I have to thank you for the heads up on the Miyoo Mini Plus coming out and also for letting us know about Keep It Retro taking preorders. I now have my Miyoo Mini Plus that came with the latest Onion OS. If a game doesn't work from the games menu I can just go into the expert menu and find it in the specific emulator that it uses and it works fine.
Thanks for the excellent video as always. One small correction, the chipset on the store is RK3566 not RK3356. I saw other reviewers got this wrong too, maybe there was incorrect early info provided by Powkiddy.
For me, it's "Oh no, what is he going to find on it that SUCKS?" Even on higher end devices... well, except for the Retro Pocket 3 plus, or anything else Retro Pocket. LOL
It’s crazy how good and cheap these things have gotten. Just two years ago you would’ve had to pay $150 for something that could play 80% of the PSX library, but Dreamcast and PSP were out. Nice.
honestly for $75 this seems like an absolute steal. considering it's just a bit more expensive than Miyoo Mini and RG35XX I think this is better value considering it can also play N64
the rhythm in your voice is great, was trying to figure out why i enjoy your videos so much. and i have one of these ordered, after i put my v90 on the roof of the car and my family and i drove away, only to find it in shambles :(. thanks for all the reviews to make choosing my next handheld so easy.
Thanks for the review! I think I might like the chunkiness since I like the feel of my RG353P. I might try doing some modifications to mine (adding rumble motor, wifi chip, dpad mod, etc.).
Greetings Sir, did you mod your PK2023 already and may I ask you what components for the rumble motor and wifi chip you used? I couldn't really find any documentations of anyone doing it but I really wanted to mod my PK23 with those two components too and didn't really find the products I was looking for.
I've got Anbernic RG405M taste on a PowKiddy RK2023 budget lol. Been retro gaming on my smartphone and tablet but I want to transition to a console. I like horizontal consoles so I may get this as my first device, but I feel like the RG405M is my dream device, especially with the Play Store. Been watching your videos since the Retroid Pocket 2, big fan!
Just keep in mind whether you are wanting to use android or linux, because that's a diverging factor for the RG405M. The RG353 devices have both so there is that as well.
@@sunnygalli I like the idea of Android for the Play Store games alone, outside of that this will be my first retro handheld and I'm mostly just looking for GBA, Genesis, Dreamcast and PS1 at the highest. From the sound of it I have a lot of options for that, and even more if I sacrifice the Android ecosystem. I'm not totally against a vertical handheld and am really considering the RG35xx, just don't want my hands to be too cramped (that one's just Linux if I remember right).
@@marcusray4803 if android games are a large consideration then only the RP3+, RPFlip, RG505, Razer Edge and AYN Odin really make sense with their wide screens. The RG35XX is a great place to start. If you have small or medium hands it won’t feel cramped. If you have large hands, I’d move up to an RG351VS or a horizontal handheld of your choice.
@@RaphyJmusic I've seen some reviews that they scale well. I would imagine Android games would be flexible when it comes to screen sizes seeing how different they can be from phones to tablets.
Thanks for including the contra test. that's one of the motives I can't completely enjoy the anbernic handhelds I have. So for me is a kind of a deal-breaker.
I just bought a used Retroid Pocket 2+ and after watching this review, I think I made the right decision. The wifi chip and software and build quality are simply much better.
I agree 100%. If you are new to this scene and you think you want Miyoo You're probably better off going with this once custom firmware becomes available. It will have more staying power because of its capabilities
Biggest issue there is is that this device is using the battery as a heatsink, most likely not going to be a good idea to play and charge the device at the same time. I'd still buy it.
I have an RP2+, so this is just completely redundant for me, however, if I was looking for something cheap and cheerful with similar specs it seems hard to beat! (I'd stick with the 2+ any day of the week though, simply to have the stacked shoulder buttons, but that's just my preference, and a moot point anyway, since retroid have stopped making them.)
