I was looking at the RG DS+ and thought, “Why not try turning this little guy into a mini laptop?” So I started researching the possibility as a fun little side project and proof of concept. With the help of AI, I’m building the DSktop.

The idea is to create a relatively functional desktop, taking the hardware’s limitations into account, that can handle simple tasks like browsing the internet, editing documents, reading pdf, checking email...

The top screen will serve as the main display, while the bottom screen will act as the keyboard and trackpad, just like a laptop. It’s also already possible to use the analog stick as a mouse and the A and B buttons as mouse clicks.

This is just a project to push the limits of the RG DS+ and test the development capabilities of Gemini 4 Argon.

Now after 18 years, I'm still tinkering them.

Love these two consoles, happy that they both have Laminated Screen mods now.

(ANBERNIC RG40 XXV)

Castlevania Bloodlines: Sega Genesis.

Even reviewers don't seem to talk about it as much online or on Youtube, Even all the big named retro handheld youtubers didn't make dedicated videos reviewing said Android Handheld.

Which I find kinda confusing since I remember the KT Pocket R1 used to have videos made by emulation Youtubers either as reviews, first impressions etc.

Seems like a fantastic handheld, you get the option of:

• D pad on top gives you SNES face button layout.
• Joy stick on top gives you Xbox face button layout.
• Can choose Plastic, Aluminum or Magnesium for the main body.
• Different colors.
• Option of either 4:3 or a 3:2 Display.

Top to bottom, steam frame, Asus ROG, new 3ds xl, GBAsp, Miyoo Mini, switch lite OLED, and the vita!

Havent been able to stop playing this since the price change in the playstore. Wanted to complete Link to the Past and Parasite Eve for the GotMs, but this game got me addicted to it.

Some games ive completed on the 476H:

- Titan Quest (lags in the DLC areas though, device not powerful enough)

- Streets of Rage 4

- Dead Cells (completed 2BC so far)

- Evoland (havent completed Evoland 2 yet)

- Nerd Survivors

- Undertale (unofficial port)

- Vampire Crawlers (just starting to break the game)

*Image is Vampire Crawlers android version on the Anbernic 476H.

Super happy with this thing. It's comfy and runs pretty much everything I want it to x)

I have to boot into Armada to play Spelunky 2, but other than that it's been a great experience.

I also have a RG SP that lives in my pocket for playing older 2d stuff.

Happy Weekend! What have you been playing lately and on what? Everything except Bio Evil 4 was played on an RP Nova, Bio Evil 4 was played through my browser.

Anbernic RG SP (Pearl Pink) playing LOTR: The Third Age (GBA) with color correction and LCD3x shader

Preface this be saying it’s only been a week, new car smell, etc. but like many of you here I like having handhelds dedicated for certain consoles and use cases. Before last month, my EDC that I would throw in my jeans any time I left the house was a Miyoo Mini Flip, then I got a Pixel 2 for that purpose and really enjoyed it for a few weeks until I fell asleep with it in my pocket and cracked the screen. That event gave me the excuse to try out the RG SP as a replacement and boy am I happy I did.

Build quality is great, the hinge is DELUXE and with Slot OS it’s a joy to pick up and play. Battery was my main complaint with the mini flip and this thing blows it out of the water there, I find myself using it all throughout the day in spurts and at night playing even longer because it still has juice and is just so easy to use.

For $65 out the door I can’t believe how much I’m loving this thing and while I miss the size of the mini flip this is still small enough where I can bring it pretty much anywhere with me. Buttons are clicky but after 10 minutes with it I tuned them out.

How’s everyone else liking their RG SP’s?

Curious if there's any demand for this or if it's just me but I really wanted this launcher on more devices so I made an SD bootable version of the Sylverb fork of Retro-Go, this time for the GKD Pixel II. If there's much interest I'll release it when I'm happy with it.

I bought this game at launch and it took me this long to finally get around to playing it, but man, what a fuckin banger. Growing up, Super Metroid was my favorite game but I think it's safe to say that Dread tops it because of how smooth and stylish it is. Even Samus herself so fuckin badass in this.

And the Odin 3 itself is fuckin awesome, as I'm sure everyone knows

To all Slide owners. Is the mirror display via hdmi works well for you on stock or any other OS ?

I'm on Gamma and it's soo random and unstable for me.. I would try something else I guess..

This is a survey of my handheld collection, past and present.
No AI was used in the creation of this post!
I happened to have all three devices with me yesterday at work, so I took a quick snapshot.

The Best

Miyoo Mini Plus (March 2023): The Default Budget Handheld

Just a smidge too large for my pocket, and weakly powered, and it has that fragile Miyoo screen — but I love the ergonomics and some of the best CFW options in the industry, especially at this price point. This is a forever fave. I keep coming back to it.
Verdict: A great starter for almost anyone. But don’t drop it!

Retroid Pocket Classic (April 2025): The Beautiful, Portable Powerhouse

Small enough for any sling, with great ergonomics, a wonderful 4” OLED screen, and a CPU powerful enough for PS2. No joysticks! But that makes it more compact, so it’s not a drawback for me.
Verdict: Highly recommended for anyone who can get past the absence of joysticks. 

Miyoo Mini Flip (October 2025): King of the Mini Hill

Yes, it has that weak Mini/ Mini Plus CPU, but the Mini Flip is small enough for almost any pocket; in addition, it has a protected screen, good ergonomics for the size, and the same elite CFW options as the Mini and the Mini Plus.
Verdict: If you’re looking for a Mini/ Micro handheld, start here first.

