I went thrrough a bunch and since I already own a ROG Ally, I found that a 4:3 device was a perfect companion. This offers so much for its size and price even though it is missing some key features like HDMI out. But the larger 4 inch screen and premium buttons and sound, its built for a solo handheld experience and excels at it. So nice having old games fill the whole screen without stretching or bezels. Plus its nice having android because youtube and web browsing is great on this. Battery life is amazing as well
The unboxing experience brought me back to when I first unboxed my iPhone 6 Plus years ago. This handheld feels so nice and premium. The material, finish, screen, buttons, and sticks are all perfect. They are satisfyingly clicky, but not too loud. The speakers are also really nice and loud. This truly is Anbernic’s best handheld. I hope they keep this form factor for a couple generations. I thought a 4” screen was going to be too small. Nope, it’s absolutely perfect. It’s the same vertical height as a phone in landscape mode.
@@ThePhawx They're getting better, but still not great. I wished they would send one of us (enthusiasts) to design a pocketable system from start to finish. Hey Phawx, how would you design such a handheld if given total control?
@@ThePhawx I think my choices (Kangal Design) would go like this: USD $267 price 176g weight 167 x 76 x 16mm dimensions Side/Middle construction from Aluminium material Front is Matte Polycarbonate (clear, opaque, and full colour) Rear is Matte Polycarbonate material too Side panels are blank, but slightly curved (like RG405m) Bottom panel is flat, and houses ports (AUX, USB-C, microHDMI) Top panel is flat, and has many buttons (Shoulder Pads, Volume Rocker, Power, and Slider) Rear face is mostly basic, but has a tab to access inside the device (microSIM, microSD, User Removable Battery) Front face has the usual Display, Controls, and Front-firing stereo loudspeakers. But they're arranged in a peculiar order: Left-side has the Left Joystick up top, Left Speaker in middle, small buttons Back and Home beside, and Upside-down Action Buttons bottom. Right-side has the Right Joystick up top, small buttons Start and Select in middle, Right Speaker beside, and Upside-down D-Pad bottom. If you flick the Slider, the orientation changes 180'. You then hold the device Upside-down. Now the inline shoulder pads don't dig into your palm. On the left-side, you have the D-Pad up top, Speaker in middle, small buttons Select and Start beside, and Joystick on bottom. On the right-side, on top you have the Action Buttons now in correct upside-up manner, small buttons Home and Back in middle, Speaker beside it, and Joystick on bottom. In the Settings, you can configure to disable the Shoulder Pads and the Joysticks when the Slider is in 2D/Retro-Layout. It automatically flips the display, flips the speaker directions, and flips the two rumble motors as well, when shifting to/from the 3D/Modern-Layout. As for specifications: Android OS (v12, with unlockable bootloader and root access) Qualcomm Snapdragon 778 chipset (long-term support, best drivers) Joysticks (modular/removable, Hall Sensor, indented like RG353M) D-Pad (modular, membrane-based, long like Supbor Q400) Action Buttons (modular, dome-style, larger sized like RG353M) Shoulder Pads (serviceable, silent, rubber membrane, inline like RG353M) Speakers (modular, similar to the ASUS RoG Phone) Rumble motors (new taptic-style, dual, placed beneath the D-Pad/Action) Display (4.5 inch, 16:9, IPS-Laminated, Capacitive Touchscreen) Display Resolution (1280x720 min, or 1440x810, max 1706x960) Scaling 720p: PS1-era 3x3, DS 3x3, PSP 2x2, 3DS 1.5x1.5, PS2-era 1.5x1.5, PS Vita 1x1 Scaling 810p: PS1-era 3x3, DS 4x4, PSP 3x3, 3DS 1.5x1.5, PS2-era 1.5x1.5, PS Vita 2x2 Scaling 960p: PS1-ear 4x4, DS 5x5, PSP 3.5x3.5, 3DS 2x2, PS2-era 2x2, PS Vita 2x2
One thing to note is a lot of games in the ps2/xbox/gamecube era dont really benefit from analog triggers. Its really annoying playing racing games on this devices as many dont support. Its not as useful a feature until the next generation, and usually adds significant width so its not always worth it. And if by newer generations you mean 360 or ps3, its gonna be a while so dont worry lol.
