Hey Taki ...thank you for last time... I downloaded Drastic emulator and have been testing all my games and its working flawlessly... at least it did but a couple days ago during me playing gta chinatown wars something strange happened The character stops and calls a taxi randomly... As you can guess its not an optimal thing to happen when running away from cops... I tested my device and it was not the device itself...samsung I also tested all my bluetooth input devices even keyboards ...these are also ok... As it also happens even with the stock virtual controls it was evidenty the emulator... But i did not tweak or change anything regarding that... So how come it started happenning? A google search revealed no results regarding this problem... I am at loss ...even reinstalling changing the rom doesnt yield results ...it is also happening in other games but almost unnoticable...this issue is happening more often in gta chinatownwars... im at loss here...im using a samsung s7 btw...
Whilst the RG350M and RG280M look better than all the cheap competitors, they both still pale in comparison to the RK2020 or the Odroid Go Advance Black. And even then, the Odroid Go Advance Black Edition, that pales in comparison to an iPhone/Android phone with a good controller.
3 years later this is still my favourite retro handheld. Plays everything I need it to, fits in the pocket and is far and away the most beautiful design colour wise. Would love to have had DS and 3DS support but ya can't win em all haha and I've still got my modded 3DS for that 😁
@@devilishmode is not just this devices. Just look at the Switch. It has huge bezels taking space for no reason while it could have a nicer bigger screen.
@@SIPEROTH well that's for the dock tbf, in the dock there's two ridges that over time micro scratch the bezels which is better than scratching the screen. They could've put a bigger screen on the lite though.
@@jacks559 the Bezels are there even for the lite. So that's not the point clearly. I feel that Nintendo's Architect/Designer Team is pretty bad. Just look at the 3ds and NEW 3ds. They could not get a full size 2nd analog Stick, when the vita accomplished that MANY years prior with better Hardware to boot.
After purchasing and receiving my RG350 about a week ago I can say that I'm quite satisfied with my purchase, with that said, I don't really feel the need to purchase another handheld console or an upgraded version of the RG until these little devices can smoothly play N64, Gamecube and / or Dreamcast games.
@@arasumi3408 In terms of raw power, maybe. But it has terrible build quality piggy backs off OGA software, and the OGA guys are likely going to lock out these clone devices. And it's Android, which sucks. So you'll get good specs, but a shitty user experience. It's a dud.
Wow. Didn't think I was in for this, but the metal case and beautiful color along with the pocketable form factor is making me reconsider. I'm gonna pick this one up!
OMG it’s beautiful! Really like the dual tone colors! My dream device would be a “RG 450-500” but with the same format as the 350m, could be a bit thicker for a larger battery (though I don’t own a RG350), I got my pocket go 2.1 yesterday and have played the spit out of it!
Your my favorite UA-camr when it comes to this subject in handheld gaming your voice is calming and interesting to listen to I been saving all your videos on handhelds to pick when device I'm going to buy on payday..
I just received my 350M a few weeks ago and I was afraid of already seeing a new Anbernic model ... But I am reassured!! I still prefer my 350M to this model;)
@@thetechoasis2179 he said the colours were more saturated on the 280M, however taking size and pixel density into account, the 350M does have a better screen
I have the grey version. It is by far my most favorite handheld device out of all the ones that anbernic has made. Pocket friendly, just the right amount of screen, quality design. I'm a simple man. As long as I can play ps1 and below I'm good.
ive had mine about a month now and i love everything about it except that the size is just a tad too small. i would say i have slightly smaller than average hands and mine start going numb after about 30 mins of playing due to the small size. im upgrading to the rg350p to see if the increased size is more comfortable.
I've been wanting a smaller form factor, glad they're going back to it. I don't need a giant screen. Wish there was a plastic shell version I'd rather get a better deal without metal.
yeah i was looking to get this one as i dont like the rg350 analog placement and metal version is too expensive for me. i found out this one is going to cost over 100 dollars, so i decided to go with gkd350h, partially thanks to your videos man. thanks, you helped me out to decide about which one to buy. I hope the gks350h comes to me in one piece lol. i got it for 57 dollars during summer sale.
this would be the best if it had the second analog stick, I play doom a lot in my RG350, ms-dos games with the mouse emulation, smash tv on the ps1, for me it's something essential, love the design but yeah, I'm gonna rock the RG350 for a long time it seems
Just want to point out that for the same price ($100) you can get a new 2DS XL brand new at the moment :) Looks like a great device though and I'd probably get it if I didn't have a PocketGoV2. . . Although trying to get a replacement from retromimi since it only boots like 1 in 50 times.
I have a PocketGo 2.1 and am considering this as a replacement for the PocketGo 1. Then they'd have roughly the same capabilities but in 2 form factors...
