For as long as I can remember I have always loved the idea of having the choice to play loads of different games on a single device. Probably the earliest instance of this was the time when I borrowed a dodgy bootleg 50-in-1 GameBoy cartridge from a friend back in school. Back then, even when playing Super Mario Land I was amazed at the amount of game that could fit in a small 6cm x 6cm bit of plastic. So then being able to choose from 50 different games on a single cartridge utterly blew my simple little mind.
Fast forward 30 years and things have obviously moved on a lot since then. As older systems have come and gone, retro game emulation has become increasingly prolific. Today, there are a million and one ways to play your favourite games from your past: on your computer, laptop, phone, tablet or by hacking/homebrewing existing hardware. I for one have always enjoyed modding my consoles to make them do some ‘additional’ things that they were not originally intended to – mostly out of curiosity, of course. My embarrasment of riches currently stands at: a hacked PS2, PSP, PSVita, PlayStation Classic, Nintendo DS, Wii, Wii U, 3DS and Switch. Of course most of the emulated retro games playable on those systems can also be emulated just as easily using simple bits of software on your laptop, but there is just something about having a dedicated physical device you can put in your pocket or throw in a bag to take with you on journey that really appeals to me.
As the legality of downloading and using game roms to play games is still a majorly grey area according to the law, there hasn’t been too much in the way of developing a dedicated portable emulation machine… at least in the West.
Enter China.
For the last few years the handheld scene in China has been steadily growing in popularity with more and more of these devices (commonly nicknamed “Chinese handhelds’) being made available to Western buyers. Some have occasionally creeped on to Amazon and Ebay but the majority thrive on the likes of AliExpress. Over the last few months I have taken a deep dive into this world and even purchased a few of these handhelds myself – a quick overview of which is the main reason I am writing this article. However I would also advise you to do your own research before looking to acquire such a device for yourself, especially as there are so many options out there, with many offering very similar specs and some being definitely shittier than others. Joining a facebook group, reddit or discord chat is also recommended as online documentation and customer support ranges from little to none for the majority of these products.
To an extent it’s still a bit of a Wild West situation out there – but that’s also what makes it kind of exciting to follow all the latest developments.
Anyway, enough of the waffle. I’m not here to ramble on about the state of modern day emulation or a detailed rundown of the Chinese handheld market, but just to do a quick showcase of four such devices that I have purchased over the last few months and my own personal opinions of them. I’m not going to be overly technical or in-depth as these aren’t intended to be product reviews, more just a quick overview.
So let’s go! In order of purchase:
Anbernic RG350M
Really the cream of the crop in my opinion, with great form factor and excellent build quality. The ‘M’ stands for ‘metal’ and the aluminium body gives it a nice weighty feel. This device runs the linux-based OpenDingux software that is quiet easy to get your head around, with most emulators on it operating in a similar fashion.
The RG350M can play anything up to PSX without issue – although some more demanding games (such as Tekken 3) will require frameskip to be toggled in the settings to avoid slowdown. On mine I have a bunch of roms installed for: GameBoy/GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, NES, SNES, Megadrive, Wander Swan, Neo Geo Pocket, TurboGrafix-CD and Playstation. Also a shed load of arcade games – of which you can also play most systems up to CPS2 and NeoGeo. CPS3 suffers from a bit of slowdown even if you download an updated FBA opk so isn’t recommended.
If you don’t know what any of the above means don’t worry – the main takeaway is that this device can play a lot of retro games and with minimal fuss. You can also add additional emulators to the device with ease and there are even some homebrew games included with it, although honestly I wouldn’t touch a majority of them with a bargepole.
The way that the device uses two SD card slots – the internal for the operating system software and the external for the game roms - makes it very user friendly for beginners. If you want to add your own roms you simply remove the ‘external’ SD card, plug it into your computer via card reader and drop your games in the relevant folder. Heck, a lot of sellers in China even sell these things with ‘fully loaded’ SD cards so you don’t even need to source your own roms if you are concerned about that kind of thing.
Some people do find OpenDingux ugly and relatively inflexible and I would tend to agree however I think it gets the job done. At any rate there are options to install nicer frontends (an example of which you will see on another device on this list) but that’s just purely for aesthetics – it’s not really necessary to operate. You just pick an emulator from the menu, pick a game and off you go.
I do have some criticisms however. There is a strange pop from the speakers when you load up a game (a minor technical issue with the hardware) that can be annoying but doesn’t really affect anything beyond that. There is also the price to consider - the RG350M being the most expensive of the handhelds featured on this list. I got it for about £90 and that was considered a good deal at the time, though the price may be a bit less now if you take the time to search as the device has been out for a good couple of months.
Overall, my first and currently favourite of these handheld devices.
PlayGo
This one is just a different variant of the ‘Bittboy Pocket Go v2’ and ‘Miyoo Max’ – so if you see those devices being sold anywhere bear in mind that these are all pretty much identical. As the RG350M felt very premium, I picked this one up as a cheaper alternative that I could quite just chuck in my bag to entertain me on my commute. It cost around £40 and the functionality was similar so it wouldn’t matter if this one got knocked around a bit.
