The Retroid Pocket Mini shader issue is now confirmed to not be fixable.

Shortly after the Mini was released, users began to notice that applied shaders either looked incorrectly spaced or altered the visuals of certain games in ways they shouldn’t have.

UPDATES

After this story was initially published, quite a lot has happened in the retro handheld community. We’ll be updating this article as new information is made available. However, you can keep track of what’s happened so far below.

3. Looking For Feedback

I’ll post a video about the screen effect tomorrow, and share my perspective on the issue. It’s a difficult situation, and I’m asking for community suggestions on what would be a better way to handle it: https://t.co/oY6Zpf3zP9

— Retro Game Corps (@RetroGameCorps) March 8, 2025

As usual, Russ was quick to provide further insight into this very fluid situation. While a video is on the way, Russ took to the r/SBCGaming subreddit to provide some of his thoughts, along with looking for feedback from the community. As we understand it, the Retroid team is actively monitoring the Reddit post linked above. So if you want to have your voice heard, be sure to head over and leave a comment.

2. Final Announcement from Retroid

Retroid has made an announcement regarding the return policy for the Retroid Pocket Mini after declaring the shader issue unfixable.

Today, Retroid has made a final announcement about the return policy for the Retroid Pocket Mini after mixed messages from the company caused confusion amongst its customers.

Retroid Return Policy Announcement

Above, we reported on reports that Retroid was not honoring some return requests as the company deemed the Mini perfectly fine and that the so-called issue was no longer an actual issue. Retroid is walking those statements back slightly and now addressing the situation by offering past customers cash off a future purchase or a return — but there’s a catch.

The return window is only valid for the next few days, ending on March 14, 2025. On top of that, the policy is only valid for 200 total customers who will have to pay return shipping in order to send their devices back to the company.

After reaching out for clarification regarding the  “overseas” portion of the message, Retroid David clarified that this applies to any devices that were purchased outside of China.

Retroid is also offering any Retroid Pocket Mini buyers a $10 coupon that can be used towards the purchase of a Flip 2 or Classic when they are released.

No word yet on when or if the company will either discontinue or launch a hardware revision of the Mini. As the last three days have shown, it seems Retroid is more focused on future devices while brushing past issues to the side as quickly as possible.

1. Denial of Service

There have been a few reports circulating on Twitter, Discord, and Reddit that Retroid is walking back its previous statements claiming to extend its return policy to those affected by the issue.

On Reddit, one user was told that the company “over-committed” in their Discord conversations and that the device is not “inherently flawed” despite being regarded as an issue since its initial discovery.

The wording in the screenshot shared above via Reddit seems to imply that Retroid is not classifying the screen scaling “thing” as an issue, and therefore not granting customers returns on the product. Worse, the company has backtracked months of discussion about the aforementioned abnormality and now claim that there is simply nothing wrong with the device.

I’m seeing reports that Retroid customer service is denying return requests. I’ve reached out to their management and customer service for clarification and will update when I hear back. https://t.co/XCy7YWdHWM

— Retro Game Corps (@RetroGameCorps) March 7, 2025

Over on Twitter, Russ from Retro Game Corps mentioned seeing reports like these circulate as well. As one of the pioneers and leaders when it comes to retro handhelds, he’s reached out to his Retroid contact for more clarification and will update when more information is shared.

The truth of the whole debacle, regardless of mixed corporate messaging being used, is that this is a problem. The problem has been sourced by the engineering team at Retroid and has been classified as unfixable. Seeing the company now recant those earlier statements and cover them by simply saying there’s nothing wrong does not bode well for anyone involved or any prospective future customers.

Hopefully, there will be information shared that eases the return process should customers be granted their refunds, but as it stands now, the communication, or lack thereof remains off-putting.

Identifying the Problem

Initially, sleuths believed that the issue was based on the pixel grid of the screen, potentially blaming Retroid for sourcing a cheaper AMOLED screen option. The reported issue then was that the screen was realistically outputting a 928p image and then stretching that image to the 960p the Retroid Pocket Mini was advertised as having.

Having gained traction on Reddit, multiple users tried to figure out the cause of the issue, and their attempted fixes. Most notably, user /u/Stremon used a macro telescope to try and visually see the subpixel layout, believing it to be the culprit.

As the issue grew in infamy, the company announced that they had a team dedicated to finding a solution to the issue.

