The budget handheld category is marred by cheap cash-ins that rarely work as they should, so when Anbernic revealed a follow-up to the very okay RG35XX, I had to check it out. Would this new upgrade make good on the original premise of a solid mid-range super-budget vertical retro handheld? Let’s find out!
Learn more on the Anbernic website.
Price and Value.
You can pick up the base 64GB RG35XX Plus for $60.99, although that price changes depending on how much storage you need. I ended up picking up the RG35XX Plus that comes with two SD cards – one at 64GB and a second at 128GB – for $78.99. If you’re only interested in playing old-school retro games like SNES and Genesis, the 64GB model will be more than enough.
Those types of games are generally only a few megabytes in size, so filling up 64GB is going to take some serious work. If, however, you want to import a library of PS1, Dreamcast, or PSP games, you’ll need the extra storage.
One quick tip before I move on: If you’ve got a spare SD card already, you can set one up yourself separately from the device to save some money.
For shipping, I paid the standard delivery, which came to $12.00, and I had to pay 98 cents for green shipping, meaning the overall total for the RG35XX Plus ended up at $110.37.
Is there value in the RG35XX Plus? Undoubtably. The Miyoo Mini Plus, which the RG35XX Plus is a clone of, is only capable of up to PS1, and even then PS1 isn’t anything special. The RG35XX Plus, on the other hand, is capable of up to PSP. The difference in power here really is night and day. If your main focus is a vertical retro device that offers clean mid-range performance at a low price, the RG35XX Plus is a solid upgrade.
Build Quality.
Build quality overall is solid, but some corners have been cut. The most obvious issue is the shakey shoulder buttons. On the Miyoo Mini Plus, the shoulder buttons stay firmly in place, but on the RG35XX Plus, there’s a distinct rattle when you shake the device. It’s not enough of an issue for me to regret picking it up, but it is something you’re going to be constantly aware of.
The one upside of the nervous shoulder buttons is that’s as bad as the problems get. Almost every other aspect of the RG35XX Plus is an improvement over the Miyoo Mini Plus.
The RG35XX Plus is slightly longer vertically than the Miyoo Mini Plus – 4.6 inches to the Miyoo’s 4.25 inches. Believe it or not, that extra 0.35 of an inch really makes the difference and allows Anbernic to change up how large the different buttons are.
All of the buttons – that’s A, B, X, Y, start, select, as well as the d-pad – are a smidgen bigger and that makes them easier to press. The face buttons do have a longer travel time as a result of the change, but that isn’t going to be an issue for 99 percent of players.
What’s interesting is that Anbernic also increased the vertical height of start, select, and the menu buttons. On the Miyoo Mini Plus, these buttons only slightly inched out the case, but on the RG35XX Plus, they’re much higher and, like the other buttons, are much easier to hit.
The other big change over the Miyoo Mini Plus is the introduction of an HDMI out port at the top of the handheld. That feature simply doesn’t exist in the Miyoo, so if you want to use the RG35XX Plus as a controller and hook it up to a TV or monitor, the option’s there.
One area I do need to touch on is how useless the shoulder buttons are. It’s not just the rattle I mentioned, it’s that no company has a clue how to implement them in a way that feels intuitive. Although the RG35XX Plus is longer than the Miyoo Mini Plus, it’s the same width, meaning there isn’t any extra backspace to shove some better triggers.
Anbernic has attempted to solve this problem by making the L1 and R1 buttons wider, but pressing them in a fast-paced game like Street Fighter 2 is still an exercise in awkwardness. The idea here is to use the tips of your index fingers to hit L2 and R2, and the middle of the same fingers to hammer L1 and R1. In practice, you’ll end up clumsily hitting both by accident.
To Anbernic’s defense, every vertical handheld has this problem and no one wants to solve it. I saw with the Anbernic ARC-D just how great having extra buttons on the front of the device can be, so why companies are stuck to this idea that the shoulder buttons need to be on the back is beyond me. Just whack two of them on the front. It’ll be fine, I promise!
Emulation Performance.
Despite being sold as an up-to-PSP device, it’s not. Anbernic includes a handful of PSP titles to create the idea the RG35XX Plus can play PSP games, but it’s simply not powerful enough to run the more complex games like God of War.
For lightweight titles – think collections or 2D titles – they’ll run well. Loco Roco plays at full speed on the device and is only really hindered by those awkward shoulder buttons.
As a rough guideline, I’d look at it like fighting games, retro collections, and 2D games will work, anything 3D with a lot going on won’t. That’s not true for every game, of course, but it’s a good way to come at the RG35XX.
It’s a shame PSP isn’t fully playable on the RG35XX Plus, but price is a huge factor here. The industry isn’t at the point yet where PSP and GameCube can work in this price bracket. Maybe in a few years, just not right now.
How big of a problem is the lack of full PSP support? It all depends on how you look at it. For me, I don’t expect $60 devices to offer perfect mid-range performance, so being able to play a smaller amount of PSP is a huge win as far as I’m concerned.
What about everything else? Anbernic has switched out the PowerVR SGX544MP GPU from the original RG35XX and replaced it with the Mali G31 MP2 in RG35XX Plus. RAM has also seen an upgrade from 256MB to a meaty 1GB. What this means in layman’s terms is the RG35XX Plus is capable of emulating on a higher level than the original RG35XX.
