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.