I saw a video from Tyler Esposito (My Retro Life) selling his entire childhood gaming collection back in 2018. He said how we should try live in the now. Let the past be the past. Had me thinking, maybe my favorite games of all-time isn't games from the 80s and 90s any more? Like I absolutely love NBA Street Vol. 2. Kept playing it on my OG Xbox and then on my Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 about 18 months ago. But I'm starting to prefer NBA 2K23 on my Switch Lite more. NBASV2 plays broken. A goal-tend is considered a block. And those gamebreakers can get annoying which is why I usually turn them off. I think we have it better now but our childhood memories keeps telling us we had it better back in the good ol' days because of our emotional attachment towards those games we grew up loving. I beat Super Mario World on my modded Vita slim last week. I used to get 96 exits multiple times back in 1994-1995. It had me thinking that Super Mario 3D World is superior to it. It's the better game. Same with Mario Kart 8: Deluxe is better than Super Mario Kart, Double Dash and MK Wii. But nostalgia will tell us it's not. I believe the 8th generation of video game is the GOAT. Not the 4th or 6th. The 5th gen was the most progressive thanks to all those Sega systems, Jaguar, 3DO, PS1, N64 but many of those 3D games are a sore to the eyes. The 8th gen is when I felt graphics got perfected. It took 40 years (early-1970s to early-2010s) but you can see perfect graphics. No pixelations. No jaggies. Better draw distance. Had the return of many 2D platformers. PS4 graphics will still be beautiful to younger gamers 20 years from now. While Vita has more power than any console from the 6th gen. Look how small it is compared to an OG Xbox and I can take it anywhere with me. Fight me but I think Vita and Switch are the two greatest gaming devices ever made. Better than all those systems from the 3rd gen to 7th gen we grew up playing. A modded Vita is just amazing. Vita is like Sega Saturn/Dreamcast of handhelds. I'm no collector or hoarder. I hate being tethered to a TV dealing with wires. I like all my devices portable. Vita is the best PlayStation ever made. Switch is the best Nintendo product ever made. Both of them are so convenient to have next to my 4 smartphones in my car. If I want to play Super NES or Genesis games, I'll turn on my Vita.
I see what you're saying. I see the nostalgia a bit differently. I think the consoles are better now for sure. I mean even with these emulator consoles once you get into it there are so many quality of life issues that if you aren't a purist make the playing experience of some old games WAY better. A good example of that for me is the GBA and to an extent the GBC. The developers did some AMAZING stuff for those two machines but at the time we played on the GBA or GBC we just didnt have the best screens to show off what the developers accomplished. Theres just nothing like emulating GBA or GBC for me these days. Its totally worth going back to. All that being said, the consoles are better but I really think the nostalgia comes from not so much the nostaliga for the consoles but the games. I genuinely believe game development isn't what is used to me. I have a little brother who is in High School now and his entire life he has only experienced one GTA and that version was created when he wasn't even old enough to game. I got to live through and experience 4 releases of that franchise alone! To live through great games that created from scratch IPs that are still going strong today was incredible. The state of gaming just isn't that anymore. Now I know that what I am saying also has to be weighed that with Steam and Epic and the main console stores its clear we have more gaming releases then ever these days, all at our finger tips. But what I have noticed is both this saturation and the nature of the way these games are distributed, they can never match the magic of older games. What I mean by this is the saturation creates massive backlogs for hardcore gamers and for the more casual gamer it just diverts attention of the overall community in so many ways that well for 99 percent of games there really isn't much of a community. Certainly not a community on the level of those past days. Also, I will say that with the digital nature of games, crossplay, and streaming, a younger generation has largely been frozen out of gaming. They literally can't explore games on the level we once used to i.e. by rentings, sharing, trading, or old fashioned visiting a friend. Everything is locked behind a subscription or digital paywall so the gaming that younger people do is geared mored towards the bloated free games with microtransactions. It isn't that they have poor taste its that gaming is an expensive hobby. AND to make matters worse with games not being exclusive anymore or tied to a console, these games like Fortnite flirt with pushing the code and graphics in the game to be beneficial on much more expensive systems while drawing a fine line to make them barely playable on the older consoles, where a huge chunk of their base is. In my time, the leap from console to console wasn't as fluid and I think there was a more honest relationship between the gamer, the games made, and the consoles. There is a whole generation thats still is largely been unable to move to the newest gen and gaming has really suffered for it. All that said I think theres good reason for the nostalgia, I got into emulation because I had my favorite games when I was a child. I used to collect for systems in the early 2010s becuase it was a fun cheap thing to do and even that was taken away. When I was a kid I rented most of my games and only got a few weeks here and there with some of them. Emulation allows me to experience them now in a more complete way and ALSO has made me appreciate the greatness of the libraries of these early systems which I think are unmatched. With the Mario examples you gave I just want to say I am sure the newer versions are more polished and advanced technology should create something more polished. But more polished doesn't always mean better in gaming. I would argue with Mario Kart early iterations and plug in any game there, the innovations, freshness and quirkiness in the early console days just doesn't compare to the glacial pace at which things move today. NBA 2k is actually the case in point here. The technology to create wonderful features in the game is there but they make changes to the game slowly and essentially release minor updates as full games because creating new games doesnt truly make money anymore. I think it can but we live in a capitalist environment that has grown to shun risk. That a lot but I think theres great reason to have nostalgia and to turn even young gamers back to these times. It blows there mind the variety of types of games we got to experience.