The PlayGo also runs the same OpenDingux firmware as the RG350M so operates in exactly the same way, however there are some major issues I had with this one that made it an inferior product.
For example, whilst the RG350M has dual recessed Switch-style analogue sticks, this device only has one analogue – and it’s a ‘slider’ nub. Not great. However I tend to favour the D-pad for much of my gaming so this wasn’t so much of big deal. There were two other issues that were much more annoying for me: firstly, the volume. This thing descends from loud to volume off – there is no in between. For some reason you are able to control the volume more with headphones plugged in – but without headphones this thing is embarrassingly loud. Like you wouldn’t want to play it near anyone as they will HATE YOU. Even if I am at home by myself the minimum volume feels uncomfortably loud. This is not just a software issue so there isn’t a simple patch or firmware fix for this. The only other options were to open the thing up and either add a resistor to the speaker wire or to physically muffle the speaker in some way. As my soldering skills aren’t quite up to scratch I opted for the latter as you can see below:
Despite adding electrical tape to the inside of the grid and a hefty wad of cotton wool stuck onto the speaker itself, this thing was STILL too loud. And to top it off the spare colour buttons they provided were the wrong size so didn’t fit when I tried to put the thing back together!
The second hardware issue is the annoying buzzing sound. The frequency of the screen somehow interferes with the speaker providing a constant whining buzz whenever the device is on. It’s may not be something you notice right away but let me tell you this gets really aggravating. So if you want to play the game with the sound on it’s too bloody loud. If you want to play with the sound off you are subjected to this headache inducing constant whine in the background. The only way to mitigate both of these issues is to only play with headphones but that is a really limiting factor.
For some people these issues might be so minor as to be almost negligible, but I’m surprised hardly any reviewers have mentioned these as issues. But for me they aggravated me so much that I ended up giving this device away to a friend. As stated earlier, there is little to no customer support for these things and if there isn’t a DIY solution found on the internet by ‘the community’ you are out of luck.
So that left me with a problem – I no longer had that ‘throw in the bag’ device.
So I went and got an RG350P instead.
Anbernic RG350P
This came out after the RG350M and basically took all of its refinements (over the original RG350) but in a plastic shell instead of aluminium. The ‘P’ stands for plastic. Of course. The screen is not as hi-res but apart from that it is near identical to the M version – just cheaper.
I got this one for around £70 on AliExpress but it came with a host of extras – a case, screen protector, OTG adapter, mini HDMI to HDMI adapter and a loaded SD Card. As it performs as well as the ‘M’ I would say it is very much worth it for the price. Not much else to add, really – I can just chuck it in my bag (by which I mean gently zip it up in the carry case and delicately place it in my bag as if it t’were a newborn babe – I’m not a savage) and not have to worry about it too much if something breaks as I still have the pristine ‘M’ to fall back on.
Not much else to add really – it’s good.
Earlier when talking about the 'M' I referred to some frontends you can add to make OpenDingux a bit more presentable. I have just today added one called Esoteric to the 'P' version recently - it looks great!
Retroid Pocket 2
Now this is where things get interesting. The RP2 has blown up in popularity recently with many reviewers absolutely raving about it. I was lucky enough to bag one during the pre-sale (it is still only currently available to purchase direct from the Retroid website) before things went all crazy and if you want one you will probably have a month or two to wait due to their massive back log of orders.
And there is a reason for that. It plays all the stuff the RG350 can, but also adds to that list N64, PSP and Dreamcast emulation. Further to that, the RP2 runs on android so is highly customisable – you can mess with the layout and add your own apps, emulators and games from the Google Play store should you wish to do so. It also features a Dual Boot system where you can either boot into the Android side of things or alternatively use the Retroid App to boot into the Pandora-style Retroid OS. This side is probably better for beginners as there is a bunch of games readily available here, pre-configured to run in their respective emulators, with a presentable frontend and a cheeky ‘store’ that lets you download and install additional games.
All sounds great, right?
But…..
There is always a ‘but’.
Unfortunately it ain’t all roses. Let’s
deal with the Retroid side first. It’s clunky and you can’t change any settings
or remap any controls. Good luck trying to drift in Mario Kart 64 with the awkward button layout they give you. You can't save in-game in some systems. Some have save states available, some don’t. You
can add your own roms to the Retroid system (in a not too obvious and
roundabout way) but you can’t edit any of the names. Some existing games also have
strange names that you can’t change, for example Marvel Vs Capcom 2 is called ‘Cartoon Fighter Vs Capcom’ and Ikaruga is called ‘Turtle Dove’. There
are plenty of other hilarious translations if you scroll through the game list
such as some SNES game being called ‘Electro Sperm’. Some games are in Chinese
or Japanese (both pre-loaded and in the store) so if you are only able to read English you are out of luck my friend.
I would not recommend use of the Retroid side of this device unless it’s just for a quick game of something where saving or control remapping wont be an issue – for example a quick go on an arcade game. For all other emulation I really wouldn’t bother, using the Android side is the better option in general.
