Which handheld retro gaming console should I buy?

If you are looking to buy a new handheld retro gaming console and don’t know anything about the portable console market, like me, this article is for you. Join me and read about my search for a small handheld retro gaming console. This will be a complete beginners guide.

Once upon a time there was a Gameboy

I have a Nintendo Switch but it’s occupied by my kids most of the time. Once I had a Gameboy. I used to love the startup “ping” sound when the Nintendo logo slided down the screen, it was great.

But the Gameboy had issues. The screen was dark and didn’t have colors and I didn’t have many games. I recall replacing the Gameboy batteries a lot but I loved playing Tetris anyway.

Just a few days ago I discovered that there are new Retro Handheld Consoles and they look great, and they have screens with bright colors and crisp picture. Their batteries are rechargeable and they can be loaded with thousands of games.

That is amazing and now I want one. Once I discover something new it is impossible to go back to not knowing. Ok let’s start searching. What specifications do I need for a portable console?

Characteristics for a portable retro console

Games

I want to play my old Nintendo 8-bit, Super Nintendo and Gameboy games on the emulators in the console. This is what most of the handheld consoles do nowadays so I don’t think it will be any problem. Most of them can also run newer games then this. They use different operating systems, emulators and store the games on microSD cards in different ways.

There is also some consoles that run the original game cartridges like the Anbernic K101 plus and the Analogue Pocket. I’m not looking for a device that does that right now but I do touch the subject at the end of this article.

Design or layout

There are basically two major different design of handheld console. We can call them vertical and horisontal.

Vertical
The vertical design is the same idea as the old Gameboy. It has the main control buttons on the lower part of the device and the screen on the upper.

Horisontal
And then there is the horisontal design like the Nintendo Switch, PSP, Gameboy Advance and Game & Watch with the screen in the centre and controls on both sides.

I kind of like it if it reminds me of a Gameboy in the design. So I prefer the vertical style of console. The console I am looking for should have just the most relevant control layout for the games. Not too much buttons to fiddle with. I don’t need any analogue control sticks. It should also look a little bit retro to set the tone before I start the game.

Size

I prefer a small device that fits in my pocket so I can take it everywhere. It shouldn’t feel to bulky when I keep it in a pocket. I think my Gameboy was a little bit to bulky.

Memory

Memory size needs to be 32 gb at least. 64 gb would be more and good but not really needed. I’m not really sure about this and it also depends on how the console handles the OS and the ROMS. Some consoles keep everything on a single microSD card. Others store the OS on one card and the ROMS on another card.

Battery
It should have at least 4 hours of gameplay and be a rechargeable battery. But of course more battery is better as long as the device is small enough.

Price

I’m looking for something between 60 to around 100 USD. I don’t know how much I will be playing on a portable console and don’t want to pay to much.

The portable console market is crowded.

This is harder than I thought, it seems like there are hundreds of different devices on the market. I suspect that there’s also big differences in build quality and hardware like screens, ram and memory as well as there are many designs of buttons and controls.

Most relevant alternatives for me:

This is my top 5 of retro handheld consoles that I want to look closer at.

1. Miyoo Mini
2. Anbernic RG351V
3. Anbernic RG280V
4. Powkiddy V90
5. Retro Game 300

Miyoo Mini

My first response after searching 15 minutes on Google was to go with the Miyoo Mini v2. It is small, ultra portabel and has the look of a mini Gameboy. It also had good reviews on different sites.

This was one of the first consoles I found to have good build quality.

This is one of the newest models and it is very popular. There are articles and guides everywhere about this device. It is powerful enough to handle most emulators and you can play PS1 games on it.

It fits in a pocket and might also be too small to be comfortable. The quality of buttons and casing is supposed to be one of the best.

The screen size of the Miyoo Mini is 2.8 inch which is one of the smaller screens on my list of devices. In reviews it gets very good comments about the screen quality. The screens looks large, maybe because of the small bezels.

Miyoo Mini
Screen size	2.8 inch
Screen Resolution	640 x 480
Screen type	IPS
Battery	2000 mAh
Battery hours play	5 hours
Size L x W x H	93 x 65 x 18 mm, 3.68 x 2.56 x 0.71 inches
Price	90 USD

What is most important, a comfortable grip or a small pocketable device? To be able to pick it up and start playing a game and putting it away quick and easy is important for me. I think that might be more important than ergonomics. The next item on the list is maybe a little more ergonomic.

Where to buy Miyoo Mini

Since it was tricky to find the correct websites to buy the Miyoo Mini I have links to them here:

Direct link to the manufacturer site

Link to the Miyoo Mini Official Shop on Aliexpress

The Onion Operating System

You can also replace the operating system of the device to the alternative Onion OS. Here is the link to download the latest Onion OS for your Miyoo Mini:

Link to Onion OS for Miyoo Mini

Anbernic RG351V

Anbernic RG351V is the biggest of the devices on my list with a nice bright 3,5 inch screen. The screen has gotten a lot of good feedback in other reviews. This device has an analog stick in lower left corner. The stick makes it more adapted for a little bit more modern games like N64 and PSP or newer games.

RG351V has built in wifi. Using wifi you can transfer roms, play together with another RG351V and get game cover art downloaded and updated.

Anbernic RG351V
Screen size	3.5 inch
Screen Resolution	640 x 480
Screen type	IPS
Battery	3900 mAh
Battery hours play	5 hours
Size L x W x H	140 x 94 x 26.8 mm, 5.51 x 3.7 x 1.06
Price	100 USD

There are alternative firmwares available for this device like for example Retro Arena, ArkOS and AmberELEC.

