Retroid Pocket 4 Pro Review: PS2 and GameCube for $199! 

lol first thing i noticed was the deeper voice! feel better!

You're doing a fantastic job. Thanks for such a quick review out. I was looking forward to this. Purchases RP4 thanks to your channel.

I’m sick with the flu

I thought you had hired someone to do an impression of you.

You sound fine, Russ. Get well soon.

His wife probably not impressed.

@@skycloud4802 She might be happier than he is

Does it have a dual shock feature?

It starts with

one thing

one thing

@@Fluvv I don't know why

@@cav-_-9857it doesn’t even matter how hard you try

I'm personally going to wait for next years model. Obviously these emulation handhelds are a moving target. But I set a 'threshold' for when I would buy one, and that's once they have enough overhead that I basically don't have to worry about whether a psp/3DS game will run well and only whether it's supported in emulation. We should reach that with the 5 based on the 4's performance.

@@Bustermachine But then aren't you talking about the model in 2-3 years?

The rp4 basic can play psp and 3ds just fine with 2x resolution. ​@@Bustermachine

I still want one with a Snapdragon 8 gen 2!

​@@netnomad47just get ayn odin 2 then lol

100%, I wanted to jump on this one but decided to wait for Russ' review.

I have a vita and have no intention of buying another emu device for a few years - I still watch EVERY video 😂 Such a warm and homely channel ❤

I was hoping Saturn would look better, but Die Hard is what I really wanted to play on that system and he showed it playing so I'm happy.

​@@blitheringrando1410if you wanna play Die Hard Arcade, get the PS2 Sega Ages re-release. It has enhanced graphics and tons of new content and if you don't like the new graphics you can play the game exactly how it was on the saturn, all without dealing with Saturn emulation headaches. It's also a very lightweight PS2 game, too, easy to emumate.

Not there yet

Hooooooooold

The MediaTek Dimensity 1100 is really potent, and I'm glad we've finally moved away from Unisoc. It's much more stable and software support is better. But USD $200 is a decent amount. I was hoping they would have "downgraded" instead to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778. It's a relatively new midrange chipset, with decent long-term support, and the software optimisation is much better. Those tricky titles and tricky systems would simply run much better. Also the battery life seems to be superb. That would have made the comparison to the AYN Odin2 more favourable. It really is a bit like a Toyota Corolla (pocketable) versus (portable) Toyota RAV4. But where there are superior alternatives to the AYN Odin2 (SteamDeck, VSD OLED, ASUS ROG Ally, GPD Win-Max-3, etc)... well there isn't any for the Retroid Pocket 4+.

My pleasure!

Exactly what I was thinking!! Beat me to saying it.

I’ve been thinking about getting an Odin 2 but the input lag is a huge dealbreaker for me, I’m very sensitive to such issues

​@MugenDad Can you elaborate on the input lag?

Which color did yiu get odin2

Normal lite red bra

Or at least shoryukenable

​@@greenshell5735 Damn. Just beat me to it

​@@greenshell5735 what about "haba-dipe-dipe-shourudipe" able

Apparently it has the same controls than the RP2S So it is...

is it Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku able?

I second that! ❤ you Russ

Just bought one for my son after watching. Hopefully he lets me use it too!

phones have had this performance for $100 since 2017, but I guess we needed 6 years and +$100 to add buttons and analogs...

@@tynao2029 No they haven't. The processor this is closest too (and the dimensity actually beats) is a snapdragon 865 which didn't come out till late 2019. Not a single phone that uses that chipset is anywhere close to $100 or even $300 for that matter unless you're talking used prices, and even then it will be at $200+

@@Diosky27 The LG G7 ThinQ released in 2018, you can get them in 10/10 condition for around $80 and nearly all specs still pretty much blow this stuff out of the water for more than 2x less the price. Just look at the screen specs. We pay a premium on these devices for analogs and buttons when you could just connect attach a controller to a smartphone. Sure it's nostalgic but expensive, the really cool ones are the niche devices like Anbernic Arc-D that actually recreate a console controller

Most people have modern smartphones ​@@Diosky27

@@tynao2029 There was no phone in 2017 for $100 with this performance.

