a handheld.

[Demon Cleaner]

Btw, did you see this one, looks amazing in my opinion, fantastic design.

https://retrododo.com/new-sega-game-gear/

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I bought a Nintendo Switch Lite yesterday :)

I was browsing, and saw that they had the yellow edition in stock, which is my favorite color, and it was reduced by 40€, so the price was 189€. Plus I got a really nice yellow pouch to store it for travel, and I also got a yellow official MicroSD card from Nintendo with 256GB. Yellow all the way :lol:

I never considered buying one, but during this pandemic I save loads of money and sometimes I just need to buy something. Being able to play some nice Nintendo games or indie titles on the go seems fun though.

Didn't research yet about Switch Lite hacking, don't know if that's possible yet?

UPDATE: Apparently there's not softmod for the Lite, you have to install a modchip called SX LITE.

[Harrison]

Is there a Softmod for the normal Switch then? I didn't know that. If so I'm getting one! :lol: I'd held off buying one until a working softmod was available as the games are too expensive, although I would still buy the key games such as the Mario titles but a mod would be great to run the older ported Nintendo games as I refuse to rebuy N64 and SNES games I already own.

But there is a lot of rumours of a new updated Switch with a higher resolution screen, faster CPU and 4K TV mode support coming this year some time after April.

[Demon Cleaner]

But there is a lot of rumours of a new updated Switch with a higher resolution screen, faster CPU and 4K TV mode support coming this year some time after April.
Do you mean this one: https://retrododo.com/super-nintendo-switch/

https://i.imgur.com/dU2mhdA.jpg

[Harrison]

Yes, that's one of the latest renders of what it might look like. Makes it look more like a Sony Vita. Lots of sites reporting slightly different rumours.

There's some new rumours saying it will be a proper console and not support mobile gaming, but I think that would defeat the whole point, although maybe Nintendo are thinking the Lite will take over as the main handheld version, and a full TV based Switch as the main system. But then wouldn't that make the name Switch a bit meaningless?

[Harrison]

Lots of community activity regarding the Anbernic RG351P/M at the moment. There's a new version of the main EmuELEC OS, as well as a new version of ArkOS.

And a new package has now been added that you can link into RetroArch that allows all RPGMaker games to run perfectly.. not everyone is bothered by fan made RPGs but there have been some very nice SNES era style RPGs created and commercially released using it. This setup let's you take the files directly from PC Steam installed RPGMaker based game installs to add them in. There is a complete guide to setting this up on Youtube by Retro Corps.

[Demon Cleaner]

I have a huge amount of the RPGMaker stuff, and I wanted to implement it to my RG350M, but the RetroArch core still had some problems to run it.

[Harrison]

There was a recent new beta of OpenDingux released for the 350 so might be worth taking a look at that.

But remember the 350 hardware is quite a bit behind the 351 which might be an issue running the emulator. Plus they run different OSs too. The 350 runs OpenDingux and the 351 runs EmuElec as standard but also has other available including ArkOS. So I think EmuElec combined with double the ram and a faster quad core cpu makes a big difference.

[Demon Cleaner]

The AYA NEO is now live on Indiegogo, I grabbed one, the black 1TB version.

The early bird perk of 42 units was gone after 30 seconds, and they reached their funding goal in 1 minute.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aya-neo-world-s-first-7nm-handheld-gaming-device--2/x/19138613#/

[Harrison]

Nice. Let me know what you think once you have it. I've been watching the preview reviews on YouTube and it looks nicely designed and implemented.

Is still quite mad to think of a full blown gaming PC in a large handheld.

Will be interesting to see the battery life you manage too.

[J T]

Of course you have to get the M,

METUL!!!! RAWWWRRRRRRRRgh:rockbanana::ridingbanana::evil::rocker::rocker:

[Harrison]

There's another new Retro Handheld on the horizon. The KT R1.

https://retrododo.com/kt-r1/

This has a similar look to the recent Retroid Pocket 2, and is also Android based, but running 9, whereas the RP2 is currently on 8. But I've not found any issues with 8 on the RP2, but a more recent OS is always nice to have.

