Welcome to the latest edition of Retro Handhelds Weekly. This week saw a bunch of news in both the world of hardware and software, our writing team continues to be on an absolute tear, and there’s even a surprise or two sprinkled in! So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and catch up on what’s happened this week in the world of Retro Handhelds.
Table of Contents
Hardware
If there’s one thing we know about retro handhelds, it’s that there is always something new around the corner. Seriously, it’s “worse” than smartphones, as some companies release new handhelds every other week. On the bright side, at least there’s no shortage of options.
It’s Official: Retroid Pocket Mini Shader Issue Cannot Be Fixed
The Retroid Pocket Mini shader issue is now confirmed to not be fixable. Shortly after the Mini was released, users began to notice that applied shaders either looked incorrectly spaced or altered the visuals of certain games in ways they shouldn’t have.
Since our initial report went live, quite a lot happened across the entire retro handheld community, even reaching more mainstream media. Retroid responded by announcing a new return window, but those would be limited to “200 units” and customers would have to pay for the return shipping.
- [UPDATE] It’s Official: Retroid Pocket Mini Shader Issue Cannot Be Fixed
- Russ asks “How would YOU address the RP Mini screen issue?”
- JeodC Shares Summary of RP Mini “Screen Issue”
Retroid Pocket Classic Colors and Screen Specs Revealed
Retroid Pocket Classic Screen Specs
Most of the color options are inspired by the colors that were available for the original Game Boy Color, with the classic 6 colorway being separately inspired by the Sega Saturn control pad both in color and presentation and the retro colorway being inspired by the Game Boy DMG.
It also revealed that the Classic 6 colorway will be the only model to feature a six-button layout. Lastly, Retroid revealed that the Pocket Classic will sport a 3.92-inch AMOLED display with a 1240 x 1080 resolution.
MagicX Targets DS Emulation with Zero 40 Specs Reveal
Late last year, MagicX announced that it was working on a device specifically tuned for Nintendo DS emulation. It features an elongated 480 x 800 screen that should allow for 1.8x scaling on both DS screens when stacked on top of each other. Now, MagicX has released the final specs for its upcoming DS-centric handheld, the Zero 40.
AYANEO Pocket Micro Classic Pre-Orders Go Live
After being shown off a few weeks ago, the AYANEO Pocket Micro Classic is now available for preorder. The Pocket Micro has a design that resembles the Game Boy Micro from 2005 but manages to reach a 960 x 640 resolution on a 3.5-inch screen, giving a perfect 4x integer scale on GBA games.
Other Hardware News
- Samsung Shows Foldable Gaming Handheld at MWC 2025
- The GAMEMT E6 Max is Finally Released on AliExpress
- Leak Shows Stronger GameMT E5 Ultra On the Way
- Abxylute One Pro Set to Launch on Kickstarter
Apps and Software
Don’t get me wrong, hardware is definitely fun and exciting to talk about. But what good is an awesome handheld if it doesn’t even work? That’s where software and custom firmware come into play, so here’s everything you might’ve missed this week.
Switch Emulator NxEmu is Back After Three Year Hiatus
After the quick and seemingly sudden deaths of Yuzu and Ryujinx, a new experimental Switch emulator is re-entering active development. In a blog post announcing the “reboot” of NxEmu after a three-year hiatus, N3xoX1 says, “I’ve considered leveraging what I’ve learned and understood from my experience by modularizing the safe and legal components from Yuzu, such as the CPU, OS, and video.”
Nintendo vs. 1Fichier.com
Glory to the King
With the Switch 2 launch looming, we hadn’t really heard much about Nintendo in relation to its continued crusade against emulation. However, the gaming giant recently won a court case against storage site 1fichier.com for “failing to remove or block access to pirated copies of Nintendo games. According to Video Game Chronicles, while the court ruled in Nintendo’s favor, the company behind 1fichier “decided to appeal the verdict.”
ScePSX is a new PS1 Emulator for Windows
Although there are no shortage of ways to emulate your favorite PS1 games, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for new ones. ScePSX is the latest PS1 emulator and is designed specifically for Windows. It already supports a variety of features, such as ReShade Integration, cheats, and online battles.
shandroidPS4 Attempts to Bring PS4 to Android
PS4 Emulator for PC on Lenovo Legion Go
Over the past couple of weeks, headlines have been dominated by attempts to bring PS3 emulation to Android. Out of nowhere, a fork of shadPS4 appeared, looking to do the same with PS4 emulation. Unfortunately, there isn’t yet an alpha build for anyone to try out, and at the time of this writing, it’s been about a week since the last commit was made.
Emulator Updates
- RPCS3-Android Now up to Alpha 3
- APS3e v0.8 beta
- Igir v3.1.0 adds GCZ, RVZ, and WIA support
- Xemu gets a flurry of updates
- Wine v10.3 adds a bunch of new features
From the Writers
While there’s always a lot of news to cover and talk about, we also try to take a step back and give everyone something a bit different to enjoy. These are the more editorial-styled articles and reviews that you might have missed over the course of this week.
R33S Setup Guide and Tutorial
ROCKNIX running on the R33S
The Game Console R33S flew under the radar a bit when it arrived a while back. Its cousin, the R36S, is widely revered as the budget handheld to love. So why did one clone system blow up and the other languish? Well, because even AliExpress didn’t want to carry the R33S. It was apparently a little too on the nose for someone either at Miyoo or Anbernic, because all the listings came down almost as soon as they went up.
R36S vs. BatleXP G350: A Budget Beatdown?
I’ve covered this topic a couple of times, but the market of handhelds under $50 has been an ever-improving field over the past 3-4 years. We’ve evolved from Ingenics JZ level processors and the venerable Allwinner F1C100S all the way up to RK3326 to even more RK3326s.
The Best Ways to Play: NES
Sometimes it’s important to take stock of what actually matters to you in a hobby. Sure, the latest and greatest are amazing, but how much more do you really need? The fact that we’ve hit the point in time where we’re getting into PS3 emulation on handhelds is fantastic.
RH Games: What We’re Playing This Week
Mikhailov here with another look at what games we played this week.
Did we hit up the new game of the month category, or did we play something a little more modern? Maybe we just played some unusual racing game like Ban likes to do.
Either way, we’re interested in what games you’re playing. Use the button below to let us know, and you may be featured in this weekly article.
On the YouTubes
Don’t think that the writers are the only ones getting things done. the RH video team is constantly working on new videos, and now’s the best time to subscribe. This week, Stubbs mods his R36S, but he also checks out the new BATLEXP G350, a new sub-$40 retro handheld.
Looking for Deals?
Another week, another set of deals to be had. Although the latest AliExpress Sale has come to an end, there are still a bunch of deals to take advantage of. Hit the button below to check out our favorite deals of the week.
Retro Handhelds Deals of the Week
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