My pc can't even run it. Yes I really need to replace my pc internals

Yeah, it's emulation and these games are made for PS2 / NGC. There are very few emulators which tries to replicate the original device 1:1 in software emulation to expect the game running as on original hardware. This approach can be seen, when you compare SNEX9X, which is even today one of the most used emulators and compare it to bsnes, which is much more accurate but needs more power to run it. But if you can run it, it is to be expected that you can run every game without any issues. Sadly, AetherSX2 is not furthermore in development and there is no great alternative.

Dolphin development/android driver issue probably, bet these run fullspeed on slower pc.

How does the Sly Cooper games and the Daxter and Clank games do? Might be getting those wrong, sorry. Am noob Edit: I meant Rachet and Clank and the Jax and Daxter series 😅

@@ImGairBair Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter looked great at 2x. Waiting to hear back on Jak 2!!

once the switch came out the word "portable" lost all meaning. The PSP is portable, The Gameboy is portable, the switch is a consle for on the go.

I agree I use to love my switch. But its not very portable at all

​@@craigcervo4384That's why I'm turning to options like GPD, although their units are admittedly quite pricey.

RG405 from Anbernic seems a much better deal

@@Espartanica the 405 has a far lower resolution screen, looks like it's a lot less ergonomic, and from what I've seen seems to run PS2 and GameCube games quite a bit worse across the board, and is only slightly lower cost compared to the Pocket 4. Really the only benefit seems to be the battery life, so it just doesn't seem worth it, at least for my use case.

i'm not knowledgeable, just guessing, but I wonder if it has to do with using quads, a lot of its rendering hardware has to be emulated by software, more so than other systems that can be emulated a bit and then passed to the GPU in a workable state again just guessing, everything I said is likely wrong

⁠​⁠@@snowzZzZzIt’s mostly because the saturn hardware is notoriously hard to develop for, emulating is a similar story. Up until a few years ago Saturn emulation was literally considered impossible.

The difficulty with Saturn emulation goes back to Sega's original sin of tuning the Saturn for 2D. When you are that far into development and the reaction to the PSX is exactly what you didn't need meant the midnight oil was going to be brunt. The fact it was so hard to program for adds to this difficulty of designing a emulator that works on most hardware that doesn't have extra CPU/GPU cores lying unused like a really powerful gaming PC or Media workstation. That said the mainstream games all seem to work okay and will require from tweaking from developers to work it's best.

I need a handheld to play Dragon Force on. Pleaseeee

Man, that Odin 2 is really tempting. The thing is, is it worth it for just retro gaming? I'm looking at NES all the way up to the PS2. When it comes to DS and 3DS, I'll just use the original hardware for those games.

​@@SP-vl1jhI'd say if you think most of the time you want to play ps2/switch and heavy android games/pc streaming definitely odin 2 is a solid choice. However if you prefer older retro consoles with occasional ps2 and want something smaller you can't go wrong with rp4 pro.

@@imeverywhere9633 It'd strictly be for NES and consoles all the way up to GC/PS2. I have no desire to play Switch or android games on these handhelds. The screen size comparison during the Sea of Stars section made me think about it.

@@SP-vl1jh Fr that's exactly it. I was debating between Steam Deck and RP4 Pro but tbh I already have an overkill gaming PC so might as well get a handheld that runs PS2/GC/DS games, most of those consoles are all beat in the used market + I can game stream from my PC to the RP4 Pro if I really want to handheld PC games.

I agree, the smaller screen is a pro for me too! I don't want a huge handheld, this size is pretty good

I too will wait this one out, maybe the 4 pro plus version

I agree. Although I have to say the performance gap between 3+ and pro is huge, which is good. The only thing I do not like is battery life. From these old chip sets you can easily squeeze 8 hours of play (speaking of 3 and 3+ family), this is not the case for the 4 and 4 pro. Still retroid is heading in the right direction 👍

You are missing the point of the portal 1) 8inch screen vs 4.7 2) full blown dual sense features and comfort

The portal is completely pointless

​@@Drivenbystill can't believe they didn't go for a nice OLED for the portal.

