I’ve been curious about the XU Mini M for a while now, to the point where I made it my first purchase in 2025. I’ve always appreciated micro handhelds. While we’re not there yet, I find the idea of a device small enough for everyday carrying, with inbuilt Bluetooth Audio and an Emulation Station frontend compelling. I live in London, and this means traveling on public transport with some form of earbuds in my pocket is a daily occurrence.
My previous daily driver had been the Miyoo A30, predominantly due to the work undertaken by the Spruce team to make it such a usable device. However, just like most cheap handhelds before it, the A30 has one major drawback which irritates me more and more over time.
And with the A30 it’s the audio connectivity. Despite advertising audio out through the USB-C port, the A30 uses a non-standard port configuration, effectively meaning it will only work with the included cable which is inflexible, ugly, and unable to be replaced if damaged.
Spruce running on the A30
Part of the reason I was excited about the Mini M was that I expected to be immediately familiar with the OS. I know there was some outrage around the RH scene when it became apparent that the SOC within the Mini M wasn’t advertised, but I saw this as a good thing. The first Retro Handheld that won me over was the Anbernic RG351P, which was powered by the RK3326 and ran AnberElec (then known as 351elec).
My 351P was eventually replaced by a Powkiddy RGB10, which is also powered by an RK3326, although I’d migrated to Batocera as an operating system by that point. Despite requiring a physical replacement mod to be usable, the RGB10 did eventually leave me with what I consider to be a more pocketable version of the 351P.
After it became clear that the Mini M was also running the RK3326 (contrary to what was initially advertised), I hoped the Mini M would be a continuation of this line. Something even more pocketable running something close to AmberElec. I was also looking forward to using a device with a screen that was double the resolution of the 351p and RGB10, alongside really dinky hall sensor analog sticks that are cute as hell.
I recently completed a personal challenge of spending a year without buying a handheld, and even before the year was up, I had decided the Mini M would be a reward to myself for a job well done. The order went in on 1/1/25, and during the time between placing the order, and AliExpress delivery, I did a little internet research.
In my travels, I managed to mind 3 device features that I hadn’t seen properly shared with the community until now, either through YouTube reviews or written articles. The aim of this article is to write those down and highlight 3 potential options that could improve the experience of MagicX XU Mini M users.
Discovery #1: Bluetooth Audio (kind of)
After watching the Video from RH’s own Zu about the Mini M, I ordered my device with the full expectation that I would be using PlumOS on it. PlumOS is a fork of AmberElec so a good fit for someone with fond memories of the 351p, like me.
The installation instructions for PlumOS aren’t immediately clear, so I recommend following Zu’s instructions in the video at the start of this section. However, the PlumOS GitHub has a good ReadMe file, and that was when I discovered that PlumOS allows the Mini M to output audio through the second USB-C port.
Since this port also provides a little power, it can be compatible with some Bluetooth audio transmitters. The wiki states that only 2 specific Bluetooth adapters have been confirmed to work — the Creative BT-W2 & the GuliKit Route Air. So I decided to buy the GuiliKit adapter to test.
For reference, if you go down this path yourself, the option to switch the audio in the Mini M to Bluetooth is found in Tools > Switch_USB-Audio.
While it’s not the most elegant of solutions, attaching the Gulikit Bluetooth adaptor adds a bit of bulk, and prevents access to the USB-C charging port, it does make the combination a little closer to my ideal micro pocket handheld setup. Having the Bluetooth adapter plugged in at the point of powering on the device also prevents PlumOS from loading, so these solutions will mean frequently plugging in and unplugging the transmitter from the
I’ve ended up falling back on a pair of USB-C headphones from AliExpress, kept out of the way by a U-shaped USB-C adapter, also from AliExpress.
Discovery #2: ROCKNIX
There was a reasonable amount of attention given when ROCKNIX announced they would support the Anbernic XX range of devices. Contrary to that, as I highlighted in my love letter to the RG-Arc, ROCKNIX really didn’t make a big announcement when they brought in support for the Arc.