This wull also feature a faster CPU and GPU to elevate it above existing retro Handhelds plus either 2GB or 4GB ram sounding on which model you opt for. All current handhelds struggle a bit with more demanding PSP, N64 and Dreamcast titles, as most released last year are running a Quad core 1 to 1.5Ghz CPU with 1GB ram. This increased speed and ram will hopefully allow more to run at full framerate without any stuttering, or the need to set framskipping.

One big game changer for this new handheld isn't actually the faster CPU or more ram. It's actually the inclusion on a higher resolution touchscreen. Up to now the best of these handhelds have had very nice displays but having a touchscreen, especially running Android, will be a massive improvement. It will also allow better emulation for systems such as DS and allow you to play more native Android games far easier.

Will I buy one? At the moment I will wait and see. Why?
The Retroid and Anbernic brands which are well established, have their own websites, and have very good after sales support and communities. Bin contrast the amazing thing is this new handheld is from a single person! He helped design sone other recent handhelds so has the exclusive, and has connections with Chinese manufacturers so getting the product into production shouldn't be an issue. But I will wait and see the volumes of consoles he can manage to produce, the quality of the finished product and its build quality. Anbernic set a benchmark for build quality a couple of years ago and it will take a lot to match it. And after sales support and community interest for continued updates and development.

Even if this new handheld doesn't turn out to be worth a purchase there is one thing for sure. The fact it can include a touchscreen for the first time, plus a faster CPP and at kat twice the ram, means the other existing manufacturers will need to up their soecs for their next systems. I really hope Anbernic and Retroid can come up with something later in the year to match this spec level.

[Demon Cleaner]

Looks very interesting, and like they mention, other manufacturers will have to up their specs for oncoming devices. But that would have come anyway eventually, this only gives them an uproar.

[Harrison]

Another couple of handhelds.

First the Anbernic RG351V has just been launched. As the name suggests it's in the same family as the RG351P/M and shares exactly the same internal hardware. But its form factor is vertical and basically looks like a large Gameboy Colour. It also has a 4:3 aspect ratio screen with a 640x480 resolution, so different to the 3:2 480x320 resolution of the horizontal versions. Whilst this aspect ratio and resolution is better for PS1 and other retro consoles, it's actually amusingly not correct for Gameboy advance games, whereas the 3:2 ratio and resolution of the others is actually exactly double. It just means you would have black bars for some systems if set to the correct aspect.

Anyway, on to another upcoming system.

The Analogue Pocket This is a different beast to the other retro handhelds. For one it's $199, so a lot more expensive, but it's got a really high resolution 3.5" screen at 1600x1440. Next it's FPGA based, not software emulation, so the system hardware system cores are written to the FPGA, not running on an OS like software emulsion. So this makes it very interesting for the retro enthusiasts.

The big difference is also that this is not emulating systems or running roms. It runs original system game cartridges.

The Analogue Pocket uses an Altera Cyclone V processor, and is compatible with the original Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges out of the box. With cartridge adapters (sold separately) the Analogue Pocket can play Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket, Neo Geo Pocket Color and Atari Lynx game cartridges. The Analogue Pocket includes an additional FPGA, allowing developers to create other "cores".

You are read more here:
https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/more-than-a-game-boy-the-analogue-pocket-is-available-for-pre-order

And the Wiki page here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogue_Pocket

The developers have therefore designed this as a single handheld for original games, but with the second programmable FPGA, and an SD card slot to program it, how long before someone creates a custom core to run emulators and roms from a custom cartridge or even from the SD card.

[Demon Cleaner]

The Analogue Pocket is really looking nice but not for me, if I can't use emulation, forget it, don't want to ne restricted with 1 single game. Same problem for me is the Evercade with it's collection cartridges, quite expensive and limited games.

I just bought another PS Vita (2000), a white one from eBay.

I was looking today again at the 351P, the new 351Elec v2.0 looks quite good, but still, for the little power more of the 350, I don't know. At least it's already in my shopping basket ;)

Also noticed that the RG351V is out, looks very nice, plus I have already many "landscape" handhelds, so having a vertical one is something different. I also really like the wooden design, quite special.