Playgo is a little larger, but you also get a larger screen. Also it has a probleme with the volume button. If you only play soundless or with earphones, then no problem
@@vincenttimdanlaposh3603 I got the playgo. Supposedly you can fix the sound issue if you install rogue firmware. The minimum sound is pretty ideal for playing it at home, but when you go in public, everyone in like a 15 foot radius will clearly hear your game.
The only problem I've had so far with these + new pocket go and v2 is finding matching romsets for FBA, MAME and Neo Geo. Can somebody provide a link with both .opk and matching romsets? I can't play a lot of roms due to that incompatiblity. Thanks in advance!
Feels as though there's no point to this as a RG350m and Vita owner. It's cute and I really like the colors and form factor, but that awful squished/blurry non-integer SNES scaling really kills it and though its hard to tell from the video I think the colors might be too saturated too as the colors already look perfect on my 350m. Vita can't do SNES well so the 350m covers its weaknesses nicely... but if the rg280m fails to provide a good experience on one of the best 16-bit (if not the absolute best) libraries then I'd steer clear. If I were someone who was looking into these devices for the first time I'd either tell them to get the rg350m if they don't mind the price or tell them to wait on a more powerful version. Simply put, for a premium device it really needs better internals... The rg280m should be more like $70-80 for whats on offer. I bit the bullet on the already pricey 350m because of the screen and build quality but here you're getting bad scaling with the smaller screen, one less analog, and still a big price tag for what is essentially less. Battery life is better sure but plugging in a device has never been a big issue for me when I want longer gaming sessions. The form factor of the 350 was already quite nice and is less bulky than a 3DS or Vita, nearly perfect I'd say. This new rg280m doesn't even get into GBA Micro small territory as a size gimmick so I fail to see the appeal of this ever so slightly smaller model. Price cutting the rg350m would have been more desirable for many people I think. It's a shame in the current retro handheld ecosystem because these Anbernic devices have the best build quality, form factor, and button layout/quality- yet are underpowered compared to devices that can run stuff like PSP and Dreamcast for a similar price point... yet all those tend to have truly awful cheap plastic builds or have crummy input options. It shouldn't be so hard to make a better more powerful device with actual good externals but companies like Anbernic must be churning out similar models slowly to make bank with all these low powered chips they have sitting around.
The reason for the poor SNES showing is because the SNES renders at only 256 pixels across. On RetroFW devices, this is scaled up using a really impressive hardware algorithm that makes it almost as good as a CRT rendering. Unfortunately, OpenDingux lacks built in scaling. So what it does is let the software scale 256 -> 320 and then it pixel doubles that to 640 on the "M" models. The results look rather nasty in comparison to a proper scaler.
@@thewiirocks That's interesting. Can't SNES just be rendered at pixel perfect scaling and look much better here though? If the RG280m can do that then it wouldn't be that bad actually. I'd take some black borders over filtering any day, I like my retro games crisp looking. Seeing as how it has a higher res than SNES that should be possible. I don't see any of these reviewers running their games in the pixel perfect mode, its a tad annoying because I want to know if that option exists and how it fits on the screen.
Breadcrumbs Just hit the Power Button or Start+Select to go into the PocketSNES menu. You should be able to change the scaling to “None” to prevent it from stretching the screen. Some people like this approach, but you need to be aware that it will look much different than an actual CRT screen. Game developers were aware that this was happening (mis-shaped pixels were actually pretty common) and tended to design the artwork to compensate. Depending on the game, everything may look a bit squished.
Oh great, even a smaller screen 😏. Look, small screens have their place but why dont they make a larger screen device for a change, and up the specs a liitle too while they're at it. Thats"s what I say. 👍
Any hope for a fix on the SNES scaling issue? I've been eyeing anbernic devices for a while and was almost set to buy this, but SNES is one of my favorite consoles.
Do these devices still not support any type of sleep/standby? Nobody ever really seemed to mention it as a negative (or at all) but once I got my RG-350 and realized there was no way to sleep in between quick sessions, I sold it immediately. To me these devices are unusable without it.
I wonder if you can unlock DisplayPort 1.4 on the USB/DC USB-C port, as this would allow USB-C to HDMI, or even USB-C to USB-C in modern displays which also allow the display to charge the device simultaneous to display and audio output.
Ive never bought one of these chinese handhelds but ive been interested in them for a while. Can you sleep the device in the middle of a game instead of shutting it off?
Oh only a other design but same hardware (without screen) as the rg350 and rg350m. And it has no hdmi out. Which advanced from the rg350m should it have? Only the tactical switch or the screen? That's the only difference to the rg350
I would like to know if the face buttons on this one are more clicky like the 2DS or do they feel more along the lines of the 350 where they are more on the soft side? For me the buttons on the 350 was what kept it from being perfect for me.
In the comparison shots, it seems like the aspect ratios are slightly different. Do the screens have different size pixels from each other, or is there some other reason for that?
if i had a original 350, and wanted to slim down my joysticks to make it more pocket friendly, how could i go about doing so? using these style joysticks? could they not work the same as the og sticks? is replacing the sticks just not that easy?
