That is actually a great point, since a DS emulation often needs a touchscreen and most handhelds tend to lack that particular feature from what I've seen
An OLED screen on any current phone (Or the PSVita for that matter) makes wonders for pixel art graphics. Ultradefined blacks on contours of the caracters and low pixel response times are very welcomed for retro gaming.
Just be warned on buying a used OLED displays, they do burn in and if the same app was used all the time, it makes a mess of the displays. For example, someone uses google maps or Waze to get to work every day, after a year of that, the screen is toast, so a 1-2 year old phone could have bad burn-in.
Oled for gaming is kinda bad, since it is easily burn and most of time game have coloured bar, long loading screen etc that will make the screen degrade faster
@@Yoedi16 Nah, as they do burn in, it's not even close to what you say. Even my Vita that I have had from new is perfect, I have had days with 4-5 hours of gaming on it. I did have a Note 8 and I used Waze every day, after 6 months, it did have burn in on it. So they do burn in but, at very heavy use. It takes a lot to burn in a screen.
I think some of your gripes was due to your inexperience with android and the phone buying ecosystem. There are smaller phones. There are unlocked phones so you don't get the carrier crap. You can map buttons on the controller to work like hardware buttons so you don't have to swipe the screen. The pros outweigh the cons using the phone as a complete package. Especially when you factor in price vs. feature set. Good video. I enjoy your work.
Also, there are buyable clips that can be used for the main controllers, which would mitigate his issue with his second controller. Or one can be easily built using a car phone mount. Moreover, controller latency tends to be much, much better using wired, up to the point I tend to simply plug in my PS4 controller using usb C to usb A adapter. This also natively work for most Xinput USB controllers.
Definitely and if you've got a decent fone and due an upgrade you'd be spending very little for a very capable retro setup, it's just the time and effort really but considering how much a similar spec dedicated retro handheld machine would cost it's probably well worth it.
I think he came to it with a concluded mindset and sought out confirmatory bias. Some of the "cons" are laughably transparent, the comparison is almost as fair to phones as userbenchmarks is to AMD. He complains about "endless swiping" but doesn't seem to mind (and even compliments) the move of handheld emulators towards android and touch interfaces. He complains about screen size on phones and form factor of "bulk" when you add telescoping controllers, yet brushes the exact same issues aside when it comes to handheld emulators. Look up his latest GPD XP video and how differently he approaches size and form factor when you have a handheld rather than a phone. In the conclusion he presents a false comparison between the weakest phone hardware out there with non-existent future handheld emulators that can match it...
@@fabricenonez9098 The controller latency issues don't exist when plugged in - despite using a X2 with USB-C, he generalises the conclusion as being "there are latency issues", which is a dodgy conclusion and isn't comparing like for like: A) Latency is with bluetooth, there are plenty of ways to get plugged in experiences. Plugged in, the controller latency is going to be no different from a built in one. There are an increasing number of ways to have a "plugged in" gaming controller on android, ranging from just plugging in your xbox or ps4 controller to telescoping controllers like the X2 and the Razer Kishi. B) Emulator side latency is not unique to using phones - its down to the emulator that you use and is present on handhelds as well. So it isn't an inherent advantage of emulators - some emulators may come prepackaged with better choices and settings for emulators, but many also come with terrible ones that give a poor out of box experience. C) Lots of lower end handhelds have latency issues stemming from low end hardware, which you don't have with more powerful phone processors. Overall, fairly damn bias if you ask me.
@@JimIBobIJones I turned an old one plus 5t into a retro handheld, paired it with an ipega controller and I can't fault it for what I want it for. It goes straight into game mode whenever I start playing anything and I never have to swipe while playing anything thats compatible with controllers. Only major disadvantage is all the time spent downloading roms and setting up retroarch or whatever you want to use but once you get to know how it all works it's not a lot of effort really.
I’d love something like that, I love my Android phone for emulation but it never feels quite right bobbling around on the clip above the controller, and clamp controllers are either too expensive (like the razer kishi) or just flat out rubbish!
