Retro Handhelds General Thread

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

My Mattel Merlin circa 1978

View attachment 138592

Is this "retro" enough?

My god! Does it actually work still?

I love a kind reminder every so often how similar games and toys are in terms of ancestry. Games are like a weird amalgamation of toys and tech, not quite fully being either one.

 

[Badseed Badseed]

My god! Does it actually work still?

I love a kind reminder every so often how similar games and toys are in terms of ancestry. Games are like a weird amalgamation of toys and tech, not quite fully being either one.

It does, though I hardly ever use it. I was smart enough to leave the batteries out unless I was playing it for all these years. thats the secret.

 

[Vardalis]

Question for anyone who got the new TrimUI Smart Pro S; does the headphone jack still produce the same static noises as the original TrimUI Smart Pro? Mine was really bad for that.

 

[MegaDrive1987]

Ordered this as a birthday present for myself, hoping it turns up on Friday as it's at my local parcel hub. Gonna be installing Knulli on it after I've tinkered with the Stock OS first to see how it is etc

Post automatically merged: Jan 1, 2026

Just realised I've put this in the wrong place, can a mod move it to Retro General Handhelds Thread for me if need be? Thanks in advance

 

[Clippy]

Just realised I've put this in the wrong place, can a mod move it to Retro General Handhelds Thread for me if need be? Thanks in advance

I don't think it necessarily had to be merged with the general thread but since you wanted it to be it is now.

 

[MegaDrive1987]

I don't think it necessarily had to be merged with the general thread but since you wanted it to be it is now.

Thanks a lot...I didn't think it had to be, I'm just high as a kite and was overthinking it and felt like it SORT OF belonged here haha

 

[gastd]

Yeah Handhelds are my favorite gaming consoles I had a few Nintendo devices(GB, GBC, Nds, 2ds, 3ds, New 2ds and Switch)

 

[MegaDrive1987]

Yeah Handhelds are my favorite gaming consoles I had a few Nintendo devices(GB, GBC, Nds, 2ds, 3ds, New 2ds and Switch)

I had an original GameBoy back in the day then I ran for years, never owned an Advance, I remember one of my schoolmates bringing his in just after Christmas with Tekken Advance and I was jealous because I was stuck with my green screened DMG haha

 

[gastd]

I had an original GameBoy back in the day then I ran for years, never owned an Advance, I remember one of my schoolmates bringing his in just after Christmas with Tekken Advance and I was jealous because I was stuck with my green screened DMG haha

I didn't have the Advance either, I have no idea why I didn't get this device because it was also a good part.

 

[DjQuick2008]

I play my powkiddy x55 the most leightweight bit of kit and hasnt let me down since a guy sent me the best gaming card for it. dreamcast on a handheld is next level. i know theres high end handhelds but this 1 suits me as it dosent screw me up with my nerve damaged hands.

 

[HarmonieGirl]

Ordered this as a birthday present for myself, hoping it turns up on Friday as it's at my local parcel hub. Gonna be installing Knulli on it after I've tinkered with the Stock OS first to see how it is etc

I hope it's come and worked out for you!

I ordered a device in the same line (that is same specs, just different build) - RG 40XX-H. And so far I really like my device. Just one glaring problem - after I loaded Knulli on it I could no longer connect to the internet. I don't know if it's an issue across the whole line or if it's more specific to 40XX devices. And for some people they don't have the issue at all. Some people fixed it with simple solutions, but as for me, nothing worked (short of messing with my internet to make it less secure, which I'm not doing obviously).

 

[DjQuick2008]

I hope it's come and worked out for you!

I ordered a device in the same line (that is same specs, just different build) - RG 40XX-H. And so far I really like my device. Just one glaring problem - after I loaded Knulli on it I could no longer connect to the internet. I don't know if it's an issue across the whole line or if it's more specific to 40XX devices. And for some people they don't have the issue at all. Some people fixed it with simple solutions, but as for me, nothing worked (short of messing with my internet to make it less secure, which I'm not doing obviously).

I have one of them its nice and lightweight its at the bottom of 1 of my electronic boxes but its safe in a padded case.

 

[MegaDrive1987]

I've installed Knulli on this and it's been connecting to my Wi-Fi just fine. I was stuck between Knulli and MuOS to be honest but I'm gonna stick with it for a bit and see how it is, I heard MuOS has better battery life which will be a huge bonus.

 

[Darklink]

My Ayn Thor got here today. It's pretty neat. I will say dpad centric games that use the L/R buttons a lot are not comfortable to play at all.

But I will stick around with the device a while and then if I find that aspect a deal breaker I'll sell the thing to someone else. I do still have the Odin 2 Mini after all.

So this aspect of it did end up being a deal breaker for me. But it's not too bad. I ended up selling it for $365, after spending $400 on it. So I got most of my money back.

