At this point, I’ve probably spent more time writing about the RK3326 chipset than people who work in business relations for Rockchip. I wear the “e-waste guy” moniker with pride, as I often truly believe that devices like the R36S and the floods of imitators that have come since can be a great first step into the emulation hobby.
The fact that you can still have one shipped to your door from halfway across the world, with a large chunk of gaming history built-in for less than the cost of a meal for two at Five Guys, is nothing short of amazing. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and would never have been able to dream of something so amazing in my wildest fantasies.
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That’s not to say that my love is universal, though. Every so often, there comes a new clone born from the depths of AliExpress that pops its head up to demand a piece of the action. The R40xxS (or R40xx Pro Max depending on which label you’re looking at) got me on an impulse Choice Sale purchase with its unique colorways. I’d really enjoyed my recent experience with the R40xx, so surely a follow-up device couldn’t be worse. Oh, how wrong I was….
The box of the handheld says R40xxS. The back of the device says R40XX Pro Max. These are not unusual naming conventions in the clone handheld world, but this is the first time I can recall ever receiving a handheld that was labeled differently between the unit and its packaging. This was either an oversight, or someone assessed the situation and said: “eh, good enough”. My money is on the latter.
The deeper I dove into the R40xx Pro Max, the more I realized that the “we don’t care” attitude extended across every part of the handheld.
Game Console R40xxS/ProMax Specs
This unit was sold by FUNKIDDY. They might be the assemblers as well, but in this clone world, who knows. This is the first device I can recall using under their banner, and if this is the foot they want to put forward, I’m not inclined to ever again. The listing and the device refer to it as the R40xx Pro Max, so I’m going to stick with that for the rest of the article.
I tried to explore the device internals for fun, but I couldn’t get the damn thing open. At one point I was actually convinced that the battery cover plate might have been fake. I had a heck of a time getting it off. None of my pry tools seemed to be enough, and I ended up having to slot tweezers into a gap to gain enough leverage to pry the cover off.
| Game Console R40xxS/ProMax Specs | |
|---|---|
| Hardware | |
| CPU | RK3326 |
| GPU | Mali-G31 M2 |
| RAM | 1GB DDR3L |
| Display | |
| Screen | 4.2-inch full f screen ,1024 x 768 |
| Storage | |
| Internal | N/A |
| External | Single MicroSD slot up to 128GB |
| Audio | |
| Speakers | Dual 8W speakers |
| Battery | |
| Size | 4500mAh |
| Software | |
| OS | ArkOS 2.0 |
| Connectivity | |
| Ports | 1x USB-C, 1x Micro-SD, 3.5mm Headphone Jack |
| WiFi | 2.4ghz only 802.11b/g/n |
| Physical | |
| Weight | 229g (per my postal scale) |
The Screen
As I got a little more into testing the R40xx Pro Max, I noticed it seemed to run hot. Not because I was pushing the chip to the max either. While photographing the R40xx Pro Max for this article, it spent most of its time idling on the ArkOS 2.0 menus, and it still got hot. And I do mean HOT. I’m guessing the screen rests right against the PCB, and there’s not much in the way of cooling pads or proper air channels to dissipate all that generated heat.
The panel itself is fine. It’s likely the same one used in the R40xx. It’s bright enough to play in most any light, and it looks great overall. I just can’t get over the screen heat. I’ve never had a handheld combust on me yet, but if I had to pick one that I think might go up first, the R40xx Pro Max is making a case for itself to be near the top.
Audio
POP! The listening experience on a budget clone system was never going to be the best out there, but holy hell, things don’t need to be this bad. Whether it’s an issue of shielding, grounding, poor design, or a combination of all three, the R40xx Pro Max cackles worse than a hyena.
Whether it’s on initial boot, using the internet, or playing games, something always seems to be causing interference. And if you dare try to get into anything that starts hitting the performance ceilings of the chipset, the snap crackle pop of it all will make you wish you never even tried.