@@Drivenby that's fair, but the fact that the Portal can't interface by WiFi 6 when the PS5 can is a bit of an oddity for me.

@@MasDouclol y u mad

Yeah once you have that device then there's no point for this one

@@GangityBirdity yeah my thoughts exactly

No Sly Cooper makes me a little sad though

@@noahjdavis7396makes me super sad :/

Or maybe even in the rgb30

Same here! I’m still looking at the RG405M for its screen ratio and size but damn this Retroid Pocket 4 Pro is calling me...

Just get the Odin 2 at that price point

@@Chris-cx6wl thats fair, i am nit picking. but i have yet to find the base odin 2 version for the original $300, and if i am spending anything over $300, might as well go a bit further and get something like the steamdeck

Have you considered getting a Galaxy S20fe second hand ($159 plus) and a controller grip like the GameSir X2 Pro ($67)? Around $226 or so total and you get a 6.5" OLED screen and Snap Dragon 865 with performance close to this D1100.

@@discardedparticles I do have a Note 10+ that has been collecting dust in my closet, i may just break it out and test out the capabilities of it.

Get a grip

​@@suhtangwongThat defeats the purpose of a portable console imo

@@suhtangwong Are you calling me crazy??? jk. But yeah, not very pocketable at that point. Really I just want the analog stick to not be in such an awkward position for 3D games.

​@@stfn4472but it's such a good pun

@@diodora2381 just saw my msg and I meant the rp4 grip lol so more like Xbox layout? I'm used to ps/switch style but Xbox style makes more sense for comfortability

Hell if that existed even 5 years ago.

That's honestly what the PSP felt like to me when it came out

20 years later we will have handheld device that can play PS5 for $199

​@fajarkurniawan9434 well all be underwater by then

@@MasDouc ill be in space

It's a shame there aren't more options for PS2. And where the hell is a Xbox emulator for that matter?

​@@skycloud4802I've been wondering the same. Perhaps it's got to do with Xbox running Windows in the background? I'm sure it's a resource intensive pain in the butt to emulate.

@@skycloud4802 Apparently, Xemu and Xenia don't run on Android because Xbox software is tied too much to Windows.

That’s one of the things that is keeping the Odin 2 of being the perfect handheld! Size is another thing 😅

@@Kuchenwurst I think the underlying issue (that relates to the modified version of Windows2000 the 360 ran) was that the CPU architecture on the 360 was pretty close to x86 (close to a Intel Pentium or one of the intel processors of that time) which would prove pretty annoying to emulate on the ARM chips these handhelds run. Couple that with a kind of weird GPU that has (or maybe used to have) spotty community-driven documentation, and you have a rather difficult task to take on.

Too much red with Rouge Squadron

unless you're really constrained by size, I'd consider a second hand steam deck. some sell at or under $250. and it's a far more capable device.

@@DarkPhoenix1515 I have a steam deck that I dont use much. Maybe Ill keep the RP2+ because it is quite compact.

Yeah a 4S with 4:3 (but still high res) would be instant buy for me.

That'd be a great addition to see in more reviews because I wonder how effective some can be to help the feel

@@alexanderespinoza for me, it was a must. i printed a grip for my rp3+ and it really changed the feel of it. i could play it for hour and hours without it feeling uncomfortable.

How much weight would it add?

it comes with the roms pre installed or i have to put the roms in the micro sd?

Please help me I'm trying to find the rp4 pro for 200

This is really the way to go. You can find cheap smartphones a few years old that have great snapdragons in them, just get one of those and get one of those controller attachments and youre good to go!

​@@craciunator99 I'm thinking that myself. I have the S22 and I'm like do I pick up a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro or just buy a good phone controller instead? I guess the pro with a dedicated handheld is not having to deal with background notifications and having to take the controller on and off but these high end phone have so much power...

I don't think emulation requires active cooling. With Snapdragon 870 I can easily run ps2 games at 2k(didn't try 4k) and it doesn't get heated really. There are cheaper options than Gamesir G8, it is not really the best budget pick but it is great. So second hand phone with OLED screenreally the best option, also if controller drift you can change it, you are also getting better performance.