@@squirtbottle3764 I also have the s20 and I wanna do some emulation. I was looking at getting a actually handheld emulator but if my phone works I might just stick with it. Does the s20 automatically come with a snapdragon? And what app should I use for emulating
@@genjuyt7265 phones so much more powerful and therefore better use retroarch download what cores u need or all of them if space isnt an issue and the install a front end which means u can install the games original artwork ad icons on yournhomescreen and click them to instamtly load the game automaticly chooses the correct emulator for u so ita seamless like clicking on a real android game i use a program called Dig it works great really makes it easy and if i show anyone my fone i have pages and pages of n64 ds and other conolles games and people r like wow how do u download that thru the playstore lol? Its rly good retroarch is pretty much all u need i use one or 2 other stamdalone emulators just from personal preference but thers no real need to retroarch does the lot and Dig makes it look pretty so u can add icons to the home screen for each game or each console and chooses the correct emulator for you so them 2 programs and your sorted retroarch and Dig :)
Last year when I had to finally retire my 6 year phone, I specifically went looking for a daily Android phone, which would also double as an emulation machine and to this day I think it was a great decision on my part, as I always have either an SN30 pro or and SN30 pro+ with a clip in my bag, depending on which bag I'm going out with (the sn30 pro and clip take up less space in my "man-purse" than many underpowered dedicated devices). I would buy a dedicated handheld as well, but my personal experience thus far has been more than satisfactory - I already always have my phone in my pocket, I have been using my phone as my main music player for years as well, so adding emulation to the functionality was less hassle than most and with my tendency to play old JRPG games, I often don't have issues using the on-screen touch controls and just not bringing a controller with me. However, I cannot deny that the "feel" of a dedicated handheld is a different matter entirely and in my opinion one shouldn't buy a second phone just to play games on it as you end up not using most of the features you pay for. I'd say - buy an emulation-capable phone when upgrading your daily driver, but if you have the funds to spend on just a second device - buy a dedicated handheld, which is built specifically for the purpose.
Buy an unlocked device! I've literally never bought a phone through a carrier and I always get new :) I do absolutely prefer a dedicated handheld though that's for sure
I definitely agree with you on the unlocked part. Furthermore, there are tons of websites that offer refurbished phones - I've gone that route several times and have never been disappointed.
@@RetroGameCorps Did a bit of my own research, I just searched "unlocked Android phone" on Amazon, set the maximum to $100 (or however much you want), and there ya go. Wal Mart and Best Buy seem to have such options, but Best Buy seems to only really stock the newer/expensive models. Not sure which models have good Snapdragon hardware, but the Samsung Galaxy A01 seems to fit around that price range, but seems to have some kind of Cortex Processor and not a Snapdragon. So might have to do a bit of work to find a good unlocked Snapdragon phone. Sorry I can't be of more assistance.
The problem is you bought the wrong phone. 1st of all 80$ is too much for sd662, theres a lot of brand like xiaomi to buy much cheaper with no terms and condition for buying prepaid or to get a plan. I still do respect your opinion and thanks for sharing this vid to us
You can also buy one of those cheap 8" tablets with IPS display to play classic games, Zelda on a 8" is way better than on a 3" screen especially if you are getting old and your eyes have trouble with small and close stuff.
I can't find a cheap handheld console with a screen big enough for my eyes, so a cheap 8" tablet and a controler is the better option. A phone just loses way too much screen when displaying SNES games. Throw-in a 10 000mAh power bank ( INIU has affordable ones on Amazon with 3 years warranty ) and you don't have to worry about battery life.
I've been doing this for a while now. I combine the razor kishi and my pixel 5 and retroarch generally would play anything. ita very convenient to just download and play anywhere. I sometimes get a bt controller and use it on a Lenovo Duet for a bigger screen experience
Unless I'm mistaken, this is the first time I see someone on RU-vid highlight that fallacy of buying Boost Mobile devices for this purpose...that it will continue to prompt you to activate the phone and even block your WIFI on it.
