I still take it with a grain of salt. No matter how low these guys have their ears to the ground we still get screwed sometime. I use the retroid preorder disaster as an example. All taki was posting was new variances and no new info. Which is why I agree with this video. After the rp2 fiasco im waiting products and companies out until the product will actually be worth the hassle.
@@RetroDodo Agreed, the way they expect you to get out there and figure out the stuff *they* should've done before even sending out an device relatively expensive like that is absolute bullshit, imo having the option to expand your library of games and emulators should be something optional, if you want to, you can download more emulators be there for the same system or not, but instead, it is something that plenty of times you *have* to do if you want the best experience, it's so stupid, i don't remember which device it was rn, but, i remember having to go out of my way to get a GBA emulator for this one handheld that already had one GBA emulator, but, it was extremely shitty, it didn't work properly with the majority of games, had major slow down, etc. I'm glad to know people like you thrive for the truth, it makes the people who consume your content like me have trust in you, because you are telling them what they should buy from the heart, unlike the others who are only interested in making a quick buck with their discount codes, overall glad to see the evolution of your channel, it has gotten much much better, keep up the good work and thanks for bringing us quality content!
Sadly it won't change anything. The Chinese companies are not going to suddenly come out and give you 1 year warranty and tech support. People buying all these devices because they're cheap. And they're cheap because they sell these devices as is, at shoestring prices as they're not earning much profit. The best option for buyers (those not willing to take risks) is to just ignore all these devices and go for the branded names like Nintendo or RP4 etc. You pay for the quality and warranty and peace of mind.
@@acejon2162 Exactly my point all the time regarding this. People go for these because of price already knowing how bad QC and then they complain about lack of support or bad QC.
@@jonnyeh I have it too and it runs pretty good... Guess its a matter of experience/settings knowledge. You might want to get something a bit more straight forward.
GPD XD & GPD XD Plus Retroid Pocket 2 Powkiddy X18 RK2020 Powkiddy RGB10 Pocket Go New Pocket Go/Play Go/ Miyoo Max RG350 Series RG351 Get'em while China still manufactures them! Once China chooses to not manufacture them they're gone forever.
@@jonnyeh I'm enjoying mine daily, maybe go on discord and/or watch taki udons user guide to get it running to your preference. Only thing I didn't like at 1st is the stiff d pad.
This has always been the case with products coming out of china, I realized this years ago, it's always a gamble getting these, I am glad you have figured it out , and that you are letting other people know of the downfalls, there is a reason they are "cheaper" than some other products.
You told me about this video and was looking forward to this. I complete feel with you on this ... I grind video's only I can tell I feel frustrated sometimes and indeed with broken handhelds out of the box. Not even to start with the X-series those things are horrible... only they are cheap 😳 Most of my viewers know this they have see me review cheap 20 dollar handhelds before. I'm used to the fact they say it can play PSP, DC, N64 and other stuff and ... i know it is all a lie.. ( The Cake is a LIE ! ) 👹 For people who spend ther hard earned money that are new to the community will feel maybe ripped off and that is normal. With the invasion it's impossible to see what is the best handheld for ... if they stop making for couple of month You and me we can make a TOP 10 so we can help the people out. This is just not possible when they release freaking 2 new handhelds every week or so 🙄 Agree BIG TIME ... review product out of the box not spending day in and out fixing it 🤨 We need to dedicate a full episode to this .... 🤓
I'm dealing with customer service right now because they didn't include the sd card that I paid for. I'm on the third day of trying to convince them they didn't give me my sd card and they're demanding pictures like i'm a liar or a scammer. Luckily the product works. All I want is the sd card that I paid for.
I bought an RS-97 Anniversary 2 on Amazon in September and I Love it. Everybody I show it to asks me where I got it and how much it was. I got a clear one for 50 bucks in it arrived in 4 days. I thought it was so sweet I found a seller that had blue ones for 40 bucks and I received it in 3 days. They came with RetroFW 1.2 installed but it was no sweat to flash the bios to RetroFW 2.2. Even if I didn't flash them, they were awesome right out of the box and came loaded with ROMs. RS-97 Anniversary 2!
This video definitely needed to be made, and I think its best that it was posted. I completely agree with you and I stopped buying hand-held emulators years ago due to this very issue. Fortunately we have Retroid and Anbernic that have changed the market and quality quite a bit, but unfortunately for every good company comes many many bad ones. I bought an RG280M and a Retroid Pocket 2 thanks to you, Taki, ETA Prime and Sonic Love and they've both honestly impressed me immensely. Especially the Retroid, that was an amazing purchase for the money. Content creators like those listed above make the community a lot better than it was years ago but unfortunately the many sketchy companies will always try their best to make their money and run. Keep up the great work and I wish you the best of luck and growth for the channel and brand.
I remember back in highschool when I got into chinese emulation devices. I didn't have a job at the time, but there was so many handhelds I wanted. I was able to buy a Gemei 330 and a Benss, but then China stopped producing the other handhelds. The only handheld they were making was the PAP-KII it was a horrible handheld with lag and screen tearing. When I saw Chinese handhelds were back and better than ever I was excited.
Hope Chinese game held manufacturer/companies see this video. They need to learn that we ain't having any of their rubbish anymore. @retrododo, thank you for taking the initiative for using your hard earned money to bring out these truthful reviews.
They will never learn or most of them... why you ask ? I have reviewed around 15 handhelds with x-serie china 💩 software and every single time they have the same problems.
They won’t learn crap. They thrive on stealing Westerners work and money. They LAUGH at us. They already gave us a deadly disease created in a lab. What more do you expect? 🙄
It's like any niche-turned-mass product really. We got a brilliant idea coming from nowhere (GP2X) We got pioneering yet flawed early products with high prospect (Dingoo, Gemei) We got better and more insightful companies coming up with a quality threshold (GCWZero, Anbernic, GPD) We got a market swarming with cash-ins like copycats, knockoffs, derivatives and related products with some new niche to fill (Like this one in the video) And we'll eventually get to a point with a powerful conglomerate purging the smaller companies out of the business while the industry gets into a stalemate. (Probably a phone company)
I'm buying my first retro handheld which will be the anbernic 351P and I agree that there is a stigma around buying these products from China. And after seeing that video of the worker rubbing the frame round his feet I think I'll pass on buying anymore.
See this is why I love Brandon, I trust his advice and his opinion often matches mine and a video like this warning people is important. I purchased a rk2020, I knew from Brandons video and review build quality wasn't great but it was cheap so I thought why not, micro SD card cannot be removed due to the poor shell and the battery became lose and wobbling the first time I used it due to the heat, they ignored the refund promise and the refund page is actually missing on the website. I agree that ideally an out of the box handheld that just works would be amazing but at least we get and idea of what to expect from the retrododo website and videos so we can brace ourselves
Like you briefly touched on, this is why I feel like people have taken to the Retroid 2 so much - not only is it a good handheld, but they seem to have a veneer of relatively good customer service and seem to have catered for the west in a way that a lot of Chinese companies typically manage, especially in this specific niche sector
I am new to Retro Handheld Gaming. In the beginning I was quickly put off by all the different versions from never-heard-before manufacturers. It's only after watching a few of your videos (and looking at your website) that I decided for the Retroid Pocket 2. If you are mad at low-quality "gadgets" from China, your channel is the best vaccine.
