Before we get too into the weeds with the Retroid Pocket 5 review, there’s something that you should probably know about me. I have a tendency to be a bit of a “snob” when it comes to the devices I purchase, always looking to get the best. This applies to everything from the phones and computers that I use to the handhelds that I decide to pick up.
With that in mind, I actually didn’t pre-order the Retroid Pocket 5, even though I’m a big fan of what Retroid has been doing in recent years. The problem is that I already have an Odin 2 and Ayaneo Pocket S, to go along with the ROG Ally X, Steam Deck OLED, and Lenovo Legion Go. Not to mention the plethora of other retro and Android-powered handhelds that I have at my disposal.
It wasn’t until we saw some real pictures of the GameCube colorway that I was sold, and promptly gave Retroid some dough. Yet, here we are, about a week later, and I haven’t initiated the return process.
Retroid Pocket 5: Fixing What Was Wrong
Last year, I ordered the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro as soon as I could. I couldn’t wait for it to get here, even though MediaTek chips don’t offer the same performance as their Snapdragon counterparts. It didn’t take long before the Pocket 4 Pro was added to the pile of “nice to look at but don’t use” handhelds. My biggest complaint was how uncomfortable it was to hold for long periods of time, and I just didn’t feel like spending more money on a grip when I was already using other handhelds.
Needless to say, I was very excited to see that the Pocket 5 fixed that problem, at least for the most part. This is a problem I continue to struggle with, as there are some handhelds that I adore, but simply can’t use because of my stupid hands and wrists. The grip on either side of the Pocket 5 is more comfortable than I expected it to be, so I’m able to actually play games for more than 30 minutes at a time.
That might not be something very many care about, but something you will care about is the screen. With both the Pocket 5 and Pocket Mini, Retroid ditched IPS LCD panels in favor of OLED. Not only that, but it’s also not like Retroid went dumpster diving and found the cheapest OLED displays out there.
From the moment that you turn it on, the screen just pops, and everything looks bright, vibrant, and crisp. I really can’t get over how nice of a screen the Pocket 5 has, especially considering that it costs less than $250. Some smartphone displays don’t look this good, even though they cost at least twice as much. Retroid really nailed it here and jumped on the OLED train at the right time.
None of that is why I decided to give Retroid my money, although both factors played a part in my doing so. As I said previously, Retroid introducing a GameCube colorway was the nostalgia hit that I didn’t know I needed. Which is funny, considering that I have never personally owned a GameCube. There’s just something about the purple paired with the yellow thumbstick and the colored buttons that called my name.
I began this review endeavor with the Black model, which started with Stubbs, and made a pitstop with BassDerek, before arriving on my doorstep. For the majority of people, I’d probably recommend this version, if only because the OLED panel blends so seamlessly into the glass front panel.
That being said, I don’t regret my decision in the slightest, as I’m just thoroughly infatuated with the way the Pocket 5 looks. I can only hope that the upcoming AYN Odin 2 Portal looks as good as the Pocket 5.
Retroid Pocket 5: Don’t Sleep on Performance
Technically, talking about performance on the Retroid Pocket 5 could be split into two standalone articles. With the inclusion of the Snapdragon 865, we have the semi-traditional Android experience. I say “semi” because Retroid ditched its old launcher for one that’s been completely redesigned. Admittedly, I haven’t really spent that much time with it, as I’m more accustomed to relying on the stock Android launcher.
You can blame my incessant need to install a bunch of different versions of emulators for that. Seriously, I have thirteen different Switch emulators currently installed on my Pocket 5. The first step is acknowledging that I have a problem, but the truth is that I’m not going to do anything about that (other than potentially install more.)
ANYWAY, performance on the Android side of the Pocket 5 is exactly what you’d expect. The Snapdragon 865 affords you the luxury of being able to comfortably play up to PS2, with a smattering of Switch titles. This is why I have so many different versions installed, as I’m tinkering with different drivers to see what games work with which versions.
Don’t go into this expecting to be able to play your entire legally backed-up Switch collection, because that’s just not going to happen. However, if you’re willing to spend the time to tinker, you’ll probably come away pleasantly surprised with what the Pocket 5 is actually capable of.