I did the exact same thing. I bought a phone just for the purpose of playing games, but I came to the same conclusion. It just never felt quite as good as playing on a dedicated device. I am just waiting for a dedicated device that can play up to Dreamcast and Saturn.
@@Dairunt1 If you can find an unpatched switch that is. I got a used switch and it was patched which sucks as I was willing to "CFW" it basically and run things that are NOT part of the Stock Nintendo experience such as Netflix and emulators since I could use use the joycons as a controller and have a solid retro device with the likes of running android.
As someone that has taken this phone-as-a-handheld journey, I will say that the user experience varies widely based on the phone that you use as your handheld. At first, I used a $100 Walmart phone, and it was large and in charge! I was able to play up to Dreamcast with it with absolutely no issues. I upped the screen resolution for every system (SNES, N64, Dreamcast) that I was playing on to full-screen so that I have no borders or missing screen. However, I wasn't able to play Wii/GameCube on that phone - and then after a while, the phone stopped working altogether. However, once I bought a used Galaxy s10e and installed my games on it, everything was copasetic. It plays Wii, GameCube and everything before that with absolutely no issues, without pop-ups or prompts to accept any phone carrier terms. Plus, it's a small phone, so small that when the Razer Kishi is on it, it's literally the same width as a Nintendo Switch. There are still small phones out there that are powerful. So, all in all, I highly recommend using a phone as a primary handheld device - it just has to be the right phone for the games that you want to play. I recommend either using a former/current flagship phone that you already have, or buying a used phone(preferably unlocked) with a Snapdragon 845 or higher. Just about any phone with a chip like that will play everything before PS2. Any issues related to phone notifications, pop-ups or screen width ratio for certain games can all be easily rectified through emulator/phone settings. Many of the negatives that were listed in this video are not universal for everyone that uses a phone. I would even go as far as to say that phones are actually a better option for playing retro games than any retro handheld on the market currently. They offer much more power for the money, have longer battery life, have Bluetooth/Wi-fi included, and play many more consoles than a current handheld does. And the phones are only getting more powerful with the onset of the Snapdragon 888 chips - which means all those 865/855+ phones are now former flagships that can be found for cheap. It's the handhelds that need to play catch-up to the phones, not the other way around.
I've got a Samsung S10e, but I have an otterbox on it due to how much I use it out in the field for my job, and I also mount it to my bike and large drops tend to make the phone fall off. Without the case, I'd have gone through lots of phones. That makes any telescopic controller that connects via USB C not a good option. I just ordered an Anbernic RG351v for the 4:3 screen as well. But good to know if I ever want to try some portable gamecube/wii then it's good to go!
@@Michael-hn8bo Actually, I have the exact same setup - an S10e with the black Otterbox case over it. I bought a Razer Kishi as a telescopic controller for it, and recently discovered that I can put the whole phone with the case inside the Kishi by removing the rubber inserts that the Kishi comes with. I was recently playing WWE Day of Reckoning, Smash Bros Brawl and Medal of Honor Frontline using this setup and it was flawless.
@@Michael-hn8bo They are now available at Walmart/Target/Best-Buy, which is quite different from when I bought mine! Make sure you get the one for Android because there's also one for iOS and they look identical.
The perils of emulating Dreamcast on a 5 year old phone: 12 seconds later: Low battery... Lol. Old Androids had poor battery life (2017 and before). The newer Androids are 100x better.
I like very much Mupen64 with wide screen hack and good resolution with texture filters. It looks GLORIOUS! You just need to not screw up in changing emulation settings cause if you mess up it will lag your whole phone and will screw up the game graphics making it look corrupted until you put back the original settings.
@@thatguyalex2835 True tho. I managed to run Gamecube on my new Redmi Note 11 which i got from my sister (sadly, i broke it 2 months ago.) It runs pretty well on Vulkan and OpenGL! Plus, It runs Roblox VERY good on the best graphics (Future Lighting). Just a lil bit too much laggy, But soon that thing will be optimised and until i get my phone repaired it will run better.
