Retro Gaming Handheld Mini Reviews.

Chako · **on:** May 23, 2023, 02:30:37 AM

Some of you may know, I haven't been in here for a few months, mostly posting on Facebook of late. Well during my hiatus, I caught wind that there existed retro gaming handhelds that run off of emulators. Now, I do have several retro gaming emulator devices that are more or less desktops, but having something you can bring along with thousands of games inside was something that flew under my radar.

This all started with someone mentioning I should get a Miyoo Mini. I had never heard of the company, but once I looked into it, I jumped at the chance to get it. Now I did have an Evercade original handheld that used cartridges, which I bought the Evercade XP which is the newer produced device...but the Miyoo Mini Plus opened a floodgate for me, which meant I was going to buy a few choice devices to see what these Chinese Emulating handhelds are all about.

Now before I go into some details, just know that most of these devices give you the option of buying them with various micro SD card sizes full of games pre-loaded. Some of these do not come with any and it is up to you to download them. Of course, there is a legality issue with getting games that you do not have the original for, but that does not stop these Chinese manufacturers from shipping them to you. A word of caution however. A student of mine bought a device with a 128Gb card that had less than my 64Gb card that shipped with my identical device. this means that depending on who you are buying, your game list can vary from seller to seller. Just keep that in mind. Another issue, depending on the seller, you can get a lot of Chinese only games which do not translate very well if at all into English. Another issue, it is recommended to make copies of those micro SD cards onto something more durable such as a good name brand micro SD card as I am told the cheap ones that ship with the unit are prone to failure.

1. I am going to start with the smallest one called the TRIMUI Smart. Featuring a 2.4" screen, this pocket friendly little guy packs a lot of power, and a few annoying features as well. First and foremost, the unit plays an annoying tune as soon as you start it up. You can turn the tune off but as soon as you restart it, it ignores your previous settings and continues to assault your ears with music. The second annoying issue with this device is that the on light is as bright as the sun. There is an alternative OS you can install called Garlic OS that fixes these issues. I haven't looked into it yet. With that said, this is the most pocket friendly little unit going, and it packs a lot of emulation power. In fact, this unit can emulate right up to the original Play Station. It will emulate: Wonder Swan Colour, Arcade, Final Burn Neo, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, CapCom 1/2/3, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, MAME Plus, MAME 2010, Sega Mega Drive, Sega, Neo Geo, Neo Geo Portable, PC Engine, Sega Game Gear. At least those are the ones that came with the 32Gb pre-loaded micro SD card that came with my unit. The TRIMUI Smart comes in different colours. I got the yellow model. Also, there are no headphone ports, however you can use a Bluetooth set.

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Chako · **Reply #1 on:** May 23, 2023, 02:45:22 AM

2. Next up are two handheld devices from the same company. One being the original Evercade, and the second being the newer Evercade XP. The original Evercade features a really retro red and white vibe. The newer EXP features a better screen, built in Capcom games, and the ability to turn the unit sideways to better play those vertical shooters...which they call Tate Mode.

Here is the original Evercade.

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This is the upgraded Evercade EXP. The cases I had to buy from Germany. That took a little over a month to ship them over to me.

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Both Evercades are super comfortable to hold and use. The quality of the build is good on both units.

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The Evercade EXP comes with 18 pre-installed games, and 1 IREM cartridge. The original Evercade came with a few cartridges depending on what starter setup you bought. Here you can see the EXP with part of the CapCom game menu. The Evercade is a very nice system that is based on cartridges. The nice thing about this, every cartridge you install gives you fully licensed games along with the nostalgia of having cartridge cases and instruction booklets. The menu of the Evercade really looks good with good sized art. The included booklets give you insight into the various software publishers. It really is a cool retro way of playing and collecting cartridges.

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The back of the EXP showing the single cartridge slot.

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The Evercade EXP on the top with the original Evercade on the bottom, along with a cartridge.

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The Evercade system comprises of 2 handhelds and a desktop unit called the Evercade VS. The cartridge system is also colour based. Red for console systems, blue for computer, and purple for arcade.

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Currently up to 28 console cartridges, 2 computer cartridges and 9 arcade cartridges. Each cartridge highlights a single publisher with some of their greatest hits. Depending on the cartridge, you can have anywhere from 2 to 20 games, with the majority featuring around 8 games on average.

