Retro Portables are Neat

[Alek]

I just bought a ANBERNIC RG350m and I have a Retroid Pocket 2 on its way and I'm already wowed by the ANBERNIC.

I know it's not that new or anything, folks have been using PSPs for the same purpose for a long time, but the quality of these devices seems to be skyrocketing recently.

The ANBERNIC RG350m feels like it could have been produced by Nintendo/Sony. Really high quality build, in fact I think it's nicer than my Switch and Switch light. It has a metal shell, really nice analog sticks. A nice IPS display that makes the games really pop.

I was playing SotN on my PS4 the other day and I booted it on the 350m and it's just all around a better experience. It looks better, feels better, it's portable. Lovely!

Here's a couple of shots of my 350m.

I was playing SoTN in bed last night and it was such a nice way to experience the game.

Is there an OT for these? Maybe we could make one. There's loads of stuff to discuss regarding emulation quality, CFW and whatnot. Not only are the devices really impressive right out of the box, I think you can have a tonne of fun tweaking them.

Useful Links
Handheld Emulation Tier List

 

[oni-link]

How much did this cost? How are you getting games onto it?

Does it have much input lag?

 

[bigbaldwolf86]

I used to game a lot on my GPD XD but I recently picked up the Moqi i7s. It's more expensive but the amount of stuff it can play is incredible. I've done a run of RE4 Wii Edition on it and it played brilliantly. It also plays a lot of 3DS games really well.

 

[Amalthea]

I wish there were more that played actual handheld cartridges. My GB Boy Color starts to get really wonky and didn't manage to snatch an Analogue Pocket.

 

[oni-link]

I'd be interested in something like this. I have Pi3 atm and I know some people have made portable ones, but I'd want something with greater build quality

There are always a ton of questions regarding how well the emulation works and input lag. If lag isn't an issue and you can sleep/suspend this would be perfect for NES to PS1 games

 

[Weiss]

Been using the WiiU gamepad to play SNES, N64 and Gamecube games. Pretty great.

 

[killuglypop]

Cool post OP, that Anbernic looks sweet. There's still some way to go until we get Vita levels of comfort but I have really enjoyed my time with the Gamekiddy 350h this year. It's perfect for throwing in a coat pocket or rucksack. Currently eyeing up the Retroid Pocket 2 but I know by the time I get one something better will be out, such is the supply/demand and speed at which these things get updated. My only gripe so far with these things is the weak D-pad/Analogue stick however they still function well enough to play anything apart from 2D fighters

 

[Issen]

I wish there were more that played actual handheld cartridges. My GB Boy Color starts to get really wonky and didn't manage to snatch an Analogue Pocket.

Click to shrink...

You're better off ripping the carts anyway, you reduce the wear on them and you also have the peace of mind of having a backup in case your original cart starts failing.

 

[Alek]

How much did this cost? How are you getting games onto it?

Does it have much input lag?

Click to shrink...

It depends completely on the game and the emulator and how that's performing. I feel like there's no latency on the device itself, all the GBA and genesis games I've tested seem to provide a near instantaneous response. Both the dpad and analog stick seem nice, at least for platformers, racing and action games.

In terms of latency on PS1, I was playing SoTN on PS4, and switched to the RG350m and they felt about the same. No issues doing what I wanted to in-game. I also able to win a few races in Wipeout 3 special edition without issue too, which is a fairly demanding game in terms of your response times.

I'm getting games onto the system by using a fairly convoluted method at the moment. You can push them onto the internal SD via the USB port, but you have to use an FTP client to make that work. The easiest way to move games is to have an SD card reader on your PC, and then use the second SD card slot for your games. Just drag and drop the roms you're good to go. I've got an SD card in the post, so until then I'm using the more complicated F2P/network drive method.

I paid £120 for the RG350m, and I'm pretty sure I got ripped off at that price but I bought it because Amazon said they could do next day delivery. You can get a regular RG350 for like £60

REFURBISHED RG350 Handheld Game Console by Anbernic

Latest RG-Lineup Model Premium Quality OpenDingux Firmware JZ4770 Dual-Core - New Processor IPS Display

droix.net

The only significant downside to the regular RG350 is the screen is a lower resolution, and you have a plastic rather than metal case. The lower resolution screen only really comes into effect in the menus though, so it's not noticeable for 95% of what you play (I don't have the regular 350, but I watched a tonne of reviews before buying).