EDIT: Ok done, just ordered the RG351V and a 512GB Samsung EVO Select microSD card.

[Harrison]

The RG351V is definitely an interesting design. Also has a higher resolution and different aspect ratio to the 351P/M. When I watched reviews I was surpised how big it was compared to an original Gameboy.

I agree about the Analogue Pocket and Evercade. Great projects but not for me either. Some people like to collect officially licensed releases for these systems. I just like to emulate everything.

[J T]

Whilst I have no problem personally with piracy or emulation, I'm wondering how do companies that make things like this skirt around the legal issues? Or is it a case of, (assumption) being Chinese, they can pretty much just ignore it as the license holders can't really reach that far?

[Demon Cleaner]

Sometimes I wonder about that too, the Super Console X (Pro) f.ex. gets shipped with 50.000 games pre-installed, from Atari to ZX, how do they manage to sell it?

I also got another PS Vita from eBay yesterday, a PCH-1004 model, as I think that one still looks better than the slim version. This one is in top mint condition, and comes with Henkaku 3.65 Enso pre-installed, Sd2vita card with a fully loaded 512GB SD card.

[Harrison]

Nice. So the SDtoVita cards look like a standard Vita Memory card to the Vita? And you can use it with an unmodified Vita? I've only got a 64GB official Vita memory card in mine, but want to try and download all the games I have in the store before it gets closed, so being able to put a 512GB SD card in and download to that would be perfect, if it works like that.

[Demon Cleaner]

Here's some guide for the SDtoVita, https://www.wellpcb.com/special/sd2vita.html

You have to format the card plus install some apps in order to get it working.

I just got the black Vita, and I have to say it looks absolutely in top condition, I cannot find one single scratch, this looks like completely new. It's loaded with already 400GB of stuff, have to fiddle around a bit. PKGj app is also installed, there you can just download every single game there is from the page directly to your device with the NoNpDrm fake license. 3279 games available for download. No need to install the games I owned, as you can just download everything you want. Wonder if that still works once PSN is down. Are those games even hosted on Sony's servers? EDIT: Apparently yes, you basically download straight away from their servers.

There's also every single possible hacking app installed, emulators including RetroArch, and of course Adrenaline for the PSP games, with already 100 games pre-installed.

The only thing I don't know, can I now login with my user, or will that get banned then? I see that there's are Henkaku settings inside the Vita's normal settings, and has PSN and version spoofing enabled. Spoofed version is set to 3.73 which I think is the last firmware for the Vita. So I wwill have to check if I can sign in or not.

[Harrison]

Very interesting info. Cheers for that. The Vita is the only system I've never tried to hack, mainly because I still use mine with my real PSN account.

BTW, don't try to log in to your PSN account from the hacked Vita. You face a strong chance of getting your account permanently banned, which could also hardware ban your PS4.

[Demon Cleaner]

BTW, don't try to log in to your PSN account from the hacked Vita. You face a strong chance of getting your account permanently banned, which could also hardware ban your PS4.

Although they mention that it's quite 100% safe, but you're right, not gonna sign in to PSN when using this console.

So I installed already a lot of stuff I wanted, Vita games get installed with DLC and updates already included. In the PKGj app you can also download your PSP, PSP minis and PSX games, DLC, updates, like everything with just one button click, how great is that. I'm currently downloading a huge catalogue of games, which takes quite long over WiFi.

Amiga emulation also works quite well with Use4All2 Mod, have to test it out a bit more.

I'm currently making "bubbles" for my PSP games with a nice Adrenaline Bubbles Manager, so you have your PSP games well organized in the Live area and can launch them straight away without having to launch Adrenaline first. Will do the same with PSX games.

RetroArch is fully configured with around 40 different categories including all media like pictures, screenshots, backgrounds and videos. Very nicely done by the guy.

Stiéé have to test out a bit DC with Flycast, and I'm gonna install ScummVM on it, as the Vita might be a nice console to run those games.

I also just received my slim white Vita from eBay, and again, it looks like mint condition, absolutely nice. This one I'm probably not gonna hack, but will see which games I can download that I owned once I log in with my real account. This one came without anything, no cards, no cables, original firmware.

