Welcome to the latest edition of Retro Handhelds Weekly. This week, we saw a bunch of news in 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.
Table of Contents
Hardware & Industry News
- Some Retroid Customers Are Getting Packages, Just Not Their Handhelds: For all of the excitement surrounding the Retroid Pocket Nova, some have been met with disappointment when their packages arrived. Over the past few weeks, there have been an increasing number of reports of folks opening the packaging for what’s supposed to be the Pocket Nova, only to be met with nothing.
- KONKR Pocket Block Available for Pre-order Now, Expected to Ship at the ‘End of October’: Announced earlier this year, not only is the device actually real (AYANEO went silent on it for a long time), but the KONKR Pocket Block is finally available to buy from AYANEO’s website.
- Transparent ModRetro Chromatic Leaks: After being part of an announced partnership with OpenAI, ModRetro might be gearing up to release a new version of the Chromatic. The original leaked teaser video has been taken down, but there are “detailed photos” available for the four expected transparent color options.
More Hardware & Industry News
- Sony’s AI-Powered Controller Assistant Could Help Disabled Players, If It Ever Ships
- Don’t Be Surprised if the KONKR Pocket Block Doesn’t Ship Before Thanksgiving
- ModRetro Partners With OpenAI
- C64 and Spectrum handhelds delayed until 2027
- AMD Ryzen Z3 Leak Rumored to Be Optimized for Between 15W and 25W
- AMD Might Have Leaked Codenames of Steam Deck 2 and PlayStation 6
- Is AISLPC Teasing an Unannounced Clamshell Handheld?
Apps and Software
- The Original Halo Is Pretty Much Playable Everywhere, Including Your Retro Handheld and Browser: Say what you will about AI-generated or “vibe-coded” projects, but sometimes, just sometimes, they’re pretty cool. One of which is Apollo – Halo CE Decomp, which was originally released earlier this week as a decompilation for Windows, Linux, and Android.
- EmuDeck 2.7 Just Got an Armada Update: In today’s announcement over on the EmuDeck Patreon, they announced that after working with the ArmadaOS devs, EmuDeck EA (Early Access) now just works on Armada without any extra finagling
- SeedlessDS 1.0.0 is Finally Released Publicly: Back in August, we saw the release of SeedlessDS, aiming to improve Nintendo DS emulation on low-powered Android handhelds. The first public release is finally available for download now!
More Software News
Emulation Corner
Custom Core
Ports/Decomps/Recomps
Game of the Month
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.
- PortMaster Roundup: September 2026
- 8 Games to Grow Your Backlog – October 2026
- Game of the Month: Press Play…If You Dare
- Epomaker HE75 V2 TMR Review: Who Names These Things?
- NYXI Hyperion 3 Ultra For Switch 2 Review: Controller Endgame?
- Abxylute M4 Review: Great Idea but…
- Anbernic RG DS Plus Review: Not Perfect, but Real Close
- Retroid Pocket Duo Lite Optimization Guide: Emulators, Drivers, and Settings
On the YouTubes
RH Partners
Looking for Deals?
The AliExpress Halloween and Choice Day Sale has arrived, offering up to an additional $70 discount on pretty much everything you’ve had on your wishlist. Oh, and this is just a subtle reminder that Amazon’s “Prime Big Deal Days” kicks off on Tuesday, October 6.
- VRHH2 – $2 off $15+
- VRHH4 – $4 off $30+
- VRHH9 – $9 off $65+
- VRHH15 – $15 off $109+
- VRHH23 – $23 off $169+
- VRHH35 – $35 off $259+
- VRHH55 – $55 off $379+
- VRHH70 – $70 off $499+
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