In the end I just paid a lot for mine for the sake of getting it to me within 24 hours. If we compare to the Retroid Pocket 2, which I ordered directly from Retroid, I have no idea when that will arrive. I emailed them and they sent me to a confusing delivery dashboard...

Delivery Dashboard

RP4Pro Order Date Shipping Time 16Bit 2024/2/1-2024/2/5 2024/2/5 16Bit US 2024/2/4-2024/2/5 2024/2/5 Black 2024/2/3-2024/2/5 2024/2/5 Crystal 2024/2/3-2024/2/5 2024/2/5 Ice Blue 2024/2/2-2024/2/4 2024/2/5 Watermelon 2024/2/1-2024/2/4 2024/2/5 Special shipping requirements:1. Brazil shipping...

www.goretroid.com

So I'm just going to forget the Retroid 2 for now, it's evident they're trying to ship all their orders asap, but getting an exact order ETA from them is confusing. It's probably 2-4 weeks away. The Retroid Pocket 2 cost me £95 though, that was with the expensive shipping option.

 

[Jay_AD]

Yeah, these things have definitely made some strides recently.

I bought an earlier generation handheld (original Pocket Go) like 2 years ago. And that thing isn't really good for anything outside of Gameboy, Master System and Mega Drive. Any Nintendo console - even the NES - feels wrong on it and frequently slows down. I mainly use it as a super tiny backlit GB with a really sharp screen, which is kind of neat, but it's really nothing compared to these current devices. But eh, it was about 40€, so I'm not salty over it.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

I just bought a ANBERNIC RG350m and I have a Retroid Pocket 2 on its way and I'm already wowed by the ANBERNIC.

I know it's not that new or anything, folks have been using PSPs for the same purpose for a long time, but the quality of these devices seems to be skyrocketing recently.

The ANBERNIC RG350m feels like it could have been produced by Nintendo/Sony. Really high quality build, in fact I think it's nicer than my Switch and Switch light. It has a metal shell, really nice analog sticks. A nice IPS display that makes the games really pop.

I was playing SotN on my PS4 the other day and I booted it on the 350m and it's just all around a better experience. It looks better, feels better, it's portable. Lovely!

Here's a couple of shots of my 350m.

I was playing SoTN in bed last night and it was such a nice way to experience the game.

Is there an OT for these? Maybe we could make one. There's loads of stuff to discuss regarding emulation quality, CFW and whatnot. Not only are the devices really impressive right out of the box, I think you can have a tonne of fun tweaking them.

Click to shrink...

Happy for this to be the OT! I've been meaning to get the Retroid Pocket 2. Added this thread to my watch list :)

Edit: are you able to switch the button configuration with GB games so that you play with the YB button combos instead of AB? The AB placement on the face buttons for most controllers these days don't have the same slant as the GB/C/A.

I used to game a lot on my GPD XD but I recently picked up the Moqi i7s. It's more expensive but the amount of stuff it can play is incredible. I've done a run of RE4 Wii Edition on it and it played brilliantly. It also plays a lot of 3DS games really well.

Click to shrink...

Hold up! You ran RE4 one a retro gaming handheld? Damn. Please share more details :)

 

[Alek]

I used to game a lot on my GPD XD but I recently picked up the Moqi i7s. It's more expensive but the amount of stuff it can play is incredible. I've done a run of RE4 Wii Edition on it and it played brilliantly. It also plays a lot of 3DS games really well.

Click to shrink...

I looked into the Moqi i7 a lot before buying this and it looked like the user experience was really compromised there. Yeah it can play a lot of stuff, it's got a lot of power behind it, but the buttons don't seem all that great, and a lot of games use emulators that are mapped to the touch-screen, which you then use a button profile to map it to the buttons? It seemed unpleasant, but maybe you can give more detailed impressions.

