Top 10 Best Retro Handhelds Of 2021 (So Far)

the affordable retro handheld market is booming more than ever these things feel like they're coming out every few weeks and that's because they are there's a demand there and there's companies that are constantly bringing out new products because they want your money but because these things are coming out every so often it's very hard to find out which one is best for you especially when they're coming pre-loaded no need to map keys and no need to install os which is great but it makes it hard for us consumers to pick one for our personal preference so i thought i'd put together a top 10 video showcasing the best retro handhelds of 2021 so far so grab a cup of coffee enjoy the video and i hope you find a retro handheld that fits your needs something you can't tame cause i break they try to hurt me [Applause] the game force handheld was released towards the middle of may 2021 and has a couple of unique features compared to many handhelds on this list this handheld is made by one guy known as gao feng who has taken many months trying to build the ultimate 95 handheld unfortunately for him he ran into some chip supply issues which led to the handheld coming out later than many of its competitors the best feature of the game force is the fact that it has rgb lighting behind the buttons allowing you to change what color they are in the settings and it has a crisp 4x3 display with a high 480p resolution it can run everything up to ps1 games with a little sprinkle of n64 emulation but that's about it it's another standard handout with average build quality and poor button quality but the screen and rgb lighting just about keeps it on this list this is a handheld for those of you that want something that just pops it comes in three different colors ships pretty quickly and it looks like no other handheld on this list just take into consideration that you have to install your own os and roms because it doesn't even come with an sd card for legal reasons number nine the pocket go s30 the pocket go s30 was released in december 2020 rounding off the year with a new affordable handheld that can emulate everything up to playstation 1. what makes the pocket go s30 so popular is simply the price tag coming in at just 60 bucks this combined with a 1.2 gigahertz processor makes it on paper a good bang for your buck handheld it's also designed to look like an original snes controller and even a member of the 8bitdo team got involved with the design hence naming it after their sn30 plus controller it houses a 2600 milliamp battery which can last up to five hours of gameplay and it has flared trigger buttons at the back which are a bit different compared to others on the list but nonetheless great it works well straight out of the box and that's why we like it the menus are ready games are pre-loaded and the buttons are already mapped for you meaning you can play with it as soon as you unbox it the 3.5 inch ips display is pretty large making it good for all ages and although it may look a little washed out the gameplay is really fluid this is by far the best handheld under 60 as of now and we respect the small price tag because it opens itself up for an audience that perhaps can't afford many others on this list eight the rg2 atv the rg2 atv is a vertical handheld that was released in november 2020 by anne brunic it was a handheld we thought we'd really dislike but it has seriously surprised us it has a dual core one gigahertz processor with 512 megabytes of ram and a 2100 milliamp battery that basically means again like the rest on this list that you've seen they can emulate up to playstation 1 fairly well what makes the rg2 atv so great is the small portable form factor teamed up with a really nice 2.8 inch glass covered display ambronic are renowned for doing a great job with the build quality of their products and this handheld follows suit and that's why you may see more of amber nick's products towards the top of this list why you choose this over any of the larger handhelds is simple it's because the rg2 atv is cheaper and far more portable making it the go-to choice for those that like pocket-friendly handhelds with a little bit of power heck it's even great for kids as the sturdy build quality will last for years to come and the easy user interface is simple for them to understand 7. the pow kitty rgb20 we've had a bad history of pal kitty's handhelds but it looks as if they are starting to learn from their mistakes is the rgb 20 is a powerful pocket handheld with above average build quality when we say pocket we actually mean a backpack as this thing is quite large and to hold in one hand needs a pretty stretched grasp on paper it's very powerful with a 1.5 gigahertz cpu one gigabyte of ram and a 3.5 inch display teamed up with 3 000 milliamps of battery this means it can play a little bit of dreamcast some n64 most psp games and you know your classic playstation 1 game boy and so on the large 3.5 inch display is stunning and has impressive viewing angles it may take up most of the face of the handheld but that's because it's meant to you'll soon realize how much you need a second analog stick though to enjoy some of the larger games oh and the build quality is a little subpar it lacks volume buttons and the shoulder buttons at the back are pretty cramped but the power and display somewhat makes up for that six the pie boy dmg the pie boy dmg by experimental pie is one of the best retro handhelds due to its sheer power inside is a new raspberry pi 4 with up to 8 gigabytes of ram capable of powering dreamcast games and beyond you can either buy the diy kit to make it yourself if you have a spare pi 3 or pi 4 lying around or you can go fully assembled like we did which comes pre-built and pre-installed with retropie this makes it playable straight out of the box but be warned this is an expensive handheld because well there's basically a small pc inside the diy kit starts at 89 but you'll need to supply basically everything and the assembled kit costs 179 dollars because it's packed with power it can handle anything you chuck it such as psp n64 dreamcast and more it even has wi-fi and bluetooth allowing you to