I have a RG350 and find it a little too small to be comfortable and the screen is a little too small. What should I get in the way of a slightly larger fully preloaded handheld? Price isn’t a main concern. As for the one reviewed here, it’s obviously too small. The review is excellent, but I don’t remember any comments on how responsive the D-Pad and buttons are-that is must have information.
They used the exact same membrane and switch as the RG350, so you'll already be familiar. If you want something bigger than the RG350, you'll have to wait a little longer.
Love that backwards jump to get the mushroom in super Mario. Old school slick skills man 😁 I have an rg350 and love it but am now just trying to see how long I should wait to really upgrade.
I don't know if you can edit, but I thought I'd let you know that you might want to add a PS1 section as it's in the SNES section. Thanks for uploading a video on the RG280M. There's not been much info on it. Interesting to see that the battery life is actually higher and that the screen saturation has been improved!
The lack of an HDMI port isn't a deal breaker for me. I can just use my pc at home for that. But I already have a PocketGo v2, so for me personally it wouldn't make much sense to pick one of these up, because the two devices look pretty similar. If I didn't already have a PocketGo, I would seriously consider this as a portable emulator, right behind the Odoid Go Advance BE.
Wow, great review! The only thing I don't get.... The resolution of the 280m should result in 3:2 aspect ratio. And I wouldn't like that. But, side by side with the 350 (wich should be a 4:3), it looks the same aspect ratio in a smaller size. So what is its real aspect ratio in the end?
hmm looks actually interesting... But I guess there are no resolution/filter or speed up options available I guess... I love my Vita for PS1 games because it has 2 speed option (if modded) but I wish there would be a handheld with 2x or 3x higher internal resolution
Hey Taki, does your rg280m also have improper aspect ratio when using the hardware scaler option? For example GBA goes to a 1:1 aspect ratio. Pushing power + A only makes the screen flicker but does not correct the ratio. I tried different emulators but all suffer from this issue :(
I don't know why I am watching these since I have a soft modded 3DS. xD Awesome video anyway! I love the small improvements that Anbernic does over their revisions. now I just wish that the bezels were smaller
I see you ran ps1 game crash bandicoot but the question is does it run ps1 games like dino crisis or resident evil games 2 and 3.. all other video seem to show the same games running on other handhelds...
Is there anyway to get into contact with someone about finding out which affordable handheld to buy? I’m looking to play mainly gba games like golden sun and emerald and I like the design of the rg
Am I crazy in thinking that by the next gen cycle(after ps5,XBXs) we are gonna see ps2,xbox, 360-ps3(big if) in these smaller formats? Phones have for years been catching up and the Switch really proved right now that handheld is capable of a lot of power with only a few tweaks in GFX power.
I'm looking into getting one of these but I'm hesitant due to the pixel issue you mentioned with SNES. Can you elaborate? Is there a fix? Also, are scan line shaders an option with this?
Just ordered the black one new for $60 with shipping and tax inside America, seemed like a good price,I was gonna get a v90 but I'm just gonna skip it for a higher end device like this
Great review once again Taki 👍🏻 having been looking for a reasonably priced retro handheld for a while now I think I might finally bite the bullet and get the rg280m. I'm surprised that some of the older handhelds like the original rg350 and the ldk horizontal are still the same price as they were when they came out - I would have thought the price would have been lowered to keep them relevant in the ever advancing retro handheld scene though...
The RK2020 (even if it's a clone) doesn't look as pretty but it's the best right now. Cheap and easy to order, better emulators, interface and scaling options.
@@TakiUdon I said it's not pretty but I rather have retroarch, lots of screen scaling options, and PSX at fullspeed. I have the RG350 and it feels better but playing with it is not.
We have so many devices that can run the same roms for a lower price. All that just so we safe a little bit of space and have a metal case? I don't know...at 100€ it just seems a bit too expensive. Or am I missing something?
Great video! Do you know if this device is upgradable at all? Say I want to put a better processor chip in it to run n64 or Dreamcast, would that be a possibility?
nope It's designed with this cpu in it. Even if you were to find a more powerful cpu that is the exact same size and has all the connections at the exact same place it would be hell to de-solder the old one and solder the new one in. Honestly it's not the raw console power that prevent the N64 games from working at his point. It's the firmware and emulator optimization. If a developer was to build or do a proper port of a N64 emulator for this device it would work just fine.
Is the resolution really 320x480 (WxH)? I keep seeing this number, looks like it should be 480x320, otherwise the pixels won't be square. Might explain the odd scaling options for SNES if that's right though
I don't think there's anything currently on the market that's better than the Vita for retro emulation. It might be a bit bulky for a pocket, but I have no problem fitting it in mine.
Currently looking at either the Redmi Note 8 or Redmi Note 9S both with a telescopic controller like the Razer Kishi or something similar for my handheld emulation device as these cheap chinese devices just have far to many compromises for me personally.
