Recommendations for a good handheld for a kid?

[Numubunde]

Hello everyone! Christmas is coming, and my cousin wanted to get a handheld for his son (a 8 year old boy). My cousin doesn't know much about video games so he asked me if I could find him a good choice for a budget of around 150€ (he's willing to pay a bit more if it's worth it and it's not too much more). The kid has never had a console before, so we can't say much about his taste in games except that he likes to play Roblox lol. But there's probably a lot of retro games he could enjoy. Can you guys suggest a good console for a kid preferably within that budget? Thanks.

 

[Nickakyoin]

A modded PS Vita or a hacked 3DS, and then he can has access to so many classics from both Nintendo and Sony sides. And the prices should also check.

 

[Blamhammer]

Any device that requires the user to add roms or bios files will require some level of tech knowhow, and if you think they can't do that then it might just end up as a paperweight.

The only ready to use off the shelf preconfigured handheld I can think of now is...a Switch?

 

[Muklas]

Handheld game consoles as a device category are gone, dead and buried so if you want something that's current your literal only option is the Switch, which can pretend it's one for a couple hours, anything older is gonna require some baby level modding know-how. Like the cheapest things I can think of are dedicated emulation devices or cheap androids with emulators and like a billion roms on them.

 

[A G E N T 特工]

batlexp g350, a Chinese handheld I got it of AliExpress for around 50 $, it can emulate up to the psp, but barely, so anything under the psp will run well, but you have to some work before handing it to the kid, add roms, since the games on offer aren't that good in my opinion, and if you want to go the extra mile, you can change the operating system for something better

 

[Goshikk]

Personally I think you should get him a famiclone (NES) handheld. It's cheap but the games are very high quality. Kids should get to know the classics.

 

[Don Patch]

The 3DS (if you can find one for a reasonable price) is like the perfect handheld for kids. So much good stuff on there.

A Switch would also be great for kids. And you can probably find those (and the lite) really cheap.

I stop short of a Switch 2 or Steamdeck for a kid around 8 because they're perhaps a bit clunky and fragile. But between those two, a Switch 2 is gonna have all the games their friends are gonna be playing on it.

 

[JG5009]

I also say the 3DS, it's just an easy option with the known main Nintendo franchises and can end up being cheaper at the long run since it isn't required to buy games for it and can have everything for free, there's even a free shop (hShop) to download games all within the console, the only thing is that it needs some basic knowledge about modding and installing all these things, which is very streamlined nowadays, you could even do that and gift the console already modded with a hundred games installed.

A Switch, any model, is currently more expensive and comes with nothing and all Nintendo games are at the most expensive point yet and trying to dig through the eShop for something cheap is a horrible experience that anyone should avoid (all the cool stuff is hidden underneath a mountain of trash).
The only thing that a child would do with a Switch is simply install Fortnite since it's free to download it and fall into the never ending river of slop that is that platform (Roblox is enough of that already), save em' that trouble and just give that child actual quality games he can learn better things from, i'm just talking from previous experience and knowledge with it.

 

[χKai]

Grandma.
She won't hold your hand too tight, but she won't let go. Grandma loves you.

 

[Lod 10]

Olá a todos! O Natal está chegando e meu primo quer comprar um console portátil para o filho dele (um menino de 8 anos). Meu primo não entende muito de videogames, então me pediu para sugerir uma boa opção com um orçamento de cerca de 150€ (ele está disposto a pagar um pouco mais se valer a pena e a diferença não for muito grande). O menino nunca teve um console antes, então não sabemos muito sobre o gosto dele para jogos, exceto que ele gosta de jogar Roblox, rsrs. Mas provavelmente existem muitos jogos retrô que ele poderia curtir. Vocês poderiam sugerir um bom console para uma criança, de preferência dentro desse orçamento? Obrigado.

Nds

 

[petran79]

frankly, none

 

[Bakuma1997]

That or giving him a PSP, cheaper than the 3DS if you know where to find them

 

[MrYesterday]

Retroid Pocket 5 or 4 pro if you can set it up with some roms for them

 

[Clippy]

You can either do this:

A modded PS Vita or a hacked 3DS, and then he can has access to so many classics from both Nintendo and Sony sides. And the prices should also check.

Or you can try going for those newfangled retro handhelds that are just emulation boxes at the end of the day. From what little I know Miyoo and Anbernic seem to have a good reputation when it comes to their devices and prices. Retroid Pocket is also often recommended if you want to go for something a little pricier without breaking the bank.

You will most likely have to take care of supplying BIOSes and ROMs on your own though. Not that it's a huge deal but it will take a bit of your time so you'll have to account for that.

 

[Advil Lavs]

If you could set up the handheld and install some games for your cousin's child, then any retro handheld from this or last year would be good.

 

[Lod 10]

View attachment 131708
Ou então, dê a ele um PSP, que é mais barato que o 3DS se você souber onde encontrar.

I've already experienced nostalgia.

 

[MrYesterday]

Anbernic seem to have a good reputation

About that

 

[Lee__Kanker]

If the kid's not tech savvy, I think either a nintendo ds+r4 or modded 3ds