Retro handheld (need help where to start!)

[griffin dai]

I bought the R36s in the 11/11 AliExpress sales, it’s been ok(ish) but you can tell it’s a very cheap device I only paid £28 for it so no complaints, it plays most older games fine up to PS1 but I’m looking for something better to play PS2, Game Qube & maybe Wii & Switch. Budgets around £250-£300.

I’m edging towards the Retroid Pocket 5 or ANBERNIC RG477M. I’ve seen them on AliX with pre installed games but after a quick google it sees the way to go is buy the device only plus a decent SD card and get my own emulators & games.

No idea where to get these/how to install? Can these be downloaded straight to the handheld or is it transferred from a computer?

Any help/tips welcome!
Thanks

[Wanchaiwarrior]

What about the RetroSnap Play ? No ideas about it, but adverts over my youtube shorts feed

[griffin dai]

Wanchaiwarrior said:

What about the RetroSnap Play ? No ideas about it, but adverts over my youtube shorts feed

I think it’s the same as the R36s but rebranded & marked up a lot higher.

[blueST]

I stayed with a device that maxes out at PS1 sort of level, because I was told to go beyond that requires an Android based OS that need a load of tinkering and faffing to get them working properly. Is that still true?

I like that my little Ambernic just works. I really only ever play SNES games anyway.

[rfsteel]

Have a look a modding a PS Vita, you can get a good condition used one from around £100-150 and take less than 30 mins to get it modded so it can run Retro Arch.



https://baxtros.co.uk/product-category/the-psp-fam...

[dundarach]

I've many, many of these things.

What do you enjoy playing - rpg's strategy etc = use retroarch or emulators on your phone as your phone is always around and charged!

If you enjoy action things, as above, use phone however buy a controller which slips over the side

Seriously, I've a bundle of modded devices and specific ones, all chocked full of 1000s of games for every system, never use them, just pick up my phone and use retroarch and if I want to race or fight, slip the controller over.

Happy to explain more, however the next poster will tell me I'm all wrong

[griffin dai]

rfsteel said:

Have a look a modding a PS Vita, you can get a good condition used one from around £100-150 and take less than 30 mins to get it modded so it can run Retro Arch.



https://baxtros.co.uk/product-category/the-psp-fam...

Thanks I’ll take a look at these later

[griffin dai]

dundarach said:

I've many, many of these things.

What do you enjoy playing - rpg's strategy etc = use retroarch or emulators on your phone as your phone is always around and charged!

If you enjoy action things, as above, use phone however buy a controller which slips over the side

Seriously, I've a bundle of modded devices and specific ones, all chocked full of 1000s of games for every system, never use them, just pick up my phone and use retroarch and if I want to race or fight, slip the controller over.

Happy to explain more, however the next poster will tell me I'm all wrong

Thanks, I did think about that last night a lot of the more expensive handhelds are Android based but I’m still using my old iPhone 13 Pro Max, so it’s an older phone plus I’m not sure if I could even do this with iOS?

What confused me at first was this r36s came pre installed, I bought a cheaper one for my daughter (around 12 quid in the sale) she’ll love that. I bought the one with more games for around £28. These games came pre installed, I almost bought the Retroid 5 just over £200 this week thinking it was the same and games were pre installed, but nope! It works out around £380 with the CQ, PS2 games installed from AliX plus looking online again it’s cheaper/better to buy a high speed samsung SD card and DIY everything.

[griffin dai]

Another that’s just popped up on YT is the Anbernic RG477V but it’s not released until 20th Dec. Looks good but I’m still edging towards the Retroid 5.

[dundarach]

griffin dai said:

dundarach said:

I've many, many of these things.

What do you enjoy playing - rpg's strategy etc = use retroarch or emulators on your phone as your phone is always around and charged!

If you enjoy action things, as above, use phone however buy a controller which slips over the side

Seriously, I've a bundle of modded devices and specific ones, all chocked full of 1000s of games for every system, never use them, just pick up my phone and use retroarch and if I want to race or fight, slip the controller over.

Happy to explain more, however the next poster will tell me I'm all wrong

Thanks, I did think about that last night a lot of the more expensive handhelds are Android based but I m still using my old iPhone 13 Pro Max, so it s an older phone plus I m not sure if I could even do this with iOS?

What confused me at first was this r36s came pre installed, I bought a cheaper one for my daughter (around 12 quid in the sale) she ll love that. I bought the one with more games for around £28. These games came pre installed, I almost bought the Retroid 5 just over £200 this week thinking it was the same and games were pre installed, but nope! It works out around £380 with the CQ, PS2 games installed from AliX plus looking online again it s cheaper/better to buy a high speed samsung SD card and DIY everything.

My phone is now two years old an can get upto PS2, not sure about IOS however and it's not worth buying an android unit just for emulation. Does it have to be handheld?

[griffin dai]

Yeah I need it for the 4 hour coach journey to work plus when there’s any downtime here.

I’ll probably go for the Retroid 5 on payday, with the various ROMs, games & emulators, I’m guessing these can be downloaded fine onto a chrome book to just transfer onto a SD card and put in the device. I’ll get all that side sorted next week when I’m home

[fooman]

Thanks for recommendation