I'm lucky enough to be someone who knows technology pretty well and have been doing emulation for years. I can look at the specs of a system and have a pretty good idea what a handheld can actually run well. I've owned enough of them that I've learned which companies I can trust too. It's so sad to see the state of the market right now. So many systems with the same internals and crappy build quality. I hope people will speak with their wallets and make these companies realize that we won't put up with this. Videos like this are a great start. Thanks for putting it out there.
Okay so, you've basically talked about everything I'm concerned about when buying these handhelds. I was really interested in the RG350p but I for the life of me can't find it where it's stocked in a facility in the US. It's always shipped from china which can take months and I don't feel like risking $100+ on a device that very well may never show up. Is there some site that you, or anyone, can recommend to get one of those from.
You and Taki have been my go to content creators to earn about these products. I am new to the scene and just want to say that we appreciate the work you are doing.
for someone that it's just starting to learn about this market, I thank you for your honest opinions and reviews on these; still looking for one that can play N64 games well
Watch as many videos as you can find from different reviewers using the same unit. I've watched at least 5 different reviewers show N64 game play on the Retroid Pocket 2 and am waiting now for mine to arrive. Now if your new to this scene please be aware there are several different emulators and front ends to access those emulators but over all the Retroid Pocket 2 looks to be the best for the price. In fact there is no other unit I've seen that can even properly emulate N64 games at $80 price point. Best of luck...happy gaming!
I felt that the retroid pocket 2 has been pushed really hard by this channel (and others). I had one, for DC and N64 the sound isn’t smooth at all, the frame rates are choppy (without customisation), i just feel these elements are too overlooked in reviews across the board. Glad this is being addressed because responsibility doesn’t just stop with the Chinese manufacturers.
Good on you Retro Dodo! I honestly, would not mind having a video to watch that is a PSA on these handhelds, shedding light on what needs it. When it comes down to it, we need people like retro dodo to give us this insight. Others that will not be named, though easily can be found in the recommended section of any of these videos, are bought out by shops and showing good devices with botched settings, and bad devices with false information to sway our purchases to their market. It's a load of shady shit, and as consumers we need to have transparency in these demos. Thank you Retro Dodo for keeping it real; it is much appreciated in this saturated market. Edit: I also feel you on the expectation for quality. I feel that the retro handheld market is like wanting the full game, but getting only pieces of DLC that should've been there to begin with. Instead of releasing a bunch of incomplete handhelds, they could've worked on it an extra month and held a q&a with reviewers like yourself to help have the handheld ready for launch, instead of shadily buying out reviewers who own online shops to push them out early and incomplete 😑 i.e. when funkey s sent out a demo unit to you i feel like that the company legitimately valued your input to use for the final revisions, not that you are bought out to sell their incomplete demo units.
Great video. I feel the same way. After watching tons of videos and researching I was able to get my Odriod Go Advanced up and running. There was no customer support for the product. The last straw was the firmware taking a dump and that took me way too much time to fix. That is the main reason why I sold my Odriod Go. Then, my replacement the Ambernic RG350P that I replaced my Odriod Go with ended up having a problem too. Only after a week of having the RG350P the SD Card was corrupted. I actually reached out to you and you responded to me quickly thank you so much. Again, I had to research and this time void the warranty by taking the sticker off of the firmware SD card. It turns out my Linux file system program for Wondows saved that firmware SD card. I made an image backup of it and copied that image over to a more reliable SD card. Now, no more issues and the RG350P is a retro handheld gaming beast.
Nice review, thanks for the honesty, shows you're not sponsored. Maybe do a top (or bottom) 10 list - not just the product itself, but of the company that sells them
I completely agree with this video. 6 months ago i bought the Playgo (PocketGo V2) and thought "Hey that is one nice handheld!". A few weeks ago the battery was running low, so I turned the handhled off and plugged it in. after about a minute or 10...it stopped charging...I smelled something burning and it was quite hot. Immediately removed the battery, but it was to late. The device was fried... After contacting the seller, I got the same treatment as in the video (no response). I kept sending messages to get the device fixed. Today I got an answer... "we sell more to other buyers . we don't get any other buyer said that the chip is burned .Unless the frequency of the machine is adjusted too high to cause the chip to burn" I just copy/paste the response... The device was turned off...I use the same charger as for my pocketgo (v1) and Bittboy... Guys, DO NOT BUY AT THE WOLSEN STORE Saturday I ordered the Retroid Pocket 2 at Goretroid (16BIT US version) so now is the waiting game until it is shipped and arrives. PS. Even though I already have multiple handhelds, I still love watching your reviews. Thanks for al the honesty!
Just a heads up @5:14 - this is a video of the "ZPG" shell, not the ZPG Pro that you have. The naming scheme makes no sense, nor does the reason why he decided to make a video scrubbing his foot with a defective shell to post online.
Well said Brandon, it's about time someone pointed this out. It's really hard to bring those interested in getting into the retro handheld scene into the mix with the abundance of crap currently on the market. Thank goodness we have blokes like yourself who are willing to sift through the bollocks and point out what's worth picking up and what isn't...
DUDE! Best sign EVER in neon behind you! If only more people from your generation had that attitude the world would be in a MUCH BETTER PLACE! Thank you for displaying common sense prominently!! 👏👍
Not sure what you expected. These are under a $100 devices playing pirated games. I get it, that most of these old games that are over 20 years old, emulation is the only realistic way to play them, but still. Let’s keep expectations at check.
I agree wholeheartedly with what you're saying. I purchased the RG280M and the backlight is far, far too bright in full darkness (aka playing before sleep in bed). Done plenty of research, can't find anyone sharing my complaint and can't find anyone who can help me.
This is exactly why I steered clear of retro handhelds for years. I was lucky that I just so happened to be taking a fresh look at the handheld industry just as the RP2 was picking up steam. I ended up buying one and even it was a real pain at first for a newcomer like me. I feel I've dodged some bullets with that purchase, though. I'm just looking forward to messing around with the Funkey S at this point.
Although I agree with customer support having to improve and companies needing to establish a dedicated CS department, I don’t agree with the notion that researching is a bad thing. When I ordered the RP2 (the most incredible handheld, both extremely powerful and the most economic IMO) I immediately did my due diligence and studied what OS it uses so I’m aware of how it works. I studied what Retroarch was so I knew what I was doing and didn’t sit there with a thumb in my ass, and these were things that made my life waaaaaay more easier when I finally got my RP2 in hand. Set up didn’t take more then 10 minutes because of the initiative I took. It’s something I highly recommend anyone doing. Not to make a companies life easier, but to make you more well rounded and give yourself some new knowledge.
Massive respect man! I'm glad I stumbled upon this channel to find great retro handhelds recommended by you and taki! I'm glad you opened up to this topic and not the type to sell me the product but to support it instead and bring light on to shady parts of the whole ordeal. Thank you so much, I wish all the best for you man and I honestly love the content you bring and show on here and being honest with the community without any bs which is the type of content creators that I strongly respect and admire! Keep up the awesome work man!