I love they joystick on top. Its more natural to use it that way when your hands are already close together. plus you spend less time on the dpad and letters when you are dual stick gaming. the chipset probably cant justify that tho.
let's say you put your thumb on the dpad and rolled it 360 degrees - i'd probably only want 25% of the collective input to be diagonals. obviously all 8 directions need to register properly, but i prefer my diagonals to be deliberate, but not difficult. otherwise that's what an analog stick is for if you need perfectly "round" input even on hardware that cant utilize it for some kind of fps or 3d platformer.
This is pretty dang neat. I wanted to give powkiddy a try, and this seems like a decent one to get. Side note, is that a keychron? I got the k3 pro and I love it!
@Retro Game Corps the keychron I have also has Gateron switches, I just went with browns. The NuPhy looks nice too, extremely similar to my K3. Very cool! Thank you for the reply.
Goldeneye I'm playing right now! I'd say it's like 95% good. Still playable to me! Just trying to get the video out working again. I forget where I put it into that setting. This device feels a bit janky but I actually love it a lot! ❤
I'm interested in this device because it seems more pocket-able than any comparable device except ones that cost significantly more. However I'm more interested in the rgb30 because I think the dpad and shoulder buttons seem way better from the looks of them in Taki's video. And just the overall aesthetic is slightly better for that device. I'm kinda hoping you make a video about it because I would like to see your take on the buttons and dpad.
Thanks very much for this review. I've been on the fence about an ayn Odin or steam deck for a long time, but the price point and positives here made it an easy decision while I waffle on the other purchase!
I have 2 concerns about this device. 1. How would it hold up in time. For the power and systems it can play theres no doubt it provides great value there. BUT assuming it cracks or breaks buying a new one puts you back at the 150ish mark and well for that, you could get something MUCH better in terms of at least quality of build if not more. 2. I suppose I just feel skeptical about Powkiddy in general. Its other devices had TONS of crossover appeal but that crossover appeal didn't seem to necessarily cross over to great community support. One of the things that I love about the RG35XX and I know this is true of some other key devices to is the community support around it. Without that, you can be on a bit a desserted island with some of these devices, particularly if you are new to this stuff or if you come across something thats just unusual.
7:23 mine has the opposite effect, when playing Neo-Geo games where accidental diagonals would be appreciated they’re nonexistent when playing Metal Slug or Marvel vs Capcom all the diagonal inputs have to be intentional IDK if this is specific to the Neo-Geo but that’s the only console I’ve had problems with that with but to be fair that’s the only console I’ve played that’s relied on diagonal inputs.
Thanks so much for pointing out the accidental diagonals and buttons. If I'm going to invest in a device I'm going to be stuck with the controls. They better be comfortable or it's not worth it.
I absolutely love this review. It has been almost a year now since the video's release tho, has there been a better contender for the same price so far?
Late, but I needed to spend some time with the rk2023 to share some info. Many things are not mentioned in this video. Just to clarify, from my experience with their console: Plugging or unplugging anything; controllers, hdmi, anything at all into the console messes up the time/clock in any game that uses real time, such as Pokémon Crystal, and will have to be reset each time. The hdmi port is finicky and hard to get to work with basically any monitor or television. Unplugging the hdmi from the console will make the console freeze each time and it will need to be reset. Very annoying. Be sure to save BEFORE you unplug the cable. Be sure to choose the correct emulator for each system you want to play. Some of them will function one day and then suddenly stop working completely, meaning you just lost your saves. You'll go to load a save state and the console just freezes and has to be reset, no longer able to load any state slot from that game. Not even auto save. Save in-game. You cannot adjust brightness while playing. You have to close your game, go to the home menu and adjust from there. When connecting the console to 4 different monitors, I had screen cut off from overscan on all 4 while in the main menu. Once I started the games however, they seemed to look as they should. No cut off. The battery percentage displayed is a toss up. It's never correct and seems to just show random percentage. Usually 60 or 64 percent. Meanwhile, RetroArch shows a totally different battery percentage. I never know if this thing is charged or not. BIG one for me: it absolutely CANNOT run ANY NDS games whatsoever. The emulation is there but generally the console either crashes completely or struggles to even display some image on the screen with the choppiest audio you've ever heard and tons of slow down. The rk2023 CANNOT play Nintendo DS whatsoever. Not good with Dreamcast either. Sonic's face would disappear, graphics would run together completely distorting the image, just all around terrible for Dreamcast. This product is cheap for a reason and TBH it's still not worth $75. This is a $40 device at best. It's good for anything up to PS1 and nothing beyond that. Not even the pixelated NDS stuff. I wouldn't say it's total trash but pretty close. I give the rk2023 a 4/10. Just wanted to share some real info from someone who's played theirs quite a lot.
