Gaming Handhelds

What is it

A portable Linux or Android powered device that allows you to play games. Imagine a GBA, but powered by a modern ARM SoC, with a screen that you can actually see and USB-C charging port. Now, unlike GBA it doesn't play any games specific to it, but rather comes with a ton of emulators preinstalled -- from pong consoles to Switch; and some source ports and native games.

Why not just use a phone

Same reason you might use a separate music player, e-book reader, a watch and so on -- a specialized device for a single task. In case of a handheld it has built-in controls, often a screen with an aspect ratio more fitting for emulation of some systems, OS configured for easy access to games akin to modern consoles. On more philosophical side of things you might want a distraction-free device to play distracting games; just conserve phone's battery or like the way they look and feel. You will not get a better performance out of them over your phone with some gamepad attached (except for x86 handhelds).

Linux or Android

These are two of the most popular operating systems for ARM-based handhelds, and which one to get is a preference. Emulators of older system often more stable and feature-complete on Linux, with a good amount of source ports, but far more development is happening for Android -- Switch emulators, Windows emulators, just plain new games. Since Android is made by actual big company that has a mostly functional QA department, it is often more functional out of the box. Open nature of Linux, on the other hand, gives a way for community to come up with fixes and enhancements, and it spawned a lot of custom firmwares for most popular handhelds, such as MuOS, Knulli, MinUI, Rocknix and even Android ports (GammaOS).

What to get

The handhelds market changes very rapidly -- they're mostly made out of cellphone parts, and often when something new becomes available in large quantities, every manufacturer makes updated version of their devices with said part; so any recommendation will become outdated pretty fast. Still, there are some things and devices that are worth pointing out.

I just want to try it out

• R36S family -- this device doesn't have a set manufacturer, and is cloned a lot, but is incredibly popular due to its low price (as low as 5 bucks with some crazy promos; around 25 with coupons on average day) and great screen. Thanks to that amassed a large community, that even ported Android on it, and came up with a lot of mods and improvements. Plays everything up to PS1 just fine, some PSP, N64 and Dreamcast games are playable. Has its own wiki

Useful things to know:
- How to spot a clone
- Variants with different layouts
- subreddit

I want a solid everyday device under $100

• Anbernic RG-XX series -- an entire family of devices based on the same hardware in different form-factors. Has a large community with a lot of CFWs and mods available. You can buy any one you like and be sure that it will work exactly like any other one from the series. Plays about the same systems as R36S with better (but still not perfect) performance with N64, Dreamcast and Saturn emulation, but has a much better build quality, Some notable models:
  • RG CubeXX -- has the most comfortable shape known to man with a 1:1 screen that works great for a surprisingly large amount of retro consoles and PICO8
  • RG-40XXH/40XXV -- the classic, in vertical and horizontal forms.
  • RG-28XX -- truly pocketable device, very small
  • RG-34XXSP/RG-35XXSP -- remember GBA SP?
  • RG-34XX -- remember GBA?
• Trimui Smart Pro/Trimui Brick -- slightly better performance than Anbernic offerings, about the same build quality, slightly worse community support due to different chipset, but still pretty solid. Smart Pro is for people nostalgic over PSP, Brick is a modern GBC replacement -- small, light, but powerful and sleek. There's a version in metal case, Brick Hammer.
• MagicX Zero28 -- small alternative to RG-28XX, but for some inexplicable reason running Android on the same hardware as Trimui without a touchscreen.
• MagicX Zero40 -- oddball with a vertical screen. Certainly a choice for DS emulation (although the resulting screen size is smaller than DS) and TATE-mode arcades.

I have a 150 bucks to burn and want more power

Here we're entering the Android zone -- Linux support on more powerful SoC is pretty bad. Despite Play Store being a giant pile of shovelware, there are some genuinely good Android games, mostly ports of indie or board games. Some devices will give you a choice of several different SoC -- Snapdragon usually have much better support from emulators and games. OLED/AMOLED screens render much deeper blacks and nice contrasting colors and generally preferable, but some people are sensitive to its PWM flicker.

• Anbernic RG series -- same idea as with XX series: most of devices share one of three platforms, so pick whatever you like the most. Model name usually follow a pattern of RG-AAB[C], where AA denoting a screen size (35 for 3.5", 40 for 4" and so on), B - how new the model is with newest ones sporting 7 (you want either that or 6), and optional C show form-factor or special feature (Vertical, Horizontal or Metal). Should run anything up to Dreamcast without breaking a sweat, with a lot of GC/Wii/3DS/PS2 games playable. Some models to consider:
  • RG Cube -- Android-based and more powerful of CubeXX
  • RG Slide -- remember PSP Go? You can have one now.
  • RG-406H/RG-406V -- the classic, horizontal or vertical
  • RG-556 -- big 5.5" AMOLED screen, usually closer to 200 bucks, but can go much lower on sales
• Mangmi Air X -- a more powerful take on Smart Pro formula. Plays everything up to Dreamcast and Saturn decently, Android, PSP-shaped. Can't go wrong.
• Retroid Pocket 4/4 Pro -- a direct competitor to RG-406H, mostly equal to it in all aspects. Discontinued, so grab on sale while you still can.
• Retoid Pocket Classic -- an odd one. Has a great, almost square AMOLED screen, pretty powerful hardware, Android -- and no sticks. So you can't play anything past PS1, despite it having enough power for PS2. Has a six-button version in classic Genesis colors, which is cool.