Did you try running some more demanding ps1 titles on this? I've heard that the previous one had some issues (for example crash 2 ran very well, however 3 was laggy)
Crash 3 is not any more laggy than it is on actual hardware. There were a few games used to test performance because they usually had trouble. Tekken 3 is one of them. The reason they were more demanding is because it's one of the few PS1 game that run at 640x480. I don't know if performance was fixed in a firmware or the emulator itself but I run Tekken 3 just fine on my RG350. The 350, 350m and 280m all have the same cpu and ram so anything that ran before should still run fine.
OK so this thing is great, but what I really want to be able to do is reduce the backlight lower than the lowest default setting. If anyone has tried playing it in the dark they'll know that it is not kind on the eyes. Is there anyone technical out there who can assist with this? I've tried Reddit to no avail
@@TakiUdon good news as I would love something of the build quality of my RG350M but able to play some Dreamcast and N64. However what do you think they will do with regards to firmware. Develop their own or leave it open for installing EmuElec and others?
It’s nice, but not really a upgrade over the PlayGo from nearly a year ago. If Hardkernel could get enough production going, the Odroid Advance would be making these handhelds look completely outdated.
How does it compare directly to the RG350M? I'm looking to buy an emulator for GB,GBC,GBA games and was originally going to buy the 350M due to the better screen and now I'm wondering if I should get this one instead.
Hey Taki, thanks for the great video. Do you have any lead on next gen flagship by Anbernic? I am waiting for bigger battery and no bezels screen on RG350 like device.
WOW he is rocking the new Anbernic!
Top Comment.
:) I see what you did there
Never gets old.
Classic Taki
@@ChrisGagner haha indeed
Battery life seems to be well over 6 hours. I will update this when my devices finally die.
GBA test: died at 8 hours.
PS1 test:
Any mention on price? Certainly has some compromises but looks nice.
Hey Taki ...thank you for last time...
I downloaded Drastic emulator and have been testing all my games and its working flawlessly...
at least it did but a couple days ago during me playing gta chinatown wars something strange happened
The character stops and calls a taxi randomly...
As you can guess its not an optimal thing to happen when running away from cops...
I tested my device and it was not the device itself...samsung
I also tested all my bluetooth input devices even keyboards ...these are also ok...
As it also happens even with the stock virtual controls it was evidenty the emulator...
But i did not tweak or change anything regarding that...
So how come it started happenning?
A google search revealed no results regarding this problem...
I am at loss ...even reinstalling
changing the rom doesnt yield results ...it is also happening in other games but almost unnoticable...this issue is happening more often in gta chinatownwars... im at loss here...im using a samsung s7 btw...
"I will update this when my devices finally die" - Taki, 15 hours ago
That is well over 6 hours.
Whilst the RG350M and RG280M look better than all the cheap competitors, they both still pale in comparison to the RK2020 or the Odroid Go Advance Black.
And even then, the Odroid Go Advance Black Edition, that pales in comparison to an iPhone/Android phone with a good controller.
@@cmbaz1140 can you completely remap all of the buttons to something different?
3 years later this is still my favourite retro handheld. Plays everything I need it to, fits in the pocket and is far and away the most beautiful design colour wise. Would love to have had DS and 3DS support but ya can't win em all haha and I've still got my modded 3DS for that 😁
i wish they'd just have an edge to edge screen with a minimal bezel and no logo. I love the two-tone model though
Theres always something with these devices, they get so close and always seem to trip up!
Agree completely.
@@devilishmode is not just this devices. Just look at the Switch. It has huge bezels taking space for no reason while it could have a nicer bigger screen.
@@SIPEROTH well that's for the dock tbf, in the dock there's two ridges that over time micro scratch the bezels which is better than scratching the screen. They could've put a bigger screen on the lite though.
@@jacks559 the Bezels are there even for the lite. So that's not the point clearly.
I feel that Nintendo's Architect/Designer Team is pretty bad.
Just look at the 3ds and NEW 3ds. They could not get a full size 2nd analog Stick, when the vita accomplished that MANY years prior with better Hardware to boot.
After purchasing and receiving my RG350 about a week ago I can say that I'm quite satisfied with my purchase, with that said, I don't really feel the need to purchase another handheld console or an upgraded version of the RG until these little devices can smoothly play N64, Gamecube and / or Dreamcast games.
It will be few years but it will get there eventually
Maybe not. If they want to compete with their OGA or RK2020 counterparts, I'd say they'll make a more powerful device by the end of the year
Vincent Timdanlaposh yea honestly the rk2020 is probably the best budget handheld right now
Give it 18 months. I'm sure we'll see higher level emulation on small devices like this soon
@@arasumi3408 In terms of raw power, maybe. But it has terrible build quality piggy backs off OGA software, and the OGA guys are likely going to lock out these clone devices. And it's Android, which sucks.
So you'll get good specs, but a shitty user experience. It's a dud.
