This isn't a video that I was initially planning on making. If you've looked around the channel, you've probably noticed that I don't usually just chat about things. That being said, after playing around with this thing for a bit and seeing what other people had to say about it, I felt compelled to talk about it. This is the FunKeyS. It is an absolutely adorable handheld emulation device reminiscent of the clamshell design of the Game Boy Advance SP that released back in 2021. The FunKey can play an impressive variety of systems, including the PS1, though I tended to focus more on the Nintendo systems. The first thing you'll probably notice about the FunKey is its size. It's small. Very small. So small that when trying to think of similar devices to compare it to, all I came up with was a Dreamcast VMU and a Pocket Pikachu 2. Because everyone has one of those lying around. Despite the small size I've had virtually no issues while using it. It's fairly comfortable to hold and I can hit all of the buttons just fine. It charges via micro USB, comes with an internal 32 gigabyte micro SD card, and even has interchangeable face buttons. The latter two are both accessible by simply unscrewing two screws on the back of the device. Emulation wise, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, NES, and SNES all run pretty great with only a few noticeable flaws on a game-by-game basis, which we'll talk about here in a second. All of the games do have a shared issue, however, of only outputting at 50 FPS. I was originally under the impression this was because the screen itself was only 50 hertz, but then I found DrUm78's custom OS that unlocked everything to 60. So if you want 60 FPS instead of 50, it is possible. But I don't know why they locked it to 50 to begin with, so going 60 may have unintended side effects. Or maybe not. I don't really know. So with all of that out of the way, I want to talk about emulation. Specifically issues I've encountered. The GBA- a - blahhhh The GBA emulator core used on this device is GBSP. If you're a fan of the GBA Kirby games, you're probably already aware of the audio issues that brings. Other issues I've encountered include this graphical glitch on WarioWare, the inability to enter the Tiny Chao Garden on any of the Sonic games, and Banjo Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge getting stuck on a reboot cycle. Realistically though, all of these are pretty insignificant when you factor in the benefits that this device brings. The FunKey boasts some pretty impressive and convenient features. Turning on the device is as simply as flipping it open. Similarly, to turn it off, all you have to do is flip it closed. Not only does the FunKey boot and shut down in just about 3 seconds, but it also remembers where you were in the game you were last playing. It does this when you exit the game normally, and when the battery, which lasts about 2-3 hours, dies. And to me, who grew up in the era, whenever your Game Boy... You're on the Mewtwo fight, you're just- You're fighting the Mewtwo on FireRed and then it just craps out on you last second. You can't- the Mewtwo's dead, arthritis. It's great. Mewtwo's not dead anymore. 10 outta 10. On top of all of this there are nine different save states that can be quickly accessed through the FunKey menu by pressing the button at the top of the device. Adding new games to or updating a device like this usually involves a bit of work. With the FunKey however, it's as simple as connecting it to your computer via micro USB, selecting "Mount USB" from the main menu, and then just dragging and dropping your ROM files into the corresponding folders. If you want artwork alongside all of your games, all you have to do is shove in an image file with the same name as your ROM. Updating it is just as convenient. Just grab the update file off of the official website, and drop it into the root folder. The FunKey will automatically detect the file and update from there. This is the same step you'll take if you want to use DrUm78's custom OS, the link to that, and the official OS, are both in the video description below. This is probably a good time to mention, that this is a bring your own ROM device. The preloaded games are all freeware, so don't expect anything spectacular from the get-go. If that is for some reason a problem for you, the FunKey is completely open source. There are a variety of different things you can find for it on the official website and forum. Though I haven't really messed with any of this stuff yet, so it might be a bit more difficult than just dragging and dropping. The reason I keep toting this as great despite mentioning so many flaws is because of the sheer convenience of this device. When I first got this device, I was still in college. This came with a lot of variable short segments of free time. Whether I was waiting for the shuttle service, or I arrived to class five minutes early, with the FunKey I always had something quick and fun to fill that down time. My usual philosophy is that nothing beats original hardware or official methods of emulation. All of the handheld portable emulators that currently plague the online market, all seem to have one or several flaws that prevent them from competing with the originals. The FunKey manages to break that philosophy. The convenience brought on by it's size and software make it something worth while. If you're in a similar boat as me and like older games but don't really have a lot of time to play them, then I would highly recommend the FunKeyS.