I would say that the user experience is the big issue with these devices right now. The RG350m is okay after you learn a few things, and so long as you have an SD card ready with roms, it's good to go right out of the box. Just point the emulators to your roms, and you're good. But there are a few issues with the user experience, for instance the way to close each emulator is coded, within each emulator. So you close the PS emulator by pressing the power button, the GBA emulator by pressing Start and Select. It's always a bit of a faff and I had to google how to get out of the PS emulator the first time.

Not to mention, the system OS treats the right most face button as the 'confirm' button, but many of my games do not. It flips back and forth on a game by game basis based on how the developers have mapped the controls. Not much you can do about it, but it's not as good as say, playing on the original hardware within your region, as you'd never have that issue.

 

[Deleted member 35895]

For anything interested in those retro gaming portables, I recommend Taki's channel on Youtube.

Happy for this to be the OT! I've been meaning to get the Retroid Pocket 2. Added this thread to my watch list :)

Edit: are you able to switch the button configuration with GB games so that you play with the YB button combos instead of AB? The AB placement on the face buttons for most controllers these days don't have the same slant as the GB/C/A.
Hold up! You ran RE4 one a retro gaming handheld? Damn. Please share more details :)

Click to shrink...

Here's a video for you!

 

[Jay_AD]

Hold up! You ran RE4 one a retro gaming handheld? Damn. Please share more details :)

Click to shrink...

The Moqi i7s is much more expensive. It's basically a smartphone with a permanent controller attached. I've also heard very mixed things about it.

 

[RowdyReverb]

Since Retroid runs Android, I wonder if you can use run-ahead to reduce latency in Retroarch. It would depend on the speed of the processor

 

[Nickerous]

I've got a bunch of these things now. Waiting on one to run cemu now. GPD Win Max might be the one, but I'll wait a while for them to iron out any issues.

 

[Zool]

I wholeheartedly agree. I'm in love with the RG350M. So much I already ordered the followup (rg351p) and I'm selling most of my traditional consoles and handhelds. The RG350M replaces those with ease.

This market is priced nice, fun devices, pretty good quality and an absolute joy to thinker with.

It's my new hobby! Also, some frontenda are genuine amazing.

 

[Brinbe]

got my indigo retroid pocket 2

way better than the rg350m imo



shoutouts taki and the retro community

 

[Peru]

The Retroid Pocket 2 is the new king of the scene

 

[Xeonidus]

I have a pocketboy 2 which is pretty solid but with some issues. Eyeing the retroid pocket 2 as well as it android based and can use steam streaming and moonlighter. I might hold off though based on the speed at which these devices get released. L3 and R3 buttons along with 5g would be perfect.

 

[topplehat]

Yes they are super neat, they have come a long way over the past year two. I'm still rocking a modded Vita for now, but in a year or two may hop onto one of these.

 

[bigbaldwolf86]

Hold up! You ran RE4 one a retro gaming handheld? Damn. Please share more details :)

Click to shrink...

Moqi i7s | Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition

The Moqi i7s running Resident Evil 4 Wii using Dolphin MMJR. I have installed a higher res texture pack as well. The game will run at 30fps for the most part...

youtu.be

This is a video I uploaded to YouTube yesterday showing it running. The Moqi i7s has an in built screen recorder and while using this it does cause frame drops. Also, if you can hear a tapping sound on the video that isn't heard when you are playing the game. Not really sure why it did that.

Basically, when playing without recording it runs even better than what you see in the video.

I looked into the Moqi i7 a lot before buying this and it looked like the user experience was really compromised there. Yeah it can play a lot of stuff, it's got a lot of power behind it, but the buttons don't seem all that great, and a lot of games use emulators that are mapped to the touch-screen, which you then use a button profile to map it to the buttons? It seemed unpleasant, but maybe you can give more detailed impressions..

Click to shrink...

There are 2 versions. The i7 and the i7s. The s version is a lot more capable when it comes to Gamecube/Wii/3DS gaming which is why I chose it.

