Pocket 3+

I think I have an addiction. It all started back in December when I fell prey to an IG story selling a cheap vertical handheld. I really just wanted something to play Tetris. It arrived, and I played it for a few weeks before it failed completely. It wouldn't even turn on, just a cheap GB product clone which I WAY overpaid for. That pushed me down the rabbit hole of emulators. I bought an RG40XXH, then a Retroid Pocket 5. I got the RP5 for a decent deal off eBay, but then I discovered AliExpress and the [r/crownpuffdeals](https://www.reddit.com/r/crownpuffdeals/) deals. That is when the addiction got really bad. I started buying a new handheld almost every week. I realized I really enjoyed the tinkering aspect: setting them up with custom OS (MuOS, Knulli, Spruce, dArkOS, etc.) options, configuring frontends like ES-DE and Cocoon, and building curated ROM libraries. Eventually, I started buying them just to give away to friends. Here is my current collection. I plan on downsizing this and giving most of them away. **The Purchase In Order:** 1. RG40XXH 2. Retroid Pocket 5 3. Miyoo Flip 2 4. Ayn Thor Pro 5. RG35XXSP (grey) 6. Mangmi Air X 7. RG Rotate 8. RG35XXSP (blue) 9. RG40XXV 10. RGCubeXX **The Keep List:** My plan is to keep the Thor, one of the RG35XXSP units, the RG40XXV, and the RGCubeXX. I want to keep the blue SP because I love the color, but it only has 1GB of RAM compared to the grey's 2GB. I tried swapping the boards out, but it appears the blue SP has a different screen. (Most likely, I'll just keep both.) **The Giveaway Plan:** I plan on giving the rest to friends. Looking back at my AliExpress orders, I previously ordered another three RG40XXH units and three BatlEXP G350s, which I already set up and gifted. **Lessons from 6 Months in the Hobby:** * **You only really play one main device.** For me, that is the Thor. Sometimes I pick up another just for the fun of it, but the Thor is my daily driver. * **The Anbernic line handles plenty.** For the majority of the games I am playing, the Anbernic XX line can easily handle the gameplay. **The ROM Library Struggle:** Do not even get me started on ROM libraries. I have been driving myself crazy trying to get the perfect mix. I figured for my friends, largely due to memory card prices, I am sticking to 128GB cards. That fits pretty much all the lower-end systems, and I add a few PS1 games in for them too. I do warn them that not every single game will play perfectly on the XX line, but 95% will work just fine. **A HUGE Thank You:** Finally, I want to add a HUGE thank you to Russ [u/onionsaregross](https://www.reddit.com/user/onionsaregross/) from [Retro Game Corps](https://www.youtube.com/@RetroGameCorps), [Joey's Retro Handhelds,](https://www.youtube.com/@JoeysRetroHandhelds) and [u/TheTechDweeb](https://www.reddit.com/user/TheTechDweeb/) [TechDweeb](https://www.youtube.com/@TechDweeb). Their videos really helped with absolutely everything. I want to give a special shoutout to Russ [u/onionsaregross](https://www.reddit.com/user/onionsaregross/) for his written articles and video guides. I think I spent days poring over his Android setup guides! I also have to add a massive thank you to [r/crownpuffdeals](https://www.reddit.com/r/crownpuffdeals/) and [u/crownpuff](https://www.reddit.com/user/crownpuff/). His AliExpress buying guides have saved me so much money. Waking up on a Monday morning, the very first thing I do is check my phone to see what coupons I can use to order! UPDATE: Wow. I'm trying to respond to everyone who had questions.

From top to bottom: - Nintendo Switch 2: For Switch and Switch 2 games. - Lenovo Legion Tab 3: For emulation in general up to PC and Switch games. Mostly used for PS2 and PSP, but sometimes I want to play a game with a heavy CRT shader on what is basically a mini tv. - Retroid Pocket Classic: My EDC. Emulation up to PS1, PSP, N64 and very light PS2 games. Mostly I do very retro stuff up to the 32 bit era, sometimes I stretch it past it's optimal use. After a lot of trials I ended up selling/giving away most of my consoles. Some I really really liked, but couldn't justify keeping or didn't get enough use. But this 3 have stood the test of time and mostly don't make me want to buy anything else. (I mean I do have an order in for the RG Rotate, but that's a story for another day) Past handhelds (in order): - PS Vita. Sold; Loved it. Didn't get enough use. - Anbernic RG35XX (OG). Gifted, when I got my next console. - Retroid Pocket 4 Pro. Sold; Probably my second most used console. Loved everything about this one, except the screen wasn't great and was a tad small. - Switch Lite. Sold; Now this one. This one was one of my favourites. Great size, amazing games. Really really good. But when I got the switch 2, and already having my wife's Switch OLED, I couldn't use my account on all three and this one fell unused quickly. - Miyoo A30. Sold; Before I got my RPC, this was my EDC. Loved this little guy. Only issue was the screen was too dim for outdoors. But the controls were so good. - Anbernic RG35XXH. Sold; Another one I really liked, such a good size. Really good quality over all. But I decided to part ways with it to get the RPC, and I don't regret it one bit. Maybe just a little bit because it was such a great Ape Escape machine. - Anbernic RG40XXH. Sold; This one is really good, I thought it would get more use, but it didn't click with me as I expected. Still a very solid one. What about you all? I'd love to hear your journey with this little nostalgia machines. Let me know. And also remember, go play some goddamn video games!

Played the entire game in 1.25x speed because thats just the kind of man I am. I read so, so much about the input latency while waiting for the device to arrive as this was my biggest concern because I am very susceptible to input delay. But all worries faded the moment I turned on some 3DS emulation, which represents basically pretty much the worst case of input latency in terms of emulators. The input latency is really in the acceptable range and I hope this gameplay showcases how well I am able to play - as a matter of fact, I am much more skilled on the Thor playing 3D Land than on the original 3DS! (replayed the same levels to test) The 120hz screen really makes the difference in input latency, I tried switching back and forth and immediately noticed the difference (again, I am very susceptible) I never really played on my Retroid Pocket 5, but this thing, man... this thing just hits DIFFERENT lemme tell you. Instead of spending years tinkering and setting everything up like I do with any other retro handheld, I literally started playing 3D Land at first as a quick gaming test but then got HOOKED immediately and played through the whole game, 0 issues! There is one little loading glitch you can see in the video when I enter through one of the doors (the platforms took like 10ms to load lol) but I kid you not, that was the first time something like this happened, right on camera hahaha. The comfort is amazing, especially if you're already used to playing on a NDS / 3DS. Only caveat is the sharp edges on the shoulder buttons but honestly thats nitpicking, you don't notice in game and you position your fingers automatically and subconsciously in a way that its comfortable (for me they are resting right in between the trigger and bumper and thats mega comfortable) Im running a 4k texture pack at 4x resolution and 1.25 speed and there is ZERO ISSUES in performance, even on 2x speed its silky smooth, no stutters, NOTHING. No matter what performance mode I pick, smooth sailing all around. 10/10 this is the endgame handheld ever

I've got a Steam Deck and I love it. However, even though it's a great handheld, I'd love to have something closer to the size of a PSP or a Switch Lite to carry my PC games on the go. I heard about the GPD Win, which seems amazing, but honestly, the price is way higher than I'd like to pay, and the AYN Loki is not available anymore as far as I know. What options do you know of that meet these criteria? Android handhelds are not an option; I have the Retroid Pocket 5 and it's amazing with Winlator, but I'm looking for a more powerful, native option.