Best Retro Handheld

The stick position for games that need the sticks are simply awful. I can play roughly 30mins. I cannot use the triggers as pedals in driving games either due to the shape of the device. The palm of my right hand have to squeeze it down or I will drop it.

Weirdly, I think the Flip 2 is a better device ergonomically because of it.
 
I'm going to keep my eye on the Pocket Flip 2. Having the sticks at the top is likely to make it more comfortable to use for me. But they had issues with the hinge on the original pocket flip, so I'm not going to get one until it's been well tested by others.
 
ZombieFan said:
I'm going to keep my eye on the Pocket Flip 2. Having the sticks at the top is likely to make it more comfortable to use for me. But they had issues with the hinge on the original pocket flip, so I'm not going to get one until it's been well tested by others.
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Retroid have had issues with every device i think, the hinge on the original flip, issues with green screen & triggers on the 4, wrong colours on the 5, the list goes on...

I won't be preordering, will wait and see.
 
I'm getting on a bit better with the RP5 now. Driving games using triggers are meh for more arcadey x for gas square for brake games are fine. Psp is good. The android version is a bit odd that the file explorer can't extract zip files which Google Files has done for a while I thought. No home screen customisation either.
 
Does anyone have a RG556? I am just about to pull the trigger on one after seeing some great reviews. Love the look of the screen and it being about the size of a Switch Lite but powerful enough for up to Light Switch stuff is fantastic for the money.
 
KraniX said:
Bizarre approach from Retroid.

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I think the whole thing got far more traction than it deserved.

Sure, the screen isn’t as advertised but it’s nowhere near the problem as the Rog Ally where it kills SD cards. Now people are loving the Ally X. Asus did not even acknowledge the problem with the Ally and swept that under the rug for a year and replaced it with the X.

For a tiny company like Retroid, it seems they are doing much more than I even imagined considering where they are and most of their customers are not even on the same continent so they could have easily ignored the noise.

Not to mention the whole fiasco is about shaders really, people are essentially upset about the shaders making the screen look worse when the whole point about shaders is to make the screen look worse…just a little different kind of bad.

And it’s only really a problem in a small number of games where you want these shaders. This is a niche problem for a niche few in a niche community.

The backlash seems wholly disproportionate to the problem.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I think the whole thing got far more traction than it deserved.

Sure, the screen isn’t as advertised but it’s nowhere near the problem as the Rog Ally where it kills SD cards. Now people are loving the Ally X. Asus did not even acknowledge the problem with the Ally and swept that under the rug for a year and replaced it with the X.

For a tiny company like Retroid, it seems they are doing much more than I even imagined considering where they are and most of their customers are not even on the same continent so they could have easily ignored the noise.

Not to mention the whole fiasco is about shaders really, people are essentially upset about the shaders making the screen look worse when the whole point about shaders is to make the screen look worse…just a little different kind of bad.

And it’s only really a problem in a small number of games where you want these shaders. This is a niche problem for a niche few in a niche community.

The backlash seems wholly disproportionate to the problem.
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Totally agree, and it would not stop me buying from them in the future. I think they are one of the better Chinese companies out there.
 
Dsteviedee said:
Totally agree, and it would not stop me buying from them in the future. I think they are one of the better Chinese companies out there.
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I think they are the best one in terms of the quality of devices being made and actually having customer support. I mean they are actually responding...people forget that they are in China, they could have totally ignored all the online noise.

They arguably make the best hardware for retro consoles, they are evolving from generation to generation, each one being better looking, better performing than the last. (I don't count stuff like the Odin as they are far more expensive, Steam Deck territory pricing.)
 
Raymond Lin said:
I think they are the best one in terms of the quality of devices being made and actually having customer support. I mean they are actually responding...people forget that they are in China, they could have totally ignored all the online noise.

They arguably make the best hardware for retro consoles, they are evolving from generation to generation, each one being better looking, better performing than the last. (I don't count stuff like the Odin as they are far more expensive, Steam Deck territory pricing.)
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Not sure I'd agree on the quality, their QA processes seem pretty poor for expensive devices.

There's stuff I'd forgive on a 40 quid machine but Retroid are making some pricey handhelds and pretty much every device they've launched in the last couple of years has had some serious issue or another.