As mentioned, some PSP is possible, as are other systems. Dreamcast, especially, feels great to play. Framerates will vary on a per-game basis, but everything I’ve tested feels fluid enough to play and enjoy. Dreamcast games mostly run in a 4:3 aspect ratio as well, so they look great on the RG35XX Plus’ smaller 4:3, 3.5-inch IPS display.
That screen is great as well. Text tends to get illegible due to the size for some reason, but the brightness and color gamut are stunning. The lack of power inside the device means upscaling isn’t really an option too, but that’s to be expected.
To recap. The RG3XX Plus is capable of playing games from Dreamcast and before. So that’s Dreamcast, SNES, NES, Master System, Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Gear, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, PC Engine, NeoGeo, and a host of arcade machines. It’ll also play some PSP, but that’s where this device taps out.
Operating System.
Anbernic operating systems are always basic, and I’m torn on whether that’s a good or bad thing. For people who want to get into a game and have everything front and center, the custom version of Linux does the job. But for people who are coming from a Steam Deck, Emulation Station, or Daijisho, Anbernic’s Linux is barebones by comparison.
The options here are a game room area, a RetroArch console selector, favorites, search, history, and the settings menu, the latter of which lets you test out buttons for issues or change the icons and wallpaper.
It’s as basic as they come, but it is worth keeping in mind there are mutiple developers who release custom firmware alternatives (like Black Seraph’s OnionOS) for Anbernic handhelds. So if you don’t like it, give it a few months and chances are you’ll be able to replace it.
One minor niggle I found is after I purchased my RG35XX Plus, Anbernic released a firmware update that lets you press the power button to switch the d-pad between a virtual d-pad and a virtual analog stick. On the RG ARC-D, in Dreamcast games, I had to manually remap the stick to the d-pad in RetroArch to play games that utilize stick movement. Now all you need to do is press a button. That’s pretty cool!
Where’s the problem? Updating the firmware on the RG35XX Plus isn’t done via a download on the machine. To install the new update, you’ll need to download the latest image and burn it to the RG35XX Plus microSD card. And yes, that will delete your profile data and settings.
It’s a convoluted process, and given the RG35XX Plus has Wi-Fi capabilities, it’s mad that in this day and age, it needs to be this much effort just to update the system.
RG3XX vs RG35XX Plus.
The RG35XX Plus is the follow-up to the original RG35XX. I won’t bore you with the tech speak, but all you need to know is the new version features a more powerful processor and graphics solution and increases the amount of RAM.
The Plus also includes an extra SD card slot, increases the battery capacity from 2600 mAh to 3300 mAh (that’s around an extra 20 minutes of playtime), and comes equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities.
Why does any of this matter? Having an extra SD slot means you can store more games. That’s sure to help those of us who have massive libraries. The extra battery is nice, but it’s not a massive change. I was still averaging five to six hours, which is perfectly acceptable for a device like this.
The main thing here is the upgrade in power. The original RG35XX wasn’t a powerful device. I remember Brandon from RetroDodo said the device is a big old slab of mediocre and he was right. The original was fine for the price, but its lack of power made it rather unremarkable.
The new Plus version takes the shape and look of the original and packs in much more power at what is a very budget-friendly price. It won’t hold a candle to the Retroid Pocket 4 in terms of power, but at a fraction of the price, the RG35XX Plus is perfect for newcomers and collectors alike.
Verdict.
The problem with budget retro handhelds is that they’re often rushed out to capitalize on a trend without much thought. That’s what the original RG35XX was. Miyoo released the Miyoo Mini Plus, then Anbernic wanted a slice.
The RG35XX Plus takes the design of the Miyoo Mini Plus and adds to it. The extra power means Dreamcast on a pocket-sized device is now possible, and that is great! PSP may be lacking when it comes to high-end titles, but the fact a $60 retro handheld can play as many PSP games as it does really shows you just how much effort has gone into making the RG35XX Plus the best it can be.
The triggers still suck, and will continue sucking until vertical handhelds start putting the buttons on the front. They’re awkward, uncomfortable, and hold the device back from being truly brilliant.
But overall? I love the RG35XX Plus. The smaller form factor and long battery life mean I can actually fit in my pocket for when I’m traveling (you know, rather than needing a carry case). As much as I love the Anbernifc ARC-D, it’s not quite pocket-sized.
Simply put, if you want something that’s close to the Game Boy experience but packed full of extra power and an unbeatable price, the RG35XX Plus comes very easy to recommend.
How I Tested.
I purchased the RG35XX Plus myself and tested it out for 20 hours before deciding on whether to recommend it or not.
During that time, I played around 20 different games across a range of different systems to analyze which emulators performed well and which didn’t. I also stress-tested buttons to get an idea of how well they would hold up under general usage.
I haven’t yet tested the latest update mentioned in this article as I wanted my experience of the device to match what the majority of owners will be seeing. That said, I will be testing it post-review, so keep your eyes on RetroResolve to see what I make of it.
Image Credit: All photos captured by Wesley Copeland.
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