PS2 is my childhood

Devices in this category all should play anything up to PS2/Wii just fine, with decent WiiU support, and even some lighter Switch games.

• Retroid -- offers well-built, powerful devices with a reasonable prices. Has a spotty track record (hinge problems, lying about true screen resolution (lowering it in specs)), but generally responsive to community shitstorms with returns and refunds. Current line up is consist of three models sharing the same hardware platform (SD865+6/8Gb of RAM) and AMOLED screens:
  • Pocket Mini v2 -- small 3.7" device. Don't ask what happened to the v1
  • Pocket 5 -- PS Vita if it was good. 5" AMOLED, plays anything up to and including PS2, with some lighter Switch and WiiU games also playable.
  • Pocket Flip 2 -- Pocket 5 in a clamshell version. Every color but green has a high chance of a hinge cracking, which can be significantly lowered
  • Dual Screen Add-on -- not a handheld, but a second screen than can be added to basically any device in this category to make it into a great DS/3DS emulator; or to play Subway Surfers footage on it.
• Ayn -- sister company of Retroid (which they deny), produces slightly more high-end devices, with better SoC and bigger screens. Should comfortably emulate Switch and below, WiiU and even modern some Windows games (through Winlator or Gamehub)
  • Odin 2/Odin 2 Mini -- yesteryear flagship hardware in a handheld shell. Main downside is a non-OLED screen. Very comfortable to hold.
  • Odin 2 Portal -- 7" version of Pocket 5. AMOLED, high-end hardware, sleek glass design
  • Odin 3 -- upcoming 6" Snapdragon Elite device, taking design cues from Pocket 5.
  • Thor -- upcoming dual-screen clamshell.
• Ayaneo -- Apple of Chinese handhelds. Powerful, goes for the premium feel -- with a price to match.
  • Pocket Evo/S/ACE -- different flavors of the same thing: G3x Gen 2 chipset, AMOLED screen, Android. Differ in screen sizes and styling.
  • Pocket Air -- weaker SoC (Dimensity 1200), but still perfectly capable of playing anything below Switch, but a lower pricepoint.
  • Pocket Micro/Micro Classic -- if you ever dreamed of playing Genshin on a Gameboy Micro, this little device can help. No reason for it to exist, aside from novelty factor -- despite the price, it uses pretty weak G99 SoC. Still should run PS2/Wii and below games just fine.
  • KONKR Pocket Fit -- Ayaneo's "budget" handheld. Newer G3x G3 chipset, IPS screen, still almost $400 price tag.
  • Ayaneo Pocket DS -- upcoming dual-screen clamshell.

Give me everything

At this point we are moving away from Android and ARM and entering proper handheld x86 territory. This category is mostly occupied by "real" brands like Asus, Lenovo and Valve. If you're willing to drop that amount of money on a toy, do your own research deeper than reading a guide written at 3 am by some anon powered by 3 cans of Monster and mild autism.

Some Chinese brands to consider that might be not as visible as big players:

• GPD -- OGs. Were making handheld computers way before Valve, still do.
• Ayaneo -- they're making a couple of proper handheld PCs, including an upcoming dual-screen or QWERTY clamshell
• One Netbook/AOKZOE -- very pricy, but unusual devices, like Ryzen AI 9-powered tablet and this transformer looking thing

What to avoid

• No-name 9999 in 1 consoles -- those are usually NES-on-a-chip with several hundreds repeating 8 bit games and bootlegs, not worth the plastic they're made of.
• Anything by DataFrog -- low quality garbage with locked-down software. Simply Fantastic.
• Miyoo devices -- they're praised for custom OnionOS, which doesn't outweight the subpar hardware.
• Any hinged device should be considered very carefully, since it's a very difficult problem to solve, especially if you have no budget, time and skill to do so. SP series by Anbernic holds up remarkably well, Retroid Flip 2 started to develop cracks in opaque shells en masse, and Miyoo Flip sometimes arrived pre-broken right out the box.

Useful resources

• Spreadsheet with basically every single handheld. Your primary resource for comparison, filtering and choosing. Updated regularly.
• /vr/hhg -- it's a thing. Probably one of the most active generals on the board.
• SBC Gaming subreddit -- very active, will post the news and updates first. inb4 reddit: this is a best place to keep up with updates, developments, releases, mods and fixes. Feel free to ignore them -- you control the buttons you press.
• Youtube -- Retro Game Corps, TechDweeb, Joey's Retro Handhelds. ETA Prime fell out of favor due to low quality reviews mostly done to appease sponsors.