Keeps me quite busy :lol: And again, like with everything else, once I'm done setting up, I will probably put it aside. But that's most of the fun, don't you agree?

I'm gonna post some pictures once I receive my RG351V.

[Harrison]

Sounds great. Let me know how RetroArch runs different systems on the Vita? I watched a YouTube video of someone testing Vita emulation recently and they were not very positive about it, saying many systems didn't emulate well. I wasn't convinced he knew that he was doing.

There are also some standalone emulators for some systems on Vita with trying, such as the N64 emulator DaedalusX64. You can also stream games from your PC, like Steam link, using an app called Moonlight.

When you look back at the hardware spec of the Vita it was quite cutting edge at the time. quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore (same as the iPad3), 512MB Ram and 128MB VRam, OLED touch screen etc. That was an amazing spec at the time, and other than the Ram still blows most of the recent retro handheld releases out of the water

[Demon Cleaner]

There is DaedalusX64 already installed, but I was never really into N64 games, look weird.

Just installed ScummVM, gonna try that later. Finished putting my PSP games nicely into categories, now I'll check PSX. Still have 150GB left for more of the Vita games. Have still to try DC out.

I also watched a video where they showed that Vita emulation isn't the best, and I also don't need it that much on the Vita, as I have it running on many other systems. Although if it's already there, and doesn't take up too much space, I can also leave it. But I'm gonna let you know after doing some testing of different systems.

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Ok so far I only tested N64 and DC, N64 has serious problems running properly, big sound issues, and also graphical glitches, would definitely not recommend. And DC is almost non playable.

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ScummVM works perfect and also Amiga, although not with WHDLoad .lha files, which are the only ones I have, nee .hdf files.

[Demon Cleaner]

And another thing I want to mention. Now that I have both Vita models, I can compare them. Visually not a lot is different, the weight indeed a bit, but it's no issue at all, kind of prefer the chunkier model, holding them in your hands feels almost the same. The only think I noticed while comparing is that the OLED screen is much much brighter and colorful and looks a lot better than the LCD one. I have brightness turned out to maximum, and when using the slim alone, it seems fine, but putting them next to each other makes a huge difference, I might take a picture. I know that the OLED should obviously better, but so far I only read comments that the LCD screen is also really nice and you wouldn't see the difference so much. Well I can tell it's definitely a big difference.

If I could only get one model, I wouldn't hesitate and get the first model all the way.

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Here's a picture of the PKGj app for the games.

Picture of the available games, EUR and USA only selected

https://i.imgur.com/1duK7rv.jpg

On the right side you can see what's available

https://i.imgur.com/QGYol7H.jpg

And when you chose a game, it will install the patch straight away if available

https://i.imgur.com/AvdxZfF.jpg

Same works for PSP, PSX, DLC...

[Harrison]

I've got the original OLED version. It is a brilliant display. Interesting to know there is a noticeable difference. In tempted to get a second Vita now to try all this out on now.

[Demon Cleaner]

Just be fast to get one before the servers shut down.

[Harrison]

Where did you get your one from?

[Demon Cleaner]

So the servers are definitely not going to shut down eventually.

I got mine from eBay.

[Demon Cleaner]

I received my RG351V yesterday and it looks absolutely gorgeous :o It feels also super comfortable in my hands, just awesome.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to test it yet, still busy with my Vita. This whole week I was creating a favorite Amiga adf set, as I cannot use the WHDLoad files I use in LaunchBox, so I basically had to start from scratch. Finished today, still have renaming to do to have it proper.

I'm also still installing ScummVM games to it, they're all copied, but as you know, you have to add them 1 by 1. But they work all like a charm, nice to have them on a handheld device, who would ever had thought that.

Still have to test the whole RetroArch stuff, plus I put also EasyRPG and OpenBOR for testing, still some work.

[Harrison]

ScummVM is supported on the RG351, so will work on your new RG351V. The ArkOS firmware is the best for them though. You can also install ScummVM on the 350M too.

I've also got it preinstalled on my Retroid Pocket 2, but haven't tried it on there yet. I do have it on my Android phone but have only given it a quick try.

