One of the best retro handheld sport consoles provide a transportable solution to get pleasure from iconic video games. These compact and infrequently very reasonably priced consoles permit us to indulge our nostalgia for retro graphics and relive participating gameplay in remasters of traditional titles whereas offering pocket-sized comfort that we are able to get pleasure from on the go.
The format has seen a increase lately, and there is now plenty of selection, from premium choices to price range handheld consoles that assist tons of emulations. We have reviewed a lot of them on the location, and beneath I’ve rounded up our findings in a single place to supply an outline of the very best retro handheld consoles accessible at the moment.
One of the best retro handheld sport consoles
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One of the best retro handheld sport console general
Specs
Dimensions: 192.7. x 78.5 mm x 20.7mm / 7.76 x 3.1 x 0.8in
Weight: 590g / 1.3lbs
Show: 4.3in 800×480 IPS
Storage: 4GB
Battery life: Round 5 hours
Causes to purchase
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Incredible display
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Wonderful built-in video games library
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TATE mode is fascinating
Topping our checklist of the very best retro handheld sport consoles, the Evercade EXP (and the newer EXP-R) give attention to retro collections, working formally licensed cartridges with compilations of traditional video games from a number of consoles. The collections are cheap and comprise between six and eight titles, making them a good way to construct up a large retro video games assortment.
Our reviewer cherished the design of this handheld, discovering it to be properly constructed, comfy and responsive, wrapped in a contemporary, moveable package deal. It is actually versatile too for the reason that EXP could be linked to a TV for enjoying at dwelling, and the TATE mode turns it right into a vertical system for traditional shooters (though the buttons aren’t ideally positioned for this orientation).
The console comes with 18 Capcom video games pre-installed, together with Closing Combat, Ghouls ‘n Ghosts and Strider; and a particular bundle comes with the IREM Arcade 1 assortment, a cart of traditional ’80s arcade video games, together with R-Sort, making it nice worth. The EXP-R has the identical options and runs the identical cartridges however packs a brand new chipset that runs cooler and in addition boasts a textured grip on the again for consolation. It is accessible bundled with Tomb Raider.
Learn extra: Full Evercade EXP evaluation
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One of the best premium retro handheld console
Specs
Dimensions: 149 x 86 x 22mm , 5.86 x 3.4 x 0.86in
Weight: 275g / 0.6lbs
Show: 3.5in 1600×1440 LTPS LCD
Storage: microSD as much as 1TB
Battery life: 4 – 10 hours
Causes to purchase
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Reinvents the Sport Boy design
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Incredible display with a number of filter choices
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Nice battery life
Causes to keep away from
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Comparatively costly in comparison with different retro handhelds
For a modern, premium retro handheld, we love this FPGA, which performs authentic Sport Boy, Sport Boy Coloration and Sport Boy Advance cartridges. FPGA refers to that proven fact that it supplies hardware-level emulation by way of the chip as a substitute of counting on software program to do it. Principally, it makes use of reverse engineered information to implement the behaviour of the unique {hardware}, which may make it extra correct and environment friendly.
We discovered it to be the perfect solution to play Nintendo’s moveable again catalogue, offering latency-free play and nice battery life. It has an ultra-sharp LCD show with totally different filters to recreate the look of various retro gadgets. It additionally has correct sound, plus HDMI output so you’ll be able to hook up with an exterior show. It helps adapters for different techniques like Sport Gear and Neo Geo Pocket too.
The design completely apes the Sport Boy look however with a barely extra compact dimension, some additional buttons and a extra premium really feel. It has a satisfying weight to it, which evokes confidence within the construct and helps justify the value, which is comparatively costly in comparison with different gadgets on this checklist.
Learn extra: full Analogue Pocket evaluation
(Picture credit score: GoRetroid )
03. Retroid Pocket 5
One of the best Android retro handheld
Specs
Dimensions: 19.9 x 7.8 x 1.6cm / 7.8 x 3 x 0.6in
Weight: 280g / 0.6lbs
Chip: Snapdragon 865
Show: 5.5in AMOLED, 1080p at 60fps
Storage: 128GB + microSD
Battery life: 4 – 6 hours
Causes to purchase
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Nice OLED show
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Can run a variety of emulations
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Typically clean efficiency
Causes to keep away from
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Audio system might be higher
The Retroid model makes a variety of retro handheld sport consoles. The Android-running Pocket 5 is tremendous moveable, has an important OLED show and is available in a number of enjoyable color choices.
It is only a tiny bit smaller than a Nintendo Change Lite (Retroid additionally has the extra genuinely pocketable Pocket Mini), and we discovered it to be comfy to carry for lengthy intervals, considerably enhancing on the ergonomics of the Pocket 4 Professional with the addition of an honest grip.
There are not any video games preloaded, however it helps a variety of titles by way of emulators, app shops and cloud gaming companies, each retro and fashionable titles. In our testing, it was in a position to deal with a variety of video games, from native Android video games to N64 and PS1 emulation, and even Wii titles and Roblox. On the draw back, it did get fairly heat at occasions. and the audio system aren’t something to shout about.
