This little handheld console has been so great. My PC and Steam Deck must be so disappointed with me.
I had been following r/SBCgaming for a while and never felt the need to play very old console games. But now it seems that these consoles have really come a long way in what they can play. I saw reviews for the Retroid Pocket 5 and thought it looked amazing. Then I saw the prices of the Retroid Pocket 4 pro and it was a no brainer.
I bought the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro on eBay for £120 (probably could have gotten it cheaper, but I rushed to buy this). The fact that such a tiny and pocketable handheld can run Nintendo Switch games (less demanding ones) really blows my mind. I carry this with me everywhere. It fits in pretty snug trouser pockets and is only slightly bigger than my phone (although my phone is an S23 Ultra with a chunky case). I’ve had it for over 2 weeks and I’m still in the honeymoon phase and using this instead of my gaming PC or Steam Deck. I’m discovering consoles I never owned (3DS and Wii games). The fact that it plays Android games as well is such a great bonus (mainly Balatro with save game sync online) is such a great bonus. It has WiFi 6, hall effect analog sticks (much better than the Switch!), an IPS display, headphone port, analog triggers, bluetooth 5.2 and a decent battery. This this has no business being this good.
For anyone else interested: · If you’re looking for an affordable, pocketable console with good performance then the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro is amazing and I would recommend it. Buy this on eBay as people are unloading these to upgrade to the new console. · If you want better performance then the Retroid Pocket 5 has a better SOC and much better screen, but is twice the price and much less pocketable. Order on AliExpress when there’s a sale/coupons. · Buying a console like this is a bit like adopting Linux… You’ve got to be willing to tinker and troubleshoot. It took me hours to set it up (use this guide) and I still haven’t sorted out Vita emulation.
This is a device I didn’t know much about and really didn’t expect to enjoy this much. If you haven’t come across these little consoles, definitely take a look! If you want to test the waters and see if this is for you, then starting with emulation on your phone will is a good way to start.
Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I have an RP3+ but after using it a while, Android is too much of a hassle.
Miyoo Mini or Anbery equivalents running Linux are so much easier. There’s no setup- just put your roms in a folder and go. I spent hours on the Retroid just trying to to get launchers looking nice and emulators configured.
But the critical feature Android will never have is fast boot. When you hit the power on the Miyoo it saves the game state and completely powers down. It doesn’t go to sleep like Android where the bat is dead a day later. The Miyoo will have power weeks later. And because it boots in 10 seconds right into the middle of the game exactly when you hit power off, it’s not a problem to wait for a full boot.
Krackalot@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
So I started looking at these two companies. It looks like only anbernic has a horizontal. A lot of those actually run Android, but it appears the best Linux one is the 40xx. Do you know if that’s correct, or any other input that would help me select one? Thanks in advance.
Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I have/had ( bought for friends or myself) Anbernic 35xx, 35xx SP, rg cube x, 351 mp.
There are so many variations that it’s really personal preference. Like are you doing 16:9 games or 4:3? I wanted something for old arcades like pacman and space invaders so I got the cube. That screen ratio also happens to work well for Gameboy
Yeah Miyoo only makes a vertical and a flip. Retro game corps says the flip has some quality control problems.
WhiteBurrito@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I recently got a Trimui Smart Pro, if you’re looking for horizontal devices, it’s also worth a look