The hits just keep on coming to the gaming community, as Retroid made a surprising announcement last night. It was announced that the Retroid Pocket G2 will be “temporarily discontinued,” and the Pocket Classic “will see a price adjustment.”
This comes just a few weeks after it was announced that the 12GB Retroid Pocket 6 model will be discontinued. Around the same time, AYN confirmed increased prices for its Odin 3 and Thor handhelds, while also putting the Odin 3 Ultra on a (hopefully) temporary sabbatical.
As of 9 PM EDT (9 AM Beijing Time) on Thursday, March 16, the Retroid Pocket Classic will now cost $149 when buying directly from Retroid. This represents a $20 price increase for the 6GB/128GB model; meanwhile, nothing was mentioned about the 4GB/64GB model, which has been out of stock for some time.
Throwing another potential wrench into the fire is that the only Pocket Classic versions currently available are the “Classic 6” and the “Classic 6 SG”. All other color variants are simply listed as “Sold Out,” with those two color options also being the only ones available via Amazon. Some third-party retailers, such as Ampown, have different colors in stock, but you’ll have to pay a bit of a premium to get them.
Pivoting back to the Pocket G2, this landed last year, being launched alongside the Retroid Pocket 6, while sporting a design that’s practically identical to that of the Pocket 5. The Pocket G2 is also the first (and currently only) handheld to make use of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 chip. While not exactly a game-changing SoC, the G2 Gen 2 is based on the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and offers a boost to GPU performance over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 thanks to higher sustained clock speeds.
Part of the problem with the Pocket G2 is that it never really seemed to “fit” anywhere in Retroid’s lineup. The company wedged it between the Pocket 5 and Pocket 6 in terms of pricing, but only a few dollars separated the G2 and Pocket 5. Considering that the two share the same shell design and display, picking one over the other came down to whether you wanted the platform maturity of the Snapdragon 865 or the improved performance of the G2 Gen 2.
Speaking of the Retroid Pocket 5, the company also confirmed that the 2024 flagship handheld “will continue to be available and is not affected.” Once the price changes for the Pocket Classic go into effect, here’s what the Retroid lineup will look like:
- Retroid Pocket 6 – $244
- Retroid Pocket 5 – $199
- Retroid Pocket Flip 2 – $179 (D1100) | $209 (SD865)
- Retroid Pocket Classic – $149
Sadly, if you were hoping to grab a Pocket G2 but were holding off, you’re out of luck with the listing page showing “Sold Out” just minutes after the announcement was made. On the bright side, the Pocket 5 is still sticking around, and the second batch of Pocket 6 pre-orders began shipping earlier this month.