(Picture credit score: Grant Sinclair)
04. Sinclair GamerCard
One of the best retro video games console for modern design
Specs
Dimensions: 128 x 88 x 6.5mm / 5.04 x 3.46 x 0.26in
Weight: 100g / 0.22lbs
Chip: Raspberry Pi Zero 2W
Show: 4in 720×720 IPS
Storage: 128GB
Battery life: Not specified
Causes to purchase
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Smooth minimalist design
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Genuinely pocket sized
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Encourages sport creation
Designed by Grant Sinclair, the nephew of the ZX Spectrum inventor, the GamerCard is a Raspberry Pi-based gaming console barely bigger than the scale of an outdated floppy disk (keep in mind these?). With a 4-inch sq. IPS display, it is simply 6.5mm thick and weighs 100g.
That makes this simply probably the most genuinely pocket-size retro handheld console on this checklist. It is positively attainable to hold this on you to make use of on the go without having a bag. The 2 round pad controls remind me of the iPod a bit of and provides the machine a modern, minimalist really feel with their eight tactile snap-dome buttons. The GamerCard one way or the other feels retro and fashionable on the identical time.
With a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor and 128GB of inner storage, it is a working mini PC that helps emulators like Recalbox, RetroPie and Lakka, PICO-8 titles and coding in MicroPython, C, C++, BASIC and extra, encouraging sport making in addition to enjoying. It comes with a bundle of arcade video games preinstalled so you will get enjoying instantly.
The value of $170 / £125 makes the Anbernic beneath higher offers when it comes to money-to-spec, however then it would not provide the premium really feel and progressive design of the GamerCard.
(Picture credit score: Anbernic)
05. Anbernic RG351P
Specs
Dimensions: 140 x 73 x 18mm / 6 x 2.8 x 0.7in
Weight: 190g / 0.42lbs
Chip: Rockchip RK3326
Show: 3.5in 320×480 IPS
Storage : 64 GB SD card (as much as 256GB supported)
Battery life: As much as eight hours
Causes to purchase
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Nice construct high quality for this worth
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Runs open-source Linux
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Good display for Sport Boy Advance video games
Causes to keep away from
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No Wi-Fi or HDMI
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Video games for 4:3 techniques get stretched or pillarboxed
Anbernic’s common open-source handhelds working Linux-based emulators are nice worth for enjoying retro video games from consoles like SNES, Genesis and extra. There are many fashions and color choices even simply inside the RG351 sequence alone.
Each the RG351M and RG351P are robust choices right here. The previous feels extra premium, with an all-aluminium physique and inner WiFi. The 351P requires a USB dongle for WiFi while you wish to replace the system and obtain sport covers. It does really feel cheaper too and efficiency can lag at occasions too, however it’s the very best worth retro handheld that we are able to advocate if you happen to’re in search of a tool that may play all kinds of video games, and we discovered it comfy to make use of for lengthy periods.
The principle buttons and the D-pad have a reassuring clickiness and the analogue sticks really feel surprisingly premium. The working system can also be well-designed and polished, though the three:2 display, whereas good for Sport Boy Advance is not so good for 4:3 techniques. The 64GB SD card that comes included has an enormous 2,500 retro video games. Not all of them are precisely classics, thoughts, however it’s straightforward to load extra video games on to the cardboard to switch them over from a laptop computer. That makes this an important worth retro handheld console at slightly below $50 / £60.
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Nintendo Change 2
One of the best handheld console general
Specs
Dimensions: 166 x 272 x 13.9mm / 6.5 x 10.7 x 0.55in
Weight: 534g / 1.18lbs
Chip: Customized NVIDIA T239
Show: 7.9in 1080p, as much as 4K at 60fps (docked)
Storage: 256GB
Battery life: 2 – 6.5 hours
It isn’t strictly a retro console, and it is costlier than the retro handhelds on this checklist, however the Nintendo Change 2 has a nostalgic really feel to it because of its enjoyable design and the truth that that is Nintendo. It is also nice for retro remakes, ports and traditional video games.
A Nintendo On-line subscription affords a lot of retro video games with new ones added every month. And there is the bonus that you simply additionally get to play Donkey Kong Bananza and all the opposite greatest Change 2 video games. We discovered the brand new mannequin to be properly constructed, notably extra highly effective than its predecessor, and we cherished the brand new magnetic Pleasure-Cons that now additionally operate as mice.
Learn extra: see our full Nintendo Change 2 evaluation
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Valve Steam Deck
One of the best handheld for PC gaming
Specs
Dimensions: 298mm x 117mm x 49mm / 16 x 5 x 3 in
Weight: 669g / 1.48lbs
Chip: AMD RDNA 2
Show: 7in 800p (7.4in OLED accessible)
Storage: 64 – 512GB
Battery life: 1.5 – 8 hours
Causes to purchase
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A strong handheld for up to date AAA video games
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Can simply run emulators and ports
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Huge collection of video games
Causes to keep away from
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Brief battery life
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Dearer than retro handhelds
Once more, not strictly ‘retro,’ however the Valve Steam Deck is properly price contemplating in order for you a mixture of gaming, not simply classics. It is a highly effective handheld PC able to working retro emulators and PC ports with ease, making it a favourite for individuals who need an important all-round moveable console.
It is larger and heavier than a Nintendo Change (see above), however has higher-spec options with a customized AMD GPU and CPU. It helps 30 and 60 frames per second, and there is additionally an OLED model. We discovered battery life might be liable to run down quick, generally requiring a tweaking of settings, and the fan could make fairly some noise, however that is the closest factor now we have to a handheld gaming PC and nonetheless the best choice if you wish to take your PC sport assortment on the transfer with you.
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