It would appear that Anbernic is trying to avoid any legal troubles, following the company being named by the ESA as a “superfake.” At some point after the original story regarding the ESA’s request to the USTR, Anbernic began removing handheld “variants” that include a microSD card.
Spoiler alert: Zu has a video coming about this topic, and he was actually the one that pointed it out, as he noticed the change while editing. It also seems that Anbernic has been doing this in stages, as Zu first noticed that handhelds with an included microSD card were only available when selecting “Ships from: China” on the site.
Thanks to our friend the Wayback Machine, we can see the difference in options when comparing the RG SP listing from back on August 14. Today, if you head over to Anbernic’s RG SP listing, you’ll only see the “16G” option available, which is still necessary, as that’s where the handheld’s stock firmware is installed.
Just out of curiosity, I also wanted to check to see if the listings for any of Anbernic’s Android handhelds had been updated. To my surprise, Anbernic used to offer the option to include a microSD card of varying sizes, but several of those listings (such as the RG Rotate) have been updated to remove those options.
It’s not explicitly stated anywhere on the page that the additional microSD card includes ROMs and games. However, it’s kind of an “unwritten understanding” that those are included when ordering the one of the additional storage options. This is also a practice seen across multiple retailers, and one that has been in place for quite some time.
What remains unclear is whether we’ll begin to see some of the other OEMs and retailers begin to follow suit. For example, AISLPC still offers multiple storage options for its lineup of handhelds, such as the R36T MAX, despite there being “8GB” of internal storage. Meanwhile, LITNXT and others offer the option to purchase a microSD card separately for those who might want to try out Crossmix OS, but those usually have a curated library of ROMs for compatible console.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if this helps keep government entities from going after Anbernic and potentially other companies in the future. Or if it’s a case of “too little, too late” and it’s just a matter of time before something comes to pass.