I certainly want one of these, I just currently don't have the funds to get one. If I had the extra funds I would have ordered a 405M already! It's quite a nice design, display is almost bezel free taking the entire mid section of the handheld. The display of the 405M is rather large for it's overall size and I can see myself playing lots of GENESIS, GBA, NES, SNES, GBC and Sega CD on this handheld. Love the stereo speakers and overall button placement. Love both color scheme options as well, the mint green is the one I would purchase first. I can't get one at the moment because I previously purchased the 505 and 280V, but I plan to get myself a 405M at a later time. This one is in my Wishlist.
> lots of GENESIS, GBA, NES, SNES, GBC and Sega CD on this handheld. there are many other earlier, ancient obsolete chaynese knockoffs to play these libraries with better ergonomics at cheaper price.
@@NickDyers True, but I prefer high build quality handhelds as well. I don't go for the cheap ones anymore. I've had my fair share of those and found out they are a total waste of money. I had cheap handhelds just stop working for no reason and etc. Some cheap handhelds do not emulate decently enough past GBA and I pretty much can name the ones that are no good. I have had at least 35 different handhelds in my collection. After, purging away the sorry handhelds, I'm down to around 12.
@@jonathonearl482 wow, that quiet a huge collection. if build quality is a huge factor, NDSLite or N2DSXL or even PSVita should be more than suffice right? chaynese knockoffs even DESPERATELY NEED 3rd party OS setup to barely usable/intuitive. if I may recommend one chaynese knockoff, try V90 then. It built solid like tank and lots lighter compared to DSLite. Its stock OS is quite capable for your intended libraries. You can also upgrade its fw and the best thing from the upgraded fw is how easy to play Doom mods on it! I am pretty confident on this because I've experience how painful to setup Doom mods on more powerful/capable/pricey RG351MP.
@@NickDyers I do have the Black V90 as well as the Valve Steam Deck, ANBERNIC 505, ANBERNIC 353P, ANBERNIC 300X, ANBERNIC 351V, PocketGo, Powkiddy X17, Powkiddy X16, GPD XD Plus, Powkiddy X18S, ANBERNIC 280V and Fusion 10 Windows Tablet. Those are my emulation devices. I also have a GBA SP, GBA, GB Colour, RETROAD 5 Plus SNES, Gamerz Tek 8bit Boy. The cheapest emulation device I have kept is my Powkiddy X16, this one has the weakest emulation. Powkiddy X16 is only good for GB, GBC and GBA but it emulates those very well and I like the overall design of this handheld. It has a vibrant 7 inch display and it also plays video files very well. So, I've installed a 1TB micro sd into the Powkiddy X16 to also use it a a movie / TV show player. I also don't consider the V90 to be a sorry handheld, it's sold cheap but it's a good quality budget handheld that has very decent emulation.
I have to salute Anbernic on the hardware design here, it does indeed look great, definitely their best to date. My issue though is this cpu. I mean we are talking a significant amount of money for what is essentially not that great a cpu. It would get smoked by even midrange mediatek and snapdragon chips you find in cheap phones. The G99 in the KT-R1 would even smoke it and is the same price. I get its hard for manufacturers to source these chips at good prices but its still pretty costly for what it is.
Yeah, The CPU choice is limited by battery life though, as you'd use this for far longer than a phone per single sitting. That said, there's no pressing need IMO (apart from wanting shinier toys!) to update from the RK3326 machines, as they didn't play PS2, and neither does this. The 405 does certainly play PS2 games better, but I'll be updating my RG351MP once a successor has excellent PS2 support - its looking like we're not far off!
exactly. It is pricey for what it is especially it can't run Linux so it can't differientate from a cheap android phone. Find an used or on sale Razer Kishi for less than $50 bucks and sub $200 Android phone (or used flagship Android) pair with a Kishi can easily smoke this in every aspect. It is also not small and pocketable so the argument that you have to carry an extra Kishi controller doesn't apply much here.
