Up to this point, it had been a rather weird year, considering that Anbernic was absent from the 2025 lineup of handhelds. It’s hoping to change all of that, kicking off its year with the Anbernic RG557, a successor to the popular RG556. And now, we finally know just how much the RG557 costs.
Anbernic RG557 Price and Specs
Pricing for the Anbernic RG557 comes in at $249 and is set to launch later this week, on April 25th. In staying true to itself, Anbernic is also offering a pre-order discount, as it will be discounted to $234.99 for the first 72 hours.
- Display: 5.48-inch AMOLED, 1920 x 1080, 16×9
- Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 8300
- GPU: Mali-G615 MC6
- RAM: 12GB LPDDR5X
- Storage: 256GB + microSD card
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
- Battery: 5,500mAh (~8 hours)
- Controls:Â “Anti-Magnetic Capacitive Joystick”, Hall Triggers, RGB Lighting
- Extras: Six-axis Gyroscope, Active Cooling, 1080p Display Output, Vibration Motor, 3.5mm Audio Jack
- Dimensions: 223 x 89 x 15mm
- Weight: 347 grams
- Colors: Transparent Purple, White
As for why the RG557 is priced higher than its predecessor, much of it has to do with the MediaTek Dimensity 8300 that powers the device. While this provides a massive boost in performance over the Unisoc T820, it’s not quite powerful enough to go blow-for-blow with the AYN Odin 2.
RG557 Performance
Surprisingly enough, this is the exact device that Anbernic is looking to compete with, which is rather surprising given that the Retroid Pocket 5 and Pocket Flip 2 are priced around the $200 mark. At the same time, it’s worth noting that during the RH Live Testing Stream, Stubbs found that the RG557 absolutely blows away the Pocket 5 in synthetic benchmarks.
We’ll save any further judgments until we’ve had more time with the RG557, which should be soon, as our review units begin to arrive.
Besides the processor and RAM, Anbernic kept pretty much everything else about the RG557 the same as the RG556. That includes the OLED touchscreen display and ergonomic grip, making it an intriguing option that offers more power than something like the Logitech G Cloud or Abxylute One Pro.
With all of that, there is one more thing that we need to be wary of, and that’s the whole tariff situation. While pre-orders are set to open later this week, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to get the RG557 before the new tariffs are implemented on May 2.
Plus, we don’t know if or even when Anbernic will have inventory available in its U.S. warehouse. Considering that the company has already confirmed that it is no longer shipping orders from China to the United States, it will be very interesting to see how this all plays out.
What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!
This page may contain affiliate links, by purchasing something through a link, Retro Handhelds may earn a small commission on the sale at no additional cost to you.