Help Us Pick the Best Handheld of the Year!

As the days get shorter and the nights grow colder, it’s clear that the end of the year is nigh. 2024 has been an absolute roller coaster, not just in the emulation space, but with retro handhelds on the whole. With so many different options to choose from, it would be impossible for us to just pick our favorite handheld of the year. So we’re looking to get some input from you instead!

Last year, things around here were a bit different, but we’ve grown tremendously as a community, and hope that trend continues into 2025.

Round 3: Vote and Enter the RH Giveaway!

We’ve reached the final round of voting, and have ended with a few surprises as we try to pick the best handheld of the year! Now is where the fun really begins. In the sections below, you’ll find the different categories that remain, which obviously include the best of the year. However, this is where you come in.

By clicking any of the buttons below, you’ll be taken to the Google Form to cast your votes. At the end of the form, you’ll be able to enter your Discord username. This is rather important as when you cast your vote, you are automatically entered into the Retro Handhelds Giveaway! The only other requirement, besides casting your votes, is that you’ll need to be a member of the RH Discord.

The third and final round of voting is already underway and will continue until December 23. Then, we’ll reveal the community picks for Best Handheld of the Year, along with the winners of the giveaway! I won’t divulge any details, but trust me, there are A LOT of goodies that are up for grabs.

Vote for x86 Handheld of the Year

Best x86 Handheld

While I was surprised to see that the MSI Claw made it into Round 2, seeing it bounced from contention doesn’t come as a shock. What is surprising is that we have two clamshells competing against the ASUS ROG Ally X with the GPD Win Mini and AYANEO Flip.

Vote for x86 Handheld of the Year

Best Android Handheld

I blame Ban for this Retroid tomfoolery. Even still, it just goes to show how much the community values and appreciates the efforts made by Retroid. I’m not sure if it’s enough to push them past the Odin 2 Mini or Cube, but it’ll be interesting to see where the votes land.

Vote for Android Handheld of the Year

Best H700

This one is also Ban’s fault, and to a lesser extent, Anbernic’s. There were just too many H700 handhelds released this year, and right on cue, Anbernic has announced the RG34XX. Nevertheless, while I have an idea as to what handheld will come out on top, I’m curious to see if the community shares the same sentiment.

Vote for Best H700 of the Year

Best Retro Handheld

Both the Miyoo A30 and TrimUI Smart Pro make sense as these are two fantastic handhelds in their own right. But I definitely did not expect to see the MagicX XU Mini M make it to the final round of voting. If anything, it’s a testament to the community as the custom firmware has ended up turning a sour situation into a great one. Although I guess the same could be said about the Miyoo A30, which flopped pretty hard, it is actually quite a capable handheld after you ditch the stock OS.

Vote for Best Retro Handheld of the Year

Biggest Flop of the Year

It’s kind of fitting that we have four different options that represent the different categories here. Admittedly, there is one handheld that I don’t agree with being here, but can you guess which one that is?

Vote for the Biggest Flop of the Year

Handheld of the Year

Here’s the Zu-daddy of them all; your chance to pick the Best Handheld of the Year for 2024. Just hit the button below, fill out the form, make sure to be a member of the RH Discord, enter your username, and then BAM! Maybe you’ll win one of these handhelds, but at the very least, we hope that you are like us, and are happy to be part of an incredibly thriving community of likeminded folks. And Stubbs.

Vote for Handheld of the Year

Round 2

You can blame me for why this wasn’t published yesterday, as I was sitting in the cold trying to get a few autographs. Nevertheless, we’re back with Round 2 voting for the best handheld of the year! We still have the original categories, but there’s a bit of a change this time around, after some internal deliberation. Plus, there’s another bonus question for everyone to answer and have some fun with.

Vote for x86 Handheld of the Year

Best x86 Handheld

It shouldn’t really come as too much of a surprise to see what x86 handhelds managed to make it through to the second round. Well, at least for the most part. Personally, I was surprised to see the Ayaneo Flip and Next Lite both garner enough votes. And I can only assume that Stubbs used his powers of persuasion to push the MSI Claw through.

Vote for x86 Handheld of the Year

Best Android Handheld

On Ban’s behalf, I’m going to call everyone out for recency bias here. How in the world can the Retroid Pocket 5 make it into Round 2, despite pre-orders not actually arriving until after the voting started? Oh well, at least the RG556 snuck in to make things a bit interesting.

Vote for Android Handheld of the Year

Best (Anbernic) H700 Handheld

Unlike the Pocket 5, this one’s on us. You might notice that the “Best Retro Handheld” category has been split into two, and Anbernic is to blame. In the last round, we lumped everything together, but these six H700 handhelds still garnered enough votes to make it on. So in order to give some of the other retro handhelds a chance to shine, we’re asking everyone to pick their best H700 AND retro handheld.

Vote for H700 Handheld of the Year

Best “Retro” Handheld

With Anbernic out of the way, this gives other handhelds to stand out, such as the TrimUI Smart Pro and even the Miyoo A30. However, we also can’t forget about the excellent RGB20SX, which gave us a 1:1 screen in a vertical form factor. Seeing how many 1:1 handhelds were released this year, I can’t help but feel like the 20SX has flown under the radar.

Vote for Retro Handheld of the Year

Round 1

If you’re going through the list and wondering what something isn’t there, it’s because we are only including handhelds that were released between November 2023 and October 2024. The only exception is that the Retroid Pocket 5 is here seeing as it’s getting ready to arrive on doorsteps.

So the way things are going to work is that you’ll have about two weeks per round of voting, with the final round concluding on December 20. Then, we’ll be revealing the winners during the Retro Handhelds Podcast, along with sharing the results here on the website.

Vote for Handheld of the Year

Best x86 Handheld

We have a pretty good feeling about who is going to win this category, especially considering that the Steam Deck isn’t eligible to win here. Even still, who can ignore devices like the Ayaneo Flip DS or the GPD Win Mini? And of course, Stubbs’ beloved MSI Claw, simply because of its “excellent speakers.

Vote for x86 Handheld of the Year

Best Android Handheld

When putting this together, I didn’t actually think there were this many Android handhelds released over the past year. Even with the inclusion of the Retroid Pocket 5 and Pocket Mini, I would have only guessed that this list would be half as long as it turned out to be.

Remember, although the AYN Odin 2 Portal, Ayaneo Pocket DMG, and Ayaneo Pocket EVO have been announced, those have yet to ship, so they aren’t eligible.

Vote for Android Handheld of the Year

Best “Retro” Handheld

Are you surprised that this list is dominated by Anbernic retro handhelds? We’re not. I’m actually surprised that the RG460H wasn’t while I’m in the middle of writing this post. Just because Anbernic dominated headlines for most of the year, it doesn’t mean that it released the best handheld, as there are so many great options.

Vote for Retro Handheld of the Year

Handheld of the Year: 2023

In case you want a reminder, here’s how last year’s results played out:

Vote for Your Handheld of the Year!

As I said before, each round of voting lasts for about two weeks, with the polls currently scheduled to close on December 20. Don’t worry, we’ll be back to remind and update everyone on the results as each comes to an end.

Vote for Handheld of the Year

What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!

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