I think it is time for me to get on my soapbox and vent a little bit. Pre-ordering these retro handhelds can really suck and can be extremely frustrating. I have been in the hobby for the last few years and yeah, the excitement of checking your tracking is exciting. However, the pre-orders for most of these companies make you want to pull your hair out.
I have pre-ordered just 5 different devices. Those are the Retroid Pocket Flip, Retroid Pocket 2S, AYN Odin 2 Mini, original ROG Ally, and the ROG Ally X. All of these had their own frustrations, but the easiest to digest was possibly the ROG Ally. Let me break down each of these issues down here.
Shipping Order
Let’s say you got caught up in the moment and saw a $5 off coupon for pre-ordering the newest handheld that does exactly what 4 of your other devices do. You pressed that Pay button faster than anyone and now it is time to wait. Now the company is sending out orders and you see all these people with order numbers higher than yours shipping before you! What in the world!
The AYN Odin 2 Mini
I noticed this recently with the AYN Odin 2 Mini. AYN offers a really nice shipping dashboard on their website that lets you know what orders and what models they have shipped. This is great until you start seeing other people who ordered after you get their order shipped before you. The issue is that there is no transparency at the pre-ordering stage. There is so much information that they will be shipping the base model first or a certain color first, it is still a lottery.
I lucked out with both my Retroid Pocket Flip and Odin 2 Mini by having them ship in the first batch, but that wasn’t the case with the RP2S. I had to get that transparent green model because it looked so cool, but who would’ve thought that a popular choice like that would be one of the last ships? So here I am ordering within the first few minutes and stuck waiting more than a week after later orders for mine to arrive.
Lovely Green
Guinea Pigs
That last reason may sound a bit entitled and just frustrating, but this is the part that really gets on my nerves. You are signing up to be a company guinea pig with these things. Look at Anbernic (you thought you were safe because I haven’t pre-ordered from you). Recently, the pre-orders of the RG Cube had light bleed issues. Currently, we are unsure of what is happening with the RG35XX SP batteries and hinges. Speaking of hinges, the early models of the Retroid Pocket Flip had issues with these breaking too!
Recent Anbernic Releases
What happens if you get a faulty model from one of these companies? Well you better pray that it is an easy experience with customer service, and usually it is not the case. They may offer you another screen or part for you to install yourself instead of shipping you a new one or doing a return. What happens if you break something in the installation? Well, that isn’t their problem anymore and it now has fallen on you.
For my ROG Ally, I was not happy with the purchase and this was before the SD cards started going out. All I had to do was go to Best Buy and say I didn’t like it and they just accepted it as simple as that. With most of these handhelds, they are not that easy. Luckily for the Retroid Pocket Flip, they had someone in the USA offering to do repairs if you had a broken hinge. Sometimes you are looking for the best deal though and using an eBay store or a random AliExpress shop may have a whole different headache to deal with.
Other Issues
This is a really random issue that I had recently with my AYN Odin 2 Mini. My order was shipped out in the first batch, but for some reason, they shipped my screen protector and case a few days later. I also mention this in my review here. I didn’t get these until a little over a week after I got my Odin 2 Mini. When I finally got them, my case was misprinted. The indents where the triggers are supposed to go are in the opposite direction.
Frustrating? Yes. Deal breaker? Well not exactly, but I paid for it and expected it to be correct. The solution was to email AYN and let them know and guess what? If you were in that first batch, you had your case shipped to you separately and all of those cases were most likely printed wrong. Did they let everyone know about the mistake? Nope! They waited until you reached out and had to wait another week or longer for a replacement to arrive.
Missing Deadlines
Some of these companies are not the best at meeting deadlines. If you are someone who ordered the original AYN Odin, you are in my thoughts. Dealing with constant delays for a product you already paid good money for can be a horrible feeling.
I just ordered the ROG Ally X and I don’t know who dropped the ball. It may have been ASUS or Best Buy, but either way, when you pre-order something from Best Buy, they are usually good at getting it to you on or before the release date. However, on the day of release, my Ally was just under the term “packaging”. It said it would ship that day and it shipped finally at 11:47 pm.
Of course, I missed getting it the day of, which is not a huge deal, but annoying. Reading online, it seemed like no one who ordered from Best Buy got it on the day of release. Even checking the in-store pickup options, there were none within a 100-mile radius of me. I wasn’t the only one either. Multiple people I talked to noticed they weren’t shipping and there was nothing within their range to pick up.
Conclusion
Is this all entitled to our Chinese handheld toys that we replace constantly? Yes. Am I still going to pre-order one of these when there is a new one that catches my eye? Of course. We all have a sickness with these things and no matter how bad these companies treat us, we keep coming back for some reason. It just feels good to vent and let everyone know, “Hey, we feel you. This sucks.”.
What issues have you had pre-ordering? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!
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