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Chako · **Reply #2 on:** May 23, 2023, 02:59:53 AM

3. Meet the Powkiddy x70. I was curious about the 7" screen and the obvious Nintendo Switch looks. The review on this unit were bad, but that didn't deter me from getting one, aided by the low price. What I got was a pleasant surprise. Yes, the screen is not the best with a narrow viewing angle...but once you are angled in the sweet spot, the screen is not bad at all. The size is great, and compared to the TRIMUI Smart, this 7" screen is expansive. The controls aren't all that bad either, and This one came with a 64Gb pre-loaded micro SD card, but that depends on who you buy it from. As far as emulations go, the Powkiddy (what a name) X70 can emulate the following systems: CapCom system Arcade, Final Burn Neo, Ninteno, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Game Boy Advanced, Nintendo Game Boy Colour, Neo Geo, Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive, Sony Play Station.

I got the Nintendo Switch homage with the red and blue model. This does come in a variety of colours including all black.

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Now there are a lot of Asian games on the micro SD card, but for the cheap price, one cannot complain. The X70, despite all the bad reviews, turned out to be a not that bad emulation system for the price. Of interest, the system features a typical Pandora's Box menu system once you get past the various system icons. Here is a photo inside the Play Station game list. Navigation happens using the shoulder buttons. Type gives you an icon for each emulated system. It is an easy device to navigate.

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Overall, I am somewhat impressed with the Powkiddy X70. It has its shortcomings, but the price negates a lot of that. At least it isn't as annoying as the more capable TRIMUI Smart.

Chako · **Reply #3 on:** May 23, 2023, 03:16:54 AM

4. Next up is the Miyoo Mini Plus. This is one very nice quality piece of gear. Featuring a nice 3.5" screen, and Game Boy ergonomics, the Miyoo Mini Plus is probably one of my favorite devices listed here. This is large enough and portable enough that I think it meets my sweet spot in handheld devices. The shoulder buttons are in the right spot and are super easy to control. The buttons and D-Pad are very nice and the whole unit gives off high quality vibes. I got mine with a pre-loaded 64Gb micro SD card. The Miyoo Mini Plus can emulate: Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Arcade, Nintendo, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Game Boy Colour, Nintendo Game Boy Advanced, MAME, Sega Mega Drive, Neo Geo, Neo
Geo Portable, PC Engine, Play Station, Super Nintendo, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Bandai Wonder Swan Colour.

The Miyoo Mini Plus is the second generation. The original Miyoo Mini was even smaller. The company ran out of screens and decided to make a larger Plus version as the screens are plentiful. Like everything else, this comes in different colours and with different included micro SD cards. This is the unit my student bought and found that his 128Gb card was only filled with 43Gb of content, and several of the above systems had 0 games installed.

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The back of the Miyoo Mini Plus. The shoulder buttons are very easy to use and ergonomic. The included battery is user replaceable down the road if this one dies.

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Very pocket friendly.

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The included menu system is simple to use. There is an alternative OS called Onion OS which upgrades the menu system as well as include several other emulators. Like all of these, you can add and remove games to meet your needs. You can even install other emulators.

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Here is a view of some of the game systems. Pressing any of these gets you into an installed game list.

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Unlike the Powkiddy X70, you are told how many games each system has. Here you can see there are 90 Play Station games installed.

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The Miyoo Mini Plus is one of my favorite emulation devices out there. The device oozed quality right down to the feel of the D-Pad and buttons. The menu system is simple and capable. If you want more, you can install a third party OS called Onion OS that gives you more features.

Chako · **Reply #4 on:** May 23, 2023, 03:34:45 AM

5. Next up is a more expensive unit based off of the Android OS. Meet the Retroid Pocket 3+. Because it is based on Android, this unit features a touch screen. In fact, its screen is from an iPhone and features a beautiful 4.7" 750x1334 resolution screen. I wanted to try an Android based emulation device, and the reviews of the Retroid Pocket 3+ appeared to be very positive. There was one issue however that I did not know until I bought one...and that is it comes with no pre-loaded micro SD card. this means you will have to learn how to find ROMs, and how to install them with their included Emulation software and BIOS files. I found out that there is a steep learning curve to all of this. Thus far, I have only been successful with Nintendo 64 games. Having a faster processor, you can emulate right up to the Nintendo Wii/ game Cube and Sega Dreamcast for the most part. Once everything is set up, this is a very nice emulation device. Like everything else, this device does come in different colours. You might be able to find one that does come with a pre-installed micro SD card. I however bought this right from the manufacturer, and they ship the device blank.

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The touch screen is beautiful and very responsive to your touch...seeing that it is a phone display, that is no surprise. The background screen features an animated pixel background.