Wow. Didn't think I was in for this, but the metal case and beautiful color along with the pocketable form factor is making me reconsider. I'm gonna pick this one up!
OMG it’s beautiful! Really like the dual tone colors!
My dream device would be a “RG 450-500” but with the same format as the 350m, could be a bit thicker for a larger battery (though I don’t own a RG350), I got my pocket go 2.1 yesterday and have played the spit out of it!
Your my favorite UA-camr when it comes to this subject in handheld gaming your voice is calming and interesting to listen to I been saving all your videos on handhelds to pick when device I'm going to buy on payday..
Thank you for the kind words.
I just received my black RG350M. It’s great!
Ambernic is still the king of pocket emulation. I really gotta buy this thing huh
They definitely are. They tried something different with the RG552 but that handheld is just way too much.
you make the best videos dude
That's uncanny! I was just bingeing your videos and suddenly there was a new one. Neat.
I just want the specs of the RK2020 in the body of a RG350M. that for me is the perfect handheld device.
true dat... RK2020 in a metal case... would be amazing...
The rg351p will be close, yeah? Plastic body but upgraded specs.
I just received my 350M a few weeks ago and I was afraid of already seeing a new Anbernic model ...
But I am reassured!! I still prefer my 350M to this model;)
The 350m screen is much better.
But the review implied this new screen is better??
@@Dave_W861 i thought the same??? lol, i thought he was saying the 350m was inferior
@@thetechoasis2179 he said the colours were more saturated on the 280M, however taking size and pixel density into account, the 350M does have a better screen
Looks like a great little system! Never really been that interested in emulation handhelds but this looks good! Great vid
I have the grey version. It is by far my most favorite handheld device out of all the ones that anbernic has made. Pocket friendly, just the right amount of screen, quality design. I'm a simple man. As long as I can play ps1 and below I'm good.
ive had mine about a month now and i love everything about it except that the size is just a tad too small. i would say i have slightly smaller than average hands and mine start going numb after about 30 mins of playing due to the small size. im upgrading to the rg350p to see if the increased size is more comfortable.
I've been wanting a smaller form factor, glad they're going back to it. I don't need a giant screen. Wish there was a plastic shell version I'd rather get a better deal without metal.
I tried advocating for plastic cases for this and the 350M
Im the opposite, still waiting for a screen size double that of the RG350 at least.
Would also like it better in plastic shell!
Colour scheme is very nice. A bit small for my taste though. Super review as always, Taki, thank you.
yeah i was looking to get this one as i dont like the rg350 analog placement and metal version is too expensive for me. i found out this one is going to cost over 100 dollars, so i decided to go with gkd350h, partially thanks to your videos man. thanks, you helped me out to decide about which one to buy. I hope the gks350h comes to me in one piece lol. i got it for 57 dollars during summer sale.
my rg350m came with the smaller silver anbernic logo, not the large orange one
this would be the best if it had the second analog stick, I play doom a lot in my RG350, ms-dos games with the mouse emulation, smash tv on the ps1, for me it's something essential, love the design but yeah, I'm gonna rock the RG350 for a long time it seems
This looks awesome!
Just want to point out that for the same price ($100) you can get a new 2DS XL brand new at the moment :) Looks like a great device though and I'd probably get it if I didn't have a PocketGoV2. . . Although trying to get a replacement from retromimi since it only boots like 1 in 50 times.
That screen is just WAY too small. And those BEZELS! OMG
Yeah. I thought the 3.5" was the sweet spot. I think more people wanted a more powerful 350, and not a smaller device.
@@jwill7998 I don't have amazing eyesight so the screen is probably too small for me. Hopefully they'll update the larger varient.
Make a version with a screen twice the size please then Ill defo think about it.
RG350XL 😁
@@fonzitheman That would be an rg700 (assuming you mean 2x the 350) based on the naming convention they’re using. Rg350=3.5”, Rg280m=2.8”, etc.
@ElegyForTheMasses
Yeah OK, Ill accept that, RG700 is fine too 😊
This looks amazing, pocket friendly and good speed. Might get one of this or a PlayGo as i am looking for something that i can carry in my pockets
I have a PocketGo 2.1 and am considering this as a replacement for the PocketGo 1. Then they'd have roughly the same capabilities but in 2 form factors...
Playgo is a little larger, but you also get a larger screen. Also it has a probleme with the volume button. If you only play soundless or with earphones, then no problem
@@vincenttimdanlaposh3603 I got the playgo. Supposedly you can fix the sound issue if you install rogue firmware.
The minimum sound is pretty ideal for playing it at home, but when you go in public, everyone in like a 15 foot radius will clearly hear your game.
@@ZacharyBittner I never managed to install Rogue. I got several sd.bin written in several microsd card. But it gives me a black screen everytime
Seems like the RG280M has a different aspect ration as per 4:43 , or is it me ?