Controls
The standard R36S controls package is the definition of serviceable. No frills or creature comforts, but they get the job done. This feels like a step backwards. If you read my review of the R40XX, I praised the handheld’s design decision to finally do something about those awful clacky trigger buttons. The R40xx Pro Max brings them back with a vengeance. They’re as loud as ever, and as every input press echoes unpleasantly in the plastic hollow shell, the handheld seems even cheaper than it is.
D-pad controls on the R40xx Pro Max are a mixed bag at best. The pad doesn’t register false inputs, but it just feels like mush. The travel on the pad is excessive, and the feedback is too soft. It feels more like I’m pushing inputs out from center vs committing to a direction. It’s a difficult experience to put into words, but know that it’s unpleasant.
OS/Included SD Package
The R40xx Pro Max arrived running community favorite ArkOS 2.0 with the Emulation Station frontend. The OS functions just fine here as it has on so many other RK3326 handhelds before it. My beef isn’t with the software, which we already know to be great, but just how lazily thrown together everything else is in the package.
Putting together a ROM collection isn’t particularly difficult, but it can take some time, and more importantly, care. The included package here should just say “we don’t give a damn, and it shows”. Despite breaking up consoles like Famicom and NES into their own sections, the packages within are a total mess of numbered ROMs, Chinese versions, and unwanted ROM hacks. No, I don’t want to automatically start Contra with spread-shot with every new life, thanks very much. I was just looking for.
And when you aren’t loading up an unwanted mod of a beloved classic, you’ll just get nothing at all. Many of the ROM paths in the included package are broken. That’s not to say the games aren’t somewhere on the SD; they likely are, but the paths to the emulators aren’t setup and everything crashes on launch. I’d say this happened with at least 50% of the Genesis titles I tried to load. There’s just no excuse for this level of laziness.
This should go as a warning to all clone manufacturers out there. You want to stand out in a crowded market? Maybe try polishing the out-of-box experience so that it’s actually pleasant for newbies. It’s always the same three or four damn Dreamcast games included on every single card I get, and Crazy Taxi 2 tends to run poorly on most of them!
Why not include titles that perform better on the hardware? Nope, just another copy-and-paste job the same as everyone else. I don’t imagine many NA buyers are pining for Chinese ROM versions, nor vice versa. It’s not as if making curated collections for each market increases your costs. You’re just lazy.
Trying to run a system like Nintendo DS only highlights this frustration further. They’ve included a bunch of popular titles on the card, sure, but nobody bothered to set up the emulator for the device. If you’re not familiar with the many quirks of emulation, this would be an immediate frustration. Hotkeys aren’t set up, so accessing menus, save states, or even just getting back to the main device menu are off the table without going in and tweaking things yourself.
If this handheld is meant to be a plug-and-play budget experience, it’s a failed attempt.
TL/DR
I’m normally leery to label something as “e-waste” because I think the term gets thrown around too much and capable devices end up getting lumped in with genuine trash. The R40xx Pro Max is a waste of a perfectly good RK3326. So yeah, I guess this one is e-waste.
The FUNKIDDY Game Console R40XXs/R40XX Pro Max is a bad clone. Full stop. Not serviceable for beginners. Not “charming enough to overlook flaws”. Just plain bad. This thing is selling for $50 or more on AliExpress, and I’d gladly trade it for the original R36S that can be had for half that. Or if you want something that actually is a step up from that original design, check out the plain R40xx from Boyhom, or the legitimate successor to the original throne, the R36xx – a brilliant device that I thought never really got the flowers it deserved.
The FUNKIDDY R40xx Pro Max idles hot. The speakers crackle. The included ROM package is a jumbled mess of laziness filled with garbage titles and broken ROM paths. The D-pad is mushy. Some emulators aren’t set up for the frontend. The shoulder buttons are back to their clacky ways. And the cherry on top? The box and handheld can’t even agree on what this thing is called. Just skip it.