I imagine the screen on the Vita is better for adventure games though.

[J T]

Seeing ScummVM.....

I haven't played Monkey Island for a while, and have an itch to do it now. I can't remember whether the last time was on my 360 or whether it was on iOS (was there an iOS version or have I just totally made that up?)

Last two point and clicks I played were Thimbleweed Park and Grim Fandango remastered.

[Demon Cleaner]

Why would you like to play Monkey Island over and over again, just try some of the others, there are some truly great ones.

Ok, so far I tested OpenBOR, and that works truly fine. EasyRPG gives me a path error, have to find out why.

Don't know if I would like to use ArkOS though, for me 351Elec looks much nicer, plus there's also TheRA which looks fantastic but is still a bit unfinished. For myself ArkOS is the last option.

[J T]

Why would you like to play Monkey Island over and over again, just try some of the others, there are some truly great ones.


Monkey Island is to me like a classic album that is good to get out from time to time and dip back into. Plus, now my eldest son can read it would be a good way to encourage him with a bit of classic gaming, mature humour and problem solving.

Playing parts of the original MI with my dad is a fond personal memory.

I have tried a number of the others, but the new stuff man, it's just not got that same vibe

- - - Updated - - -


(was there an iOS version or have I just totally made that up?)

There was indeed an iOS version and it is no longer available.

[Harrison]

Don't know if I would like to use ArkOS though, for me 351Elec looks much nicer, plus there's also TheRA which looks fantastic but is still a bit unfinished. For myself ArkOS is the last option.

351Elec is very nice, and if you are just concentrating on an EmulationStation and RetroArch setup then yes, it's great. But the 351Elec team have just released the final version, saying they have finished development and won't be doing any more. So no further updates. Nit really a massive issue as once configured ans setup you are not likely to want to change it again.

What ArkOS offers is far more scope to do much more with the handheld. There is a very active project porting PC games over to run natively. Doom and Quake run perfectly at 60fps, even with multiplayer support. And they are a lot if games bring added constantly. Really it depands good much b you want to tinker, or just setup once and go.

[Demon Cleaner]

ut the 351Elec team have just released the final version, saying they have finished development and won't be doing any more. So no further updates.

Yeah, I read that some days ago.

I'm more into setup and go, although I wanna configure everything nicely, so that already takes time. Never was a fan of old school FPS anyways, so Doom and Quake are not important to me. Not into multiplayer either.

- - - Updated - - -

Here some pictures.

My Switch Lite with my nice yellow pouch

https://i.imgur.com/Bc6wqiQ.jpg

The RG350M and the PowKiddy RGB10

http://i.imgur.com/mhVXZF8.jpg

My 2 PS Vita

https://i.imgur.com/9QIofNS.jpg

And my RG351V

https://i.imgur.com/OSDyniK.jpg

[Harrison]

Very nice collection of handhelds.

There's another new one just around the corner that looks like it could be something very interesting. No current name or where its from, so early previewers have nicenamed it the 199 because its rumoured to go on sale for that price. Here's some info and a video.

"A $199 Android Handheld that We've Never Seen – retromimi" https://retromimi.com/blogs/news/199-handheld

https://youtu.be/kHH8oSne6a0

[Demon Cleaner]

Do we have the same subscriptions in YouTube :lol: I watched it already.

[J T]

Amazing how smart the black Vita looks and yet how fugly the white one is. That white bezel makes unreasonably and disproportionately angry.

I think the wood-effect gameboy-shape device looks really cool. Is it comfortable to hold and play though?

[Demon Cleaner]

It feels excellent in your hands. And it has 4 nice shoulder buttons which can be reached perfectly. Plus notice this little "bumps" or what you call them in english on the back, gives a perfect feel and hold for your hands.

https://i.imgur.com/EZG9LCj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uYVIxli.jpg

[J T]

Wow that is not how I was expecting the back to look. I am impressed with that shaping. Looks good.

[Harrison]

Anbernic are in a league of their own when it comes to build quailty and design. Especially when you consider this is a Chinese company designing retro emulation handhelds at a sub $100 price point.