Initially, it was believed that the issue could be fixed via software, but that it may require more than a simple OTA update. For reference, a process somewhat similar to upgrading the Mini to Android 13 could be used to update various portions of the device that aren’t necessarily tied to the OS, like the bootloader for example.

Gamma, creator of GammaOS looked deeper into the issue and found that the issue had little to nothing to do with the pixel grid and that a majority of phones with AMOLED screens used the same delta subpixel layout, yet did not face any issues when attempting to apply shaders via RetroArch.

At this point, the issue had spiraled into more than one central area of concern for those trying to deep-dive into the device a find a potential fix. It had evolved from what was believed to be faulty shaders into the panel being used, the subpixel layout, the pixel grid itself, the resolution, or the bootloader. However, the actual root of the problem was still unknown.

Retroid David discussing the attempts to find the problem via their Android 13 update

After a few months of gamers becoming antsy in regards to a possible fix being announced, Retroid David, one of their Discord server’s contacts for software and hardware issues, offered the above updates to users as the information became available.

Retroid then claimed to be working alongside Qualcomm and their supplier to find the root cause of the issue, but none of their attempts were successful.

The Issue Cannot Be Fixed

It has been announced today that after months of troubleshooting and attempted fixes, the issue is simply unfixable sans a hardware revision. Retroid says the issue is tied to the screen driver and how it applies an image-optimizing engine that negatively impacts the application of certain shaders.

Retroid announces Mini shader issue is unfixable

The Retroid Pocket Mini has a resolution of 1280 * 960, making it one of the highest resolutions available on a device with a 4:3 screen. That resolution can net 4x integer scaling on any retro console that supports 240p — a vast majority of them. Outside of retro consoles, the resolution also allows for perfect 5x integer scaling on DS games, and 2x on game consoles supporting 480p.

The shader issue is mostly only noticeable when specific CRT shaders are applied to older games. Users can expect to see misplaced scanlines, uneven pixels, or a slightly distorted image when using the aforementioned shaders in retro games.

However, many users also feel as if the issue doesn’t impact them. Since the device has such a naturally high resolution crammed into a relatively small 3.7-inch screen, the need for shaders is negligible for some.

Do Shaders Matter on the Mini?

Shaders, when applied to retro games, offer a visual layer that makes games appear more in line with how they would appear on typical screens or monitors. For example, certain CRT shaders mimic the vignette and bloom of older Sony PVM sets, while others offer scanlines similar to how they would appear on old-school CRT monitors.

In the above images, all sourced from the Retroid Discord server’s #retroid-pocket-mini channel, you can see various effects being applied to different games and how the output is skewed in a way that produces uneven lines and miscounted pixel grids.

To somewhat combat the issues users have with shaders, some of their Discord members have compiled lists of shaders that they believe work well with the system, regardless of the aforementioned problems.

Shaders don’t necessarily have to alter or add scanlines or pixel grids to game visuals. Some do, but others focus squarely on the visual representation around the game. For instance, CRT geometry shaders add a slight curvature to the corners of the screen that would be expected when playing games on an old-school TV.

It should be noted, however, that the device has such a high resolution for its screen size that certain shaders don’t seem to produce any problems, moreover, if you don’t use shaders, you may never see or experience any problems at all. With integer scaling at its max, a user would be hard-pressed to spot or locate any misaligned pixels on retro games. But still, the issue is there.

Where Does Retroid Go From Here?

With the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 and Classic being announced recently, Retroid is still working on manufacturing its next line of handheld devices. With Flip 2 utilizing the same screen as the Retroid Pocket 5, there should be no related shader issues as the larger, 1080p 16:9 Retroid Pocket 5 does not face the same problems as the Mini.

As sad as this news is for those who adored the Retroid Pocket Mini and were hoping to use shaders with select titles, the Mini still stands in a class of its own. Currently, there are no other options that offer a 4:3 screen with a glass panel offering an OLED screen. As stated above, some report that the issue is unseen to them due to them not opting to use shaders in conjunction with such high integer scaling.

Fortunately, as the issue is unfixable, Retroid is extending its return policy and allowing users to return their devices for a refund if they contact the company via email at sales@goretroid.com. Be sure to supply them with any pertinent information; order number, date the order was made, and a reference to the issues shown or mentioned above.

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