I'm very happy with my RG350M, although both included sdcards were junk and I voided the warranty by peeling off the sticker to replace the internal sdcard. However it did work for me out of box and the few freezes that I had sorted themselves out after the battery ran out. I haven't seen that problem since replacing internal sdcard. The screen, controller and speakers are all very good quality and the community on reddit is amazing to get the most out of this handheld device.
dear Retro Dodo. My deepest respect for this video, and the many others you put out over the years. I like how you always give your honest opinion and I have always admired this honesty. Also an important issue is how some of these consoles are made to look like popular consoles from Sony(PSP, PSV), Nintendo(at the moment Switch and Switch lite, but a few years back it was the DS lite), confusing and tricking parents, grandparents, small children. (just think Supbor Q400 or the turqoiuse ZPG Pro). Also, I hate how when you contact the chinese seller and complain their first response is "Sorry friend, maybe you don't know how to charge or use the product. Not our fault, we test each product before shipping and only sell bestt quality" :(
I like that you highlighted Retroid Pocket’s customer service. From the get go when it came to my package or any problems I’ve had RP has come through with customer service. Definitely a reliable company for future retro handhelds.
These devices are meant for tinkerers and semi hardcore retro gamers who know the way around these topics. The least minimal is people who had their hands on SBC computers such as Raspberry Pi. And these market segment are really independent with their devices they own The good thing is, if they keep the device "open" and it become very popular, great things will come to that handheld. For example? Even couple of years after LDK released, RetroFW is still maintaned by the community, and received many ports like Descent. RG350 in particular, nowadays got a lot of love from the community as well. The bad thing, is what everything Brandon complained here, particularly, the devs become really lazy with their stuffs, expecting the community work for them. It blows my mind that there're actually some people who really having difficulties on where to put the roms and how to run them. Some even complain the device don't have any games in it. And yes, there're far more tech-retarded people out there that would blow your mind further. People who don't even know how to uninstall apps on Android. People who don't even know how to update windows. People who cannot differenciate between USB ports. These devices, surely NOT for them. They should buy the mainstream consoles instead that are designed to be mainstream user friendly from ground up, in this case Switch is the closest bet. Even that, some will still having difficulties using them.
It’s why I watch your channel before buying anything. I finally found one that met my needs so I bought the retroid pocket 2. I use it for steam, shadow, and psp. With that said. I wish it was slightly more powerful,metal, and the right analog stick wasn’t flat and had ranged motion instead of acting like a d pad.
I don't always agree with you Brandon but this is bang on. The only the hardware manufacturer's that I trust are: Anbernic, Retroid (hope they keep it up) and GPD (different price bracket entirely though). Hopefully the market will get rid of some of the shadier products naturally but the rise of paid influencers is of great concern. Keep doing what you do man, we all support you!
I couldn’t agree more! I’ve bought two New Pocket Go and one had an issue with the L trigger and they said to update the firmware or open the console. I’m a tech guy so I’ve solved the issue BUT I wanted to see what was their customer service like. And I got disapointed.
I really appreciate this video. I love the authenticity you’ve been on lately. Your conviction is very tastefully appealing, I hope it pulls the veils off of the lower quality, poor customer service norm! Thanks for sharing your story and team on “Dodo 2.0” vid, these videos are gold!
Great video and about time too! I purchased two handhelds that were rated very good but were not *that* good. I then bought a nintendo switch and never had to deal with any problems....Good Video !!!
I loved your rant, man! I think this is REALLY a important thing that people should talk about and prioritize when using their hard earned money to buy stuff from China (or any other place). I've seen a similar thing from a reviewer of hi-fi earphone that review stuff from chi-fi rant about QC issues and miss information. Edi: Also subscribed 👍
Absolutely true - they are rushing out dozens of models and don't care at all afterwards. Just said something similar in my latest vid. One of the reasons i stick to my evercade!
I ordered two Retroid Pocket 2’s about 2 weeks ago based on your review and now seeing this I’m 💩’ing myself. I haven’t had confirmation of shipping yet. Fingers crossed!!
I didn't realise how bad this was but I'm glad you and a lot of other Retro UA-camrs are talking about. I think you should make more videos on this subject and spread more awareness. Great job as always!
Glad this video wasn't clickbait. I thought manufacturers were giving you these handhelds for free to review, so I definitely appreciate the honesty! I wouldn't buy a handheld if you didn't recommend it.
I was an early buyer of the RG351P and watched the updates in the official Anbernic Discord as they paused shipping and their devs moved heaven and earth to ensure the software bugs that cropped up with the first sales in China were fixed before the international shipments went out and keep everyone updated step by step. I'd like to see more of these companies take that kind of pride on their products and communicating with their customers
@@RetroDodo Apparently only in China where they were immediately rushed out The international shipments were held back to update the firmware so an issue with speaker buzz with the Wi-Fi is active with some units due to poor shielding somewhere is all that remains Sadly it lead to them removing the Wi-Fi from further production runs until they can figure out to how rectify it
Loved the review, as I wanted one of them. I just bought the v90 mini (yellow gameboy SP) and love it, the screen is amazing but the rest of it is cheap. What do you recommend to purchase?
I think you're raising a really important element of risk that exists with these purchases, and is often not clear to people buying them who aren't already savvy to this markets foibles. Thanks for doing this. I would suggest however that even when doing a rant style piece like this, you should write a script and focus your thoughts a bit more. The unscripted tone of this piece jumps around a lot, and some sentences are muddled or tail off into the following one. Perhaps you felt this wasn't deserving of the full script/edit process as its more of a PSA, but i would suggest that the more professional the delivery of this message, the more seriously customers and manufacturers will take it. That aside, cracking work as always, great to see someone who seems to genuinely be pro consumer.
The issues you are complaining about is EXACTLY what one should expect when buying a cheap Chinese retro handheld from places like aliexpress. You get no customer support unless the item is not delivered, you have to find your own firmware. This is the price you pay for going cheap instead of ordering from the likes of Evercade, Analogue, etc
When it was £60 for the RG350, it didn't matter that the HDMI didn't work or that it needed newer emulators to run better. It was impulse purchase pricing. But with handhelds now coming out for twice the price they should show quality that reflects the price.
I think there is a place for iteration on the same hardware. O-Droid Go Advance deserve the crown for engineering what has now become the go-to rk3326 platform, however that device has quality issues and is difficult to buy. The RK2020 came out and it was a good 'out of box' solution for an affordable price but had battery and heating issues. The RGB10 came out with the same hardware again but had some nice construction features (huge fan of the one finger start + select round combo button design they did). Of all the RK3326 devices, that one is my favourite so far and have just ordered another one in Black. Anbernic did their own spin as well with the RG351p and answered the dual analog stick requirement some players wanted. Its great to have these options and yes there will always be quality control issues with Chinese handhelds, just a sad factor of budget hardware. Excited to see what 2021 will bring, hopefully more in the form of Snapdragon chipsets with Android base!
I had been wanting a retro handheld for some time, but kept holding off for the exact reasons you have mentioned. I finally settled on the RG350M and am satisfied with it for what it is. But, honestly, I think I’d rather just do a Pi 4 build. It’s easy enough to do and the community for it is huge. Not to mention it’s a powerhouse compared to these out-of-the-box handhelds.
Thank you for the intro - I love that the community is so active and helpful; but that's no excuse for the companies to not AT LEAST direct you towards them
You’re surprised by this? They’re cheap Chinese products, ones made to play roms from game companies that are not involved and which are most of the time pre-installed. The RG350 had a non-working HDMI too and manufacturer said the same thing and everyone gave it a pass. This shouldn’t be a surprise, especially when you look at products pictures and see shit photoshops and the considerably low price for what these things can do.
