As someone who never owned a Game Boy Advance, I didn’t really have the same level of excitement as my contemporaries when the Anbernic RG34XX was announced. Instead, it was more of an “Oh, Anbernic actually went 12/12 this year,” followed by a “That’s neat.”
After a surprise package delivery, I’ve only had a few hours to mess around with the RG34XX, but I’ve already come to a few conclusions. That being said, make sure you keep an eye on the site, as Jalanimal also received his RG34XX today and will be writing up the full review.
Anbernic RG34XX Specs
There’s not much to really write about here, as the RG34XX is mostly comprised of the same internals we’ve seen from Anbernic’s other RG-XX handhelds
- Display:Â 3.4-inch IPS
- Resolution:Â 720 x 480 (3x GBA pixel-to-pixel)
- Processor:Â Allwinner H700
- GPU:Â Dual-Core Mali G31 MP2
- RAM:Â 1GB LPDDR4
- Storage:Â Dual microSD Card Slots (Up to 512GB)
- Battery:Â 3,500mAh (Up to 7 hours)
- Connectivity:Â Wi-Fi / Bluetooth 4.2
- Extras:Â Vibration Motor, mini HDMI,
- Dimensions:Â 144.6 x 81.8 x 24.8mm
- Weight:Â 188 grams
As a reminder, pre-orders for the RG34XX are expected to begin on 12/17 at 5 am ET with a retail price of $69.99 + shipping. And for the first 72 hours, Anbernic is knocking $6 off the price, bringing it down to $63.99 + shipping.
Anbernic RG34XX (AliExpress)Anbernic RG34XX (Direct)
What I Like
While I’ve never owned a Game Boy Advance, I’ve used them in the past. If you were to ask me, the RG34XX is about as close as it gets to a true reproduction of the 2001 handheld. It’s so close that after Zu mentioned something about the RG34XX being the same, I decided to check for myself. Anbernic got pretty gosh darn close here:
- Game Boy Advance: 144 x 82 x 24.5mm
- Anbernic RG34XX: 144.6 x 81.8 x 24.8mm
If I were to guess, I would assume Anbernic just used an old GBA as the mold, and the differences are just done to variances in the production. I don’t have any original GBA accessories here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if those old cases actually fit the RG34XX.
The biggest difference, from a design perspective, is that while the GBA had just two buttons on the front, the RG34XX has four. However, in an effort to make it resemble the original as closely as possible, the top two buttons are color-matched to the shell. And if you snag one of the transparent colors, you’ll even be able to see the “X” and “Y” that have been printed on the underside of the buttons, something you won’t see on the Indigo or Black colors.
I’m not going to do a deep dive into performance, because we all know what the H700 is capable of. It’s just a matter of re-hashing the same diatribe as always, with this chipset maxing out around PS1 and PSP games.
Out of the box we have Anbernic’s stock OS experience, for better or worse. After playing some Minish Cap, which I spent too much time doing, I wanted to see if muOS would work out of the box. Unfortunately, at least for me, that was a no-go, and it’s likely due to the 3.4-inch screen, as opposed to the 3.5-inch screen found on other RG-XX handhelds.
That being said, I suspect it won’t be long before muOS and other custom firmware options are updated to support the RG34XX. For the time being, Anbernic’s OS works just fine, and at least I can fire up some PortMaster games without needing to wait.
After messing around for the better part of an hour, I came away feeling kind of surprised. For one, I didn’t expect to actually end up playing Minish Cap for that long. But I guess it’s just a testament to the design, which is more comfortable than I expected it to be. Well, that, and a screen that just looks fantastic.
What I Don’t
I’m just going to be blunt here. I don’t like the placement of the L2 and R2 buttons on the back. I understand Anbernic’s desire to include them, and kudos for coming up with a way to do so. But the times that I did try to use them, it was just awkward and cumbersome. Maybe my opinion on that will change, but we’ll see.
Another gripe I’ve found so far is with the Menu button. It’s on the top and to the left of R1, meaning that some finger gymnastics are required in order to access the various hotkeys.
Yeah, I could remap the hotkeys in RetroArch for the pertinent cores, but I think I would’ve rather see Select be mapped to the Menu key. Especially since it was my first instinct to try out of the box.
Lastly, all I can say is “good luck” trying to get the microSD card in and out on a regular basis. I ended up having to use the edge of a standard-size SD card to get the cards to click into place. When trying to take either of them out, I used the edge of a knife because my fingers were too fat to pull them out. Skill issue, I know. But still.
Final Thoughts
If our site metrics are anything to go by, the Anbernic RG34XX is going to sell like gangbusters. It’s certainly one way to end the year with a bang, hitting many right in the nostalgia bone in the same way that the RG35XX SP did. I also wouldn’t be surprised to a “re-release” next month with more color options.
Seeing as there are so many great handhelds already available, I’m not exactly sure yet whether the RG34XX will end up in my daily carry, or as a prop for photos. It’s got a steep hill to climb, especially since I’m having a hard enough time deciding between the RG406H and RG CubeXX when I have some downtime anyway.
Anbernic RG34XX (AliExpress)Anbernic RG34XX (Direct)
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