I think what has made this worse is they said they'd make it right and have gone back on that.

But I don't disagree it has been blown out of proportion, hardly anyone noticed and none of the reviewers flagged it. Maybe they should test more thoroughly than simply trying to be the first to get reviews out the door for the clicks and ad revenue.

Anyone with some sense won't be preordering a Flip 2, at least I won't be, let's wait and see what they bugger up this time.
 
I always wait a couple of months before purchasing any of these devices, most have one issue or another. Some, at the lower end ,can be ignored and some are fixed with revisions or software. My experience with dealing with these companies , generally makes me feel like they do not care and are only out for quick buck. We are dealing with devices that are very much in a grey area of legalities.
 
I have already had a steam deck and loved it. However i did struggle getting the emulation stuff to work nicely even after following guides and having help from my friend with one. Unfortunately even though the steamdeck is REALLY good, it is however very bulky. I have some great old school games on my switch lite that are available from the store but i do like the idea of some of the emulation stuff that the RP5 can do particularly Gamecube.
 
I am looking forward to some gaming on the RP5 on my flight to HK, I have given the RG35xxSP to my 7 year old niece to play Pokemon on the flight too.

The RP5 is great, despite the ergonomics, which is my only gripe really.
 
Do you mind telling us what you dont like ergonimically? Is it the layout of the buttons/Sticks? That was pretty much my only concern.
 
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ZXSpectrum said:
Do you mind telling us what you dont like ergonimically? Is it the layout of the buttons/Sticks? That was pretty much my only concern.
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The sticks at the bottom makes holding it a little awkward.

The natural position of holding it means the flesh part of the thumb need to twist down to use the sticks so the left hand need to position itself lower in order for it to be comfortable.

I tried remapping driving games to use R2 as accelerate, but that doesn't work, there is no way to hold down the R2 for longer than a few seconds without dropping it if I am using my index finger. By pressing down R2, it sort of lifts the bottom of the console up, like a lever, so the fleshy part of the palm need to keep it down. It becomes a squeeze exercise. So it means analogue part of the triggers can't really be used for driving.

Essentially, more modern analogue controls on the RP5 doesn't work that well without a grip. Which makes the sticks and triggers kind of useless.

I would say the triggers issue is more problematic than the sticks positioning. It is unusable to a point where I use A for accelerate in GT and just tap the button instead.

However, a grip will solve both problems.
 
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Dsteviedee said:
I always wait a couple of months before purchasing any of these devices, most have one issue or another. Some, at the lower end ,can be ignored and some are fixed with revisions or software. My experience with dealing with these companies , generally makes me feel like they do not care and are only out for quick buck. We are dealing with devices that are very much in a grey area of legalities.
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I can't recall who but someone on the forum (maybe this thread...) had to return a device to Ayaneo, it cost a fortune and the comms was awful. A firm in China can easily ignore you, you might be able to make a claim on your credit card but that's a lottery.

I'm lucky my Odin 2 hasn't had issues (touch wood) but all my Miyoo and Anbernic devices have been via AliExpress as the returns policy has been class. Although that's only for recently purchased items, I wonder what will happen if I have a fault in 9 months. For some cheapo device its hardly worth the effort but for £300+ handhelds you want some confidence you have support.

I'm more inclined moving forward to buy from UK based firms so I have some comeback.
 
Best thing I bought for the RP5 was the grip from etsy. Took ages to arrive but has transformed it for me. I'll post pics later.
 
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KraniX said:
I can't recall who but someone on the forum (maybe this thread...) had to return a device to Ayaneo, it cost a fortune and the comms was awful. A firm in China can easily ignore you, you might be able to make a claim on your credit card but that's a lottery.

I'm lucky my Odin 2 hasn't had issues (touch wood) but all my Miyoo and Anbernic devices have been via AliExpress as the returns policy has been class. Although that's only for recently purchased items, I wonder what will happen if I have a fault in 9 months. For some cheapo device its hardly worth the effort but for £300+ handhelds you want some confidence you have support.

I'm more inclined moving forward to buy from UK based firms so I have some comeback.
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Its @Vince you can read about it in his repair thread.
 
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