I came to the same conclusion in my mind ahead of time, but happy to see the research to validate it. As you said, the size and feeling of a dedicated handheld is what breaks the phone option for me.
True but with a 200$ budget you can have a phone that can run any ds 3ds and few switch games, all ps vita catalogue, plus dosbox for dos games like X wing, dune, fallout, Diablo, ported android games, (Minecraft, kotor, lego Star Wars, lego Harry Potter gta4 , vice city baldur gate and so on..) also the new snapdragon 870 can play ps2 and Dreamcast and GameCube. With 300 ish $ you have everything. I don’t know.. on one hand I’d like a Linux dedicated handheld, but it simply doesn’t exist the one that can do everything a phone does.. also with 40 dollars you get that beautiful sn30pro controller that will be way better than any controller comes in any dedicated consoles
@@CapitanTavish Yeah, I just use my (modded) Switch for emulation, and my phone for anything the Switch can't handle (or anything on the go). I have a SN30PRO controller in the inside zipper pocket of my purse to break out whenever I want to play games that would need a controller, and carrying that is just as reasonable as carrying any sort of separate handheld. I've watched soooo many videos of these dedicated handhelds to see if any are worth it, and they all seem like walking e-waste. At least using a current phone or buying a used one gives extra life to a device before it bites it.
Ok can confirm, I used my Xbox series s/x controller via Bluetooth and retro-arch, and for the first time I can actually play games on my phone as smoothly as the original consoles. Otherwise if that didn't work I pry would have tried the controller you used, but I'm glad since I personally feel like these Xbox controllers are the best out of any controller I have used, they just fit right in my hands and have great build quality. Also was blown away at how well xcloud worked. I was playing Doom eternal and Fallout 4 on my phone with practically no lag (little frame dips here and there but barely noticeable). So games on the Android phone is a win after all as long as you have good controller hardware and the right apps ( this is the first time for me using RetroArch).
I imagine you could flash lineage to the phone, then stick a launcher like ArcBrowser as a more traditional retro-handheld experience that circumvents any carrier bull and removes all the bloat. Should be easy through TWRP. I still love my GPD xd+ though.
It's should can be accomplish via Rooting but again it's waste time for now as Android more robust platform to use except for older phone which never get support anymore, well to me who have Android 5 it's still good to play i even can play some modern Android game like PUBG clone Free fire without any problem except maybe some lags coz online connection.
I was thinking about custom ROMs as well, or at least ADB debloating this carrier-bloated device. But not all devices have a good community for custom ROMs so it's a bit of a hit or miss situation. If you end up with a phone that barely has a custom ROM community at all, you'll have fewer guides to help you unlock the bootloader and flash a custom recovery/ROM, which increases the risk of bricking your device. And since unlocking the bootloader and flashing custom ROMs voids your warranty, that's probably a bit too scary and risky for those who bought brand new phones and/or are flashing for the first time. So for those who are familiar with custom ROMs and know how to flash them, sure... it's a great option. But for first time Android users or complete beginners, I wouldn't recommend it.
@@lolhaha9376 like I said it's pointless and waste time at this point coz Android already robust platform but again there also example like those super console x which use cheap Android box and turn them into emulation station that use emuelec and perform quite good than it's Android counter part.
Android has always been one of the best option for retro gaming emulation for years. The first Galaxy Note served as my dedicate portable setup until it was replaced by JXD s7800B. Today my portable setup is GPD XD+, RP2 and a bit of Galaxy Tab 7 (which I also use for work as well).
I set up my daily phone (a jailbroken iPhone) with some emulators for retrogaming. I wouldn't recommend it for the following reasons: 1) Newest jailbreak needs the phone to be re-tethered and reactivated after every restart (annoying). 2) Phone randomly restarts during a gaming session! (super annoying) 3) A bunch of my regular apps stopped working due to the jailbreak (citing security risk). 4) Finding controllers to fit the iPhone specifically was a pain. They won't work for all installed ROMs (annoying). I was trying to save some $$ by going this route but I wouldn't recommend it. Either get a dedicated game device or a dedicated phone for retrogaming, do not try to make your regular phone into a gaming device. Too annoying.