As for the key mapping. You can map the keys to on screen controls and dependant on the emulator you can either do this or map them to the buttons themselves so no on screen controls show up. You will see from my video above that no controls appear on screen at all when playing RE4.

 

[citrusred]

Have a pocketgo 2 which while a bit wonky is a nice little toy that also plays Pico-8 games thanks to a clone player called tac-08. It's a lot like my old gp2x caanoo wich I really liked.

With the Odroid go advance and its clone arriving which can potentially benefit from the rasberry-pi ecosystem I think the outlook is much better for these kinds of devices than they were previously.

 

[IvanJCroft]

I just got a vita for this exact purpose and I'm loving it.

 

[Snarfington]

So many of these things look like they're using joycon stick parts and I just really hope they don't get drift.

 

[OldBritBloke]

The Retroid Pocket 2 is the new king of the scene

Click to shrink...

They're really amazing bits of kit. I ordered mine a couple of weeks ago in all black (there are a bewildering range of colour options!).

 

[Fowler]

Anyone here with a Retroid Pocket 2 right now? What makes it so good?

 

[Zeiretto]

I ordered the PowKiddy V90 for some Gameboy Advance nostalgia. It's like 30 bucks.

It's supposed to be pretty good for SNES, Megadrive and GBA, which is all I care about right now. But definitely thinking about getting the RG351P or the Retroid Pocket 2.. or whatever they come up with in the coming months. This market is super saturated! Taki Udon and Retro Dodo are pretty great channels to keep up with what is worth buying.

 

[Serif]

I ordered an RS2 (black) Retroid Pocket 2.

Gonna be a while til it arrives but I'm looking forward to having a retro 'Switch' with its HDMI out, I'll be organizing my ROMs and frontend in the meantime so I can just copy everything over as soon as it's here. :)

 

[Roto64]

Every few years I get into these retro handhelds. I've never found one that I really liked for a long time but, the Retroid Pocket 2 looks like it could change that. I have one ordered and am awaiting eagerly. I also ordered the 351p.

 

[FinKL]

got my indigo retroid pocket 2

way better than the rg350m imo



shoutouts taki and the retro community

Click to shrink...

Do you know if the Retroid Pocket 2 can act as a bluetooth controller? IE connect to PC?

 

[Brinbe]

Do you know if the Retroid Pocket 2 can act as a bluetooth controller? IE connect to PC?

Click to shrink...

hmmm, that i'm not sure about. i know there is on bluetooth on there and it does sort of act like a controller when used with hdmi

 

[Bee.Cups]

I've been debating getting a retro console or just some controller attachments for my phones to play my old psp games, such a tough choice to make

 

[Gnorman]

A loooong time ago I had a GP32 for emulating 8bit stuff. It was amazing. I can't imagine how much thimgs have improved and moved on since then.

 

[RowdyReverb]

I have a pocketboy 2 which is pretty solid but with some issues. Eyeing the retroid pocket 2 as well as it android based and can use steam streaming and moonlighter. I might hold off though based on the speed at which these devices get released. L3 and R3 buttons along with 5g would be perfect.

Click to shrink...

Retroid Pocket could be amazing for a cloud streaming device if they'd use a newer version of Android and add 802.11ac. The L3/R3 would be a must, as you said. I'd happily pay an extra $20 to include those features

 

[Xeonidus]

Retroid Pocket could be amazing for a cloud streaming device if they'd use a newer version of Android and add 802.11ac. The L3/R3 would be a must, as you said. I'd happily pay an extra $20 to include those features

Click to shrink...

Yep. Hopefully before too long based on the rate that these things get released!

 

[Brinbe]

I ordered the PowKiddy V90 for some Gameboy Advance nostalgia. It's like 30 bucks.

It's supposed to be pretty good for SNES, Megadrive and GBA, which is all I care about right now. But definitely thinking about getting the RG351P or the Retroid Pocket 2.. or whatever they come up with in the coming months. This market is super saturated! Taki Udon and Retro Dodo are pretty great channels to keep up with what is worth buying.

Click to shrink...

i have the orange one of this and it's perfect for gba games and lower. just toss it in a backpack and go.

it can 'run' playstation games but it's a slideshow, unsurprisingly, though it is sort of crazy impressive to see tekken 2/3 running on a device like this haha.