I had a RK2020 and basically the problem was overheating and charging problem (either it takes a day to fully charge, or it would stay at zero to 1 notch) I ordered the RK2020 V2, they sent me another RK2020 and the charging is STILL the problem
I bought a Retroid Pocket 2 based on the recommendation of this channel. It arrived and then screen is defective. Ive been waiting 2 weeks for a response from Retroid, so I don't think they are anywhere near true customer support, never mind all the other jokers. I still think it's a great product and I like what Retroid do, but a bit annoyed that I've paid them and have nothing to show for it.
I don't like getting involved in stuff like this, but it's ridiculous that you haven't heard anything back after that long. Send me your e-mail address on Discord and I'll ask why they haven't said anything back to you.
Little bit out of the subject but could you maybe make a video with handhelds that you can plug into a TV and use as a console I would really appreciate it.
The retro handheld (Pocket Go 2) i bought the USB-C port is really loose and only connects when its pushed at an angle. I emailed them and they want me to send it back, i already waited 4 months for it to arrive... :(
My ZPG regular showed up and I played it for a half an hour, it overheated and turned itself off. Same thing happened with the RK2020 only that also wiped the internal memory as well when it did and I had to get a replacement from the seller. And the Powkiddy barely functioned had a battery whose half life happened after only a handful of charges all with an analog stick that didn’t actually even work. The only retro handheld of quality is the RG-350
I think you should have made 2 separated videos. One for the ZPG review and one with the issues of that market, showing them right out of the box from different products. - My GPD XD Plus has power supply issues (the screen goes completely wild when I charge it), I had to reset the OS to its factory settings and it messed up all the directories and I can't manage to make anything work with the preinstalled emulators. - My Bittboy Pocket Go has a full line of green fried pixels on the screen after only one hour of usage and it runs things very badly (they market it as PSX compatible). - My RG350 doesn't run very well 3D games of PSX. I had to install a new firmware to get better support of analog sticks and it was hard to do (thanks to youtubers for the explanations). - I'm pretty happy with my RG300 (for 8-16 bits emulation because I didn't expected anything more from it), my Retrostone for PSX emulation (The screen is terrible. If someone wants to buy this, take the Retrostone 2 instead. And it's only got a D-pad. No analog stick.) - Even if I got some issues with some games on the Retroid Pocket 2 (F-Zero GBA games are slow as hell) it is pretty much satisfying in all other aspects. Quality build. Good sound and screen. Two analog sticks (well, the right one isn't really analog). 4 good trigger buttons. Android allows to install other emulators than the ones provided (that is a major advantage over other devices in my opinion). Plus Retroid answered my questions quickly when I needed help. So in the end, I tried many devices that often got me frustrated. I wanted a PSX portable with 2 sticks and 4 trigger buttons (not a hacked Vita that's only got 2 trigger buttons and the back touch screen). The Retroid Pocket 2 is nearly perfect for this. It may not be the most powerful device (DC games doesn't run well) but I'm pretty satisfied with itfor my use cases.
Amazing video. Finaly someone talked about that. Consumers need to wake up and demando the propper quality for what they are paying, or at least demand thos brands to be fully honest - in both their statements and the prices - about what they are selling.
You are absolutely rigth. I recently got RK2020 and was shocked how crap that handheld is. The battery was not placed correctly and the software freeze all the time. There is absolutely no quality control
What I think the next big idea for retro handheld games should be is shells to fit slightly older smartphones that you can plug the controls right into the phone's USB port (no Bluetooth needed). Then you can buy an older phone just for gaming. Yes, you'd have to undock every time you need to charge. I haven't figured out everything. That's for someone less techdumb than me. Just a thought.
As we know, GPDs customer service can be non-existent. I decided to roll the dice and spent $800 on the GPD win max. I received it two weeks ago and it's one of the best purchases I've made. The controls from the buttons to the D-Pad IS the PS Vitas and I've played with it almost non-stop. It emulates almost everything including all the PS2 I can throw at it, CEMU (Mario 3D world and Wind Waker HD are perfect! Haven't tried BOTW yet but I've see that it also works well) and even quite a bit on PS3. Got Asuras Wrath, Demons Souls and Persona 5 running at 30fps! Only the Intel Iris drivers hold those back. I think I got lucky but I'm not afraid to get dirty if this device decides to flake out on her later.
That's why people like Taki Udon are great because they talk directly to some developers and give feedback to give the best experience
Agreed, his work is great.
His video's are legendary agreed... and he haves the communication and helps the devs make something good. 😳
Both you guys are great, Always know that
I still take it with a grain of salt. No matter how low these guys have their ears to the ground we still get screwed sometime. I use the retroid preorder disaster as an example. All taki was posting was new variances and no new info.
Which is why I agree with this video. After the rp2 fiasco im waiting products and companies out until the product will actually be worth the hassle.
@@samk9883 yeah but he pointed out the issues with the handheld in the second video he made about it
Thank God someone finally is making this statment...
It had to be said.
@@RetroDodo Agreed, the way they expect you to get out there and figure out the stuff *they* should've done before even sending out an device relatively expensive like that is absolute bullshit, imo having the option to expand your library of games and emulators should be something optional, if you want to, you can download more emulators be there for the same system or not, but instead, it is something that plenty of times you *have* to do if you want the best experience, it's so stupid, i don't remember which device it was rn, but, i remember having to go out of my way to get a GBA emulator for this one handheld that already had one GBA emulator, but, it was extremely shitty, it didn't work properly with the majority of games, had major slow down, etc.
I'm glad to know people like you thrive for the truth, it makes the people who consume your content like me have trust in you, because you are telling them what they should buy from the heart, unlike the others who are only interested in making a quick buck with their discount codes, overall glad to see the evolution of your channel, it has gotten much much better, keep up the good work and thanks for bringing us quality content!
Sadly it won't change anything. The Chinese companies are not going to suddenly come out and give you 1 year warranty and tech support.
People buying all these devices because they're cheap. And they're cheap because they sell these devices as is, at shoestring prices as they're not earning much profit.
The best option for buyers (those not willing to take risks) is to just ignore all these devices and go for the branded names like Nintendo or RP4 etc. You pay for the quality and warranty and peace of mind.
@@acejon2162 Exactly my point all the time regarding this. People go for these because of price already knowing how bad QC and then they complain about lack of support or bad QC.
@@ParanoidThalyyMVS Relatively expensive? For this money you almost can't even replace a low end smartphone screen.
tbh "China stuff is garbage" is a known fact for years where I live and I was surprised that there are decent handhelds like the Retroid Pocket 2 …
I have an RP2, and it's pretty crap.
@@jonnyeh I have it too and it runs pretty good... Guess its a matter of experience/settings knowledge.
You might want to get something a bit more straight forward.
GPD XD & GPD XD Plus
Retroid Pocket 2
Powkiddy X18
RK2020
Powkiddy RGB10
Pocket Go
New Pocket Go/Play Go/ Miyoo Max
RG350 Series
RG351
Get'em while China still manufactures them! Once China chooses to not manufacture them they're gone forever.
@@jonnyeh The Retroid Pocket 2 is an okay Retro Device it's just a terrible android device.