I bought this phone in September on sale for $229 CAD$, unlocked, so I own it outright and can use any sim and wifi I like. Mind you it's the International version of the Moto G power, the Moto g8 power. It's great for retro gaming. You can plug it into a TV with a renkchip miraplug adapter. I have a cheap bt controller with abxy d pad two joy and l1l2r1r2 select and start. I prefer just plugging it into my tv. The renkchip works with just any phone with otg ability.
This is really interesting to me considering I've been using Android devices for things like gaming and media for a long time, and new to retro handhelds altogether (waiting for Retroid Pocket 2 to start shipping). Mobile tech is so fascinating right now and is seeing a ton of innovation. Would love to see a follow up to this if you spend any more time on Android devices.
Interesting Specs if you ask me we need to see that in handhelds we buy from Anbernic. Big bummer regarding that popup.. 😑... awesome video like always 👌
Guys I think they're just not used to working and thinking like this. So we might get handhelds like this later than we hope for if we wait for Chinese manufacturers. We should actually have them already. But it seems to me the manufacturers keep taking baby steps and then waiting until they sell enough inventory to at least get their investment back. Before they roll out the next model. Testing to see if the customer is willing to pay more for better. In their minds everyone wants everything cheap, cheaper, cheapest I know Thomann (biggest online musical instrument store in the EU) orders their own brand of guitars in bulk from various Asian factories. There's no middleman or advertising costs. So they offer higher quality instruments for a lower price than their competitors. Such as Squier and Epiphone guitars So actually any handheld fan who's good at designing can send those designs to the factory where for instance Anbernic or PowKiddy get their products from. Depending on the quality and amount you want to order they will give you a cost estimate. Then it's a matter of setting up a Kickstarter to get the minimum amount of orders needed to pay for the first run Chinese products often get a bad rep. But those factories are definitely capable of delivering quality products. The buyer usually just wants to cut corners at any cost. But I'd gladly put down €200 for something like an Anbernic that can play GameCube games. So if you think you have the perfect design and specs in mind the only thing really stopping you is not reaching the amount of pre-orders required to get the investment capital that's needed. After that every extra unit you sell is pure profit
@@LilSirAxolotl selling phones is not like selling dedicated gaming devices. phones are sold in masses, so there is always going to be revenue. gaming devices on the other hand, are marketed toward certain type of consumers, and such market is not as big as phone market.. so, selling each unit with the same phone price won't make profit to them. also, for decent GC/Wii/3DS emulation, you need anything from SD835 and up. 200€ won't buy you a phone equipped with SD730g,, let along SD8xx. and a retro device powered by SD835 will definitely cost 350$-400$.
@@bassram3337 Oh that's definitely expensive yeah 🤔 But the PowKiddy X18S is rumored to be able to emulate up to GameCube and some Wii games even. While it's also estimated to cost around $200. I don't know much about chips etc. so I'm confused now. It has a Six-Core ARM CortexTM-A55 Processor 2.0 GHZ CPU, Mali G52 GPU and 6GB - 8GB RAM The Niluanxy KT R1 however will have a Hexa-Core AmLogic S922X 1.8GHZ CPU, Mali-G52 GPU and 2GB - 4GB RAM and should be able to handle up to DreamCast and even God of War on PSP. So definitely not as powerful as the X18S but better than the RG351 range. Estimated cost between $100-$200 So I'm possibly interested in that instead of an RG351. It does seem like the promise of GanmCube and Wii games on the X18S might be a little too optimistic. But I'll wait for the reviews on both anyway before I buy anything
@@LilSirAxolotl while X18S spots a half decent GPU for GC emulation, its CPU is just awful for the task. CORTEX-A55 is straight up bad for Gamecube emulation, and emulators are CPU heavy. also, 200$ for a Chinese retro handheld is too much since you can get Nintendo Switch lite for the same price which offers performance equivalent to SD835 and quality materials
1- you can change the default interface to give you home and back button on the screen 2- you can unlock the phone which gets rid of their terms and conditions pop up. alternatively turn the cellular off and don’t insert a Sim card 3- turn on no disturb and it turns all notifications off
Some smartphone complies with USB C thunderbolt specifications. You can connect a USB C hub with PowerDelivery, HDMI output and 2 USB ports, creating a powerfull portable console or multimedia center. Try It!!
