Retroid’s next big thing has finally arrived, as the Retroid Pocket Nova is making its way to reviewers before it hits the masses. Stubbs is one of the lucky ones, receiving his Pocket Nova review unit this week, and as such, a livestream ensued.
During the livestream, Stubbs was joined by Rob the Retro Tech Dad, Mike from Team Retrogue, and shortly after the stream began, a wild Russ from Retro Game Corps appeared! Since Stubbs was the most recent one to get his Pocket Nova, we were able to sit back and enjoy the entire unboxing experience.
From there, a few different comparisons were made between similarly-sized retro handhelds, including the RG476H, RG477M, Retroid Pocket 6, Retroid Pocket 2S, and others. Then, the crew showed off some gameplay, while Russ shared that of the 15 PS2 games he tried with ARMSX2, he only ran into issues with one. Perhaps there’s a new “king” of PS2 emulation on Android?
Many have also wondered about how the Pocket Nova performs with Retroid’s Dual Screen Add-on, and thankfully, the guys were able to deliver some early thoughts. Although there are some software quirks, these will hopefully be ironed out before Retroid starts shipping retail units.
Speaking of quirks, it was helpful to hear about the various nuances and potential irritations with the Pocket Nova. Frankly, none of them seem earth-shattering, which would be a huge step in the right direction for Retroid. The company is no stranger to controversy, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that they’re able to deliver the Pocket Nova without any major issues cropping up.
If you’ve looked around at the other content creators who’ve received their Pocket Nova review unit, “Ice Blue” seems to be the recurring theme. Stubbs is one of two exceptions to that, as he received the plain Black model. Russ was particularly interested in this, as he experienced a bit of “sharpness” with the device, particularly with the edges of the buttons. This didn’t seem to be much of an issue with Stubbs’ Pocket Nova, which uses traditional Retroid buttons as opposed to the “crystal” ones on the Ice Blue.
The stream clocks in just under the 90-minute mark, with the guys doing what they do best: playing with new retro handhelds, interacting with chat, and just having a grand ole’ time.
Rumor has it that Zu will be getting a Pocket Nova in the coming days, so be sure to stay tuned to the Retro Handhelds YouTube channel for more content.
We here on the web team are hoping to get our devices in the near future, so we’ll be sure to provide all the coverage you need once it’s available. And if you haven’t picked up the Pocket Nova for yourself, there’s still time to do so and get a free Bumped Back Shell and Tempered Glass Screen Protector.
In the meantime, be sure to check out both Russ’ and Team Retrogue’s videos on the Retroid Pocket Nova, if you haven’t already.