[Demon Cleaner]

There's also the final release of ArkOS out now, development will be stopped too, like EmuElec.

[Harrison]

Really? I hadn't read that. Bit disappointing in a way. But equally if they have ironed all the bugs out and made them the best they can then no point continuing to tinker.

Plus it also means we can setup the final versions of these OSs, knowing it will be the one to keep, so more time can be devoted to make it exactly how we want.

I wonder if this Askaig hints at a new generation of Anbernic handhelds coming soon? A possible 352P? And if so let's hope the spec is increased enough to start exploring the next generation of system emulation.

[Demon Cleaner]

PowKiddy just brought out the RGB10 Max, which is almost the same like the normal RGB10 although with 5" screen. And apparently the built quality is a bit better. Specs are unfortunately the same, and I tend to think that they always seem to miss big opportunities in doing that, instead of just releasing it with a bit better chip and a bit more RAM. Plus this one's also over 100$.

[Harrison]

Yes I saw that. Looks better then the smaller one, but most of these manufacturers are sticking to the same reference hardware design. I hope later this year we finally see the next generation of these handhelds begin. Screensize and ram don't need to be any more, although higher resolution or touchscreen would be good, but a faster CPU and GPU would really aid PSP, N64, Dreamcast and Saturn emulation a lot.

[Demon Cleaner]

5" screen would be nice though. One guy checked the Super Console Pro with 1GB and 2GB of RAM, and he display the RAM usage on screen, and indeed, around 750MB of RAM were used all the time, on either console. So there was definitely no benefit for the extra RAM.

[Harrison]

That's probably because the firmware/OS is optimised from 1GB, so any more just won't be utilised. When a new generation with more the system would be written to take advantage.

One idea with enough ram could be to do what the new consoles do, where you could have more then one game loaded at once and just move between them (like multitasking windows on a PC or Amiga.

[Demon Cleaner]

Aaargh!!! Now they came out with the One XPlayer console, started yesterday on Indiegogo.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/onexplayer-world-s-best-handheld-game-console/x/19138613?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bck-05112021update&utm_term=#/

A 8,4" Windows handheld with 2.5K IPS screen and a 11th generation Intel i7 Tiger Lake CPU. Looks awesome.

I don't know now if I should get my AYA NEO refunded, and wail until this battle is over before choosing which one to get? The Intel i7-1185G7 is already a lot faster than the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U, and the AYA NEO "only" even comes with a Ryzen 5 4500U.

[Harrison]

I saw that. Looks nice. Maybe if you have only preordered it might be worth cancelling.

[Demon Cleaner]

I asked for a refund and already got the confirmation. I now ordered the OneXPlayer with the extra keyboard :thumbs:

I was checking out a bit the CPUs, they have the model with the 1185G7 (although already sold out), but that's almost 450€ more expensive, not considering the 2TB SSD. Comparing the 1165G7 and the 1185G7 shows only a very slight performance increase, but they say it's absolutely not worth it.

Here's a nice comparison review: https://www.techspot.com/review/2168-intel-core-i7-1185g7

But the 1165G7 is a lot better option than the Ryzen 5 4500U, plus the Iris XE GPU is also a lot better than the Radeon 6. Not to mention that the 4500U is the direct competitor to the Intel Icy Lake CPUs and not the newer Tiger Lake.

Plus that bigger and much nicer IPS is a great addition. Apparently what I saw in video reviews so far it's excellent.

The size is quite big though for a handheld, but probably still manageable, as I also have quite big hands.

[Harrison]

There's a new big 351 Elec update out. It includes a 351V specific version that has been made to fit the different screen resolution in menus. Using the retroarch menus is also a lot faster.

There is also a new Dreamcast emulator included (not working in the V firmware yet) that really speeds up many games, but some are still running around the high 80% frame rate.

[Demon Cleaner]

I just saw this this morning: 351ELEC REBORN

[Harrison]

Yes. But annoying as I've been setting up ArkOS as the main one I'm using, mainly because I'm using its Ports feature to play ported PC games. Will have to grab another SD card and setup 351ELEC too for future proofing.