Speaking of which, this also has its fair share of issues. For one, the RP2 runs on Android 6 which is already pretty dated at this point. The interface can be clunky and laggy at times, and with no touch screen it can be cumbersome and slow to navigate. You have an option to switch to ‘mouse mode’ where you can control a pointer with the analogue stick but as this requires a long press of the select button to activate it can be slow if you frequently need to toggle on and off.
A plus is that you have a choice of emulators for most systems. The majority utilise Retroarch by default (though GBA has its own standalone Retroarch version for some reason) with only the more higher end stuff such as N64, PSP and Dreamcast having their own dedicated apps. You also have the option of downloading additional and or alternative emulators from the Google Play store. However this freedom of choice and setup will be bewildering to newbies who may have expected this device to be a simple ‘pick up and play’ or ‘out of the box’ device. Even just using Retroarch can be daunting to some. I’m fortunate to have used it previously on a few different devices to emulate retro games so I am familiar with how it works, but for beginners it is certainly not what I would call ‘user friendly’.
Compare this to the more ‘out of the box’ simplicity of the RG350 and the amount of setup and tinkering required for the Retroid Pocket 2 makes it a much more demanding device. You can probably get your head around everything the RG350 has to offer in a matter of hours. I’ve messed around with the Retroid Pocket on and off for about 2 weeks before I’ve got to the point where I feel like I have set up everything how I want it.
There is also the ridiculous boot times to consider. The RP2 takes about 40 seconds to boot up when powering on from an ‘off’ state. The RG350 takes about 8 seconds. Switching between the Android side and the ‘Retroid OS’ side requires a system re-boot so if you ever want to switches sides – yep, guess what - more waiting.
The build quality on the Retroid is decent, however I am not really a fan of the stiff and ‘clicky’ D-pad. It also feels very shallow and recessed in its profile. I like the ‘stacked’ shoulder buttons (although these are also clicky) and the left analogue stick is nice, although the right one is a ‘slider’ nub - however I don’t tend to play any games that utilise the right analogue stick too often so that is less of an issue for me. In my opinion the controls on the RG350 are just better overall.
“But what of the additional systems it can emulate?”, I hear you cry – and it’s true - the RP2 is indeed a more powerful machine. It boasts the ability to play N64, PSP and Dreamcast – something that the RG350 most certainly cannot. However as expected, there are caveats. N64 runs okay for some games but requires the use of having to select the correct profile (of 6) in the settings to get them to run at an acceptable level. Even then there may be some audio or graphical glitches. PSP can only run the lower end stuff and most having to utilise frameskip to get smooth gameplay. Forget trying to play Tekken 6 or either of the God of War games. Plus, squishing everything down to maintain the aspect ratio on a 3.5inch screen is not ideal.
Dreamcast is also a mixed bag - for every “playable” game you will have 4 others that are certainly not. Whilst the bundled Flycast emulator is already set up as the most compatible DC emulator for this device, there is not much that you can tweak in the settings to make struggling games run better. Most of the time it’s either they run ok, badly or not at all.
I’ve also seen many people praise how good Nintendo DS emulation is on this device but you have to bear in mind there is no touch screen, you can only view one screen at a time and you have to pay for the emulator (by the name of Drastic) from the Google Play store. When I’ve got a DS Lite and 3DS XL readily available to me, playing DS games in such a compromised manner isn’t really an attractive prospect.
All in all this is a decent device for emulation. It looks great and comes in a variety of nice colour variants (I've opted for the GBA indigo version). However I would not recommend this device if you are getting it specifically for emulating N64, PSP and Dreamcast games. These systems should be viewed more as just a nice bonus for the few games that they can play to an acceptable standard. The Android OS is nice if you want to customise and tinker but I would definitely not recommend it if you are new to emulation, unfamiliar with Android as an operating system or are looking for a more simple ‘out of the box’ device that requires minimal set-up and high compatibility.
For that reason, although I do rate the Retroid Pocket 2 (as you certainly do get a lot of bang for your buck - it cost me about £80 with shipping), I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it over the RG350M. Or if you are looking for a slightly cheaper option the RG350P would be much better suited for your retro game fix, especially if you only plan for emulating games up to PSX.
Conclusion
Anyway, all this is just my opinion and I am sure there are many out there who might disagree. Indeed, there have been many a heated discussion on Facebook groups and Discord channels as to the relative pros and cons of each device. At the end of the day it is up to you to do your research thoroughly to determine which device out there would be the best for your own individual needs. I have only talked about 4 different devices here when in reality there are close to about 50 currently available out there, if not more.
As i said earlier it is still pretty much a ‘Wild West’ situation out there at present with all these ‘Chinese handhelds’ coming out but also an exciting time to be alive to follow all the latest developments if you have an interest in emulation on dedicated handhelds. Truth be told I have more games than I’ll ever have time to play in my lifetime AND too many options of how to play these games, but that’s another problem entirely and a story for another time. For now I'm just enjoying it.
Imagine if i could send one of these things back in time to that little kid who once had his little mind blown by that 50-in-1 bootleg GameBoy cartridge all those years ago. It would have surely been a dream come true.
24th Sept 2020
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