Hey, remember when I talked a ton of smack about the Analogue Pocket and made some people mad in Ban’s article here? To summarize my thoughts, I had a Pocket from the first batch released and after a year was annoyed with it. The things that bugged me were the lack of emulation conveniences (save states, sleep mode, cheats, fast forward). I know some of the cores have this, but not all! Also, my D-pad and shoulder buttons were horrible on my device.
Well, I did sell my Analogue Pocket and was overall very happy with my choice, but then along comes Russ from Retro Game Corps. I love Russ. He is what really got me into the hobby, but my wallet, on the other hand, my wallet hates him. He released a video about the Analogue Pocket in 2024 and really emphasized how good the dock was. I never had the dock before and was ready to be hurt again.
The Ordering Process
Ordering from Analogue has been notoriously horrible. I never did it before because I got my first one off of eBay for a reasonable price. None of the new colors really interested me much, I was a sucker for that white version. I had my previous one for a year and it looked just as great as the day I got it with no yellowing or dirt shown, so I decided to order another one of those. For the dock, I decided to go for the black because for some reason the white one is more expensive.
When I went to Analogue’s website, they had both the black and white models in stock for $219. This would have been unheard of a year or two ago. I decided to take the plunge and just do it. I ordered it Tuesday morning after I left the gym and my Pocket and Dock arrived at my house Thursday before I even got home. The shipping cost was a bit high for my liking, but wow did it arrive fast! A great difference from the Chinese emulators I have been accustomed to as of late.
First (Second) Impressions
For a device I have already had before, I was beyond excited to get home and open it. Something in me missed the device and I am someone who loves a vertical device. Having just enjoyed the RG406V, I was excited for yet another vertical device to help hit that nostalgia from the Game Boy.
The first thing I did when opening the Analogue Pocket was test out the buttons. My first model had a horribly loose D-pad and shoulder buttons. Both were so cumbersome to use. On my new one? They feel way better! I can’t tell if I had a faulty previous device or if Analogue has improved anything recently. Maybe even it was just wear and tear, but overall I was already way happier.
I prepared my SD card the night before with all of my games to play in the openFGPA options. I also updated it to the newest firmware with all of the display modes unlocked for the various cores. Upon booting it up, I went through the setup and forgot how lovely the screen was. I tossed on Gargoyle Quest and Game Boy just looks so great.
The Dock
The thing I was the most excited about was the dock. It came with a fast-charging USB-C cable and adapter and also an HDMI cable. This was a nice surprise because I feel like usually, these things are separate. The process was very easy. If you update your pocket firmware, you just have to place it on the dock to update the dock too.
I love the screenshaders available on the TV. Playing Breath of Fire 2 with the CRT filter was so nice. Connecting to the dock and then taking it off is seamless. I have the 8BitDo Arcade Stick, M30, SN30 Pro, and Ultimate 2 C. All of these work perfectly. If you have the USB connector, it can even wake the pocket up from sleep.
Playing arcade games with the arcade stick and the CRT filters is such an awesome experience. My wife and I had a blast playing Dig Dug, The Simpsons, TMNT, and other favorites from our childhood. I am sure there are cheaper options for this experience, but I loved every second of it with this.
One complaint I have about the dock is that you have to be very careful when docking the pocket. You can easily scratch the bottom of your device. The best way to put it on is to put the corner in at a 45-degree angle to the right and slowly lower it in. I ordered some bottom stickers for mine to help protect it if I get lazy in the future.
Dealing With Customer Service
With all the excitement from using the dock, I didn’t notice that there was a black line going across the bottom of my screen. It would not resolve with restarting and after searching online, it was a problem with the LCD itself. I reached out to Customer Service and my hope was since it was less than a week old, I could refund it and get a new one or even exchange it.
After a few days, I finally received a response from support. They wanted me to send it in for repair, which I knew would take longer, so I asked if I could do an exchange and they denied it. I finally went to their website and took a screenshot of their own policy that states if there is a hardware defect, they will replace it. After sending this, they said they would make an “exception” for me. This felt very shady and left a bad taste in my mouth,
Luckily, after a long week of waiting, a new Pocket arrived after I returned the original and I didn’t have to pay anything. My original shipped with the fastest shipping and came in two days and this took about 5. Small complaint, but also frustrating. This was also in the middle of Analogue 3D preorders, which didn’t help.
One thing to note that was fantastic was how easy it was to just plug in my SD card and leave where I left off. It updated the firmware and it was like I turned on the old pocket. All of my shader presets were saved, it even saved where I was scrolling on each system.
Final Thoughts
I am glad I had this expensive rendezvous with the Analogue Pocket. I was overly harsh on it I think and I now kind of get the appeal of it. That screen can’t be beat and having it with a dock is a whole new world of awesome I was not prepared for. So thank you Russ for convincing me to try it again!
It may not be the cheapest device out there, but it is one that is unparalleled in playing original software. It just works and it is a beautiful device. Controls are better than my original and that was my biggest complaint before. It is also so fun watching the new cores that come.
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