Don’t get me wrong, it was incredible being able to spend time with some awesome people and check out a whirlwind of new devices. But there was one device that stood out from the pack, and it wasn’t the Legion Go S, Acer Nitro Blaze 11, or even GameSir’s upcoming controllers. Instead, it was the Mecha Comet which I managed to check out during the ShowStoppers soiree.
Naturally, my first inclination was to figure out what processor it’s using and whether I can turn it into a retro handheld. Unfortunately, all I was able to find out was that it’s running an arm64 SoC, which the official website says is clocked at 1.8GHz and uses Cortex-A53 cores.
I have a feeling we’re probably looking at a Rockchip SoC, but I’m also kind of hoping that’s not the case. Nevertheless, the Comet is running a custom build of Debian Linux, and the creator told us that the Comet is more than capable of running RetroArch.
But that’s not even the best part!
At first glance, the Mecha Comet is already practically the perfect device for tinkering, especially if you’re familiar with Linux. However, the real star of the show are the different “Extensions” or modules that can be connected to the exposed I/O board on the front.
When it officially launches, Mecha will offer three different Extensions, including the Gamepad, Keyboard, and GPIO Breakout Board. Thanks to the Comet and the custom-built Mechanix OS, the possibilities are practically endless if you want to create an Extension of your own.
At ShowStoppers, the Comet and its modules were 3D printed, it was very obviously a prototype, but it gave us a clear vision of what to expect. The connection between the Comet and modules seemed pretty solid, with everything just snapping into place rather easily.
But again, there’s more going on here than meets the eye. On the left, the Comet features two full-size USB-A ports, along with a full-size Ethernet jack, which is just incredibly amazing. Flip the Comet around, take off the backplate, and you’re greeted with a 3,000mAh battery that connects via a traditional Molex connector.
The reliance on the Molex connector means that you can easily swap out the battery if something happens. It also means that if you’re okay with 3D printing a different backplate, you can swap out the stock battery for one that’s even bigger.
When I first saw the spec sheet, I was a bit disappointed to see 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. While there’s not really much that can be done about the RAM, the Mecha Comet does feature an M.2 2230 slot under the backplate.
For many, a microSD card slot might have made more sense here, but when you compare larger microSD cards to M.2 drives, this is probably the better way to go. Plus, you’ll get faster read/write speeds with the PCIe M.2 drive compared to what most microSD cards can achieve.
While we are pretty sure what we saw was the final design, it’s not going to be the perfect handheld out of the gate. For instance, interacting with the touchscreen wasn’t exactly the greatest, as there was a bit of a delay when trying to swipe between screens. I’m not sure whether this is the fault of the screen or the software, but at the end of the day, this was still just a prototype.
With something that’s this cool and unique, I’m willing to give Mecha the benefit of the doubt. Well, at least until I’m able to get one in my hands for more than a few minutes with a bunch of people peering over my shoulder trying to see what’s going on.
At the time of this writing, the pre-launch listing is live over at Kickstarter, giving you the option to be notified when the campaign kicks off. If you sign up, you’ll be able to lock in the Super Early Bird reward price, which comes in at $159. We don’t yet know what the Comet will retail for, provided that the Kickstarter campaign meets its goal. We don’t even know what the goal of the campaign will be, but unless it’s something exorbitant, I have a feeling Mecha won’t have any issues.
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