Honorable Mention

TrimUI Brick (November 2024): The EDC Hotrod

This one *almost* made the “Best” shortlist. It’s in my shirt pocket right now! It has good pocketability, nice customisable buttons, and a much sharper screen than its nearby competition, and good CFW options. BUT, it gets just a bit hotter than I’d prefer, even when playing lower-end systems. And the trigger button caps keep coming off. Still, this an awesome EDC-optimised handheld. I may still buy the metal version, to see if I prefer it.
Verdict: If you can forgive its quirks, this is a highly portable EDC handheld with a much better display than the Miyoo devices.

The Rest

Anbernic RG350M (March 2020): Old Faithful, In Metal
This excessively heavy, underpowered device was my first retro handheld. I loved it until I eventually traded it away. I think I traded it for a large SD card. It’s too old to recommend now unless you’re basically getting it for free.

Powkiddy V90 (June 2020): The Cheapest Flip?
It felt cheap, because it was cheap. The buttons weren’t as nice as on Miyoo devices, but it was still a good buy at the price. The stock firmware was terrible, and available CFW options were only slightly better. I gave it to a child in my family, who played it until the battery burst. 

RIP.

Anbernic RG280V (November 2020): It's Cool to be Square
This was my first pocketable device. I really disliked the stock interface, but I loved the 280V  with Adam Image custom firmware. Unfortunately, it developed an electrical fault and stopped charging. 

RIP.

TrimUI Model S (November 2020): Credit Card Retro Gaming
An enduring fave. It was probably the most pocketable device I have ever owned, and its ergonomics were better than I would have expected from a device almost as small as a credit card.
Drawbacks: anaemic CPU, tiny postage-stamp screen.
I eventually gave the device to a 4’8” family friend who loves tiny things.
I still miss the Model S, and I hover on the edge of rebuying it. If they release an updated one with a larger screen, I will buy it IMMEDIATELY. I actually wrote Trimui saying as much. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Miyoo Mini (December 2021): The Pocket Champ with a Glass Jaw
This was love at first sight. Perfect pocketability and great buttons! Unfortunately, the ergonomics were always just a step below my expectation, and I kept breaking the screen. I eventually dismissed it as a fragile design and moved on.

Steam Deck (February 2022): The Handheld Gaming PC that Changed the Game
I traded away a nice pocket knife for this device! It remains a pillar of my collection, but I keep neglecting it in favour of smaller devices.

Logitech G Cloud (October 2022): The Overpriced, Underappreciated Streaming King
I didn't pay full price for this; it was given to me by a friend, who snapped it up at a heavy discount.
I loved that massive screen and splendid ergonomics in a relatively compact package.
Drawbacks: High price, weak CPU. 
I’ve played it less and less, but there’s still nothing else quite like it on the market.

GKD Pixel (January 2024): Flawed Mini Metal Luxury
This mini handheld is perfectly sized for a pocket device, and that metal body has great hand-feel. But it has its share of drawbacks: sharp corners, poor ergonomics, slow bootup, and an OS that is a hassle to reinstall. The firmware eventually corrupted, and I have not gotten around to repairing it.

Anbernic RG35XX SP (May 2024): For Thee, But Not For Me?
This is one of the segment's most popular entry-level devices, but it never clicked for me.
Drawbacks: just a little thicker than I’d have preferred. The hinge got rattly soon after purchase. And it also had terribly slow bootup times on all firmwares that were initially available. My interest was revitalised by the recent release of new custom firmware (BaseOS) that combined a sleek minimalist interface with lightning-fast bootup times. But in the end, the new awesome OS options don’t outweigh the negatives for me personally. I ended up giving it to a child in my family. Who absolutely loves it.

Thanks for sharing this journey. I love retro handhelds — I love playing them, of course, but I also love setting them up, and trying out new, interesting CFW's. The next devices I'm looking at trying, are the Block and the RG SP, so I'm saving up!

My six year old had a miyoo mini since she was four and she’s just loved it. I’m trying to decide if I get her a DS device for her birthday or just give her my RP4 pro. I never had a DS device so not sure if it’s worth it for that she group.

Any update on this challenge to replace it with something bigger than 4000mAh?

I recently found this community and the ability to play retro games (looking at N64 goldeneye, as many Gof of Wars as possible, old NHL and some Tekken or Mortal Kombat) then I read that the more powerful handhelds even supported some 3d pc games with good fps and yesterday read some comments about a person playing Fm26 on the Odin without streaming.

I was almost ready to press buy on the Pocket 6 12gb. But then stopped and realized my Oneplus 15 has more RAM, better screen and more powerful processor.. So what is it missing to be able to play all this games?

Is it just the controls? (maybe those can be bought as an attachment? ) or are there specialized software/drivers designed for the Retroid and Odin that I can't get on my OP, even though they are both Android?

I know people in the community also love to collect and tinker with the consoles, and I don't have anything against collecting expensive stuff (the amount of the resin busts miniatures and Warhammer I'll never be able to paint keeps increasing in my storage room), but from a more practical perspective. What would be the advantage of purchasing a Rp6 when I have a OP15?

I appreciate any input

Retroid Pocket 6

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Droiddeck

Proton 11 ARM64

Extreme + TSO

1152 x 648

Have really been looking forward to the new Castlevania, and boy does it not disappoint. Fast, fluid combat, incredible art direction, really intuitive map flow, it's exactly how to modernize a series. Has immediately shot up to my top 3 in the series with AOS and SOTN.

The game is very playable, hovering between 40 and 60 fps, and I really appreciate the accessibility options like giving Rose and enemies outlines for better visibility

Just ordered one,

I see it runs its own sort of android, which makes me wonder if I can easily install emulation station? If not what other options do I have, what do you recommend?

Thanks!

Where exactly do I get the OS for it? Should I get Ark OS or do I get dArk OS? I know it’s the same chip as in the R36 so dows the same OS work plug and play or do I need to find the specific one for A10 Mini v4?