Plus, it seems that Gamma’s cooking something up, as he’s apparently working on overclocking the GPU. Recently, he was able to get a steady 60 FPS with the GPU overclocked to 1100MHz and 0.75x (540p/810p) resolution. While I’ve been mostly happy with how the Retroid Pocket 5 performs, seeing Gamma getting involved excites me.
It’s really difficult to find many reasons for disappointment, but there was one issue that kept cropping up. I’m not sure whether it was just “operator error” or what, but there were a few times that I’d be in the middle of a run on Halls of Torment, only for the game to completely crash.
This happened a few times, and it didn’t seem to matter what performance or fan profile I was using. What made this even more odd is that it would happen at random, with one time the game crashing about 5 minutes after I started playing.
For the unaware, there’s really not too much going on in the first few minutes of a run. Retroid has already pushed an update for retail units, and it’s only happened maybe once since then. Perhaps it was related, but it really drove me nuts until that update arrived.
(Almost) Endless Possibilities
All of that is just one side of the coin. There’s a whole other side of the Retroid Pocket 5 to explore, provided that you’re willing to take a bit of time to get everything set up.
In addition to everything that Android and the Play Store offer, including the likes of Winlator and Switch emulation, we also have some custom firmware to enjoy. There are builds of both ROCKNIX and Batocera available for the Retroid Pocket 5 and Pocket Mini.
I’m not going to go into depth here, as Ban has already written his Linux review while using the Pocket Mini. Which you should definitely check out.
So far, I haven’t tried messing with Batocera on the Pocket 5, but I did get ROCKNIX up and running. The overall experience is what you’d find on native Linux handhelds like the Anbernic RG CubeXX or Powkiddy RGB20 Pro. This means that you’re able to enjoy the ever-growing library of PortMaster titles, something that’s still not possible on Android.
More importantly than that, ROCKNIX on the Retroid Pocket 5 brings Xbox emulation support via Xemu. I cannot tell you how incredibly excited I have been to be able to play through my library of OG Xbox games on the Pocket 5.
Performance isn’t as perfect or smooth as you might hope for, but the ROCKNIX team is making massive strides. For example, you’ll definitely experience some slowdowns in Halo: Combat Evolved, but things clear up fairly quickly. The same is true for Halo 2, but the stutters and slowdowns are more prevalent.
My only gripe about this has nothing to do with performance but instead has to do with the implementation. Since you’re installing ROCKNIX to the microSD card, this means that I need to have two microSD cards for the Pocket 5. One for ROCKNIX, and one for Android.
Unfortunately, this also means that if you aren’t careful, you could misplace and/or lose the microSD card that’s not being used. I learned this hard way, as I wanted to switch back to Android to test Winlator, only to discover that my 1TB microSD card had vanished. I tore my home office apart looking for it, coming up short. There’s a non-zero-percent chance that my dog thought it was a mini treat and took it upon herself to have an unsatisfying snack.
Retroid Pocket 5: Should You Buy It?
To answer the question of whether you should buy the Retroid Pocket 5, it’s not quite as cut and dry as I might’ve made it seem. So let me try and make things easier.
- Buy the Retroid Pocket 5 if you:
- Don’t have an Android handheld but want one.
- Have an Android handheld, but it’s old/underpowered.
- Have a retro handheld and something like the Steam Deck, but want a “Goldilocks” handheld.
- Want an Android handheld with an OLED screen.
- Don’t buy the Retroid Pocket 5:
- Just for the sake of it.
- If you want the most powerful Android handheld.
- If you already have something like the Odin 2 or have already pre-ordered either the Pocket EVO or Odin 2 Portal.
While the GameCube colorway might have been the reason why I actually bought the Pocket 5, it’s not the only reason why I’m keeping it. I now have a single device that can play the following:
- My favorite Android games
- (Some) Switch titles
- (Some) Windows games via Winlator
- PortMaster
- Native PICO-8
- Xbox via ROCKNIX and Xemu
Sure, I might need to figure out a way to not lose my microSD cards, but that’s a problem that I’m willing to solve. There’s actually a microSD card sleeve on Amazon that I just ordered.
Now, I just need to pick up either a Clear Backplate or Protector Shell from Retroid, because I’m definitely not applying adhesive directly to the shell. Might as well pick up some extra buttons while I’m at it.
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