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Because it is an Android device, you can install Android games from the play store. Likewise, you can install a frontend that gives your emulations a nice front end. There are several online videos that can help you set up the Retroid Pocket 3+. Here is my only successful download of Nintendo 64 games. In fact, I am fairly happy with just the 64 system being represented here.

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Once in, you will also see all of the cover art for your games that you installed. Frankly, I am quite happy with the 64 version of Mari Kart on this device.

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I will have to play a lot more with this system, tweaking and installing stuff on it. Sounds like a summer project once I am off on my holidays. With that said, the ergonomics and built quality of the Retroid Pocket 3+ is very good. Not a unit for beginners though as learning to find and install the ROMs and their emulators is a challenge when you are green behind the ears.

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Chako · **Reply #5 on:** May 23, 2023, 03:54:50 AM

6. After seeing the possibilities of the Retroid Pocket 3+, I was curious to see what the competition held. I noticed that Anbernic had a competing model with almost the same specifications but featuring an AMOLED screen. The Anbernic RG505 does come with a pre-built micro SD card. I was curious and opted for the 256Gb to see what that offered. I can say that the newer systems have bigger games and filling up a 26Gb card with these newer system games does not give you more games compared to a smaller Micro SD sized card...you just get more of the newer system games...if that makes sense. The online reviews of the RG505 were not as good as the Retroid Pocket 3+, but after receiving the unit, I can say that you have to take what people say online with a grain of salt. Many folks to not like the inline shoulder buttons. I find them to be not an issue personally. Being Andoid, you do get a touch screen, and newer updated models also come with the Andoid Play Store feature installed. The original version neglected to include the Play Store...which is fixed with a system update. The Anbernic RG505 also comes in various colours. I tend to stick with white or gray for the most part.

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Once turned on, you get a nice Anime themes animated background.

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The touch screen is also very responsive. The 4.9" AMOLED screen features a resolution of 960x544. The resolution is not as good as the Retroid pocket 3+. With that said, I think the colours are better on the Anbernic.

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What I really like about the Anbernic is the included front end. I really like the short history behind every emulated system. Emulations include the following systems: Nintendo, Sega Master System, PC Engine, CapCom 1/2/3, Sega Mega Drive, Nintendo Game Boy, Neo Geo, super Nintendo, Sega Saturn, Sony Play Station, Nintendo 64, MAME, Nintendo Game Boy Colour, Sega Dreamcast, Neo Geo Pocket Colour, Bandai Wonder Swan, Final Burn Neo, Nintendo Game Boy Advanced, Sony Play Station Portable, Nintendo DS, Sony Play Station 2, Nintendo 3DS.

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If I had to select one unit between the Retroid Pocket 3+ and the Anbernic RG505, I would have to pick the Anbernic unit. The screen is better on the Retroid, but the steep learning curve to install games on it somewhat of a detraction. The Anbernic comes pre-loaded and is easy right out of the box to use. Both units have their pros and cons, and there is a lot of specifications that both units share as well.

This ends my little reviews of the emulation consoles I have in my possession. I hope you might find this somewhat informative and helpful.

Chako · **Reply #6 on:** May 23, 2023, 04:08:26 AM

A size comparison of some of the units.

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MadPlumbarian · **Reply #7 on:** June 02, 2023, 05:32:59 PM

I just got this one, only thing is I might be sending it back, saying there is 5k games there’s not one Mario, but a bunch of street fighters, Mrs Pac-Man, and a bunch of other old school games, I just can’t believe no Mario, it seams to work but when looking through the games or searching the buttons take forever, so I just don’t know, yeah I put an extra 64 card, and supposedly you can take it out and into a comp and load a game, so idk,

JR

Chako · **Reply #8 on:** June 02, 2023, 08:22:20 PM

The games are very dependent on who makes the ROM images. I have found that buying 2 of the same machines from different sellers may result in 2 different ROM images. One of my units came with no Mario games, but other Nintendo character games were present.

Yes, you can find the ROMs online and install them in the right folders. Once done, you will have to re-scan your folder for the emulator to see the new addition.

If you press the shoulder buttons, you can scroll page by page.

MadPlumbarian · **Reply #9 on:** June 02, 2023, 09:55:41 PM

I really don’t know, I’m not a computer or game nut, yeah I know my basics and like to play some games but as to what units are good or which ones are bad or have what I haven’t the slightest clue, so I’ve been looking but still can’t figure it out..
JR

Tasky · **Reply #10 on:** June 02, 2023, 10:23:01 PM

I don't know much about them either, with barely more than a passing interest in those I've seen on tech channels... I have at least heard of Evercade, though.