[Demon Cleaner]

Anbernic is probably gonna release a 5" handheld too, the RG552.

https://retrododo.com/rg552/

[Harrison]

It would be great to get one from them with a larger screen. And if it could be touchscreen even better. But like mentioned in that article, only if they increase the hardware capability. More powerful, with a larger display, I would definitely get one.

But I don't agree with his suggestion to move to Android. One of the reasons the Anbernic handhelds are so great is Linux. It makes it really stable, very smooth and easy ro usr and well supported in the community. I already have an Android Handheld with the RP2, and whilst it's a great little handheld it isn't as user friendly as the 351Ps Linux based OSs.

[J T]

The fact that portable handhelds made by independent companies can come even close to emulating a range of big and powerful consoles like the Dreamcast or PS2 (albeit they are ~20 years old) is still somewhat staggering to me.

[Harrison]

PS2 is still a way off, but will be amazing when it happens. But I do agree. Even with them being 20 years old, being able to build sub £80 handhelds that are high quality products, well supported and can run every game up to PS1 and Dreamcast is still amazing.

It is a great time for retro gamers. What with these handhelds and cheap RPi and Android boxes able to provide retro gaming at cheap prices.

[Harrison]

Interesting recent new firmware release for the Anbernic RG351 P/M/V range called 351Droid.

As the name suggests this is Android on the 351 devices. And it's Android 11 too. Quite impressive when you consider until now all firmwares on these devices have been Linux EmuElec based.

It's still in beta and things such as audio has some issues. The current build once installed is fairly barebones too at the moment, with minimal apps installed by default, and no play store. I think this is intentionally fine though so it's lightweight really to just add emulators, frontends etc to the system. You don't need all the apps and stuff a full Android system comes with normally as this is intended purely for gaming. But it does work and fully supports all hardware in the system. This I'm sure is for the hope other builds utilising this base setup will appear that are preconfigured with emulators and frontends setup and ready to go.

You obviously don't have a touchscreen, and at the moment (unlike the Retroid Pocket 2 which is Android based) there is no mouse pointer emulation, but it does support plugging in usb keyboards and mice to do this. You would only need to do this whilst setting up the system and emulators. Once you are just gaming you wouldn't need this.

Emulation speed is as you might imagine fairly similar to the hardware running is existing alinux based firnwares. But what this does is open up these Anbernic devices to a whole new system of apps and emulators. And as it's still in beta, but already working pretty well, I'm really looking forward to the final release.

You can check out an intro/preview to 351Droid here:

https://youtu.be/tqTdqTyLFMM

[Demon Cleaner]

I just came back from Finland, was there for almost 5 weeks, and I used my handhelds quite a lot, during the boring times at home :D

I took the Switch Lite, and played some nice stuff on it, having already over 100 games in my library helps, variety is definitely there. And I also took my PS Vita and played some PSX, PSP and Vita games, some retro emulation, but mainly I was playing Amiga games, and I can happily say that they work quite fine on the Vita.

I still didn't do anything with my RG351V, but I also didn't have time to do so.

[Demon Cleaner]

RG351MP coming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaFzaQRXAns

But again, nothing really new, same old RK3326 chip, same old features, just doing nothing new at all since 2+ years now. Market is flooded with devices, but nobody seems to take it a step further, like perhaps Odin, Valve or the OneXPlayer, which are obviously for a different clientele.

Anbernic starting to be eventually the worst, always waiting some months, then bringing out a slightly different model, obviously a bit better one, but with same specs.

[Harrison]

The RG351MP is definitely the best RK3326 based handheld the date. But for anyone who already owns anything already using that hardware it's a bit pointless.

They have basically taken all the best bits from their 351 range and combined them to create the best version. If I didn't already own a 351P I would probably buy one. The larger screen that matches the V is a nice upgrade, as is the metal case. And the return of 2 SD card slots is nice. But it's not enough for any existing owner to upgrade. It's also missing the built in wifi. This time the excuse is chip shortage. Not sure because they have made the sides of the case metal, whereas the 351M has plastic sides, which was stated as needed for wifi to work.