The only problem I've had so far with these + new pocket go and v2 is finding matching romsets for FBA, MAME and Neo Geo. Can somebody provide a link with both .opk and matching romsets? I can't play a lot of roms due to that incompatiblity. Thanks in advance!
Feels as though there's no point to this as a RG350m and Vita owner. It's cute and I really like the colors and form factor, but that awful squished/blurry non-integer SNES scaling really kills it and though its hard to tell from the video I think the colors might be too saturated too as the colors already look perfect on my 350m. Vita can't do SNES well so the 350m covers its weaknesses nicely... but if the rg280m fails to provide a good experience on one of the best 16-bit (if not the absolute best) libraries then I'd steer clear.
If I were someone who was looking into these devices for the first time I'd either tell them to get the rg350m if they don't mind the price or tell them to wait on a more powerful version. Simply put, for a premium device it really needs better internals... The rg280m should be more like $70-80 for whats on offer. I bit the bullet on the already pricey 350m because of the screen and build quality but here you're getting bad scaling with the smaller screen, one less analog, and still a big price tag for what is essentially less. Battery life is better sure but plugging in a device has never been a big issue for me when I want longer gaming sessions. The form factor of the 350 was already quite nice and is less bulky than a 3DS or Vita, nearly perfect I'd say. This new rg280m doesn't even get into GBA Micro small territory as a size gimmick so I fail to see the appeal of this ever so slightly smaller model. Price cutting the rg350m would have been more desirable for many people I think.
It's a shame in the current retro handheld ecosystem because these Anbernic devices have the best build quality, form factor, and button layout/quality- yet are underpowered compared to devices that can run stuff like PSP and Dreamcast for a similar price point... yet all those tend to have truly awful cheap plastic builds or have crummy input options. It shouldn't be so hard to make a better more powerful device with actual good externals but companies like Anbernic must be churning out similar models slowly to make bank with all these low powered chips they have sitting around.
The reason for the poor SNES showing is because the SNES renders at only 256 pixels across. On RetroFW devices, this is scaled up using a really impressive hardware algorithm that makes it almost as good as a CRT rendering. Unfortunately, OpenDingux lacks built in scaling. So what it does is let the software scale 256 -> 320 and then it pixel doubles that to 640 on the "M" models. The results look rather nasty in comparison to a proper scaler.
@@thewiirocks That's interesting. Can't SNES just be rendered at pixel perfect scaling and look much better here though? If the RG280m can do that then it wouldn't be that bad actually. I'd take some black borders over filtering any day, I like my retro games crisp looking. Seeing as how it has a higher res than SNES that should be possible.
I don't see any of these reviewers running their games in the pixel perfect mode, its a tad annoying because I want to know if that option exists and how it fits on the screen.
Breadcrumbs Just hit the Power Button or Start+Select to go into the PocketSNES menu. You should be able to change the scaling to “None” to prevent it from stretching the screen. Some people like this approach, but you need to be aware that it will look much different than an actual CRT screen. Game developers were aware that this was happening (mis-shaped pixels were actually pretty common) and tended to design the artwork to compensate. Depending on the game, everything may look a bit squished.
Nice review. Really happy you played Magic Sword!
I'm happy I found that game. It's very good.
I am gonna be rockin this new Anbernic!
Oh great, even a smaller screen 😏.
Look, small screens have their place but why dont they make a larger screen device for a change, and up the specs a liitle too while they're at it.
Thats"s what I say. 👍
What other processor would they put in without changing the os?
@@2010ngojo The X1830 that's in the GKD 350H(at 1.9Ghz) would be awesome on the RG350M
Honestly seems more like a downgrade
@@arasumi3408 To be completely honest, only improvement is the 2 tone paintjob, and some people would even prefer the RG350M's minimalist paintjob.
Any hope for a fix on the SNES scaling issue? I've been eyeing anbernic devices for a while and was almost set to buy this, but SNES is one of my favorite consoles.
Do these devices still not support any type of sleep/standby? Nobody ever really seemed to mention it as a negative (or at all) but once I got my RG-350 and realized there was no way to sleep in between quick sessions, I sold it immediately. To me these devices are unusable without it.
to be honest I don't mind the lack of a HDMI or any type of cable for externals screens, because isn't the main purpose of the console to be portable?
Really enjoy your content
I knew this was a new handheld but I didn't think it was gonna be the PCB's 1-month birthday in 4 days. Wish I could afford one!
I wonder if you can unlock DisplayPort 1.4 on the USB/DC USB-C port, as this would allow USB-C to HDMI, or even USB-C to USB-C in modern displays which also allow the display to charge the device simultaneous to display and audio output.
Damn Dat color, I wish ps5 look like that! But it must be fit with home decoration so it's white or black, sad
Ive never bought one of these chinese handhelds but ive been interested in them for a while. Can you sleep the device in the middle of a game instead of shutting it off?
Omg! I love the color. Will it be compatible with Nds or n64 emulator? Thanks!
Oh only a other design but same hardware (without screen) as the rg350 and rg350m.