@@tuanseattlewhat do you even play that needs a better SoC? Aside from Genshin, Android is notoriously barren when it comes to gaming. Sure, you can play more Dolphin and Wii games, but are you seriously playing wii on mobile?
@@dnaielpoo I’m not sure yet, I haven’t watched enough videos about it to see if it’s a big enough upgrade to justify spending more money so soon after getting the 353M. The 353M is a sick device.
I remember very clearly, when Anbernic made a breakthrough by launching a gaming console, which was equipped with 1GB RAM. At that time, the retro console world was shocked and awakened, and then raced to surpass Anbernic until now.
I seriously considered the RG405M but the RG353M is just slightly more compact and portable, its not as powerful but I only really want to play up to DS and not having google services makes android OS for the 353M a little more snappy. The only incredible feature for me is the long battery life of the RG405M.
I'm just torn between which color to get! Honestly, this may push me into selling off my Steam Deck - yes, it's a powerhouse in emulation BUT it is cumbersome, chunky, and unwieldy. I have never taken it on trips overseas (or outside the house for that matter) because of how much room it take. These smaller devices really just capture what makes a handheld, a handheld: gaming on the go with battery to spare. Kudos to Anbernic for fine-tuning their systems, the future looks bright as more powerful chipsets are shrunken down and we get pocket friendly emulation beast.
I'm at a place where I'm done looking at high-end emulator handhelds. I have a Anbernic RG280V for a retro/pocket handheld. It can do up to PSX pretty well and is cheap and small enough you can toss in your car, or actually carry in your pocket. Then I have a modded 2DSXL to handle dual-screen gaming. Lastly, I have a Steam Deck for around the house premium gaming/emulation. In the future I'm only looking at getting smaller and equal or more powerful handhelds than the Deck. Maybe something like the GPD Win 4. They gotta be full-fledged PCs from here on out.
@@dreamybull1509 I went with the gold and red/famicom gba micro color. Got it directly from Anbernic during their Black Friday sale for like $60. I do DoorDash as a 2nd job and it’s become my car handheld since I was too nervous about my 2DSXL or Deck getting stolen or damaged. I play it all the time between orders, like 5hrs/week. It’s really easy to save scum, so I can get through old-school games without too much frustration. It also has a sleep mode that makes it handy for when orders pop up. I’m using a 16GB card that was included for the OS sd slot, and a 64GB for the games slot. I’m on a newer version of “Adam Image”, I believe 1.2. If you get this handheld, or a few other models that are compatible, you’ll want to use the Adam Image. The UI is amazing compared to stock. You’ll need a few programs. Off the top of my head you’ll use Belena Etcher and Skraper. You might need a specialized format tool. Once you write the Adam Image to the OS sd there’s a step where you go on the sd on PC and run a script to point it to the correct model you have: RG280V, etc. There’s guides on this if you Google “Adam Image RG280V”. I believe I used the Retro Game Corps guide.
it is great design but 2 problems: 1. No Linux support 2. As an android device, it is under-powered for almost $200. You can easily find a Razer Kishi for under $50 bucks (i got mine for basically $10) and pair it with a cheap or used Android phone that is likely more powerful than the chip inside this handheld. 3. This handheld is not that small anymore so it also put it incompetition with Android phone + razer kishi combo.
I still have my 351M and honestly haven’t seen a reason to upgrade; I don’t judge anybody, buying gadgets is fun, but as far as use case goes what would be the reason for having multiple similarly sized devices to play roms on? Plus the prices seem to be getting crazy, this joint for $170 plus shipping is the cost of a Switch Lite or a little less than a Steam Deck
Love that resembles playgo oldie :) It was far my favorite, but bit too slow nowadays and "analog" sticks lacks, but this one is like my dream retro hheld, and the fact that first time that anbernic designed and assembled as a console, not cheap toy, its just a bonus !!! Ticks all the boxes to me...
