MagicX Mini Zero 28 First Impressions: Starting 2025 With a Bang

For as much grief as we gave Anbernic last year, I have to admit that it’s been a bit weird not seeing very many retro handhelds announced. Thankfully, MagicX broke the spell for me, as the Mini Zero 28 arrived in my mailbox today, so I’m here to share my first impressions.

MagicX Mini Zero 28 Specs

Display: 2.8-inch, IPS
Resolution: 640 x 480
Processor: Allwinner A133P
GPU: PowerVR GE8300
RAM: 2GB DDR4
Storage: 2x microSD Cards
Battery: 2,900mAh
Colors: Purple, Black, Glacier Blue
Dimensions: 130 x 64 x 19mm
Weight: 129 grams

MagicX Mini Zero 28

Almost Identical Design

I had an idea that this would be the case, but the Mini Zero 28 looks practically identical to the XU Mini M. Pretty much everything is the same, including the thumbsticks, button placement, and the bottom-firing speakers.

The only difference in the shell that I’ve been able to find is that the Zero 28 doesn’t have the reset button next to the power button on the bottom. However, MagicX does make a couple of welcome changes with the buttons and the D-pad. Instead of the flat ABXY buttons, the Zero 28 now features more rounded buttons, similar to what you’d find on pretty much any handheld or controller.

The D-pad also seems to be kind of “sloped” downwards, which I’ve actually kind of liked so far. It might just be a placebo, but I feel like it’s easier to make quick movements, without my thumb catching the edges as I switch directions.

For the sake of brevity, here’s a list of other things I noticed:

The plastic feels pretty good on the Purple and Glacier colors that I got.
The lack of a touchscreen is frustrating.

Interesting Software

What surprised me more than anything was seeing that MagicX opted to go with Android instead of a custom Linux build. Funnily enough, the front of the box says “Android | Linux,” but only ships with the former. That being said, don’t be surprised if you see that builds from muOS, KNULLI, or MinUI are released for the Zero 28.

Much like the Retroid Pocket Mini, the Zero 28 ships with Android 10, but don’t expect any official upgrade paths to Android 13. Instead, your best bet will be waiting until GammaOS Core is released. Speaking of which, we’re hoping to see pretty much any day now.

When you turn it on, you might think that MagicX packaged its latest handheld with Daijisho, but that’s not entirely true. It’s pretty much a customized fork that’s called “Dawn Launcher,” and offers many of the same features as Daijisho. We also have a few included emulators, such as RetroArch, My Boy!, DraStic, and others.

What we don’t have is access to the Play Store, as you simply won’t find the actual app installed. Instead, you’ll have to rely on some combination of F-Droid and/or Aurora Store in order to download more apps and games. Or, if you have the APK files, just sideload the apps and games you want to try out.

Certain Controls Are…Weird

Before you switch over to the Chrome app, you might want to download your files on a computer and then transfer them over. Since the Zero 28’s display isn’t a touchscreen, we have to rely on a “virtual mouse.” This is activated by long-pressing on the right thumbstick (R3), then using the left thumbstick to move the cursor around and pressing it to “tap” something.

I’m thankful that MagicX even enabled this, but at the same time, inputting any text will take forever and a day. For what it’s worth, I did try plugging in a keyboard directly, and through a USB-C hub, but nothing seemed to work.

Honestly, it’s really not that big of a deal, but I still highly recommend downloading files elsewhere first. Then, just transfer them to the Zero 28 via the microSD card and get everything installed afterward.

For the sake of brevity, here’s a list of other quirks that I’ve found so far:

In order to turn it off, you have to long-press the Power button, activate the virtual mouse, then hover and select Power Off.
The default button layout isn’t intuitive, but the included User Manual lists the various controls and button combinations.
The button below the screen doubles as a “Back” button, which is helpful to keep in mind until you can remap the rest of the layout.

Playing Games

Since MagicX got the Mini Zero 28 into the hands of a few developers early, we don’t have to worry about a rabbit being pulled out of a hat. The Mini Zero 28 is powered by the Allwinner A133P, the same chip found in the TrimUI Brick.

With that, and the 2GB of RAM, we’re able to play up to PSP games with relative ease. Naturally, Chains of Olympus was the first game that I fired up, and while there were a few frame drops, it was smoother than I expected. The only real complaint was the audio, as the speakers crackled for a minute or two until I turned the volume all the way down.

Glacier MagicX Mini Zero 28 and Anbernic RG34XX Angled

From there, I switched over to some N64, trying out both Wave Race 64 and Wipeout 64. Setting my inexperience aside, Wipeout played pretty great, hovering right around 30fps, with a few drops to 27fps. Meanwhile, Wave Race 64 seemingly stuck to around 20fps, and didn’t feel quite as smooth as Wipeout.

Lastly, I wanted to see how Game Boy Advance games would look on this 2.8-inch screen. After launching TMNT via RetroArch, I felt like something was off, so I jumped into the RetroArch settings and adjusted the scaling to 4:3. Once that was done, TMNT looked incredible, and before I knew it, 45 minutes had passed by.

Conclusion

So far, things are looking pretty great for MagicX and the Mini Zero 28. Performance meets expectations, the custom firmware community is already cooking, and the annoyances that I have come across are pretty minor.

Just remember that I’ve only had the Zero 28 for a few hours, so I haven’t been able to try or do all of the things I normally would. However, others on the team will soon be getting their Mini Zero 28, so stay tuned for more coverage as the units roll in.

If there’s something specific that you’d like to see us cover in the full review, drop us a line in the comments below. Or, you can head over to our Discord and join in as more people begin to receive their own devices.