And it has no hdmi out.
Which advanced from the rg350m should it have? Only the tactical switch or the screen?
That's the only difference to the rg350
Awesome video same as the handheld featured 😃😃
*sees The Legend of Dragoon footage
Ah, I see you're a man of culture.
Classic.
Great Video Guys
I would like to know if the face buttons on this one are more clicky like the 2DS or do they feel more along the lines of the 350 where they are more on the soft side? For me the buttons on the 350 was what kept it from being perfect for me.
2 vids in 1 day? You spoil us 😌
Btw; that case is everything!
I need more sleep. 🤣
In the comparison shots, it seems like the aspect ratios are slightly different. Do the screens have different size pixels from each other, or is there some other reason for that?
if i had a original 350, and wanted to slim down my joysticks to make it more pocket friendly, how could i go about doing so? using these style joysticks? could they not work the same as the og sticks? is replacing the sticks just not that easy?
I have a RG350 and find it a little too small to be comfortable and the screen is a little too small. What should I get in the way of a slightly larger fully preloaded handheld? Price isn’t a main concern. As for the one reviewed here, it’s obviously too small. The review is excellent, but I don’t remember any comments on how responsive the D-Pad and buttons are-that is must have information.
They used the exact same membrane and switch as the RG350, so you'll already be familiar. If you want something bigger than the RG350, you'll have to wait a little longer.
Taki Udon thanks for the reply. Nothing good yet from another manufacturer?
theres no screen brightness option :/
its stuck om really bright and hurts eyes at night and drains the battery
As always Taki, another great review. This is a cool unit but i believe at $80 it is priced a little too high.
Love that backwards jump to get the mushroom in super Mario. Old school slick skills man 😁 I have an rg350 and love it but am now just trying to see how long I should wait to really upgrade.
I don't know if you can edit, but I thought I'd let you know that you might want to add a PS1 section as it's in the SNES section. Thanks for uploading a video on the RG280M. There's not been much info on it. Interesting to see that the battery life is actually higher and that the screen saturation has been improved!
UA-cam won't change it 😭
@@TakiUdon I thought that might be the case! Thanks anyway for acknowledging my feedback!
The lack of an HDMI port isn't a deal breaker for me. I can just use my pc at home for that. But I already have a PocketGo v2, so for me personally it wouldn't make much sense to pick one of these up, because the two devices look pretty similar. If I didn't already have a PocketGo, I would seriously consider this as a portable emulator, right behind the Odoid Go Advance BE.
Screen size too small for me
So don't buy it? Just a thought
Wow, great review!
The only thing I don't get.... The resolution of the 280m should result in 3:2 aspect ratio. And I wouldn't like that. But, side by side with the 350 (wich should be a 4:3), it looks the same aspect ratio in a smaller size. So what is its real aspect ratio in the end?
Powkiddy v90 next pls 😃
It's too garbage :(
It’s the PocketGo in a clamshell form factor. Decent for the price
hmm looks actually interesting... But I guess there are no resolution/filter or speed up options available I guess... I love my Vita for PS1 games because it has 2 speed option (if modded) but I wish there would be a handheld with 2x or 3x higher internal resolution
Does the smaller screen size affect visibility with ps1/ other higher res emulators?
No
Hey Taki, does your rg280m also have improper aspect ratio when using the hardware scaler option? For example GBA goes to a 1:1 aspect ratio. Pushing power + A only makes the screen flicker but does not correct the ratio. I tried different emulators but all suffer from this issue :(
I don't know why I am watching these since I have a soft modded 3DS. xD Awesome video anyway! I love the small improvements that Anbernic does over their revisions. now I just wish that the bezels were smaller
You're watching these because something about a device with only 1 screen and a good analogue stick intrigues you
Look how massive that audio cable looks. :o
Any chance we can get a walkthrough on how you put those 3ds sliders in the 350
I see you ran ps1 game crash bandicoot but the question is does it run ps1 games like dino crisis or resident evil games 2 and 3.. all other video seem to show the same games running on other handhelds...
Nice vid!
Is there anyway to get into contact with someone about finding out which affordable handheld to buy? I’m looking to play mainly gba games like golden sun and emerald and I like the design of the rg
Am I crazy in thinking that by the next gen cycle(after ps5,XBXs) we are gonna see ps2,xbox, 360-ps3(big if) in these smaller formats? Phones have for years been catching up and the Switch really proved right now that handheld is capable of a lot of power with only a few tweaks in GFX power.
I'm looking into getting one of these but I'm hesitant due to the pixel issue you mentioned with SNES. Can you elaborate? Is there a fix? Also, are scan line shaders an option with this?
Great gift for kids or anyone who is into retro gaming
What game is running on 4:00? Looks interesting
Final fantasy IX
This reminds me of the form factor of the pocketGo, which was way too small. The RG350M is just a normal smart phone size these days.
