Anbernic just announced the RG557 by dropping a video on YouTube. While the video showed a fair bit of emulation footage (with some Nintendo IP obscured with an adorable cloud), the video itself was surprisingly light of details, and this isn’t the way Anbernic usually announces handhelds.

We’ll summarise everything we know, everything we can reasonably work out, and everything we might want to wildly speculate on in the article below.

EDIT: The day after this story was initially published, RH’s contact at Anbernic confirmed details of the processor to be included in the RG557. We have amended the article to include these details below

Anbernic RG557: What We Know

Details of The New Chipset: Soon after publication, Anbernic confirmed that the RG557 will use the Dimensity 8300. Looking at Geekbench comparisons (below) we expect this chip to have 50% more power in single core use and 75% more power in multi-core taks, when compared to the T820 used in the previous generation of Anbernic handhelds like the RG556. We also expect this to have a fair bit more power than the SD865 used in the Retroid Pocket 5, however it not clear how this will translate into gaming performance since Snapdragon based devices are better optimised due to the availability of improved drivers. The 8300 would also allow the RG557 to use Android 14, and maybe even 15, giving a more modern operating system than that used in Retroid’s current offerings.

Dimensity 8300 vs Unisoc T820

Dimensity 8300 vs Snapdragon 865

Anbernic tends to use a consistent naming convention, and the last number in an RG device usually indicates which generation of chip is in use. The RG557’s name indicates that this is the first device to use its 7th generation chipset – the 8300. This seems to indicate that any furture Anbernic “RG” devices which use a 7 as the third number, will also use the Dimensity 8300.

Screen: According to an earlier leak, the RG557 will use a 5.48-inch 1080p AMOLED screen. My expectation is that this will be the same screen used in the RG556, which is my personal favorite screen from any Anbernic device.

Colorways: The RG557 will be available in two colors: All White and Transparent Purple.

Anbernic RG557: Filling in the Gaps

Shell: The RG557’s shell looks remarkably similar to that of the RG556, and it is a safe bet that the shells will likely be identical. This is good news, as the RG556 has some of the best ergonomics available in a retro handheld, and it’s a device I personally rate as the best budget streaming device available.

Performance: Anbernic’s video shows some of the more challenging PSP games running at 8x upscale using the PPSSPP emulator. The PPSSPP website indicates that 8x upscaling is the recommended setting for a 4K output, which is way above the output of the 1080p screen on the device.

This also shows significant improvement over the Anbernic T820 devices like the RG556, which were only capable of upscaling to 4x (1080p). While this is impressive, it still indicates performance below the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 at the heart of devices like the Odin 2, which, according to YouTube videos I have seen, can upscale PSP on PPSSPP to 10x. So, while performance likely falls short of the Odin 2, it won’t be by much.

What’s Left?

Price & Release Date: At this time, Anbernic has provided no information relating to the device’s price or release date.

Exact details of the CPU: While the exact details of the CPU have not been provided yet, we previously reported on the rumor that the RG557 would be powered by the Snapdragon G2 Gen 1, and this chip might well demonstrate performance consistent with the emulation speeds shown in Anbernic’s video.

A Few Extras

We’ll strive to keep this article up to date with any additional information as soon as it’s confirmed. As with all upcoming devices, the RH Discord will host a dedicated thread for gamers to discuss the RG557.

What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!

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