@@jonnyeh I'm enjoying mine daily, maybe go on discord and/or watch taki udons user guide to get it running to your preference. Only thing I didn't like at 1st is the stiff d pad.
That's why I chose Anbernic. I don't mind thinkering with it, but I first need to sit down and play a bit, out of the box, no mind parkour involved.
This has always been the case with products coming out of china, I realized this years ago, it's always a gamble getting these, I am glad you have figured it out , and that you are letting other people know of the downfalls, there is a reason they are "cheaper" than some other products.
In my experience, you get what you pay for.
@@svcross-do the ZPG pro wasn't cheap and there are plenty of 80 devices that work better.
As nice as all that would be, it would bring the consumer price up.
Out of the most i've seen, Anbernic has been the most truthful for their console
Their new 351 has been delayed and WiFi taken out
The RG-350 is the best retro console I’ve had since the Dingoo A320
Anbernic is good
@Scorpi O yeah took them 2 months to refund me.
You told me about this video and was looking forward to this.
I complete feel with you on this ... I grind video's only I can tell I feel frustrated sometimes and indeed with broken handhelds out of the box.
Not even to start with the X-series those things are horrible... only they are cheap 😳
Most of my viewers know this they have see me review cheap 20 dollar handhelds before.
I'm used to the fact they say it can play PSP, DC, N64 and other stuff and ... i know it is all a lie.. ( The Cake is a LIE ! ) 👹
For people who spend ther hard earned money that are new to the community will feel maybe ripped off and that is normal.
With the invasion it's impossible to see what is the best handheld for ... if they stop making for couple of month You and me we can make a TOP 10 so we can help the people out.
This is just not possible when they release freaking 2 new handhelds every week or so 🙄
Agree BIG TIME ... review product out of the box not spending day in and out fixing it 🤨
We need to dedicate a full episode to this .... 🤓
@TrinitroGuy250 yeah indeed.
Right I agree WG... whata shame😖... this device he showed looks really nice too smh.
I DEFINITELY AGREE! It's just like the pandora jungle lol
@@imnotayoutuber8494 I think with handhelds it's even more of a Jungle WHAHHAhahahaha 🤣
SO ARE YOU CHEESINESS OR JAPANESE :) LOL
Another informative and beautiful video. Thank you 👍
I'm dealing with customer service right now because they didn't include the sd card that I paid for. I'm on the third day of trying to convince them they didn't give me my sd card and they're demanding pictures like i'm a liar or a scammer. Luckily the product works. All I want is the sd card that I paid for.
I bought an RS-97 Anniversary 2 on Amazon in September and I Love it. Everybody I show it to asks me where I got it and how much it was. I got a clear one for 50 bucks in it arrived in 4 days. I thought it was so sweet I found a seller that had blue ones for 40 bucks and I received it in 3 days. They came with RetroFW 1.2 installed but it was no sweat to flash the bios to RetroFW 2.2. Even if I didn't flash them, they were awesome right out of the box and came loaded with ROMs. RS-97 Anniversary 2!
This video definitely needed to be made, and I think its best that it was posted. I completely agree with you and I stopped buying hand-held emulators years ago due to this very issue. Fortunately we have Retroid and Anbernic that have changed the market and quality quite a bit, but unfortunately for every good company comes many many bad ones. I bought an RG280M and a Retroid Pocket 2 thanks to you, Taki, ETA Prime and Sonic Love and they've both honestly impressed me immensely. Especially the Retroid, that was an amazing purchase for the money. Content creators like those listed above make the community a lot better than it was years ago but unfortunately the many sketchy companies will always try their best to make their money and run. Keep up the great work and I wish you the best of luck and growth for the channel and brand.
Thank you. :)
I remember back in highschool when I got into chinese emulation devices. I didn't have a job at the time, but there was so many handhelds I wanted. I was able to buy a Gemei 330 and a Benss, but then China stopped producing the other handhelds. The only handheld they were making was the PAP-KII it was a horrible handheld with lag and screen tearing. When I saw Chinese handhelds were back and better than ever I was excited.
@D. It's not artificial scarcity if that only make 100 of a thing. That's just plain old scarcity.
@D. He’s a reactive prick.
Hope Chinese game held manufacturer/companies see this video. They need to learn that we ain't having any of their rubbish anymore. @retrododo, thank you for taking the initiative for using your hard earned money to bring out these truthful reviews.
You are very welcome! Thank you for watching our content.
They will never learn or most of them... why you ask ?
I have reviewed around 15 handhelds with x-serie china 💩 software and every single time they have the same problems.
They won’t learn crap. They thrive on stealing Westerners work and money. They LAUGH at us. They already gave us a deadly disease created in a lab. What more do you expect? 🙄
呵呵 他们才不管西方人的看法，能卖出就卖呗
They are about quantity not quality if it breaks you just buy another one.
It's like any niche-turned-mass product really.
We got a brilliant idea coming from nowhere (GP2X)
We got pioneering yet flawed early products with high prospect (Dingoo, Gemei)
We got better and more insightful companies coming up with a quality threshold (GCWZero, Anbernic, GPD)
We got a market swarming with cash-ins like copycats, knockoffs, derivatives and related products with some new niche to fill (Like this one in the video)
And we'll eventually get to a point with a powerful conglomerate purging the smaller companies out of the business while the industry gets into a stalemate. (Probably a phone company)
I love the honesty. It will keep me watching. Not everyone knows how to update the firmware
*Me sitting quietly in the corner retro gaming on my PSP-1000*
WHahahahha 🤣
Is there now a good PC-Engine Emulator on the PSP? A few years ago I tried all the ones available at that time and they all sucked.
me on my laptop doing retro gaming, me on my wii u playing wii and gamecube games.
Come back to us when PCE-CD, N64, and Dreamcast runs on it. 😒
I have a kindle fire I bought for $50 with a 7 inch screen and am running tons of games including n64, ps1, and psp through the happy chick emulator
I'm buying my first retro handheld which will be the anbernic 351P and I agree that there is a stigma around buying these products from China.
And after seeing that video of the worker rubbing the frame round his feet I think I'll pass on buying anymore.
See this is why I love Brandon, I trust his advice and his opinion often matches mine and a video like this warning people is important.
I purchased a rk2020, I knew from Brandons video and review build quality wasn't great but it was cheap so I thought why not, micro SD card cannot be removed due to the poor shell and the battery became lose and wobbling the first time I used it due to the heat, they ignored the refund promise and the refund page is actually missing on the website.
I agree that ideally an out of the box handheld that just works would be amazing but at least we get and idea of what to expect from the retrododo website and videos so we can brace ourselves
Thanks Phil.
British Jonah Hill preaching to the masses and speaking the truth! 🔥💯
Like you briefly touched on, this is why I feel like people have taken to the Retroid 2 so much - not only is it a good handheld, but they seem to have a veneer of relatively good customer service and seem to have catered for the west in a way that a lot of Chinese companies typically manage, especially in this specific niche sector
I am new to Retro Handheld Gaming. In the beginning I was quickly put off by all the different versions from never-heard-before manufacturers. It's only after watching a few of your videos (and looking at your website) that I decided for the Retroid Pocket 2. If you are mad at low-quality "gadgets" from China, your channel is the best vaccine.
"you get what works and not what you want" ... great thought! RetroDodo Thank you!