Anyone here with a Retroid Pocket 2 right now? What makes it so good?

Click to shrink...

the major thing is that it's on android which opens it up to a lot of customization/optimization if you put some work in. they're pretty good bits of tech for like 80 bucks. takes some fiddling and it's dependent on how taxing the game is, but you can get stuff up to dreamcast/psp running pretty good on this. which has been only really available on way more expensive devices.

the real cool feature that sets it apart is the wifi local multiplayer stuff (and i think they're figuring out how to extend this out to online play)

 

[Red Liquorice]

That Retroid Pocket 2 is very tempting.

 

[citrusred]

A loooong time ago I had a GP32 for emulating 8bit stuff. It was amazing. I can't imagine how much thimgs have improved and moved on since then.

Click to shrink...

Not as much as you'd think to be honest. A lot of the popular ones right now are clones of the old GCW Zero which is pretty old now.
Still, things are heading in the right direction these days.

 

[Deleted member 16908]

Aren't those literally the Switch analog sticks? The mold looks exactly the same.

 

[mute]

Aren't those literally the Switch analog sticks? The mold looks exactly the same.

Click to shrink...

Yeah it gives me anxiety just looking at other devices possibly using them.

And I don't understand "Retro.." being in the name of your thing and giving analog sticks the priority.

 

[Duffking]

I want an RP2 but the order pages confuse the fuck out of me. I have no idea what half of it means, I want one of the 16 bit style ones.

 

[Instant Vintage]

hmmm, that i'm not sure about. i know there is on bluetooth on there and it does sort of act like a controller when used with hdmi

Click to shrink...

*sees Rival Schools*

That's a system seller to me.

 

[Bacon]

Didn't know I needed this until today

 

[Omegasquash]

Aren't those literally the Switch analog sticks? The mold looks exactly the same.

Click to shrink...

Yeah it gives me anxiety just looking at other devices possibly using them.

And I don't understand "Retro.." being in the name of your thing and giving analog sticks the priority.

Click to shrink...

These two posts give me pause. I'm not interested in buying anything with analog sticks like the Switch. Been burned too many times.

 

[Fowler]

the major thing is that it's on android which opens it up to a lot of customization/optimization if you put some work in. they're pretty good bits of tech for like 80 bucks. takes some fiddling and it's dependent on how taxing the game is, but you can get stuff up to dreamcast/psp running pretty good on this. which has been only really available on way more expensive devices.

Click to shrink...

This is great, thank you so much!

 

[Fonst]

Still looking for the best way to play GameCube games portably.

 

[Pearljam and Earl]

I was playing SoTN in bed last night and it was such a nice way to experience the game.

Click to shrink...

I was doing the exact same thing last night, except on the RG350P that I got a couple of days ago! I was torn between the M and the P but Amazon offered up a ~£24 Prime discount on the P so went for that.

I already have a gazillion portable ways to play emulated games, modded PSP, 3DS and Vita, decent laptop, android phone, jailbroken iOS devices, a GPD Win etc, but I just wanted to see where these handhelds were at for myself. I think I'm happy with a device that goes up to PS1 for now, but once we're at the Retroid Pocket 3, 4 or 5 stage, with GC/DC/PSP all running a little more solidly and perhaps PS2 emulation up and running, I'd consider jumping in again.

 

[bevishead]

I have a retroid pocket 2. I ordered it on August 19th and it shipped on Aug 28th. I received it around Sept 18th. It requires a bit of configuration to get everything working right, but it works well.

 

[Zool]

Anyone here with a Retroid Pocket 2 right now? What makes it so good?

Click to shrink...

The emulators are proven and good. It's an Android device with 1GB ram and no touchscreen. The UX is terrible, but when you get in the emulators it's fun (a tiny bit of inputlag though).

I do like the RG350M more though. RP2 is fun, but damn do I hate old, slow Android devices (and without touchscreen it's even worse). Heard it probably will get an update to Android 8 (11 is about to launch). Maybe that will help...