@@AndySomething Yeah that’s something to think about. Personally I like having a separate gaming device from my phone (Plus I’m an iPhone person so emulation isn’t as easy). But if you already have an S22 then you have more power then a RP4 Pro already. I own multiple handheld gaming devices but always seem to go back to the S20 with the GameSir G8… that G8 is just so comfortable to use.

@@Whiteshade Yeah active cooling def is not needed for most games. But it’s always something people point out when I mention just getting an old Android phone. I haven’t had any issues with running really any games using my S20. And at $80 the GameSir G8 def isn’t a budget phone controller but it’s sooooo nice and the build quality and what you get for that price is pretty insane considering something like the BackBone is $100. I can’t praise the G8 enough.. but yeah it’s def not necessary if you’re trying to get a device together at the lowest cost.

Totally agree, let's hope it will happen for the RP5

I doubt that would happen, namely valve isn't in the emulator handheld scene(they let you do what you want with the hardware but they are already selling at a loss, you can't make store sales on a something like that), they are in the handheld gaming PC scene, And we're probably at least a couple years away from performance being good enough to actually create a smaller form factor while having acceptable battery life and performance second even if it's $150 bump the base model steam deck competes well enough that I don't think it would be necessary, to be entirely honest the bigger competition for stuff like this is smart phones with a gamepad grip

The steam deck battery lasts at most 2 hours for graphic intensive games. If they made it smaller the battery life would be unusable. If you want something a bit smaller you have the Rog Ally.

I think Steam released their OS as a bootable file. So in theory they won't need to. If somebody put their mind to it, perhaps you could flash Steam OS on open Linux based handhelds already. Although it might be very bad and not work well.

@@skycloud4802 prefix: I'm nearly certain what he's asking for is a cheaper steam deck that's also smaller, what your proposing does meet what he was asking for... Anyways main comment yes but it's x86-64 only, the devices of a size comparable to any of the retroid ares almost entirely arm based or mips based, yes it's technically possible to run box 64 and emulate x86 steam but the performance is awful, the few that aren't are mostly older Intel handhelds with lackluster performance and they're still much larger than any of the retroids

It plays ps1 great. You're doing something wrong if you couldn't get 100% of ps1 to run flawless

Yeah 200 is a little steep for me, really I dont want to spend more than 100 on a device like this, but it may be quite a while before there is a ps2/gamecube full capacity system under 100

⁠@@craciunator99Me personally, I already own a 3+ that my son has been eyeing for awhile, I also have a steam deck, and to slap with the AAA games I have a ps5. So I’m well rounded on all angles, yet I preordered the pro over a month ago and I’m excited for it. I already have the HDMI out infrastructure for the steam deck and of course Bluetooth controllers so it will be a great experience. All of the shortcomings I found with the 3+ have been fixed, I can’t stand the side volume buttons. It drove me up a wall, and I was also smart enough to buy the case for it this time so the ergonomics are no longer going to be a factor. Just like our switch oled, it cramps the hand after while and is just uncomfortable for playing long term. But this device being small and running android are the main selling points for me, setting things up via emu deck on steam has proven to be a little more confusing than I’d like to admit. The hot keys are different and hard to find, and having to go into desktop mode to set it all up was daunting. I am beyond excited to get mine, and I’m not even mad that I’m going have to set up a new device for the umpteenth time. This is going to be the last one I purchase for a good long while, my only worries now are the durability of it. I had my 3+ for a week before it took a tumble off a hotel bed, about a foot and a half and the left shoulder and trigger stopped working. I plan on being a lot more careful with the 4Pro and keeping it in the case grip the moment I get it. Cheers.

@@craciunator99 I think the price is fine, but the size is not. I need PS2/GC capable devices to be much smaller. About GBA SP size ideally.

Hopefully someone makes a limited edition handheld with old used sd 865 phones for 150

Love my steam deck but I can’t that thing everywhere lol

exactly @@P-dub978 lol

Turned of all the speedhacks and underclocking?

@@bulletpunch9317 Only thing I changed was Vulkan to OpenGL and it ran buttery smooth on my Odin Lite. Everyrhing else was set to whatever AetherSX2 is set to by default.