I'm lucky enough to be someone who knows technology pretty well and have been doing emulation for years. I can look at the specs of a system and have a pretty good idea what a handheld can actually run well. I've owned enough of them that I've learned which companies I can trust too. It's so sad to see the state of the market right now. So many systems with the same internals and crappy build quality. I hope people will speak with their wallets and make these companies realize that we won't put up with this. Videos like this are a great start. Thanks for putting it out there.
Okay so, you've basically talked about everything I'm concerned about when buying these handhelds. I was really interested in the RG350p but I for the life of me can't find it where it's stocked in a facility in the US.
It's always shipped from china which can take months and I don't feel like risking $100+ on a device that very well may never show up.
Is there some site that you, or anyone, can recommend to get one of those from.
You and Taki have been my go to content creators to earn about these products. I am new to the scene and just want to say that we appreciate the work you are doing.
I still use my old gpd xd even i got a rg350, a pocketgo, some jxd...my gpd xd is still my favorite gaming console
for someone that it's just starting to learn about this market, I thank you for your honest opinions and reviews on these; still looking for one that can play N64 games well
Watch as many videos as you can find from different reviewers using the same unit. I've watched at least 5 different reviewers show N64 game play on the Retroid Pocket 2 and am waiting now for mine to arrive. Now if your new to this scene please be aware there are several different emulators and front ends to access those emulators but over all the Retroid Pocket 2 looks to be the best for the price. In fact there is no other unit I've seen that can even properly emulate N64 games at $80 price point.
Best of luck...happy gaming!
I felt that the retroid pocket 2 has been pushed really hard by this channel (and others). I had one, for DC and N64 the sound isn’t smooth at all, the frame rates are choppy (without customisation), i just feel these elements are too overlooked in reviews across the board. Glad this is being addressed because responsibility doesn’t just stop with the Chinese manufacturers.
Good on you Retro Dodo!
I honestly, would not mind having a video to watch that is a PSA on these handhelds, shedding light on what needs it.
When it comes down to it, we need people like retro dodo to give us this insight.
Others that will not be named, though easily can be found in the recommended section of any of these videos, are bought out by shops and showing good devices with botched settings, and bad devices with false information to sway our purchases to their market. It's a load of shady shit, and as consumers we need to have transparency in these demos.
Thank you Retro Dodo for keeping it real; it is much appreciated in this saturated market.
Edit:
I also feel you on the expectation for quality. I feel that the retro handheld market is like wanting the full game, but getting only pieces of DLC that should've been there to begin with. Instead of releasing a bunch of incomplete handhelds, they could've worked on it an extra month and held a q&a with reviewers like yourself to help have the handheld ready for launch, instead of shadily buying out reviewers who own online shops to push them out early and incomplete 😑
i.e. when funkey s sent out a demo unit to you i feel like that the company legitimately valued your input to use for the final revisions, not that you are bought out to sell their incomplete demo units.
Great video. I feel the same way. After watching tons of videos and researching I was able to get my Odriod Go Advanced up and running. There was no customer support for the product. The last straw was the firmware taking a dump and that took me way too much time to fix. That is the main reason why I sold my Odriod Go. Then, my replacement the Ambernic RG350P that I replaced my Odriod Go with ended up having a problem too. Only after a week of having the RG350P the SD Card was corrupted. I actually reached out to you and you responded to me quickly thank you so much. Again, I had to research and this time void the warranty by taking the sticker off of the firmware SD card. It turns out my Linux file system program for Wondows saved that firmware SD card. I made an image backup of it and copied that image over to a more reliable SD card. Now, no more issues and the RG350P is a retro handheld gaming beast.
Nice review, thanks for the honesty, shows you're not sponsored.
Maybe do a top (or bottom) 10 list - not just the product itself, but of the company that sells them
I completely agree with this video. 6 months ago i bought the Playgo (PocketGo V2) and thought "Hey that is one nice handheld!".
A few weeks ago the battery was running low, so I turned the handhled off and plugged it in. after about a minute or 10...it stopped charging...I smelled something burning and it was quite hot.
Immediately removed the battery, but it was to late. The device was fried...
After contacting the seller, I got the same treatment as in the video (no response).
I kept sending messages to get the device fixed.
Today I got an answer...
"we sell more to other buyers . we don't get any other buyer said that the chip is burned .Unless the frequency of the machine is adjusted too high to cause the chip to burn"
I just copy/paste the response...
The device was turned off...I use the same charger as for my pocketgo (v1) and Bittboy...
Guys, DO NOT BUY AT THE WOLSEN STORE
Saturday I ordered the Retroid Pocket 2 at Goretroid (16BIT US version) so now is the waiting game until it is shipped and arrives.
PS. Even though I already have multiple handhelds, I still love watching your reviews. Thanks for al the honesty!
I like your sincerity and opinion, please keep doing this great work
Just a heads up @5:14 - this is a video of the "ZPG" shell, not the ZPG Pro that you have. The naming scheme makes no sense, nor does the reason why he decided to make a video scrubbing his foot with a defective shell to post online.
Well said Brandon, it's about time someone pointed this out. It's really hard to bring those interested in getting into the retro handheld scene into the mix with the abundance of crap currently on the market. Thank goodness we have blokes like yourself who are willing to sift through the bollocks and point out what's worth picking up and what isn't...
DUDE! Best sign EVER in neon behind you! If only more people from your generation had that attitude the world would be in a MUCH BETTER PLACE! Thank you for displaying common sense prominently!! 👏👍
5:10 uhh what is that man doing with his toes and my game console
That's leaked footage of workers making handhelds. :S
😆
Ahahahahha... wtf
@@RetroDodo But what the heck is he doing? Can't think of any reason for him to get the shell between his toes.
Looks fake
Sometimes I don't agree with you, but in this case, you are absolutely right. I hope more content creators address this.
Not all hero's wear capes, thank you for your honesty and keeping it real with us on your reviews.
Not sure what you expected. These are under a $100 devices playing pirated games.
I get it, that most of these old games that are over 20 years old, emulation is the only realistic way to play them, but still. Let’s keep expectations at check.
I agree wholeheartedly with what you're saying. I purchased the RG280M and the backlight is far, far too bright in full darkness (aka playing before sleep in bed). Done plenty of research, can't find anyone sharing my complaint and can't find anyone who can help me.
This issue here is whats kept me from jumping into the handheld market until recently.
Thank you for echoing us.
Excellent content lad. Thanks man.
No worries!
Did you resolve that one that burned when it turns on?
Whian Bester I mean, he showed his messages read and not answered, so I'm guessing no. 😭
This is exactly why I steered clear of retro handhelds for years. I was lucky that I just so happened to be taking a fresh look at the handheld industry just as the RP2 was picking up steam. I ended up buying one and even it was a real pain at first for a newcomer like me. I feel I've dodged some bullets with that purchase, though. I'm just looking forward to messing around with the Funkey S at this point.
Very very very honest video. My like is done
Thank you so much 😀
Although I agree with customer support having to improve and companies needing to establish a dedicated CS department, I don’t agree with the notion that researching is a bad thing. When I ordered the RP2 (the most incredible handheld, both extremely powerful and the most economic IMO) I immediately did my due diligence and studied what OS it uses so I’m aware of how it works. I studied what Retroarch was so I knew what I was doing and didn’t sit there with a thumb in my ass, and these were things that made my life waaaaaay more easier when I finally got my RP2 in hand. Set up didn’t take more then 10 minutes because of the initiative I took. It’s something I highly recommend anyone doing. Not to make a companies life easier, but to make you more well rounded and give yourself some new knowledge.
