Want a huge understatement? This week has been ridiculously busy for new handhelds. Not only do we have the first real look at the Powkiddy X28, we’ve also seen two Anbernic leaks in the form of the RG505, and the RG353V.
Powkiddy, like Anbernic, has a habit of taking popular designs and adding their own spin to them. Much like how the RGB10 Max follows the Anbernic style of horizontal handhelds and the V90 the Game Boy SP, the Powkiddy X28 looks to be taking its cues from the OneXPlayer. It’s the angled corners that give it away.
While the X28 handheld isn’t going to be anywhere near as powerful as the Windows-based OneXPlayer, the design is a surprisingly smart one. Sure, it’s not the most attractive handheld on the market, but the rounded hand grips on the back look comfortable and the angled corners could potentially make hitting triggers feel more ergonomic.
What piqued our interest here are the extra buttons. On the right side, under the right analogue stick are the home and back buttons. That’s expected. But on the left side you’ll spot a G button and a mystery icon next to it.
As to what those buttons are, it’s possible the G could be Google, which would indicate this device is running Android. We could be wrong, of course, but if the Powkiddy X28 is running Android that could open the console up to a host of possibilities.
Powkiddy X28 Specs Explained
The rumoured specs put the Powkiddy X28 in the mid-range category. In fact, they’re pretty much identical specs to those seen in the Powkidy X18s, so you can expect similar performance.
The X18s has its problems, but we’d argue that wasn’t down to the specs but rather the flimsy parts and poor production. The X28, then, is a chance to put right the wrongs of the X18s.
- Chipset: 2.0 GHz Octa-core UNISOC Tiger T618
- Graphics: Mali-G52 GPU
- RAM: 4GB RAM
- Screen: 5.5-inch IPS touchscreen
- Battery: 5000mAh
- Operating System: Android 11
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Emulation on the Powkiddy X28
As the X28 shares the same specs as the X18s, we have a good idea of what this device is capable of.
Strangely enough, despite the X18s being on the cheaper end of the mid-range consoles in terms of pricing, it was a beast of a machine able to run select up to GameCube.
Now we should note, not every GameCube game will work, and those that do may suffer performance issues. It’s the same for any high-end emulation. but the fact is could was impressive at the time.
- Sega: Genesis/Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear, SegaCD, Sega32x, Dreamcast
- Nintendo: NES, SNES, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, DS, 3DS, N64, some GameCube
- Sony: PlayStation, PlayStation Portable
- Misc: PC Engine, WonderSwan, Mame, FBNeo, Neo Geo
Powkiddy X28s Price
The Powkiddy X18s came in at $179/£199, so we can expect the Powkiddy X28 to fall into a similar pricing category, possibly around the $200-$220 mark.
The area of concern here is that the X28 handheld is going to have to go up against some fierce competition. The basic Ayn Loki comes in at $239 and offers a six-inch screen backed by the Athlon Silver 3050e, AMD Radeon Graphics, and matches the 4GB of RAM.
Ayn is becoming a constant thorn in the side of every company at the moment. Not only is Ayn offering up stronger tech, they’re also pricing out most of the competition. And given the huge success of the Odin console, we can expect the Loki to continue that trend.
Hopefully Powkiddy is aware of the oncoming threat and prices accordingly, because at the $200 mark it’s hard to get anything past the Ayn threshold. Although given Ayn is still attempting to fulfill Odin orders to this day, and it’s got several new consoles coming out to fulfill alongside the Odin, Powkiddy does have the ease of purchase factor on its side.
Not everyone wants to wait between three weeks and whenever the parts come in, even if the tech is superior.
