Welcome to the latest edition of Retro Handhelds Weekly. This week saw a bunch of news in both the world of hardware and software, our writing team continues to be on an absolute tear, and there’s even a surprise or two sprinkled in! So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and catch up on what’s happened this week in the world of Retro Handhelds.
Hardware
If there’s one thing we know about retro handhelds, it’s that there is always something new around the corner. Seriously, it’s “worse” than smartphones, as some companies release new handhelds every other week. On the bright side, at least there’s no shortage of options.
AYANEO 3 Hits Indiegogo With a Few Surprises
After subtly throwing out more teasers since October, AYANEO finally pulled back the veil on its latest x86 handheld, the AYANEO 3. The Indiegogo campaign is officially live, but there’s a lot more going on than what you might expect.
MagicX Touch One 35 Gets Shown Off with a Twist
A new video was published on the official “Team MagicX” YouTube channel showing off a “preliminary demo” of the Touch One 35 and its display. In doing so, it also gave us a look at what the final design could look like. If this ends up being the final design, this could be the first retro handheld released with two built-in D-pads.
8BitDo’s Next Controller Could be the “Orion”
Image via ITNews
8BitDo has been on a roll as of late, as its released the Micro/Zero 2 clip, Ultimate Mini for Xbox, and the Retro 87 series. Now, it seems that another controller might soon be on the way, as the 8BitDo Orion has appeared in China. It’s priced at around $30 and looks a lot like the Ultimate, but features Hall Effect triggers, something not found on the Ultimate.
Some Have Already Received the Legion Go S
Some people on reddit received their Legion Go S. #LegionGo #LegionS pic.twitter.com/qTp6E8h9kn
— Lenovo Legion Go Life (@LegionGoLife) January 21, 2025
Shortly after being announced at CES 2025, the Lenovo Legion Go S went up for pre-order over at Best Buy. It wasn’t expected to be released until February, but it seems that a couple of people on Reddit received theirs a few weeks early. Currently, the Legion Go S is still available for pre-order, with an expected release date of February 14.
Pre-order the Lenovo Legion Go S
Someone Turned the Steam Deck into a Screen-less Brick
Image via crastinator-pro
Leave it to the community to come up with the wackiest and wildest ideas possible. The latest example this is the “Steam Brick Mod.” The creator describes it as “no screen, no controller, and absolutely no sense, just a power button and a USB port.” The website describes the entire process in detail, while also providing any necessary files and materials that you’ll need if you want to try and do this yourself.
Other Hardware News
- Someone Turned the Steam Deck into a Screen-less Brick
- Taki Udon’s SuperStation one Now Available for Pre-order
Apps and Software
Don’t get me wrong, hardware is definitely fun and exciting to talk about. But what good is an awesome handheld if it doesn’t even work? That’s where software and custom firmware come into play, so here’s everything you might’ve missed this week.
Playing Windows Games on Android Gets Even Easier
Ever since it was released, Winlator and its various forks have been making waves as it provides a way to play your DRM-free games on Android. However, there’s quite a bit of a learning curve, as there are quite a few settings to tweak and change in order to get just one game to work.
In the past week alone, three new options have been released, each of which aim to make things easier. Pluvia, as seen in the video above, is basically a wrapper that lets you try and play DRM-free games from your Steam Library. GameSir’s GameHub (or GameFusion) is a rather robust Winlator wrapper, offering a streamlined process, while even handling driver downloads.
Then there’s the Xiaomi Winplay Engine, which claims to only suffer from a 2.9% loss in GPU performance. The catch with Xiaomi’s solution is that it’s currently limited to only those who own the Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro 12.4, as it’s still in beta testing. Hopefully, that won’t be the case for too much longer.
Android 13 on the Retroid Pocket Mini (and Gamma Helps You Downgrade)
It’s been a few months since the Retroid Pocket Mini was released, and since then, a lot of things have happened. However, missing in everything was the release of Android 13 for the Pocket Mini. Thankfully, the wait is finally over, as you can now download and install Android 13 on the Retroid Pocket Mini.
But what if you upgrade to Android 13 on the Retroid Pocket Mini and decide that it’s not what you were expecting? Well, thanks to the one and only Gamma, you can follow his guide for flashing the original Stock Firmware back onto the Pocket Mini.
Citron v0.4 is Now Available
When it comes to Switch emulation, there are a lot of forks out there, with even more that have been abandoned. However, Citron and Sudachi are the two biggest and best options remaining, and just recently, Citron v0.4 was released for Android, Windows, Linux, and macOS.
