It’s wild to think that in a year dominated by Anbernic handhelds of all shapes and sizes, Retroid releases one device that trumps them all. That’s exactly what it looks like so far with the Retroid Pocket 5.
Thanks to Stubbs, I’ve been able to spend a bit of time with his review unit, so I’m here to share my first impressions.
Disclaimer: Our review unit did not ship with the retail software build. Retroid has since made the final version available, but these impressions are based on the reviewer’s build.
Retroid Pocket 5 Specs
By now, you probably already know what the Retroid Pocket 5 offers in terms of performance. Under the hood, we have the Snapdragon 865 paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage. There’s a 5,000mAh battery, to go along with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.
- Screen:Â 5.5-inch AMOLED
- CPU:Â Snapdragon 865
- GPU:Â Adreno 650
- RAM:Â 8GB LPDDR4X
- Storage:Â 128GB + microSD
- Battery:Â 5,000mAh
- Connectivity:Â Wi-Fi 6 / Bluetooth 5.1
- Triggers:Â Analog L2/R2
- Joysticks:Â 3D Hall Sticks
- Colors:Â GC, 16Bit, Black, White
- Price:Â $219
While the spec sheet is impressive, the real story is in the 5.5-inch AMOLED display that we’re graced with. Plus, Retroid includes Analog L2/R2 buttons along with Hall Effect joysticks.
All while being priced at $219, which is just the icing on the cake.
Retroid Pocket 5: Playing Games
I didn’t really know what to expect when we first heard that Retroid was going to be switching to OLED with the Pocket 5 and Mini. On one hand, I was worried that this would bring about a higher price tag. On the other, it’s not like Retroid operates in a vacuum, unaware of the variety of handhelds that are already available.
After taking the Pocket 5 out of the box and powering it on, I was immediately blown away. This screen is SO GOOD, especially for a handheld at this price point. Is $220 a lot? Yeah, but when you look around at the alternatives, nothing else comes close.
Now, I haven’t had enough time just yet to put the Pocket 5 through a gauntlet of benchmarks. So stay tuned for the full review. However, that’s not to say that I haven’t been trying to see what the Pocket 5 and Snapdragon 865 are capable of.
What better way to do just that than to get Winlator and Switch emulation up and running? To be clear, being able to use either Winlator or Switch emulators should only be viewed as a “bonus.” While the Snapdragon 865 is quite powerful in its own right, you’ll more than likely run into more problems than if you were playing on the Odin 2 Mini or Ayaneo Pocket S.
That being said, I was honestly surprised that the Pocket 5 was even capable of handling either platform. It did take a bit of trial and error, but I was mostly able to sit back and enjoy games like Fallout 3 without any issues. This is also going to be the case when it comes to PS2 games, but again, performance will vary depending on the game.
As you can probably surmise, the Pocket 5 has plenty of juice to play pretty much any game you can find on the Play Store. This is just part of the reason why Android handhelds are so intriguing, as you aren’t limited to whatever games are in your personal ROM library.
Speaking of intrigue, the Retroid Pocket 5 (and Pocket Mini) bring another lay of versatility into the mix. Instead of being locked to Android, it’s actually possible to install either Batocera or ROCKNIX.
And the best part is that you don’t have to root or flash anything onto the Pocket 5 itself. Instead, you just need to flash the software onto a microSD card, just like you would if you were setting up muOS.
So far, I’ve only messed around with this for a few minutes, as I flashed ROCKNIX to a microSD card and installed a few PortMaster games. Trust me, I do plan to get into Xbox emulation via Xemu, but I haven’t done so just yet.
Retroid Pocket 5: Ergonomics
One of the reasons why I didn’t care all that much about the Retroid Pocket 4 and 4 Pro was because it just wasn’t comfortable. Ergonomics is something that you might have seen me talk about before, simply because it’s just that important to me.
You could give me the best and most powerful handheld ever created, but if I can’t play games for more than 30 minutes, it’s going to end up on a shelf to collect dust. It’s part of the reason why I ended up selling my ROG Ally and keeping the Steam Deck. Even though the Ally was more powerful, I just couldn’t find any enjoyment.
Thankfully, and I mean THANKFULLY, I’ve yet to deal with any type of wrist or hand fatigue with the Pocket 5. That’s even with finally getting around to playing Halls of Torment for hours on end. (Seriously, it’s a problem. HoT is so good. Send help.)
While I do wish the grip was a bit thicker, that’s more of a personal preference thing than anything else.
Retroid Pocket 5: What I Don’t Like
I already put a disclaimer at the top, but just as a reminder, these impressions are based on the pre-release build for the Retroid Pocket 5. Retroid has since released the final build for reviewers, and I’ll be flashing it as soon as I’m done writing this.
However, there were two (known) problems that irritated me to no end, and I hope they aren’t present in retail models. The first of which was the standby battery drain. Last night, I finished playing some Halls of Torment and put the Pocket 5 down with about 40% battery left.
When I went to pick it up this morning, the Pocket 5 was completely dead. This has been the case ever since the first day, and it’s absolutely maddening. Even the worst handhelds don’t have this level of battery drain when on standby.
Compounding the problem even further was that I had a difficult time being able to recharge the Pocket 5. I tried using six different chargers, with varying charging speeds, and none of them would work. It wasn’t until I was unintentionally holding the power button down while plugging in a cable that it started to actually charge.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Retroid is true to its word and managed to solve these issues. But I still felt the need to point them out, just in case anyone has similar problems and is looking to see if it affects anyone else.
Conclusion
I have something to admit — I originally had no intentions of ordering the Retroid Pocket 5. Even after seeing “real-life” photos of the GameCube color. But, I’m a weak man when it comes to new and shiny toys, and after talking to some of the RH team, I ended up ordering one anyway.
It’s not that I don’t already have handhelds that are more powerful and more capable. Heck, I daily carry either the Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Pixel 9 Pro Fold, both of which offer more versatility than the Pocket 5. Not to mention the plethora of other handhelds that are just an arm’s reach away.
But the idea of having a single handheld that can be used with both Android and Linux is basically the dream. What I’m really hoping for is that Retroid sparks the fire that makes this kind of thing possible on more Android handhelds. I mean, how awesome would it be if the Odin 2 Portal or Pocket S ran both Android and ROCKNIX/Batocera? We aren’t there yet, but this might be the start.
If the Retroid Pocket 5 or Pocket Mini just landed on your doorstep, be sure to hit the button below to check out our setup guide.
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