I don't think Anbernic will ever be first to market with new hardware, but they are great at product design and quailty end products. I bet they are waiting for the Odin to see see if they can copy the hardware for their next generation.

[Demon Cleaner]

I got my RG280V, nice little device, and I ordered also an RGB10 Max, panda edition.

[Demon Cleaner]

I set up the RG280V with the same image (Adan 1.0.3) than the RG350M, and also both have now the exact same 256GB SD card full of games. I almost prefer the 280, as it's really nice, although the screen is quite small. Daphne and ScummVM emulation are great though :D

I also hacked my slim PS Vita with the VitaDeploy method and it worked like a charm, although after having initial problems to connect the Vita to my PC, had to use some workarounds and eventually managed to get it working.

I finally set up the RG351V now, with the latest 351Elec image, and I'm also using a 256GB SD card in here, but the setup is a bit different here, as this uses EmulationStation, and the RGs use the Dingux based SimpleMenu frontend. But I have one of those Android boxes, the Super Console X Max, which uses EmulationSation and thus I can easily copy the games from that setup to fit the correct folders.

I have to say after trying the 351V out a bit, I'm a bit disappointed. Everything runs well, as it does on the 280 and 350, but trying to emulate something a bit higher, makes it struggle. Dreamcast is very slow, did not test a lot of games though, but the ones I tested didn't run well at all. Same is for PSP, doesn't even come close to be able to run them that they would be playable. Also Saturn is completely slow and almost unplayable. I still will have to find some games that run better, probably only 2D games. N64 is ok, but nothing groundbreaking, plus again some games don't run well at all. PSX runs well as it does on the lower models, so nothing new here.

I did also some tweaking to the emulators, but nothing really helps, it is how it is, we'll have to wait for a device with a higher end chip to be able to run 32bit emulation smoothly.

Next up will be my 2 PowKiddy consoles, RGB10 and RGB10 Max, although I think I keep the RGB10 in the drawer, exactly same console with smaller screen. Might sell it at a later point, although I have the yellow model which is quite cute :lol:

[Harrison]

The 351s need a lot of tweaking and playing around with settings to make more demanding systems work well. The graphics scaling and filtering make a massive difference to performace, especially in N64, DC, and PSP games. Complete guides to do this fairly quickly are I the various YouTube reviewers sites. RetroGameCorp especially.

But the reality is that's the power of current hardware. The Odin should be the first handheld to really push the performance to the next level. So long as this new start-up can deliver the product as promised. I think by this time next year we will have far more powerful hardware to play around with. Really looking forward to it.

But there will still be a place for these current systems. So many great 16bit games to play and these run them perfectly.

[Harrison]

Retroid Pocket 2+

5x faster then the RP2, and with a touchscreen!

What's the catch?

Well you can't actually buy a RP2+. Instead it's an upgrade for the RP2. You get a new PCB, open up the handheld and swap the old one over. You can also opt to replace the screen with a touchscreen too.

Is it worth it?

We don't actually know the price of this upgrade yet, so depending on that it might be. But the Retroid Pocket 3 is in development, which will have a larger touchscreen and be faster. So it will depend on if you can wait, or if you just want to make your existing RP2 even better.

Read more here:

https://retrododo.com/retroid-pocket-2-plus/

I'm tempted. But then the Ayn Odin is about to come out, so it might not be worth it.

[J T]

I can't really be bothered to click through, so tell me - is there a scheme for the old board after doing the upgrade, what do you do with that?

I like the idea of trying to minimise e-waste even just a little bit.

[Harrison]

You get a display case for the old PCB, just in case you ever want to swap them back again. It would have been good if the company had taken back the old pcb for recycling, but being located in China that's not so practical.

I just think it's so great the level of end user support these Chinese retro devices are now getting. When they first appeared it was a clear cashing in of illegal roms running on cheap hardware. That still very much the case of you look on ebay, especially the cheap all in one mini tv consoles with a couple of cheap controllers. But these handheld companies have now realised there is a proper market for quality products and after sales support make users keep buying their products.

There is a much more powerful generation about to appear next year that should run Gamecube and Dreamcast well, and maybe even some PS2.