Grabbed a trimui smart a few weeks ago and am loving it so far. With Minui it’s awesome. Comfy in my hands and the screen is small but looks awesome. Was tempted to grab this at first, but most of the same points you brought up in the video, high cost, clunky firmware especially, led me to the trimui.
@@JoeysRetroHandhelds it really is, I get that smaller devices aren’t for everyone, but in my case it’s super nice to have in my pocket and just take out at random times.
@JoeysRetroHandhelds I've always liked that one. The one drawback for me is the position of the analog stick, which is sometimes in the way of the DPad.
Not Joey, but I have one. It’s great but the weight of the metal makes it a little difficult to daily carry. Would rather have rg351p or Trimui smart to daily Overall, 280m is good for ps1 and below. Adam Image OS with unified theme makes it a breeze to use. Buttons are good and control scheme is comfy. Screen is good. Two-tone color is fun. I don’t use it for analog games so stick isn’t an annoyance.
Its nice! It’s a bit of a push at that price, specially if you look at the performance perspective. The reason I upgraded my RG351P was because even on 2020 no wifi irked me but in 2024 Its a deal breaker for me
I find this interesting for being super pocketable and durable. Too small though. I'd like to see something a little bigger with larger A/B button layout. If I'm doing anything on a small device it's GB/GBC/GBA. I throw my Miyoo Mini in my bag or pocket all the time, or just for pick up and play around the house for 15 mins.
Good review. Yeah, this is a weird one. It is odd that a device like this is coming out now when there are already way better options in the retro handheld market. I actually prefer retro handheld devices that are a bit bigger anyways as this looks way too small to comfortably play for awhile. The price definitely seems absurd as well with all of the flaws it has and the fact that you can get better devices for a little cheaper. This just kind of seems like more e-waste.
I love the design of this unit. I just don't like the lack of size, lack of performance, and lack of refinement. For $30 it would be fine; but, at $90 I'm not a buyer. I will give GKD credit for including Atari Lynx emulation. I bought Lynx.EMU yesterday because why not? Other than knowing it existed and was the first color handheld I didn't know much about it. It turns out that the Lynx was natively a 16:10 widescreen system. My cheapo tablet I use for 5th gen emulation is also 16:10. The games fit perfectly and actually look really good on it. I'm partial to "Checkered Flag" and "Warbirds", both of which are far more technically proficient than they have any right to be. I doubt Lynx games will look nearly as good on this postage stamp sized 4:3 screen (Holy squinting because of letter boxing, Batman!) but I'm happy to see it's here. What annoys me is the number of low end widescreen handhelds I see reviewed that don't come with widescreen content other than a poorly running PSP emulator or a poorly thought out stretch of 4:3 and 3:2 games. We actually had multiple widescreen handhelds back in the day that can be emulated on a potato. There's no excuse not to include them. It's funny that the one time at least one of these consoles are included it's on a device without the ability to allow those games to make it look good.
I was thinking about getting one if these but how can it not handle all ps1 games.. look at the rg nano or the r36s which can handle much more than ps1..
I really like look and feel of this device, but everything else is just killing me. No wi-fi, no bt, no sleep, no nothing and 90$. I sold my RG Nano because screen/body ratio is garbage, this one looks like the sweet spot, but there is nothing, except size and aluminium case.
02:58 - They also stated that it had a 1500 mAh battery, when in reality it has a 1300 mAh. That's a few hours less of gameplay. When a company lies in so many things like this, I just cannot ever believe they will ever do something like open sourcing their firmware/IUX like they also stated that they would
I'm happy I bought the RG405V. Like, I see these devices and I feel like I picked one that suited me for what I wanted and that actually works, not like these new consoles that, as you said, are lazy at best and bad if you look at the market.
For its price, this thing is expensive. I enjoy the miyoo mini I have, and the absence of wifi is not a deal breaker. There’s a desktop tool for onion os that will download and update the OS to micro sd card without putting much effort. The only other thing that the WiFi would be great is for retroachievements or if you’re planning on using multiplayer options. With that I have the RG35XX H, and got that for almost half the price of this device. Comes with Bluetooth, WiFi, good speakers, great buttons, and batocera/koriki support.
40 dollars for a cable??? The heck the magnetic thing is cool but i get all my cables on aliexpress for $2 each that cable literally the price of a handheld
Grabbed a trimui smart a few weeks ago and am loving it so far. With Minui it’s awesome. Comfy in my hands and the screen is small but looks awesome. Was tempted to grab this at first, but most of the same points you brought up in the video, high cost, clunky firmware especially, led me to the trimui.
Trimui smart is cool!
@@JoeysRetroHandhelds it really is, I get that smaller devices aren’t for everyone, but in my case it’s super nice to have in my pocket and just take out at random times.
More expensive than miyoo mini, less powerful than the miyoo mini, and too small to actually use. Perfect
Hard to care about this one when we already have so many better and cheaper sub 100 options but good review regardless
Hey Joey I noticed you have the Ambernic RG280M on display. Has that one ever been a daily carry for you? I'd love to see a review
I just got it in actually! I've never had one before :)
@JoeysRetroHandhelds I've always liked that one. The one drawback for me is the position of the analog stick, which is sometimes in the way of the DPad.
Not Joey, but I have one.
It’s great but the weight of the metal makes it a little difficult to daily carry. Would rather have rg351p or Trimui smart to daily
Overall, 280m is good for ps1 and below. Adam Image OS with unified theme makes it a breeze to use. Buttons are good and control scheme is comfy. Screen is good. Two-tone color is fun. I don’t use it for analog games so stick isn’t an annoyance.