Just ordered the black one new for $60 with shipping and tax inside America, seemed like a good price,I was gonna get a v90 but I'm just gonna skip it for a higher end device like this
Great review once again Taki 👍🏻 having been looking for a reasonably priced retro handheld for a while now I think I might finally bite the bullet and get the rg280m. I'm surprised that some of the older handhelds like the original rg350 and the ldk horizontal are still the same price as they were when they came out - I would have thought the price would have been lowered to keep them relevant in the ever advancing retro handheld scene though...
I don't really know why they kept the price as high as it was, it should be cheaper now.
Looks amazing but the SNES issue is a deal breaker, hopefully it is just software
Hi, did you found a standby mode at this device?
I got one but it's really annoying to switch it off and all the time.
Just for playing a few minutes.
That Jay-Z CPU tho
Blueprint model out soon
It's nice they have the company logo in the front, it keeps me from having to tell people the name constantly, they can just see it.
Just ordered mine comes next week.
Kinda wondering why there isn't a RG353m review from Taki given he seemed to like this & other metal ones
The answer is too long for a comment.
Ohhh~ it's so pretty!!! *add to cart*
Ha
The RK2020 (even if it's a clone) doesn't look as pretty but it's the best right now. Cheap and easy to order, better emulators, interface and scaling options.
It's much worse than this. 😔
@@TakiUdon I said it's not pretty but I rather have retroarch, lots of screen scaling options, and PSX at fullspeed. I have the RG350 and it feels better but playing with it is not.
@@yadspi You can get Retroarch on the RG350
We have so many devices that can run the same roms for a lower price. All that just so we safe a little bit of space and have a metal case? I don't know...at 100€ it just seems a bit too expensive. Or am I missing something?
No hands cramp? Comfy?
hmm its cool but too expensive imo. anyone know if GKD are working on anything new?
The cramps must be present quickly?
I filmed this for five hours and didn't get any. The battery seems to last for almost 7, so it's possible after that long.
Great video! Do you know if this device is upgradable at all? Say I want to put a better processor chip in it to run n64 or Dreamcast, would that be a possibility?
nope It's designed with this cpu in it. Even if you were to find a more powerful cpu that is the exact same size and has all the connections at the exact same place it would be hell to de-solder the old one and solder the new one in. Honestly it's not the raw console power that prevent the N64 games from working at his point. It's the firmware and emulator optimization. If a developer was to build or do a proper port of a N64 emulator for this device it would work just fine.
Is the resolution really 320x480 (WxH)? I keep seeing this number, looks like it should be 480x320, otherwise the pixels won't be square. Might explain the odd scaling options for SNES if that's right though
They aren't square
Is this hard to add games to? I've been looking for a decent emulater besides using my phone.
hi, if i change the sd card for another sd card of better quality can i improve the system a bit?
I don't think there's anything currently on the market that's better than the Vita for retro emulation. It might be a bit bulky for a pocket, but I have no problem fitting it in mine.
Currently looking at either the Redmi Note 8 or Redmi Note 9S both with a telescopic controller like the Razer Kishi or something similar for my handheld emulation device as these cheap chinese devices just have far to many compromises for me personally.
Did you try running some more demanding ps1 titles on this? I've heard that the previous one had some issues (for example crash 2 ran very well, however 3 was laggy)
Crash 3 is not any more laggy than it is on actual hardware. There were a few games used to test performance because they usually had trouble. Tekken 3 is one of them. The reason they were more demanding is because it's one of the few PS1 game that run at 640x480. I don't know if performance was fixed in a firmware or the emulator itself but I run Tekken 3 just fine on my RG350. The 350, 350m and 280m all have the same cpu and ram so anything that ran before should still run fine.
Wow this is so awesome and cool😎
OK so this thing is great, but what I really want to be able to do is reduce the backlight lower than the lowest default setting. If anyone has tried playing it in the dark they'll know that it is not kind on the eyes. Is there anyone technical out there who can assist with this? I've tried Reddit to no avail
Taki, when do you think we will see Anbernic take their first stride into releasing a Rockchip or similar powered device?
Soon
@@TakiUdon good news as I would love something of the build quality of my RG350M but able to play some Dreamcast and N64. However what do you think they will do with regards to firmware. Develop their own or leave it open for installing EmuElec and others?
It’s nice, but not really a upgrade over the PlayGo from nearly a year ago. If Hardkernel could get enough production going, the Odroid Advance would be making these handhelds look completely outdated.
How does it compare directly to the RG350M? I'm looking to buy an emulator for GB,GBC,GBA games and was originally going to buy the 350M due to the better screen and now I'm wondering if I should get this one instead.
The biggest difference are in the screens. Check the section where I show both of them together.
@@TakiUdon Okay, thank you!
Hey Taki, thanks for the great video. Do you have any lead on next gen flagship by Anbernic? I am waiting for bigger battery and no bezels screen on RG350 like device.
Hi guys can you guide me in wich website are good to buy this rg280m in north america?