8 Sleek Retro Handhelds To Revisit Your Childhood With Style

There are a million different reasons why we love handheld devices. In some cases, they're our main gaming machines, often the case with the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch. Others like to have a pocket-sized console dedicated to gaming on the go.

And then some of us just love how a classic Nintendo handheld feels in our hands. If that’s you, then consider this. A Gameboy Color in decent condition costs about $50. A single game cartridge can be even more expensive.

For less than the price of those two, you could get a brand-new console instead, one that can emulate much more than just GBC games and whose appearance is, let’s say, very reminiscent of those classic consoles. If that intrigues you, welcome to the world of stylish retro handhelds.

Miyoo Mini Plus

The Miyoo Mini Plus is a favorite of many, and you can easily see why. It looks really cute. It’s like that Gen1 Pikachu drawing where he looks like a sack of potatoes. The Miyoo Mini Plus is the Gameboy’s awkward little cousin that you can’t help but love. It sure helps that it plays a lot more games than its cousin, it doesn’t need any maintenance, and it’s way more comfortable to hold.

The Mini Plus isn’t as mini as the name implies, which gives it the space to place all the buttons needed to play many games (even from the Sony PlayStation). Not that it will play most PS1 games, but you’re free to try. What it will play, a rarity in this space, is Pico-8 games, the fantasy retro console that hosts Celeste’s debut and its sequel, Celeste Classic 2. If you’re willing to spend some time setting it up, you can even browse and download Pico-8 games directly from the console.

ModRetro Chromatic

The ModRetro Chromatic might not be what you expect from a retro handheld. Most consoles in this space are based on messy software emulators that aren’t set up properly for the hardware they run on and are often outdated. The Chromatic takes a completely different approach by emulating the console on the hardware level (without replicating the hardware itself) and supporting only Gameboy and Gameboy Color games.

The Chromatic certainly looks unique. A Gameboy Color that was painted over to be even more of a nostalgia trap. The screen is a much fancier version of the one found in the original Gameboy, with proper illumination this time. The price of $199, on the other hand, isn’t so bright. Loading ROMs is hard, too, and it only emulates GB and GBC games. A passion project like this would normally garner sympathy from potential buyers, but does that apply when the founder is the extremely rich inventor of the Oculus Rift and all-around unpleasant guy Palmer Luckey? Odds aren’t great.

Anbernic RG35XXSP Transparent

Anbernic makes a lot of retro-inspired handhelds, but none are quite as, uh, devoted to replicating the old hardware look as the RG34XX and the RG45XXSP. If you want some Gameboy Advance replicas that are not original and not perfect, it doesn't get much better than this. They can play every game that can be put in ROM format. And if you want something better, you want the white transparent RG35XXSP.

There’s something mesmerizing about a see-through clamshell design and I can’t believe Nintendo didn’t capitalize on it in 2003, especially following the success of the transparent Gameboy Advance. That dream is now a reality, even though it had been a reality for a while thanks to custom console cases. The main difference between the RG35XXSP and a custom Gameboy Advance SP is that the Anbernic can play a lot more retro games than the three GBA titles you still have cartridges for.

Analogue Pocket

The Analogue Pocket might be the only emulator-based handheld that is as premium as it looks from afar. It better be, for $219.99. Add to that the extra cartridge adapter set and the dock, and you’ll end up paying $420 dollars, a troubling number more in line with the price of a (cheaper) Steam Deck than a high-end retro handheld.

But let’s forget about the console’s design and its equally dazzling price. Why would anyone buy this good-looking piece of plastic? The Analogue Pocket has two advantages over other retro handheld emulators: the impressive 1600x1440 screen and the hardware emulation. Don’t let that confuse you: when aimed at handheld consoles from 25 years ago, “hardware emulation” is indistinguishable from decent software emulation, if not for its ability to read game cartridges and, potentially, physical accessories.

Powkiddy RGB20 Pro

If you’re going to get the Powkiddy RGB20 Pro, it will be for its look. The size and shape are almost identical to the more powerful Anbernic RG351V, which doesn’t look half bad itself. However, what Anbernic’s 4:3 high-rez Gameboy homage doesn’t have is a neat see-through plastic body with some LEDs that are only there to look cool.

The screen resolution is quite decent, with 1024x768 pixels crammed into a 3.2-inch screen. It’s not going to play anything more elaborate than SNES or Gameboy Advance pixel art anyway, maybe some fan-translated PC Engine if you’re a weirdo (like me). It can technically do more, including N64, PlayStation 1, and Dreamcast, but don’t expect any of those to run properly.

Powkiddy RGB30

The RGB30 is one of the most basic-looking products in Powkiddy’s line of retro handhelds and it still looks stunning. The plastic is not premium quality, and as with most of those products, you shouldn’t expect a nice finish, but the overall design is easy on the eyes. The RGB30 is available in a few different colors, including a nostalgic banana yellow.

The RGB30 comes with a 720x720 pixel screen, which, for its sub-$100 price range, is not bad. It offers handheld emulation of retro games as recent as the Sony PlayStation 1 and the Nintendo 64, though it hardly excels in those. And since the RGB30 is a popular model, you can find plenty of customization kits on sale online, from buttons to grips to sticker skins.

DY19

This DY19 might be ridiculously flimsy up close, and putting a power bank inside a retro console isn’t the brightest idea, but at least it looks kind of cool! The rounded design and monochrome palette don’t scream “sub $20 impulse purchase”, which is the only market that the DY19 could ever call home. The screen border and the three mini-buttons are coated in a not-quite-gold color that doesn’t exactly look premium but adds a nice contrast to the rest of the design. Unless you pick the light rose model, in which case it looks washed out and ugly. Don’t get the light rose model.

I’d love to tell you about what’s inside the DY19, the operative system that powers it, which consoles it can emulate, and how well it does, but there’s basically no information about this console. I don’t even know who makes the DY19 (EZGHAR is sometimes named in the listings). It seems to be sold only on Aliexpress and similar cheap import product websites, and it doesn’t have a consistent manufacturer listed. If you buy this console, you do so with no way of knowing what you’re really getting beyond the size of the integrated power bank (6000mAh) with USB mini, USB-A, and USB-C connectors. But hey, at least it looks cool.

Anbernic RG ARC-D

Most retro handheld consoles don’t exactly hide their, uh, “inspiration”, and Anbernic is no stranger to copyright disputes. But credit where it’s due, it’s not hard to distinguish yourself when making a copy. Instead of mimicking the popular Nintendo handhelds from the 1990s and 2000s, Abernic’s RG ARC-D shakes things up by taking inspiration from Sega’s failed GameGear handheld and the almost-forgotten Saturn.

It might be more appropriate, if a little mean, to say that Abernic’s console looks like how the GameGear might have looked if it hadn’t been extremely ugly, with a curve and button placement resembling that of the Saturn controller. The RG ARC-D is available in various colors, including cream white, dark grey, and a purple see-through reminiscent of the Gameboy Advance. While it doesn’t have analog sticks, it’s not very good at emulating any console that uses them anyway.

The post 8 Sleek Retro Handhelds To Revisit Your Childhood With Style appeared first on Destructoid.