Not interested in the device but I watched it for you
The UI looks kinda pretty tho
Its nice! It’s a bit of a push at that price, specially if you look at the performance perspective. The reason I upgraded my RG351P was because even on 2020 no wifi irked me but in 2024 Its a deal breaker for me
How does this compare to the powkiddy v90 performance wise?
I find this interesting for being super pocketable and durable. Too small though. I'd like to see something a little bigger with larger A/B button layout. If I'm doing anything on a small device it's GB/GBC/GBA. I throw my Miyoo Mini in my bag or pocket all the time, or just for pick up and play around the house for 15 mins.
Good review. Yeah, this is a weird one. It is odd that a device like this is coming out now when there are already way better options in the retro handheld market. I actually prefer retro handheld devices that are a bit bigger anyways as this looks way too small to comfortably play for awhile. The price definitely seems absurd as well with all of the flaws it has and the fact that you can get better devices for a little cheaper. This just kind of seems like more e-waste.
But... did you like it?
If this thing was a little cheaper and the size of the Miyoo mini plus it would be awesome.
At $90, it's a hard pass.
Miyoo mini is better as it runs ps1 and now they can attempt n64 games too. Amazing device
@@djnabsmusicuk8397 The MM is great but this one would be nice to have too because of the metal shell. They missed an opportunity.
I love the design of this unit. I just don't like the lack of size, lack of performance, and lack of refinement. For $30 it would be fine; but, at $90 I'm not a buyer.
I will give GKD credit for including Atari Lynx emulation. I bought Lynx.EMU yesterday because why not? Other than knowing it existed and was the first color handheld I didn't know much about it. It turns out that the Lynx was natively a 16:10 widescreen system. My cheapo tablet I use for 5th gen emulation is also 16:10. The games fit perfectly and actually look really good on it. I'm partial to "Checkered Flag" and "Warbirds", both of which are far more technically proficient than they have any right to be.
I doubt Lynx games will look nearly as good on this postage stamp sized 4:3 screen (Holy squinting because of letter boxing, Batman!) but I'm happy to see it's here. What annoys me is the number of low end widescreen handhelds I see reviewed that don't come with widescreen content other than a poorly running PSP emulator or a poorly thought out stretch of 4:3 and 3:2 games. We actually had multiple widescreen handhelds back in the day that can be emulated on a potato. There's no excuse not to include them. It's funny that the one time at least one of these consoles are included it's on a device without the ability to allow those games to make it look good.
I was thinking about getting one if these but how can it not handle all ps1 games.. look at the rg nano or the r36s which can handle much more than ps1..
I really like look and feel of this device, but everything else is just killing me. No wi-fi, no bt, no sleep, no nothing and 90$. I sold my RG Nano because screen/body ratio is garbage, this one looks like the sweet spot, but there is nothing, except size and aluminium case.
02:58 - They also stated that it had a 1500 mAh battery, when in reality it has a 1300 mAh. That's a few hours less of gameplay. When a company lies in so many things like this, I just cannot ever believe they will ever do something like open sourcing their firmware/IUX like they also stated that they would
Still wish they still sold the Evangelion color. 😥
I was so pissed when they announced that it would be a bonus color
They do on AliExpress
I bought this just for the looks and the size and I love it (even while having the Miyoo Mini).
If you really want small emulator console just buy Anbernic Nano, its cheaper, more powerful and smaller than this.
This thing is very flawed in several ways... but I love it personally. It's become my go-to for 2d RPGs that I can carry in my pocket
I'm happy I bought the RG405V. Like, I see these devices and I feel like I picked one that suited me for what I wanted and that actually works, not like these new consoles that, as you said, are lazy at best and bad if you look at the market.
For its price, this thing is expensive. I enjoy the miyoo mini I have, and the absence of wifi is not a deal breaker. There’s a desktop tool for onion os that will download and update the OS to micro sd card without putting much effort. The only other thing that the WiFi would be great is for retroachievements or if you’re planning on using multiplayer options. With that I have the RG35XX H, and got that for almost half the price of this device. Comes with Bluetooth, WiFi, good speakers, great buttons, and batocera/koriki support.
40 dollars for a cable??? The heck the magnetic thing is cool but i get all my cables on aliexpress for $2 each that cable literally the price of a handheld
nice video joey - but the gkd screen size is much too small to play anything decent - without getting eye strain
anyone who dings an all-aluminum case handheld for not having wifi doesn't understand how wifi works (or doesn't work, as the case may be)
RG405M & Metal RP2S would like a word.
I'm in the same boat as you buddy. Devices like this aren't for me either. Still a great review. Thanks
Thanks for watching!
Hmm 🤔 PASS!
First !
This or the anbernic tiny thing
This, but neither.
@@JoeysRetroHandhelds really? Why do you prefer this over that metal thing?
Top review. I especially enjoyed the last part 👏👏👏
Thanks! 👍
This seems like a expensive toddlers gimmick toy.
What a shame. Was waiting for this device ... Thanks for honest review and detailing issues.
No problem 👍
Moral of the story, buy an Odin 2 and call it a day!
Just buy an Odin 2 bro!
@@JoeysRetroHandheldsOrdered one after your last vid lol. Go big or go home!
Yeah I love how pocketable the Odin 2 is. Fits right into any small pocket!
way to small to use