Massive respect man! I'm glad I stumbled upon this channel to find great retro handhelds recommended by you and taki! I'm glad you opened up to this topic and not the type to sell me the product but to support it instead and bring light on to shady parts of the whole ordeal.
Thank you so much, I wish all the best for you man and I honestly love the content you bring and show on here and being honest with the community without any bs which is the type of content creators that I strongly respect and admire! Keep up the awesome work man!
I'm very happy with my RG350M, although both included sdcards were junk and I voided the warranty by peeling off the sticker to replace the internal sdcard. However it did work for me out of box and the few freezes that I had sorted themselves out after the battery ran out. I haven't seen that problem since replacing internal sdcard. The screen, controller and speakers are all very good quality and the community on reddit is amazing to get the most out of this handheld device.
dear Retro Dodo. My deepest respect for this video, and the many others you put out over the years. I like how you always give your honest opinion and I have always admired this honesty.
Also an important issue is how some of these consoles are made to look like popular consoles from Sony(PSP, PSV), Nintendo(at the moment Switch and Switch lite, but a few years back it was the DS lite), confusing and tricking parents, grandparents, small children. (just think Supbor Q400 or the turqoiuse ZPG Pro).
Also, I hate how when you contact the chinese seller and complain their first response is "Sorry friend, maybe you don't know how to charge or use the product. Not our fault, we test each product before shipping and only sell bestt quality" :(
I like that you highlighted Retroid Pocket’s customer service. From the get go when it came to my package or any problems I’ve had RP has come through with customer service. Definitely a reliable company for future retro handhelds.
These devices are meant for tinkerers and semi hardcore retro gamers who know the way around these topics. The least minimal is people who had their hands on SBC computers such as Raspberry Pi. And these market segment are really independent with their devices they own
The good thing is, if they keep the device "open" and it become very popular, great things will come to that handheld. For example? Even couple of years after LDK released, RetroFW is still maintaned by the community, and received many ports like Descent. RG350 in particular, nowadays got a lot of love from the community as well.
The bad thing, is what everything Brandon complained here, particularly, the devs become really lazy with their stuffs, expecting the community work for them.
It blows my mind that there're actually some people who really having difficulties on where to put the roms and how to run them. Some even complain the device don't have any games in it. And yes, there're far more tech-retarded people out there that would blow your mind further. People who don't even know how to uninstall apps on Android. People who don't even know how to update windows. People who cannot differenciate between USB ports.
These devices, surely NOT for them. They should buy the mainstream consoles instead that are designed to be mainstream user friendly from ground up, in this case Switch is the closest bet. Even that, some will still having difficulties using them.
It’s why I watch your channel before buying anything. I finally found one that met my needs so I bought the retroid pocket 2. I use it for steam, shadow, and psp. With that said. I wish it was slightly more powerful,metal, and the right analog stick wasn’t flat and had ranged motion instead of acting like a d pad.
What do you think about alternatively using retro arch with your phone and a retractable controller?
I don't always agree with you Brandon but this is bang on. The only the hardware manufacturer's that I trust are: Anbernic, Retroid (hope they keep it up) and GPD (different price bracket entirely though).
Hopefully the market will get rid of some of the shadier products naturally but the rise of paid influencers is of great concern.
Keep doing what you do man, we all support you!
Hell yeah that makes sense. I get so many items from over seas that are damaged, defective or the packing has been used as a rugby ball.
I couldn’t agree more! I’ve bought two New Pocket Go and one had an issue with the L trigger and they said to update the firmware or open the console. I’m a tech guy so I’ve solved the issue BUT I wanted to see what was their customer service like. And I got disapointed.
Question about the device theme... did that come that way or did you install it?
I’m curious how my themes are ending up on these cheap chinese handhelds
Why I bought the rg350m and haven’t had an urge to buy another
Hey Man these last two Videos were Amazing just more personal and I like that
Glad to hear it! :)
I really appreciate this video. I love the authenticity you’ve been on lately. Your conviction is very tastefully appealing, I hope it pulls the veils off of the lower quality, poor customer service norm! Thanks for sharing your story and team on “Dodo 2.0” vid, these videos are gold!
You are so welcome!
Retro Dodo do you have discord?
Great video and about time too! I purchased two handhelds that were rated very good but were not *that* good. I then bought a nintendo switch and never had to deal with any problems....Good Video !!!
I loved your rant, man! I think this is REALLY a important thing that people should talk about and prioritize when using their hard earned money to buy stuff from China (or any other place).
I've seen a similar thing from a reviewer of hi-fi earphone that review stuff from chi-fi rant about QC issues and miss information.
Edi: Also subscribed 👍
Absolutely true - they are rushing out dozens of models and don't care at all afterwards. Just said something similar in my latest vid. One of the reasons i stick to my evercade!
I ordered two Retroid Pocket 2’s about 2 weeks ago based on your review and now seeing this I’m 💩’ing myself. I haven’t had confirmation of shipping yet. Fingers crossed!!
I ordered mine on 10th September I asked when they were shipping the next batch, the said mid October..
I didn't realise how bad this was but I'm glad you and a lot of other Retro UA-camrs are talking about.
I think you should make more videos on this subject and spread more awareness. Great job as always!
Glad this video wasn't clickbait. I thought manufacturers were giving you these handhelds for free to review, so I definitely appreciate the honesty! I wouldn't buy a handheld if you didn't recommend it.
I was an early buyer of the RG351P and watched the updates in the official Anbernic Discord as they paused shipping and their devs moved heaven and earth to ensure the software bugs that cropped up with the first sales in China were fixed before the international shipments went out and keep everyone updated step by step.
I'd like to see more of these companies take that kind of pride on their products and communicating with their customers
Yes, ANBERNIC are doing great. Did some RG351P's go out with defects?
@@RetroDodo Apparently only in China where they were immediately rushed out
The international shipments were held back to update the firmware so an issue with speaker buzz with the Wi-Fi is active with some units due to poor shielding somewhere is all that remains
Sadly it lead to them removing the Wi-Fi from further production runs until they can figure out to how rectify it
Loved the review, as I wanted one of them. I just bought the v90 mini (yellow gameboy SP) and love it, the screen is amazing but the rest of it is cheap.
What do you recommend to purchase?
Check out the RG351P
Is powkiddy x18 worth the $100?
I think you're raising a really important element of risk that exists with these purchases, and is often not clear to people buying them who aren't already savvy to this markets foibles. Thanks for doing this.
I would suggest however that even when doing a rant style piece like this, you should write a script and focus your thoughts a bit more. The unscripted tone of this piece jumps around a lot, and some sentences are muddled or tail off into the following one. Perhaps you felt this wasn't deserving of the full script/edit process as its more of a PSA, but i would suggest that the more professional the delivery of this message, the more seriously customers and manufacturers will take it.
That aside, cracking work as always, great to see someone who seems to genuinely be pro consumer.
I got a rk2020 and threw it in the trash in a couple days. found that there was no sound... as expected from.... QC is absolutely terrible
The issues you are complaining about is EXACTLY what one should expect when buying a cheap Chinese retro handheld from places like aliexpress. You get no customer support unless the item is not delivered, you have to find your own firmware. This is the price you pay for going cheap instead of ordering from the likes of Evercade, Analogue, etc
Yeah, funny all the comment are #bravo bravo while the elephant in the room is accurately avoided.