I HATE the Xbox Controller layout but it makes perfect sense on this device because the Primary systems you'll be playing are PSP, N64, Dreamcast, and Sega Saturn Games. Also you don't need Stacked Shoulder Buttons for Sega Saturn and below Emulation.
What’s the best (preferably vertical) handheld for purely retro games? Nintendo NES/SNES/64, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis/Game Gear, Gameboy? Can this one be it or would it be overkill? Not really interested in PSx/Wii, etc.
Rg353v or vs or even 35xx is great for ps1 and earlier titles. I have the 353v and it plays everything you asked for very well. Vs is a bit cheaper and will run them just as well.
Guys, a year has passed since this review. Is the RG405M still wearing the crown of the Anbernic handheld or has it been unthroned? I'm after a premium, metal, pocketable, left thumbstick on top of the d-pad like here, PS2 & GCube friendly, and why not some ds, 3ds titles in there, but the pocketable factor is really important so I'm a bit too greedy with the last 2 emulations I guess.
@@AlbRCxtreme i grabbed the 35xx in the meantime, it was on sale for $95 which is still too expensive IMO, but I'm probably going to settle on the RP3+
I'm really hoping for a new version where they focus on what the 4:3 display is really about: CRT TV era gaming. If it had Linux support and the Dpad on top, I would jump at it in a wink. Even if it had the 353M chip, it would be awesome. I couldn't care less about PS2, Wii and Game CUbe emulation. Dreamcast, N64 and below would be awesome on a bigger screed and such good design. That would be my ultimate pocketable retro handheld.
The analogue based design just doesn't work since chipset can't even do ps2/gc. Your review saved the day since I'm not buying it. I'll wait for the next one with enough juice to play ps2 and gc at least at 1x for all games with this exact design and 4:3 screen. Must say this is was so close...but failed at the finish line!
Interested in your view. In the UK this works out at about £10($13) cheaper than the Abxylute. Seems to me the quality of the games in emulation while better still didn't appear to be all that much more playable. Also the fact that Xbox Xcloud gaming didn't work properly. Based on that, which would you pick the Anbernic or the Abxylute?
I need advice, i just purchased a rg353m and its currently on its way, unfortunately I didn’t know the 405m was coming out, do you think i should get the 405m or just use the 353m
- Anbernic's Best Yet?! NO HDMI, NO stacked shoulder buttons, only Android NO Linux, ONLY one USB-C and only one SD card slot. This device needed the RG350M(&P) options with the RG405 screen size and real estate and hardware. - One thing I haven't touched on is the RG405 LED charging light, it IS great. I don't care for my OG RG350's or especially my black powkiddy's LED just... BLINDING me in the face at night lol like seriously, the V90's LED, you use it as a low lumen spotlight in the dark =P
Agreed, this is far from their best design and even far from other handhelds designs, the xbox controlled design just killed for me, Its just a bad compromise for playing with that dpad down there, very uncomfortable for me personally.
@@Binighted Honestly, I am coming around to the idea of having a PS layout rather than X-box, I totally get having the directional pad on the top, one is going to be more violent handling the D-pad for fighting games than the analogue stick, a D-pad on top WILL provide a better, grippier handling experience.
I got a steam deck love it too bits for high end games. Just bought this primarily for gba ps1 some gc and ps2 games. I work alot so keeping this in my pocket is perfect for whipping it out for a cheeky session. While keeping the deck for more investive sessions 👌
I may wait as this is almost perfect, but the lack of HDMI is a somewhat deal breaker. Knowing Anbernic there's going to be another model with a similar build but now with HDMI layer this year.