The same is true of the Mini M, which looks to have gained ROCKNIX support at the very end of 2024. So little noise was made about the release that I was genuinely unaware of it until I started researching that RG-Arc article
I greatly appreciate a custom OS that still receives updates. At the time of publication, ROCKNIX has already released 2 updates in 2025, whereas AmberElec, which PlumOS is based on, hasn’t been updated since 2023, and there will be no future updates to PlumOS
ROCKNIX was originally based on JelOS which was initially the work designed by the main developer of AmberElec. I’m of the mindset that there is a clear lineage between the two operating systems. Additionally, users of modern Anbernic, Powkiddy, or Retroid devices might well already be more familiar with ROCKNIX than with PlumOS.
The main issue with using ROCKNIX on the Mini M is the data partition. On the Mini M, if a second SD card is installed, it sticks out slightly and digs into the hand of the person holding it, so for this device above others, I’m looking for a 1 SD card solution. On PlumOS the data partition is readable in Windows on SD1, but on ROCKNIX, it’s formatted to EXT4 which is only readable on Linux (without special software).
I tried my previous exFAT hack to try and get the data partition on SD1 recognized but this didn’t work. Usually, my backup plan is to transfer files by Wifi but the Mini M doesn’t have internal WiFi, and it’s not clear whether it’s compatible with a WiFi dongle (either way I do not have one to hand). This means that using a second SD card seems to be the only solution.
Additionally, ROCKNIX doesn’t appear to be compatible with Audio over USB-C so the Bluetooth adapter and headphones I found won’t work either. This means to me that PlumOS is still a better solution, but if a solution could be found, I’d prefer ROCKNIX.
The ROCKNIX build for the MagicX Xu Mini M is available from Github.
Discovery #3: MinUI Is More Robust
GigaWing on FB Neo, fully integrated with the MinUI menuMiniUI only has a limited amount of emulators included as a base, although extra devices can be added through the official “extra pak” or the community-provided “extra extra pak”.
For the Mini M, there is an additional, device-specific, 3rd pack of additional emulators. These are the work of Ryan Sartor, who I recognize as one of the contributors to Spruce on the A30.
Ryan’s custom pack includes two emulators, one for Final Burn Neo and one for Doom Engine, which perfectly integrates with MinUI’s menu interface, plus three additional platforms.
These are N64, PortMaster, and Tate Mode arcade games, which act as standalone emulators using their own menus. Of these options, N64 and PortMaster are easily the ones I am the most interested in, although the number of compatible PortMaster games will be less than on many other devices.
Installation of the extra emulators is easy — It’s just a download of a zip from GitHub, and then dragging and dropping the 3 folders contained in the zip – Roms, Emu, and Tools, into the root of the MinUI card from the SD2 slot of the MagicX device.
I’ve long been a fan of MinUI since it was first realized for the TriumUI Pocket S, my first ever micro handheld, and while I think it is a great fit for some devices, like the original Miyoo Mini, I tend to avoid it on others as doesn’t support Bluetooth by design. MiniUI also requires 2 SD cards, which results in the same comfort issues as ROCKNIX.
BONUS: There’s More Than One PlumOS
The correct PlumOS GitHub page
Within the scene we occasionally have a developer reuse the name of their custom Operating System – but still following the tradition of naming an operating system after a food topping or sauce. For example, Tomato OS on the TrimUI Smart is completely different from Tomato OS on the TrimUI Smart Pro, each being based on the device’s completely unrelated stock operating system.
PlumOS appears to be a range of different Japanese language offerings produced by the same developer. Within the GitHub page, there are different PlumOS variants that are forks of JelOS, ROCKNIX, OpenDingus, and obviously the AmberElec fork used on the Mini M.
This is the Wrong PlumOS GitHub Page
Speaking from experience, it’s easier to land on the wrong page after an unspecific Google search. I appreciate this is a skill issue.
For English speakers like me who have terrible foreign language skills, these other offerings might be little more than a curiosity. But speaking from experience, it’s easier to land on the wrong page if you’re just Googling. I appreciate this could be considered a skill issue.
While the Japanese PlumOS homepage can be found here.
For the avoidance of doubt, PlumOS for the Mini M can be found using the button below.
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