I just got an RG351P for Christmas and this makes me nervous now.
I got it too, it's great
When it was £60 for the RG350, it didn't matter that the HDMI didn't work or that it needed newer emulators to run better. It was impulse purchase pricing. But with handhelds now coming out for twice the price they should show quality that reflects the price.
I bought the retroid pocket 2 and am thankful for guys like you ad Taki Udon for giving us the straight truth.
I think there is a place for iteration on the same hardware. O-Droid Go Advance deserve the crown for engineering what has now become the go-to rk3326 platform, however that device has quality issues and is difficult to buy. The RK2020 came out and it was a good 'out of box' solution for an affordable price but had battery and heating issues. The RGB10 came out with the same hardware again but had some nice construction features (huge fan of the one finger start + select round combo button design they did). Of all the RK3326 devices, that one is my favourite so far and have just ordered another one in Black. Anbernic did their own spin as well with the RG351p and answered the dual analog stick requirement some players wanted. Its great to have these options and yes there will always be quality control issues with Chinese handhelds, just a sad factor of budget hardware. Excited to see what 2021 will bring, hopefully more in the form of Snapdragon chipsets with Android base!
I had been wanting a retro handheld for some time, but kept holding off for the exact reasons you have mentioned. I finally settled on the RG350M and am satisfied with it for what it is. But, honestly, I think I’d rather just do a Pi 4 build. It’s easy enough to do and the community for it is huge. Not to mention it’s a powerhouse compared to these out-of-the-box handhelds.
This kinda thing happened to me with the RK2020. Came out of the box with a rip-off image and the battery stopped charging after a day.
awesome to see another video! love the content always
Thanks Jason!
How can you update firmware when there isn't one ever released?
Even Retroid haven't updated their website yet
I think you are talking about PandaMimi, formally Game Dodo?; -)
The GPD XD Plus seems to be the only handheld worth the price that was pinned on it.
Thank you for the intro - I love that the community is so active and helpful; but that's no excuse for the companies to not AT LEAST direct you towards them
You’re surprised by this? They’re cheap Chinese products, ones made to play roms from game companies that are not involved and which are most of the time pre-installed. The RG350 had a non-working HDMI too and manufacturer said the same thing and everyone gave it a pass. This shouldn’t be a surprise, especially when you look at products pictures and see shit photoshops and the considerably low price for what these things can do.
i love your channel and i refer only to you for my handheld sales
I had a RK2020 and basically the problem was overheating and charging problem (either it takes a day to fully charge, or it would stay at zero to 1 notch) I ordered the RK2020 V2, they sent me another RK2020 and the charging is STILL the problem
Great video, B.
Really good points made here.
Keep spreading the good word.
I bought a Retroid Pocket 2 based on the recommendation of this channel. It arrived and then screen is defective. Ive been waiting 2 weeks for a response from Retroid, so I don't think they are anywhere near true customer support, never mind all the other jokers. I still think it's a great product and I like what Retroid do, but a bit annoyed that I've paid them and have nothing to show for it.
I don't like getting involved in stuff like this, but it's ridiculous that you haven't heard anything back after that long. Send me your e-mail address on Discord and I'll ask why they haven't said anything back to you.
They relied today, sending me a new front case with screen fitted. Long wait ahead, but that is fair enough.
Little bit out of the subject but could you maybe make a video with handhelds that you can plug into a TV and use as a console I would really appreciate it.
Your a 100% right , thanks for bringing this issue in to the light , keep up the good work
The retro handheld (Pocket Go 2) i bought the USB-C port is really loose and only connects when its pushed at an angle. I emailed them and they want me to send it back, i already waited 4 months for it to arrive... :(
My ZPG regular showed up and I played it for a half an hour, it overheated and turned itself off.
Same thing happened with the RK2020 only that also wiped the internal memory as well when it did and I had to get a replacement from the seller.
And the Powkiddy barely functioned had a battery whose half life happened after only a handful of charges all with an analog stick that didn’t actually even work.
The only retro handheld of quality is the RG-350
I think you should have made 2 separated videos. One for the ZPG review and one with the issues of that market, showing them right out of the box from different products.
- My GPD XD Plus has power supply issues (the screen goes completely wild when I charge it), I had to reset the OS to its factory settings and it messed up all the directories and I can't manage to make anything work with the preinstalled emulators.
- My Bittboy Pocket Go has a full line of green fried pixels on the screen after only one hour of usage and it runs things very badly (they market it as PSX compatible).
- My RG350 doesn't run very well 3D games of PSX. I had to install a new firmware to get better support of analog sticks and it was hard to do (thanks to youtubers for the explanations).
- I'm pretty happy with my RG300 (for 8-16 bits emulation because I didn't expected anything more from it), my Retrostone for PSX emulation (The screen is terrible. If someone wants to buy this, take the Retrostone 2 instead. And it's only got a D-pad. No analog stick.)
- Even if I got some issues with some games on the Retroid Pocket 2 (F-Zero GBA games are slow as hell) it is pretty much satisfying in all other aspects. Quality build. Good sound and screen. Two analog sticks (well, the right one isn't really analog). 4 good trigger buttons. Android allows to install other emulators than the ones provided (that is a major advantage over other devices in my opinion). Plus Retroid answered my questions quickly when I needed help.
So in the end, I tried many devices that often got me frustrated. I wanted a PSX portable with 2 sticks and 4 trigger buttons (not a hacked Vita that's only got 2 trigger buttons and the back touch screen). The Retroid Pocket 2 is nearly perfect for this. It may not be the most powerful device (DC games doesn't run well) but I'm pretty satisfied with itfor my use cases.
Amazing video. Finaly someone talked about that. Consumers need to wake up and demando the propper quality for what they are paying, or at least demand thos brands to be fully honest - in both their statements and the prices - about what they are selling.
You are absolutely rigth. I recently got RK2020 and was shocked how crap that handheld is. The battery was not placed correctly and the software freeze all the time. There is absolutely no quality control
appreciate you taking a stance and being honest with the market!
I'm glad you posted this and thank you for doing so!
What I think the next big idea for retro handheld games should be is shells to fit slightly older smartphones that you can plug the controls right into the phone's USB port (no Bluetooth needed). Then you can buy an older phone just for gaming. Yes, you'd have to undock every time you need to charge. I haven't figured out everything. That's for someone less techdumb than me. Just a thought.
This is why Ive stuck to my psp for the majority of retro gaming and use my phone with a controller to handle what my psp cant emulate.
As we know, GPDs customer service can be non-existent. I decided to roll the dice and spent $800 on the GPD win max. I received it two weeks ago and it's one of the best purchases I've made. The controls from the buttons to the D-Pad IS the PS Vitas and I've played with it almost non-stop. It emulates almost everything including all the PS2 I can throw at it, CEMU (Mario 3D world and Wind Waker HD are perfect! Haven't tried BOTW yet but I've see that it also works well) and even quite a bit on PS3. Got Asuras Wrath, Demons Souls and Persona 5 running at 30fps! Only the Intel Iris drivers hold those back. I think I got lucky but I'm not afraid to get dirty if this device decides to flake out on her later.