However the RG351V looks like a better choice ergonomically due to the fact that it is larger. so it will be worth having a larger device? And will I play long sessions or will I play short sessions?

It can handle Nintendo 64 and Playstation 1 games without any problems.

Here is first impression video of the device I watched.

Anbernic RG280V

RG280V looks really good with it’s famicom retro look. The design also reminds me of the old Nintendo Game & Watch. It comes in two version, silver/black, and gold/red. It is described as very pocketable and meant for quicks bursts of gameplay.

The RG280V seems to have very good build quality just as the Miyoo Mini.

It plays most games up to Playstation. There are two TF slots which the operating system is stored on one microSD card and the game roms on another microSD card.

It has a speaker on the back. On the top is L1, L2 and R1, R2 buttons.

Anbernic RG280V
Screen size	2.8 inch
Screen Resolution	320 x 480
Screen type	IPS
Battery	2100 mAh
Battery hours play	6 hours
Size L x W x H	89 x 78 x 18 mm, 3.5 x 3.0 x 0.7 inches
Price	80 USD

The two smaller devices Miyoo Mini and RG280V gets a lot of good reviews but as you might already have figured out they aren’t comfortable for long sessions due to their size. But they aren’t really made for long play-sessions, are they?

Powkiddy V90

This device also has a few years on it’s neck. I kind of like the way you can fold it. That’s one of the advantages with this formfactor. The other one is the controller grip is seperate in your hands and the screen can be tilted and adjusted the way you like.

I never had a Gameboy Advance SP. And also folding it keeps it protected when you keep it in the pocket which is nice. The screen is 3.0 inches which is bigger than Miyoo Mini and RG280V. But the screen resolution is lower, only at 320 x 240.

It is one of the cheapest on the list. But it is still a device that gets a lot of good reviews and also a great value for the price.

Powkiddy V90
Screen size	3.0 inch
Screen Resolution	320 x 240
Screen type	IPS LCD
Battery	1020 mAh
Battery life	4 hours
Size L x W x H	78 x 78 x 23 mm, 3.07 x 3.07 x 0.9 inch
Price	70 USD

Super Nintendo games doesn’t run smooth on this device. I want a device with more power that can handle Super Nintendo games without issues.

Here is a nice review of the device on Youtube:

Powkiddy V90 – Black Edition Review on Youtube by Retro Game Corps

Retro Game 300

Retro Game 300 is the size I had in mind when I set out to search for a handheld device. It’s just a little bit smaller than the Anbernic RG351V or a Gameboy but larger than RG280V and Miyoo Mini, so it’s right there in the “sweet” spot. It came out in 2019 and is one of the older devices on the list together with Powkiddy V90.

After looking at the video below by Retrododo I wanted to get a RG300 because of the 3 inch display and the perfect, in my eyes, size of the chassi.

RG300 is a few years old and not as powerful as the newer consoles. It has an updated IPS display and the highest resolution of the consoles on my list.

It can play most roms up to PS1 which it plays with some issues according to the video below. In reviews I’ve seen that it lacks in performance when running Super Nintendo games. That is too bad because Super Nintendo was one of the consoles I wanted to play on a handheld like this.

You can load it with custom firmware called RetroFW, there is a link at the end of the article. There might be more alternative firmwares for this device but I haven’t checked it out properly.

This device gets a lot of good feedback for its shoulder buttons, L and R and comfortable grip when playing. I think it looks comfortable to hold and it is at the same time small enough to store in a pocket.

Retro Game 300
Screen size	3.0 inch
Screen resolution	960 x 480
Screen type	IPS
Battery	1800 mAh
Battery life	6 hours
Size L x W x H	120 x 82 x 25 mm, 4.72 x 3.2 x 0.9 inches
Price	65 USD

Watch out because there’s a lot of different version of the RG300 on the market. You can find one with the specifications stated here but you can also find others that look similar but with totally different specifications.

Check it out at Amazon.

Time to decide

I will decide between the Miyoo Mini or the Anbernic RG280V. Which one do you think I should buy? In my mind both of them looks like they bring a lot of value and quality for the price. They are almost the optimal size I am looking for. I am afraid they will feel to small.

I like the design of both devices. The biggest difference is the layout of the L1, L2 and R1, R2 buttons and the screen resolution.

If the RG300 had been a bit more powerful and better hardware I would have bought that instead because it was a little bit bigger in size.

The RG351V looks to bulky for me at this point maybe I change my mind later. The Powkiddy V90 is fine but not very tempting when compared to the others that are more powerful and can run more games.

The game is between these two guys in the video below:

Is Analogue Pocket the king of handhelds?

I just wanted to mention the Analogue pocket because I think it is such a nice and good looking device even though I’m not interested in buying it.

I am not interested because Analogue Pocket is built for original game cartridges. Since I don’t have any cartridges left from my old Gameboy days I don’t see the point in getting one of these. There are no emulators on this device. Which means that I would also have to buy the game cartridges if I want to play games which would add up on the total cost.

You can play Gameboy, Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance cartridges on the Analogue Pocket. With adapters you can play other handhelds like Game Gear, Neo Geo, Pocket Color, Atari Lynx and more.

As I’m going to buy my first handheld retro console I think this one is to expensive at around 220 USD.