Game Console Power Bank DY19
Aug. 29th, 2023 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroI’ve labeled this based on the “Product Name” and “Model Number” in the listing, but I don’t actually know who produced it or if there was an original branded device it was based on. AliExpress called this Ultra Clear 3.2 Inch Color Display 2023 New Handheld Game Console Power Bank Can Be Connected To A Tv Childhood Arcade Games. This cost me $30 on AliExpress, and the emulation is shockingly good for $30, even without the dual function of being an impressive power bank.
Actually, let’s talk about it as a power bank, first: It has a battery percentage display that lights up when it’s charging or when something is plugged into it. It has two built-in cords (USB-C and Lightning) that slot into the sides, and it has ports for USB-A, USB-C and micro-USB (though the latter is only for connecting a second controller). It clearly supports fast charging, as evidenced by its ability to refill my phone at fast-charging speeds. 6000 mAh isn’t massive; in theory it’s 1.5 full charges of my 4000 mAh phone battery, though I’m skeptical after watching the meter drop 25% to fill my phone 10%. (Further testing on a full charge is needed.) The plastic shell feels durable and like something that could bump around in your backpack without serious harm (though I’m considering buying a screen protector), and the power switch is an actual slider switch that isn’t going to turn on accidentally.
As an emulator handheld, it isn’t overall great, but it’s amazing for a dual-function $30 device. It plays NES, SNES, GB, GBA, MD and various arcade systems. It has a d-pad and an analog stick, six play buttons and start/select/reset all on the face. It has a headphone jack (and came with component cables for attaching to a TV), a physical volume wheel, and a removeable SD card full of roms. And I mean full, there probably are 10,000 roms on there…though while they’re all English and Japanese roms, they’re all labeled in Chinese, so there’s a bunch of guesswork in determining what you’re playing. (If you care, you can relabel or replace all the roms on the SD card. I added a few to test and they worked fine. I wasn’t able to figure out how to replace the eight default home screen games, though.)
But then we get to the limitations of the system: This has a 3.2”, 4:3 aspect screen, which works great for most of the systems this supports but stretches everything to fit. There’s no ability to resize the screen, remap keys, use cheats, or fast-forward. This doesn’t support sram saves on any systems, and each game seems limited to a single save state. Reset works as a Menu button in game and, oddly, as the back button in the menus. The buttons themselves are a bit stiff and the layout isn’t ideal; not unplayable, but it fights my muscle memory and means you have to hold the device in a suboptimal way. The metallic charging port section at the bottom isn’t nearly as comfortable to hold as the softer and rounded plastic sides.
And the emulation is decent but not perfect. The arcade games I tried ran well. GB and GBC run fine, though they’re slightly stretched to fullscreen. GBA is a little janky; it felt like the speed games were running at wasn’t perfectly consistent and the music was a little weird. Genesis generally seemed fine, though it didn’t recognize the roms I tried to add. NES music is tinny, though the gameplay seems fine. (For NES specifically, Select maps to L rather than the Select button, which is a little odd. As with most NES emulators, Y and X map to turbo buttons.) SNES has some transparency issues and frameskip, but it’s running at full speed in everything I tested.
And as an amusing side note, Amazon has a crappier version of this (500 built-in Famiclone games, 4 buttons and no analog stick, slightly smaller screen) listed for $120!
Overall: There’s absolutely no reason, in 2023, to buy this specifically as an emulator handheld. You can do much, much better for not much more money. But as both a backup battery and a backup entertainment device? It’s not bad! I can see throwing it in my backpack when traveling rather than a different travel battery.
Actually, let’s talk about it as a power bank, first: It has a battery percentage display that lights up when it’s charging or when something is plugged into it. It has two built-in cords (USB-C and Lightning) that slot into the sides, and it has ports for USB-A, USB-C and micro-USB (though the latter is only for connecting a second controller). It clearly supports fast charging, as evidenced by its ability to refill my phone at fast-charging speeds. 6000 mAh isn’t massive; in theory it’s 1.5 full charges of my 4000 mAh phone battery, though I’m skeptical after watching the meter drop 25% to fill my phone 10%. (Further testing on a full charge is needed.) The plastic shell feels durable and like something that could bump around in your backpack without serious harm (though I’m considering buying a screen protector), and the power switch is an actual slider switch that isn’t going to turn on accidentally.
As an emulator handheld, it isn’t overall great, but it’s amazing for a dual-function $30 device. It plays NES, SNES, GB, GBA, MD and various arcade systems. It has a d-pad and an analog stick, six play buttons and start/select/reset all on the face. It has a headphone jack (and came with component cables for attaching to a TV), a physical volume wheel, and a removeable SD card full of roms. And I mean full, there probably are 10,000 roms on there…though while they’re all English and Japanese roms, they’re all labeled in Chinese, so there’s a bunch of guesswork in determining what you’re playing. (If you care, you can relabel or replace all the roms on the SD card. I added a few to test and they worked fine. I wasn’t able to figure out how to replace the eight default home screen games, though.)
But then we get to the limitations of the system: This has a 3.2”, 4:3 aspect screen, which works great for most of the systems this supports but stretches everything to fit. There’s no ability to resize the screen, remap keys, use cheats, or fast-forward. This doesn’t support sram saves on any systems, and each game seems limited to a single save state. Reset works as a Menu button in game and, oddly, as the back button in the menus. The buttons themselves are a bit stiff and the layout isn’t ideal; not unplayable, but it fights my muscle memory and means you have to hold the device in a suboptimal way. The metallic charging port section at the bottom isn’t nearly as comfortable to hold as the softer and rounded plastic sides.
And the emulation is decent but not perfect. The arcade games I tried ran well. GB and GBC run fine, though they’re slightly stretched to fullscreen. GBA is a little janky; it felt like the speed games were running at wasn’t perfectly consistent and the music was a little weird. Genesis generally seemed fine, though it didn’t recognize the roms I tried to add. NES music is tinny, though the gameplay seems fine. (For NES specifically, Select maps to L rather than the Select button, which is a little odd. As with most NES emulators, Y and X map to turbo buttons.) SNES has some transparency issues and frameskip, but it’s running at full speed in everything I tested.
And as an amusing side note, Amazon has a crappier version of this (500 built-in Famiclone games, 4 buttons and no analog stick, slightly smaller screen) listed for $120!
Overall: There’s absolutely no reason, in 2023, to buy this specifically as an emulator handheld. You can do much, much better for not much more money. But as both a backup battery and a backup entertainment device? It’s not bad! I can see throwing it in my backpack when traveling rather than a different travel battery.
no subject
Date: 2023-08-29 07:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-30 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-09-06 12:52 pm (UTC)