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chuckroRemember the “thinner than paper” $10 emulator handheld that I played with a ways back? This is the successor to that, a higher-end device (at 4x the price) with a similar footprint intended to be as portable as a handheld can possibly be.
This has a pretty straightforward frontend with a united system of emulators divided up by game systems. Apparently it’s the “TRIM-UI” in the name. It has a dedicated menu button, easy and consistent access to save states, and seems to properly save SRAM. It also has a “favorites” and “recent plays” feature. Emulation for pretty much everything is smooth and pleasant, though I didn’t try PSX (it didn’t come with any loaded but has a section for them). It loads fast and you can do a save/shut down quickly, too. Everything about the setup says that they knew they were making a “pick-up-and-play” device and they wanted to make that as straightforward as possible.
(I would seriously consider flashing the TRIM-UI onto another device if I thought it would work--I like it much better than the EmuELEC that comes standard on the RG351.)
The other selling point of this device is that it’s tiny, pocket-sized for pretty much anything that has pockets and smaller than most cell phones. (Heck, it could probably fit in some wallets.) The tradeoff is that...it’s tiny. The screen, though sharp, is only 2” diagonally. The buttons are a little flatter and a lot more “clicky” than my ideal, and the L and R buttons are tiny, sunk-in nubs on the top of the system that are painful to use. The system is less than half an inch thick, which is great for portability but not actually that comfortable to hold; the less-rounded shape also contributes to that problem.
This doesn’t have a video output port like many of the other handhelds, which is unsurprising, again given the target audience. More notably, it also lacks a headphone jack, which the Q90 does include. It doesn’t even have a volume slider; relegating that to inside the UI. (The selection menu plays a beepy tune when you turn the system on, so you’ll want to jump straight to the sound meny to turn that down if you’re in a public place.)
The one I got (from AliExpress for $45) was loaded with Japanese and Chinese roms, but like most of these devices, it has an SD card that I could pop out and rearrange the contents of. Interestingly, there are a LOT of GB/GBC titles and SNES titles, but relatively few GBA games (an odd choice, given the form-factor) and relatively few NES games. I suspect that varies by seller and YMMV.
Overall: This is intended to be thrown in the pocket of your coat or purse to pull out and play while waiting for a bus. It’s tiny and runs well, but it’s not comfortable to play for a long time on. If I anticipate a long wait at the dentist or whatever, I’d be more likely to bring the Powkiddy Q90 because it’s still pocket-sized, but more comfortable to hold and with the bigger screen. And if I’m going to be playing for half an hour or more, I’d much rather have the RG350.
This has a pretty straightforward frontend with a united system of emulators divided up by game systems. Apparently it’s the “TRIM-UI” in the name. It has a dedicated menu button, easy and consistent access to save states, and seems to properly save SRAM. It also has a “favorites” and “recent plays” feature. Emulation for pretty much everything is smooth and pleasant, though I didn’t try PSX (it didn’t come with any loaded but has a section for them). It loads fast and you can do a save/shut down quickly, too. Everything about the setup says that they knew they were making a “pick-up-and-play” device and they wanted to make that as straightforward as possible.
(I would seriously consider flashing the TRIM-UI onto another device if I thought it would work--I like it much better than the EmuELEC that comes standard on the RG351.)
The other selling point of this device is that it’s tiny, pocket-sized for pretty much anything that has pockets and smaller than most cell phones. (Heck, it could probably fit in some wallets.) The tradeoff is that...it’s tiny. The screen, though sharp, is only 2” diagonally. The buttons are a little flatter and a lot more “clicky” than my ideal, and the L and R buttons are tiny, sunk-in nubs on the top of the system that are painful to use. The system is less than half an inch thick, which is great for portability but not actually that comfortable to hold; the less-rounded shape also contributes to that problem.
This doesn’t have a video output port like many of the other handhelds, which is unsurprising, again given the target audience. More notably, it also lacks a headphone jack, which the Q90 does include. It doesn’t even have a volume slider; relegating that to inside the UI. (The selection menu plays a beepy tune when you turn the system on, so you’ll want to jump straight to the sound meny to turn that down if you’re in a public place.)
The one I got (from AliExpress for $45) was loaded with Japanese and Chinese roms, but like most of these devices, it has an SD card that I could pop out and rearrange the contents of. Interestingly, there are a LOT of GB/GBC titles and SNES titles, but relatively few GBA games (an odd choice, given the form-factor) and relatively few NES games. I suspect that varies by seller and YMMV.
Overall: This is intended to be thrown in the pocket of your coat or purse to pull out and play while waiting for a bus. It’s tiny and runs well, but it’s not comfortable to play for a long time on. If I anticipate a long wait at the dentist or whatever, I’d be more likely to bring the Powkiddy Q90 because it’s still pocket-sized, but more comfortable to hold and with the bigger screen. And if I’m going to be playing for half an hour or more, I’d much rather have the RG350.
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Date: 2022-05-02 10:35 pm (UTC)