I couldn’t quite get it from watching the video, but-are the face buttons a little smaller or further apart on this device than the RG35XX or Miyoo Mini+? That’s my main problem with those devices, in that it’s difficult to avoid pressing A or X when you only want B or Y. This also seems like a far more capable device in terms of performance even though the D-pad is not great and the shoulder buttons rattle.
The buttons are a hair larger than those devices, and spacing is about the same. So the face button experience will be similar. Unfortunately that's par for the course with these handhelds, they all have that same sort of spacing. The only exception off the top of my head is the Anbernic RG300X, but that's a little less powerful than the RG35XX/Miyoo (but still a nice little handheld!).
Still waiting for someone to get close to the AYN Odin for less. I mean they design is there, the engineers and R&D just have to piece it all together within a budget. My RP3+ going strong. Steam deck to pricey here in Australia $1k+ and Odin is a fair jump from the RP3+. There's a void to fill and who gets there 1st is my question. As always, thanks for the in-depth look. Cheers!
I hear ya. Think thats gonna take awhile though. Probably isn't so much technological possibility as much as the inherent hybrid nature of more powerful devices. Companies like Anbernic, Retroid, and Miyoo, and powkiddy, have been serving the emulation community quite explicitly for a while. Once you reach past a certain point its just a different business. For example, on those devices I feel we are going to see increased quality of screens, detachable controllers, state of the art wi-fi chips, all of that because the profit will be in serving the much larger general gaming community, VR community, and the game streaming community. The handheld world reminds me of webcams. If the handhelds in this video are your basic logitech webcams then things like the Odin and Steamdeck, etc. are DSLR cameras. They can emulate no problem, but the cost is really in that they do much more. My hunch is that in 5-10 years maybe sooner, the Anbernics and Retroids of the world will create devices with the power you are looking for. Eventually their will just be the chips they need laying around and they will stuff them in cost-effective chasis. Because they know their market and they really aren't contenders in the broader tech market they really build no frill devices and we benefit from those prices. For now though, the versality packed into these higher end devices will render them hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
One N64 game I want to play on the go is mischief makers. I picked up the RP3 myself and it is one of the games from that console that only run well at 1/4 resolution. Looking for something that can at least run that.
I was really torn between this, the RG35XX and the Mini Plus. I eventually went with the Mini Plus, but this looks like a great alternative, especially for those later games
Nice handheld, mine ran for a couple of hours and after that it burned to death. Now it's short-circuit when plugging in the USB charger. No life in it any more 😤 I really liked the handheld, this is the first one for me that was great in the hands. But yeah a couple of hours playing is a bit expensive..
Hi, great job as usual. Question, do you have a video focused on multiplayer gaming on retro handhelds ? Whether using HDMI out or some cable between 2 devices through the same OS. I already have an anbernic 353mp and I’d like to play with my kids some old fighting /racing games .
this is what keeps me on consoles. even if it's a single player game, it's more enjoyable with friends and family to watch/participate. especially when it comes to kids. I won't give my kid a phone/tablet/handheld because I don't want them to become self-absorbed little demons. I've seen it happen to many kids first hand.
I am surprised Bluetooth is not mentioned more in these reviews. In family life, headphones are a necessity to keep the noise down and even cheap kids headphones are Bluetooth now. If I buy one of these portables, Bluetooth sound is a requirement.
😀that one it is better than the Miyoo Mini and the RG35XX in terms of price and library ()... and it has DP and analog sticks ... hdmi out ... just the Dpad, l r abxy need to b improved
Hey Russ, thanks for all your great work! I've been looking for a 4:3 handheld mostly to play NDS games but not sure which to pick, which would you recommend? I've been real close to pulling the trigger on a RP2+ but indecisiveness kills me haha
The RP2+ is a great NDS device, it has a touchscreen and can upscale the games to 2x resolution, plus the Android DraStic app is great. You could do the same with the Anbernic RG353M and RG353V, with the added benefit of dual-booting Linux custom firmwares like ArkOS.