Part of the reason that companies like Boost Mobile try to cripple your phone if you refuse to activate is that people a few years ago figured out that you could get these subsidized phones for as low as $25 new. Once you bypassed the activation process, you'd have a small, wifi-only Android tablet you could install apps on. If you wanted to, you could even root them, and at that point, you'd be able to do anything you wanted to them. They were fantastic little computing devices with wifi, bluetooth, sensors, GPS, and a battery, and they were so cheap, they were effectively disposable.
Been replaying some GameCube favorites on my LG G8 with a telescoping controller. It's not the snapiest experience with it's Snapdragon 855 but I hear phones with a Snapdragon 888 get near perfect GameCube performance. I'm upgrading to the Galaxy S21 for this reason since I already need to buy a new phone cuz I'm switching carriers. G8 has served me well. Played Resident Evil 4, Twilight Princess and I'm currently doing Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door on the G8. About 85% of the time these games run at 60fps.
@@jaswanthkumar8365 Already bought a Sony Xperia 1 iii (that has an SD888). I haven't noticed any crazy heating issues so far but I've heard the horror stories. I had to switch to Verizon rather suddenly so I only had a few options for phones with the most modern processor and a headphone jack. The ROG phones were a close contender but just too "gamery" for me.
@@pressxtojason good choice. That's the one that has minimal heating issues. But it's performance is also reduced to avoid heating. Should be fine tho.
@@jaswanthkumar8365 It's definitely performing much stronger that my G8 was so I'm happy with it. Of course my gaming laptop can still run circles around this phone for when I want the full experience, but my inner child is smiling ear to ear with the fact that I've got a high performance GameCube in my pocket now. I do recommend the Sony if you've got the money for it, but it is a hella expensive phone and kinda has a controversial camera (but I happen to like the cam tho).
@@pressxtojason yea Sony is great and the camera is also great. Just that it doesn't have much of post processing.I like to edit my photos and want them to be natural like Sony. I'm also interested in getting a Sony next year. I'll probably go for the smaller 5 series cuz I don't like bug phones that much
An android phone with snapdragon 700 series and up (those are around $200-250+) you can emulate up to 3ds (switch with some annoying stuff to do), ps2, wii, etc
It's a good result for someone new to android, but I'd like to make the following suggestions: 1) Telescopic controllers are kind of ridiculous for the reasons you mentioned. Something like an 8bitdo pro 2 controller + clip is the way to go. Their new clip design eliminates any concerns about the setup feeling unbalanced and you end up with console quality controls, better than any handheld that has ever been made. It does not feel like playing on a phone at all. 2) Your controller should natively support back and home functionality - this helps a lot. 3) The choice of phone is super important! That carrier BS you went through is completely unacceptable. IMO it's best to go used. You can get a good deal because you don't care about features most others pay more for, like a good camera. Hell, even a cracked back wouldn't matter really as long as the screen is good. Must haves: microsd slot, good battery, acceptable chipset. Dual speakers and especially an OLED screen are great stretch goals. A case is recommended. 4) A good frontend will be a game changer for getting away from that phone feel. I suggest Dig or Lemuroid. Launchbox will be great in the near future as well, it just needs a little more dev time. Good frontend + the right controller solution makes it feel like a dedicated handheld. I use my main phone - a flagship from 2018 (mate 20 pro), connected to an 8bitpro 2 via their new phone clip. Best handheld experience of my life. Controller cases are small, cheap and make it all just as portable as a handheld (you're always carrying your phone anyway). It plays nearly all gamecube games and even some Wii like a champ, console quality controls, easy to hold for hours. Plus, the OLED screen changes the experience completely. I just launch the frontend app and away I go. Battery life is fantastic - 7+ hours playtime on a full charge, but even better, it charges up to ~50% in about 15 minutes, something no dedicated handheld can do and that's huge. Also, android emulation is one of the best supported emulation frontiers out there. It's just a fantastic experience when set up right.