They do have an OLED in their RG505 I think it is. It just isn't 4:3 because no one makes 4:3 OLED panels. The one in the RG505 is surplus Sony Vita screens.
@@L337g4m3r thanks for the answer… yes, what you say makes sense… I can’t remember one 4:3 OLED screen… I also was a little bit disappointed about not having an OLED display in my analogue pocket even it was so expensive… too sad LG or samsung don’t show more love for retro gamers because I only would use the anbernic for older games in 4:3
I dig the look, not a fan of those kinda... cheesy looking abxy buttons. Makes it look more like a toy. But really dig how clean the internals look, I'm glad they've improved there a lot!
@ricfnts the 353m has a smaller screen, i still own it i left it in the box in my closet, and no android playstore support without further modification. I highly recommend the 405m. It is my daily game device, and is currently in my pocket as we speak!! You won't be disappointed!! Better than the retriod series and etc it can't be beat just yet!
Ok, so I've just bought an RG35XX and I was hoping that this device would let me jump up a generation. Looks like it's not quite there, so will have to give it a pass. Great review and thank you for helping me make my decision.
I don't get why they haven't switched up to the stacked R2 and L2 design. That's the only thing that keeps me from buying their handhelds. The in line design is just terrible for long time sessions.
Intrested in something portable like this. Do you need a pc to get games on this or can you install these through the device itself. I don't want the hassle to ruin the fun.
Make a linux version and swap the left analog position with the Dpad...boom, perfect handheld! My predictions are we'll see this within 6 months. Hold...
Is Steam Deck really so good as many people say? I want to buy a GOOD device so I can pay more money for it, but I don't want to buy many cheap Chinese devices which stop working after 1 month. Thanks a lot
What do you play the most? PS1, N64 and below? If that's the case, I wouldn't upgrade at all. To be honnest, for more demanding platforms, I dont even think this is the right desgin and display. With those R1 R2 buttons in line. I think these are very good for older systems emulation. That's why I'm pissed that it doesn't have Linux support and the Dpad is in the bottom. It's the perfect example of "Jack of all trades and master of none". I really wish they make the best possible pocketable design for 70's, 80's and 90's consoles emulation. The perfect device for me would have this 4" 4:3 screen, the same mold, dpad on top and a good chip that supports linux. Is that too much to ask?
Thanks for the great review! I've been looking at getting my first handheld and trying to decide between the retroid pocket 3+, this, or for $30 more the Odin lite
Can't say much for the two others, but I have had my RP3+ for a little over 2 months and I absolutely love it. One of my favourite things I own... period. Plays great as long as you don't want to play too much GC or PS2. Absolutely awesome screen and very comfortable to hold!
AetherSX2 should not have Ads if you get it from the official webpage. In fact, there is a warning that appears every time you boot a game telling you that this is the official (and sadly last) version and that it shouldn't have any ads.
Stubbs did a quick review of it and he mentioned that the d-pad felt like they built a better pivot into it and that it should have less issues with accidental diagonals. It's worth mentioning that Russ from RGC did not notice this.
Hi. I have to buy the version with no sd card. I have a 256 GB card called Roms . Inside i have all system Roms for example psp,nes,c64,BIOS . Its ok for begin to play or i have to settings all the emulators for find the Roms and the BIOS ? Thx
I can't speak for sure on this device, but on my RG552, switching from "Nintendo" to "Xbox" button layouts(or vice versa, I can't remember) as he did near the end of this video fixes this for me. Note that I'm using a custom Android 11 build created by BlackSeraph.
has anyone have success running game pass cloud on the rg353m... it always hangs for me, I think I might need to upgrade to this because of it though I rather not
Went to their site, and I see the shop button, but when I click it, the page just refreshes. Anyone know when it's going to officially go up for order?
I just don't understand for the life of me, why these companies make perfect Dreamcast emulation (and VERY basic GameCube and PS2) devices BUT WITH NO ANALOG TRIGGERS?!? Especially because you can even play PC games remotely on these things.