@@RetroGameCorps Aw man, now you’ve got me hooked. I already preordered the Miyoo Mini + from Keep Retro as my first foray into the retro gaming community, and even though it hasn’t arrived yet I already have my eyes on the RG353m. Everything about the device looks perfect for a portable gaming machine, and the fact that it can run DS kinda sells me on it. I lost my old 3DS with Pokémon Diamond and Black 2 (both unfinished) on a plane as a kid, and I want something I can tote around to complete them. The Miyoo Mini + and the RG353m seem to have a lot of overlap in terms of playable systems, but I’ll probably ending up getting both anyways lol Thank you very much for what you do, by the way. You’re an absolutely excellent introduction and news source for this community, and the fact that you upload and interact with people outside of videos so regularly really displays the passion you put into this scene. Keep doing what you love man, we love you for it!
Great review as usual. May be controversial opinion here, but I am leaning towards the view of some chinese retro handheld community' view, that is, these companies release way too many "electronic crap" (obviously negative view, for the reasons they repeatedly release many models with same SoC but different form factor as money grabber). Years of progression on the retro handheld scene, most of the folks who are interested are having at least one, if not couple of devices by now. Most people want more polished devices (a.k.a. a "definite edition") instead of fashion products that are released like "skins" for same SoC every quarter. These chinese manufacturers really need to slow down the pace pushing out new products and spend more time on each of them if they want to sell decent quantity.
Powkiddy. Hear me. This screen and chip in a V90 shape clamshell body. It will rain money. Just do it. Rounded edges with metallic white, black, wine-red and purple paint options. Put the Phil Colins CD on. Ooooo Yeah I wish it rain down. Raaaaain on Meeeeeeee.
It's kind of an older device, but the PlayGo (or PocketGo v2) is a nice slim handheld that can handle up to 16-bit well, and it runs the Adam Custom Firmware image (which I have videos for on this channel), it's a really nice experience in that specific context, and cheap too. It has flaws (like the slider instead of analog stick) but a nice d-pad and face buttons, and super pocketable. s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFnzb33
Well it depends on what you want. If you want reliable PS2 and gamecube performance and double or more resolution in older devices, just go with the odin lite. It is still amazing for its 200 dollar (I think 220 or 230 for the one with 6gb ram) price point. Retroid pocket 3+, rg 505 will play SOME gamecube games and SOME ps2 games. DO NOT get these systems for playing these consoles. But they will play dreamcast and psp pretty good, and everything below those consoles. I think with an RK3566 (the one you have) you are pretty much covered if you dont want to necissarly take the next leap in performance and price bracket.
Yes, they generally copy designs from other companies and sell them at a lower price, but with lower quality. Sometimes they innovate to disastrous results :D
Good screen quality, good thats its running linux. The rest not so much, especially the battery as a heat sink issue. Id be a little weary on that front. If youre fine with that then for the price/performance factor it would be a good device for those looking into retro emulation on a handheld.
Definitely, but also bear in mind that most handhelds have the battery over the CPU, unfortunately. The RG405M is probably the best design I've seen in this form factor that has excellent battery placement!
Where can we download the preloaded image you used in your test? I cannot find them sharing this out anywhere. I have just purchased this of course (yes, your vids are usually best recommendation these can get), but, since I don't trust the quality of their SC cards, I took 'no card' option. What almost hurts me here - there is space in this "chassis" for at least 4.8/5 incher screen, yet they all keep coming up with 3.5in, which is too small t my liking. Other than that a perfect device for me. HDMI output compensates a bit to that smalish screen, but still. It would make a perfect device in X51 casing and screen, with everything else taken from this one.
Thanks for the great review as always. I guess what I really want to know is how it compares to the rp3+ as that was one of your leading handhelds from last year?
The RP3+ is at least twice as powerful as this one, but is also twice the price. I still think the RP3+ is the best price/performance handheld out there, but if you are looking for something much cheaper, this is a solid pick too (albeit with compromises).
@@RetroGameCorps Thank you! I was wondering just that, if the rp3+ was still the best deal out there. For my budget this rk2023 may make a more affordable gift to get the kiddos started and for a good friend who is on the road a lot. I really like that it comes pre configured. That right there is a huge service I wish more provided. Thanks again!
