Topic: Dirt cheap Chinese knock-off handhelds

[Bazooka]

Just curious, does this new Abernic RG with Dreamcast emulation, emulate GameCube? Just wondering whether Skies of Arcadia Legends would be handheld-ready yet.

No unfortunately not, it can barely run most Dreamcast and PSP games well without graphical issues and frame lag.

[Famous Mortimer]

Few new things coming out now or soon - a metal RG351, the KT R1, which has a touchscreen, and the Odroid Go Super, which has a 5 inch screen.

[Spiteface]

Been considering getting one of those RG351P handhelds. Have had an RG350M since summer and mostly it's good, but a few minor niggles have made me consider something else.

Sometimes the Megadrive emulators, will freeze for like a split second when starting a game. Otherwise fine but this bugs me.


EDIT: Decap Attack is also dodgy to run on it, apparently this is a common problem?

Does the RG351P run Capcom CPS3 arcade stuff better? I'd quite like to be able to play Street Fighter III 3rd Strike on the go, along with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

Does it run Tekken 3 on PS1 any better than the RG350M? It's one of the games I'd have loved to be able to play properly.

I must admit, lately I've been mostly using it for Neo Geo stuff, which runs really well, but I wonder if I can do any better...

[Bazooka]

I haven't played Tekken 3 specifically on the RG351P but every PS1 game I've played has been fine. DS,N64,PSP and Dreamcast performance is 90% trash, every other system is fine.Although I've not played it much since buying one last December, due to an unfathomable PS4 backlog.

[thelittlemango]

At what point do we think Dreamcast emulation will be possible? I mean working properly, not with terrible framerates and loads of tinkering about that is beyond the layman every time you want to play.

[Phil_A]

I got an RG351P a few weeks ago and I'm just getting to grips with it. Haven't even tried half the included emulators yet.

Have to say I'm a little disappointed with the GBA emulation support. It certainly looks great, particularly with the LCD shader they provide, but I've noticed the sound distorting in certain games which are more demanding of processor power - e.g. the bit with the revolving barrel in LoZ: The Minish Cap - although the framerate doesn't seem to be affected so it has to be a latency issue. I've managed to ameliorate this in some games by putting the latency setting down to 0, which is effective most of the time but doesn't eliminate it completely.

SNES emulation is pretty much flawless though so I can see it getting a lot of use purely on that basis. Same with the PS1.

The battery on mine seems to be a bit temperamental. There've been times when I thought I had a reasonable amount of charge and then it's switched itself off with barely any warning. It feels like there's basically no grace time between the red light coming on and it going off, so it can catch you out if you're not careful.

[Pinball]

This is interesting, if you want to play the fastest, latest PC games on a quality handheld. It's Indiegogo, but has met its goal already.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/aya-neo-world-s-first-7nm-handheld-gaming-device--2#

AYA-NEO:World’s First 7nm Handheld Gaming Device
6 cores AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Mobile Processor with Radeon Graphics. Unmatched levels of performance.

[St_Eddie]

That reeks of a scam.  Indiegogo instead of Kickstarter, so no accountability.  I also have extreme doubts to the supposed power of the handheld and suspect that the footage of games running on a unit are faked - a desktop PC being used to run the games and the handheld acting as a controller/monitor.

[Pinball]

There is a risk of course, but they've reached the target already and the background info looks ok. Or put another way, they put a lot of effort into this scam if it is one!

[St_Eddie]

Or put another way, they put a lot of effort into this scam if it is one!

It wouldn't be the first time.  Other people have pulled this exact same scam before (phony handheld being used to stream footage from a desktop PC).

[Famous Mortimer]

I've been burned by very well-funded Kickstarters too many times to trust anything before it's available for general purchase.

[St_Eddie]

I've been burned by very well-funded Kickstarters too many times to trust anything before it's available for general purchase.

Indeed and that's with Kickstarter.  One ought to be especially wary of any project on Indiegogo and to ask themselves why the project leaders have opted for that site over Kickstarter.  The most likely explanation is because of the flexible funding (they don't have to reach their goal to pocket the funds already raised regardless) and the relative lack of regulations set in place to protect the interests of the backers, relative to Kickstarter.  If it smells like a scam, walks like a scam, then... well, chances are it's a scam.  Regardless, as you suggest; it would be prudent to at least wait and see if this thing actually ships and what the reviews are like if it does, before laying down any money for it.

[Cold Meat Platter]

This guy doesn't think so

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVy_yOv_1bw

[St_Eddie]

This guy doesn't think so

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVy_yOv_1bw

Well, I will say this; it's one thing to get a working unit into the hands of a YouTuber with lots of subscribers, who can help to promote your product.  It's another thing to mass produce units whist maintaining quality control and successfully ship them out to your paying customers.  I know that I'm being cynical but with good reason.

