Retroid Pocket 3

So, I was one of the suckers that bought the Retroid Pocket 3 when it was first announced; the Retroid Pocket 3+ came out two months later at a similar price point with better internals. Like other Retroid Devices, it takes some work to set up and doesn’t come pre-loaded, but it’s still really powerful for the price point.

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The thing is, in my current ecosystem, the RP3 is directly competing against the RG552: Powerful enough to play N64 and PSP, wide enough to play DS, and with the Android emulators that make it easy to use cheats on the fly. Besides the weird Start/Select locations, the RP3 is more ergonomic. Because it’s just running plain Android and the wi-fi works, I can use the Play Store to get Android games on it (and Steam Link works, too). And it charges from a standard USB-C instead of the C-to-C high-power. Assuming the battery life issue doesn’t become an ongoing problem, I can see this getting longterm use. I’m not dealing with the upgrade kit this time, but I suspect that if you’re buying new you’ll want to jump straight to the 3+.

Anbernic RG35XX

Anbernic introduced this “mini” handheld to compete directly wit the Miyoo Mini, but I really think it’s there to trounce all the cheap “pick up and play” PowKiddy handhelds.

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Overall: I give them a lot of credit here for putting together an optimal version of what PowKiddy has been stumbling around for years: It’s pocket-sized with a nice screen and good battery life. I think “35XX” was a great name for it, because it represents a different evolutionary path from the 351 and 353 devices—instead of pushing the envelope to try to play later systems and add touchscreens, this evolved to be better at the original niche.