Powkiddy went from the most famously infamous competitor in the scene, consistently putting out the lowest end, Value City-esque, poor build quality devices that feel like off-brand versions of off-brand products, to the same thing but with pretty good consoles this time around. When they do release a good console, it’s something no one asks for, and they check off just enough boxes to take a warm space in your pocket for at least 2 months, more than the other dozens of disposable handhelds released each year.
Take the RGB30, which does nothing new except plop a big 4” 1:1 screen on it. But it has comfortable buttons, it isn’t too loud, it doesn’t have screen bleed problems, and it is fine to hold in your hands. It’s a Goldilocks amongst these devices. The other quality I want to stress here is one I think is the most important: It’s boring. And the V10 is the MOST.. boring.
What Is the Powkiddy V10?
Wide load
The V10 is literally the same RK3326 device from 2020 but… again with the same-ish rubber membrane controls as its Powkiddy predecessors, 1 mono speaker, and an assortment of buttons and triggers for start/select, restart, function keys, blah blah. Oh but no volume buttons. So maybe it’s not as boring as I mentioned. You also get an SD card full of video game smut in either 64GB or 128GB variants, depending on how little self-respect you have for yourself to buy their preloaded cards.
I got the 64GB card, so only a moderate amount of self-loathing. They use better SD cards than Anbernic’s generic cards that just say “64” on them, but it’s whatever. For a device like this, you really don’t need that much space since the RK3326 works like garbage for anything below PS1, so unless you were hell-bent on hoarding your retro collection on a V10, a 32GB card is fine.
The extra space is for chewed gum
The buttons feel… ???!!! Fine. This is what I believe rubber membrane face buttons should be: Not too stiff, not too Loud, just… whatever. Good job. Except on these L&R buttons. These buttons are louder and less satisfying than the RG35XXSP, a non-boring handheld, so I did a tape mod on those IMMEDIATELY and now they are… marginally quieter. Not really. It’s okay though.
The ergonomics don’t really fit a niche. It’s kind of just a box and not a flattering one. Horizontal and vertical handhelds have a way of naturally fitting into your hand that this just… doesn’t. It’s too wide/ tall to pocket and doesn’t have a place to rest the meat of your hands. It also has this weird curve that is asymmetric with the other side for…. No reason and I’m finding it hard to let it know without making it self-conscious. Poor thing. Being weird. You weirdo.
Doesn’t really fit a niche here
Powering up this space cowboy, you’ll be greeted with a familiar ArkOS logo and an emulation station splash screen. ArkOS is nice enough so I didn’t feel the need to change the OS. So for once, I think stock might be an ideal solution for this one guys. We did it. Man, I miss JELOS. After a couple of audio latency tweaks and normal 2x filtering, you’re up and running in no time. I’d just check the nifty manual for the hotkeys.
Link, are you okay?
Volume and brightness are adjusted by pressing plus and using the D-Pad. Again, it’s weird but not a big deal. Just pause the game. Or not. Consider this a warning if you are a volume button enthusiast.
The screen is the same 3.5” 2:3 screen you’ve seen in previous RK3326 devices, So your Game Boy Advance is going to look fantastic on integer scaling… and that’s it. 4:3 content will have inconsistent-looking pixels, which you will notice more in movement than anything. Your normal 2x filter fixes this, and the screen is small enough to hide those kinds of flaws.
Why Is the Powkiddy V10?
Okay look, This handheld cost me $35 and shipped for free and you can buy it normally for $40. This is truly the most disposable of disposable devices and got swept under the rug almost deliberately by the community for being so inherently dry of anything new or innovative. And that aspect is not even part of its charm, because there is no charm. This is the handheld equivalent of an NPC you say “Howdy mista” to in Red Dead Redemption 2. And that’s okay.
One thing that’s easily forgotten as we get lost in the handheld sauce is that the point of these things is to play games, So for me, a handheld’s goal should be to be some unexciting brick that is fine to hold and waste your time playing games on. And with this handheld, I’m playing to its strengths and just playing GBA games on it. And not only just that, but only the SNES and NES ports. Because why not? They are very good, And it’s the only thing I can think of that validates the SNES variant of the console. Thank you Powkiddy, thanks for nothing
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