[Cold Meat Platter]

Well, I will say this; it's one thing to get a working unit into the hands of a YouTuber with lots of subscribers, who can help to promote your product.  It's another thing to mass produce units whist maintaining quality control and successfully ship them out to your paying customers.  I know that I'm being cynical but with good reason.

This is very different from a scam though.

[St_Eddie]

This is very different from a scam though.

Not necessarily.  A scam can involve ensuring that social media influencers receive working units, with little intent to actually go into mass production.  Regardless, whether it's defined as a scam or not, the net result of both scenarios I've mentioned would be consumers not receiving the product they paid for or were promised.

Other potential issues in regards to actual working units sent out to customers may involve awful battery life, overheating or failing components.  All I'm saying is that it pays to be wary and cynical at this early stage.  People are always overly keen to buy into the hype, because they want the magic box to be actual magic, but it's important to take a step back and be objective.   The Smach Z was one of the more recent cautionary tales.

I think this sentence from the former of the linked articles is particularly on point...

My advice for anyone backing such projects before they release has always been “spend your money as if you were to never see it again“.

[Pinball]

A working proto is not the same as a streaming-from-PC scam. Anyway, I'm hopeful and have backed this...

[St_Eddie]

A working proto is not the same as a streaming-from-PC scam.

I know that.  I provided multiple potential scenarios where this could backfire for the backers, based upon past cases; be it a scam or good, honest intentions followed by manufacturing issues.

Anyway, I'm hopeful and have backed this...

I genuinely hope that it works out for you.

[evilcommiedictator]

The Aya Neo runs Cyberpunk 2077 even, it seems to be a device that could be very silly indeed!

[Pinball]

I know that.  I provided multiple potential scenarios where this could backfire for the backers, based upon past cases; be it a scam or good, honest intentions followed by manufacturing issues.

I genuinely hope that it works out for you.

I totally agree with you that this is high risk. I have everything crossed :-)

[Pinball]

The Aya Neo runs Cyberpunk 2077 even, it seems to be a device that could be very silly indeed!

It could bring a new meaning to portable gaming if it's real, but if they show MS Flight Simulator I'll be worried :-)

[St_Eddie]

It could bring a new meaning to portable gaming if it's real, but if they show MS Flight Simulator I'll be worried :-)

PPHHHWWWOOOOAAAARRRRRRR!!!

[Pinball]

Just look at those graphics. You can almost see the rooftops :-)

[Video Game Fan 2000]

I got a GPD WIN years ago and I loved it, but I dropped it once and damn near shit meself. The problem with Switch style handhelds is they feel fragile as fuck. I don't want a handheld PC that feels like grandmas priceless bone china cat plates, I want a gameboy that'll double as protection from riot police. Fucking Sony PSP felt like it was going to crumple up like tissue box at any moment. Can't go May 68 with that.

I got a GpiCase last year and its wonderful but it takes a month to load and runs on batteries. So I got one of them anbernics now it boots quickly and feels like I could drop kick it through a bay window if need be, which is a requirement for a good handheld as far as I'm concerned.

[Famous Mortimer]

The RG351V (original Gameboy-style shape / layout) is out, and it looks pretty nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCkkZ-GDlfE

Wood-grain case, which will at least stand out. And I just noticed there's other reviews of it from three weeks ago, so people are probably already aware of it.

[Spiteface]

I love my RG350M, but of the 351 versions, that's the one I'd go for.

2 SD card slots (keep one for the OS, the other for the ROMs), and a better screen - qs well as being a higher resolution, takes less tinkering to get things looking right (the 351P and 351M have a weird resolution that's perfect for GBA, but is a bit off for everything else.

I'm thinking of customising my RG350M with some stuff from here:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SakuraRetroModding

I like the idea of having a Spectrum-themed screen border. The idea I've had is getting a Neo Geo one - I got into the world of emulation when the Neo Geo Gold X came out, and it turned out they just ran Final Burn Alpha anyway. The GCW Zero came to my attention. I lost that thing on a bus and had been on the hunt for a decent replacement since. Have been considering the Neo Geo border sticker and maybe some SNES buttons to replicate the Neo Geo CD pads.

[Famous Mortimer]

Looks like they've got a set of those buttons and the screen border for the 351V too. Nice shop, thanks for the link.

Fuck it. I'm getting one of these. Sling it in my backpack for work and try and get good at the Metroid games on it.

[Spiteface]

Downloading a whopping 110GB torrent consisting of a new frontend emulators roms and games for my RG350M.

Apparently it's vastly superior to the stock OpenDingux frontend these come with. Keeping my old micro SD cards just in case, though.