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thanks to your comment I learned about new 8bitdo clip, thx!
I used to do all my emulation on my Samsung Galaxy S9+ with a Saitake 7007x telescopic controller. The pros I noticed were better screen quality (Brighter, Oled, higher resolution), better speakers, PC/cloud streaming, better emulation + the ability to play systems most of the handhelds on the market can't. Emulators can be updated through the Play Store and you can download your games straight from the phone, no taking out the SD card and plugging it into a computer or using FTP clients. Cons: Black bars with most retro systems. As you pointed out there is a lot of wasted space because of the size and aspect ratio of smartphone displays. Playing on a phone feels like playing on a phone. Most retro handhelds feel like a retro system and they try to emulate the look of them. It just feels "right" playing on a dedicated retro handheld with the design and screen size. Choosing the right controller. My Saitake controller broke after a few weeks, then I bought a phone clip for my Xbox controller and the controls were great but it didn't feel right having my phone just floating there. I prefer the telescopic controller design but there aren't many options for those. If you already have an Android phone or one just sitting around collecting dust I'd say give smartphone emulation a try. If you don't and don't care about playing harder to emulate systems a retro handheld is a good choice.
For producing a dedicated snapdragon handheld, I would imagine the problem could be cost and scale. Small companies making them can’t get access to those chipsets and manufacturing processes at those prices, so most solutions to bridge the gap end up being an unhappy medium. They’re just currently different market segments. I’m looking forward to cheap and powerful SoCs and a maturing handheld market. For now, however, using a phone is not worth it to me. I’ve got a One GX1 Pro on the way that gets here in about a week, also got a 2tb nvme internal 2242 drive, and I’m gonna play all the GameCube, PS2, and Steam games I want. I’ll get a Powkiddy x18s when it comes out, and whatever Anbernic comes up with, but I’m not expecting the “dream” handheld to be out for another year or two. That’s okay though, I love collecting devices, experiencing all the oddities, and being along for the journey. Even if I was impatient enough to blow a lot of money on the one gx1 pro.
I do my retro gaming on a laptop. It's portable, more powerful, I can connect controllers to it, I can connect it to a tv and play on a larger screen, and can use it for other things than just retro gaming. Basically I use my laptop as my retro console. That being said, I see the appeal of having your retro games on a small device, that costs less than a laptop would.
I played Burnout Legends on my ZTE Axon 10 Pro with the new Gamesir X2 USB C gamepad and I instantly fell in love lol the controls and gameplay were so smooth with that controller and it was only $50 and it felt so comfy to hold in my hands,even more than holding my Nintendo Switch. I could easily get used to playing like this,it felt just like when I was playing with my original PSP 2000 Darth Vader edition that I had a very long time ago.
I use my phone as my main retro console because it's not a dedicated device. It's just my phone doubling as a console. With an HDMI adapter I can even use it on my TV 😎
The issue with a clip is the weight distribution. The telescopic controllers (like the Kishi shown in this video) have much better in-hand feel than a phone stuck to a regular controller with a clip.
5 launchers to consider. ATV launcher used in this, or Pegasus. Or use reset collection, dig or lemuroid and use one of the apps that turn any app into a default launcher
If you have a fold, the inside screen is a nearly perfect 4:3. It's amazing having retro games in full fidelity on a screen this large in your pocket. If you flip it vertically it's good for DS emulation too.