According to the “Release Overview,” this update “brings significant improvements to graphics rendering, service implementations, memory handling, and user interface. This update focuses on enhanced game compatibility, particularly for titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.”
Borked3DS is a Brand-New 3DS Emulator
Image via Borked3DS
While many of us are awaiting the arrival of Azahar, there’s a “new” 3DS emulator hitting the scene. Borked3DS is described is being “directly derived from PabloMK7’s now archived fork, but also incorporates elements from Lime3DS (also now defunct) and Mandarine, as well as providing its own stuff.”
As you’d likely have hoped, Borked3DS is available on every major platform with the exception of iOS.
Expect Plenty of Games for the Switch 2
When the Nintendo Switch 2 is finally released, we’re expecting Nintendo to also release a bunch of new first party games. Newegg might have spoiled a bit of the excitement, as the Nintendo eShop Gift Card listing stated “2025 games: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, New 3D Mario, New Mario Kart, A Legend of Zelda Remake/Remaster, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, Pokemon Legends: Z-A.” Obviously from that list, the Zelda, Mario Kart, and Mario games have not been officially announced or even shown teased.
However, new first-party Nintendo games aren’t the only ones to get excited about. In a recent interview, Microsoft Gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, stated that “Xbox would be supporting the platform.” It will be interesting to see if this is just Game Pass coming to the Switch 2, or if we’ll see first-party Microsoft games also arrive.
Other Software News
- Install Android 14 and 15 with Switchroot
- New Graphics Driver for Legion Go
- AI Helps Someone Create 20:9 PS2 Game Patches
- Video Game History Foundation Making Digital Library Available Next Week
From the Writers
While there’s always a lot of news to cover and talk about, we also try to take a step back and give everyone something a bit different to enjoy. These are the more editorial-styled articles and reviews that you might have missed over the course of this week.
Odin 2 Portal Impressions: A Big Step
In the past year and a half, AYN has released 3 versions of its Odin 2 line with different sizes and features across the board. This time I’m taking a look at the Odin 2 Portal, the big boy of the bunch. And in this first impressions article, we’ll talk about what I like, and what I don’t.
Passing Down My Childhood: Setting Kids Up With the Classics
Photo by Enrique Guzmán Egas on Unsplash
Just over 10 years ago now, I read Andy Baio’s brilliant think piece, Playing With My Son. To give you a general overview, the article is about the author exposing his young son to the world of video games, chronologically.
By introducing his young son to games in chronological order, he finds his son develops a unique perspective of appreciation along with some hardcore skills. All this while the author amusingly questions the morality of his own parenting experiment. It’s still very much worth a read for anyone who may soon be stepping into parenthood.
My Retro Gaming Desk Featuring the Flexispot E6
The Retro Handhelds community…as the name suggests, we’re all about the handhelds around us. But sometimes, the tiny screens of retro devices are a bit too small, and we need something a little bit larger to satisfy us. So rather than take the route of emulation on a mini PC, I’m going a step further, and building out my own dedicated space for retro gaming on PC. And thanks to Flexispot, who was kind enough to send out their E6 standing desk, I think I’ve got a nice space that I plan to keep around for future use and testing.
3 Hidden Features of the MagicX XU Mini M You Need to Know
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.
RH Games: What We’re Playing This Week
Greetings friends and fellow enthusiasts. This is Mikhailov from Team Retrogue where we like retro games and the devices that bring them to us. It’s the end of another week, and time for another segment of “What We’re Playing.” What games did we love, and what devices brought them to us? Let’s find out together.
How to Install Android 13 on the Retroid Pocket Mini
When the Retroid Pocket 5 and Mini were announced, they were initially spec’ed to have 6GB of RAM and ship with Android 10. However, after what can only be described as uproarious handheld gamer anguish, the company decided to alter those same specs. The RP5 would get bumped up to 8GB of RAM and ship with Android 13, but the RP Mini would stick with the same specs, but have an optional upgrade to Android 13 at some point in the future.
Well, the future is now.
On the YouTubes
Don’t think that the writers are the only ones getting things done. the RH video team is constantly working on new videos, and now’s the best time to subscribe. This week, Stubbs snaps into the Miyoo Flip, while Cowboy Zu falls head-first into the world of 3D printing.
Looking for Deals?
Another week, another set of deals to be had. This time around, we have a bunch of retailers celebrating the Chinese New Year, starting off with the AlliExpress End-of-Season Sale. But some companies are offering sales of their own, as is the case with Anbernic, AYN, and others. Hit the button below to check out all of the best retro handheld deals.
Retro Handhelds Deals of the Week
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