While not entirely related to this channel, it is handheld, I bought the Panic Playdate yesterday. It'll probably be like ten days before it shows up.

 

[DjQuick2008]

Havent bought a new handheld in months suppose i may do a battery check tomorrow on the ones that i do have. The miyoo mini is a versatile piece of kit.

 

[Boofy]

Imagine this thing - minus the crappy camera that juts out, and recessed physical buttons - with a telescopic controller.

One can dream.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

Burnt myself out a bit on PC Engine and other 16-bit consoles so I've been messing around with my handhelds lately for a bit of a break. I have a small stack of handhelds I maintain which are either modded or have a flashcart so I can kinda just play whatever when I feel like it. I have a GBA w/screen mod, DS Lite, New 3DS XL, PSP and Vita. I suppose I could just condense everything into just 3DS & Vita, but I already had the others so figured I might as well use them, plus being able to switch between them is fun as they all feel relatively unique.

I tend to gravitate towards the PSP the most, I like the form factor and its library is the most interesting to me. I also prefer the buttons on the PSP over the Vita which is why I still keep it around to play games on. I feel I use them all somewhat evenly, but if I had to pick it probably goes to the PSP.

Anbernic type handhelds have also become popular in recent years, but I don't have much interest in them. Anyone else use them?

I also have a Switch, but that thing is so dusty I've honestly considered just selling it

 

[Tonberry]

I play on my Vita at least once a week, love that thing to bits. Lately I've been using my 3DS (or N2DSXL I guess if we're pedantic) more too because I got Majora's Mask 3D back from a friend who borrowed it ages ago, so I've forgotten how it is to play.
I'm planning on getting an SD card so that I might finally mod my N2DSXL and get to play all the games I missed out on. I played a lot of 3DS but there are still games I've yet to try that I really want to get my hands on.

 

[Chelys_Galactica]

I have a small mountain of handhelds I've held onto over the years. I have pretty much the whole family of GBAs, a DS lite, DSi XL and both the original 3ds and the (new) 3ds XL model. Not to mention a PSP and a PS Vita. I also bought a Steam Deck for pc games on the go, a Analogue Pocket for emulation and rom hacks, and a Switch for everything else.

I try them all out every so often to check that they're still working. But the ones I stick to the most are the 3ds XL, DSi XL and the Steam Deck. It probably would be easier to stick to just the 3ds but some DS games I've played just look wrong on the 3ds screen for some reason, so I switch between the two as needed.

 

[Eclipse14]

Blue GBA SP to cover the entire Game Boy lineage.
Blue 3DS XL for DS and 3DS games.
Silver PSP for PSP.

I don't have a Vita yet, but I do see some games of interest.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

It probably would be easier to stick to just the 3ds but some DS games I've played just look wrong on the 3ds screen for some reason, so I switch between the two as needed.

Yeah the scaling on the 3DS for DS games is bad, it's blurry and has uneven pixels. You can hold start+select to boot in original resolution but that makes the screen really small, especially on non-XLs. DSi XL is ideal but I just use a lite because it's what I have.

Blue GBA SP to cover the entire Game Boy lineage.
Blue 3DS XL for DS and 3DS games.
Silver PSP for PSP.

I don't have a Vita yet, but I do see some games of interest.

Vita prices are stupid right now to, but if you can try and get the model 1. The OLED screen is really nice. PSP games look great on it too.

 

[Szataniarz]

I also prefer the buttons on the PSP over the Vita which is why I still keep it around to play games on

Same here. Vita buttons are too small and rough around the edges, while the PSP buttons are more rounded and soft - perfect for fighting games.

 

[Chelys_Galactica]

Yeah the scaling on the 3DS for DS games is bad, it's blurry and has uneven pixels. You can hold start+select to boot in original resolution but that makes the screen really small, especially on non-XLs. DSi XL is ideal but I just use a lite because it's what I have.

I totally forgot you could do that with the 3ds! The scaling probably wouldn't look as terrible on the 3ds XL, though the extra space on the top screen might drive me crazy. I think I'll stick to using both just to be safe.

 

[saturnsh2x2]

Until recently, I mainly stuck with my New 3DS XL that I've had since high school. I also had a Switch Lite, but I never used it as much as my 3DS (not being able to easily softmod it probably had something to do with it).

Recently, I got a Retroid Pocket Flip 2, and I've been using that regularly, both for emulation as well as streaming games from my PC. I generally prefer playing games on handhelds as opposed to larger screens, and wanted something pocketable, so it's been a good fit for me. I got it right before the AYN Thor dropped, but I honestly don't mind; if I want to play DS or 3DS games, I still have my N3DS to fall back on. I'm not really in the position to burn through multiple emulation handhelds like that.

 

[Dyne]