connect to the internet or even stream games from your pc directly to the pi boy dmg this is a handheld for those of you with no budget and for those of you that really like tinkering around with retropie 5. the pow kitty rgb 10 max i know what you're thinking all of these handhelds have really weird names yes yes they do the rgb 10 max is pow kitty's first dive into an affordable handheld featuring a larger 5.5 inch display the shell used has this rubberized matte finish to it which adds a premium feel the large 5.5 inch display is welcomed even if most games don't use its normal aspect ratio the analog sticks are identical to that of a nintendo switch the action and d-pad buttons are bouncy and it genuinely feels like a sturdy handheld it's actually somewhat impressive from pow kitty in terms of specs it has a quad-core 1.5 gigahertz processor one gigabytes of ram a mali 31 gpu and 4200 milliamp battery capacity it can emulate everything up to n64 flawlessly with little hiccups it's once you start trying to emulate larger n64 dreamcast and psp games when things start to get a little choppy our only downfall with this handheld's design is that the screen used is slightly dimmer than most we are used to and the shoulder buttons are very poor quality but this is a handheld for those of you that want a larger screen for an affordable price number four the rg 351p the rg 351p was released in october 2020 and was extremely popular from there on out it can power everything up to your average n64 game and we say average because we start to see a dip in performance when you play larger n64 games like goldeneye etcetera ambronic are known for their build quality the shell is strong the analog sticks used are comfortable and the bright 3.5 inch display is absolutely gorgeous inside is the familiar rk3326 chip which is basically featured in most of the handhelds on this list you're going to get the same power throughout the main reason the rg 351p is ranked so high on our list is due to the pickup and play factor of the handheld some handhelds on this list require you to tinker with the settings but this one works straight out of the box with a clean user interface and pre-loaded games we absolutely love it and although it can't play dreamcast or psp very well everything else is a pleasure to play on number three the rg 351 v the rg 351v was released in march of 2021 and is amber nick's best vertical handheld on the market today it has a 3.5 inch display that fits most retro games in its native resolution as it has a crisp detailed 4x3 ratio display which is why many retro gamers absolutely love this device even if it does look a little plain and again it comes with the rk3326 chip a 1.5 gigahertz processor 1 gigabytes of ram and a 3 900 milliamp battery which means you can get a good five hours gameplay out of it and even play n64 quite smoothly for those five hours what's even better is that this console comes pre-loaded out of the box with thousands of games and has emulation station already installed so you don't have to set up anything everything is ready out of the box no mapping of keys no installing firmware just pick up and play number two the retroid pocket two for eighty-five dollars this is one of the best retro handhelds to come out of china and it's proof that the analog pocket has some cheaper probably better competition the retro pocket two can emulate up to n64 and ps1 games very well and because it has an android os you can download emulator applications normal android apps and even use their netplay feature to play co-op with another retro pocket 2 user it's a well-made good-looking handheld and it comes with four shoulder buttons two analog sticks a quad-core 1.5 gigahertz cpu one gigabyte of ram and a large 4 000 milliamp battery the 3.5 inch ips display has a resolution of 640x480 and is incredibly bright making it very saturated and crispy which is something you need in a portable handheld like this that plays retro games it's smashing other handhelds out of the park for quite simply being the best performing handout on the market for 85 dollars many users are managing to get dreamcast emulation running well but to do so you will need to tinker around with settings as it's definitely not a pick up and play out of the box type of handheld this handheld requires research patience and key mapping in order to get it to its potential and that's why it's just fell short of our number one spot and last but definitely not least number one is the rg 351m the rg 351m is by far the best retro handheld on this list and it's made by the big dogs known as anbernick this is nearly identical to the older rg 350p but with some pretty big changes and a small 40 pay bump this rg 351m can play all of your old-school games up to n64 flawlessly it has a metal shell which adds a much needed premium feel to those affordable handhelds it has a 3.5 inch ips display superb build quality for shoulder buttons and usbc charging the 1.5 gigahertz cpu keeps frames looking silky smooth and allows you to touch on a majority of the best n64 games but where this prevails is below that for true fluid performance we advise playing retro games up to and including ps1 and n64 this is where the handheld is unbeaten in performance it's just an all-round incredible handheld but why it sits at number one in our list comes down to the build quality from the slab of aluminium used and the fact it's ready to play out of the box with no key mapping no needing to install firmware just makes it easy for newcomers to understand if you want the best retro handheld of 2021 so far it is definitely the rg 351m hands down you will not be disappointed if you enjoyed this video hit subscribe and if you want to 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Channel: Retro Dodo

Views: 274,005

Rating: 4.9075046 out of 5

Keywords: retro handhelds, best retro handhelds, best handhelds, best handheld emulators, handheld emulators, retroid pocket 2, rg351m, anbernic, nintendo, emulation, portable handhelds, best portable handhelds, retro gaming, retro gaming handhelds, \best portable consoles

Id: 4veObJ0f9jY

Length: 13min 51sec (831 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 08 2021