I vote dedicated device. Phones and tablets are solid options but a dedicated device is where its at, IMO. If we could get a snapdragon in an Anbernic device 😲🤯😬🥳🤓 ...also like many others have said try out Dolphin MMJR.............and congrats on 25k Subs👍
Yes, yes you should. A few reasons: - $/performance the Android will always win - Bigger/better quality + higher resolution screen - Your choice of case/controller 🎮 - Broader compatibility with modern apps being given constant support Your purchase power can determine what games you play. Only have $50-80? Run anything up to Dreamcast flawlessly. $200+ include some GameCube/Wii $599+ nothing is off the table
Yep my old note4 does almost anything i throw at it but id love a fold3 so i had a massive folding screen to play on that wud be so awesome its like a 90s kids wet dream
I've considered doing this too.. I always had Android, so I know these are good to use for emulation.. The issue is, you have to use more than 1 emulator, manually to play these. I like Android because there isn't much limitations 👍🏻😁
Yeah, I get that, and I can't fault the company for wanting its customers to activate the phone on their network. But at the same time, their marketing materials give the opposite impression, that you buy the phone and can choose to activate it later via prepaid or contract. No worries, I returned it and will be getting an unlocked used phone instead :)
Great video. You should definitely try a front end like DIG. It will find all of the game art and tie all the different emulators together. Also, a great controller option is an Xbox controller with a phone clip.
I have an S21 Plus that I use exclusively as a gaming handheld, with an Xbox pro controller and Ipega game clip. I love playing PS2 on AetherSX2, as well as a variety of other good emulators. I realize the S21 is a lot more expensive than the Moto phone in the video, but I got mine at a sharp discount.
I would use a phone absolutely so yep, but that particular phone is all I would use it for just gaming, run a nice dig frontend, then I go about finding a good game pad for the device. Oh and keeping up with the updates👍🏾 awesome video as always, still watching 👌🏾
I have a entry level gaming laptop and a snapdragon 860 phone (poxo x3 pro) and I love that the performance of both my devices is almost the same, although I have only played upto psp and ps1 games, I am certain that games like BOTW will run better on my laptop compared to my android phone, but considering the price of an android phone, you really cannot complain.
I love 8bitdo as well, it's a better controller, but Ipega makes some great controllers with built in phone clips above the controllers as well, at rather low prices..
@@simonecaraffi7490 Ahh, I find the form factor and the way everything sits on the 9025 to be a lot more manageable over all, but that 9167 looks like it beats the razor by quite a lot for efficent use of space
@@Ramza30 IKR? Most of them feel similar, seems like theyve been upgrading they hardware in them a bit over the years, i have a pg-9021 and 9025, the 9025 is great for pocketing, phone sits flat against it when its in the clip, just a great experience, the 9021 feels like a meh, okay quality xbox controller with a built in phone clip, totally does the job , all the other ones i;ve played with worked just as well..they seem to be easily recognized by phones , batteries last a damned long time, etc... still not quit the same quality as the spendy ones, but they tend to be fairly cheap for completely acceptable quality and functionality.. i havent tried their newer and more featured offerings as of yet, but lots of them look real sexy,
The best emulation device I ever had it's an old Xperia Play of mine. I've installed a custom clean ROM and it plays 8~32 bit games smoothly (except Sega Saturn). It's compact, discrete and has superb controllers and sound for the price (an used one costs around 35 dollars on eBay)
I was looking on how my Samsung Note 20 Ultra would perform emulating Retro games, now I know that this thing can run PSP at 60 since the Samsung Exynos 990 Prozessor is head to head with the Snapdragon 6 Prozessor, so for anyone with an Samsung phone from 2020 can recreate this experience! Thank you for your great video
I just need this performance in my 351V! Still can’t get even a lot of my 2D jrpgs to run smoothly on that chipset. However, the form factor of the 351V is my favorite. PS1, GBA, WSC, and original GB/GBC look absolutely stunning.
Tbh, I got lucky when I started emulating off of my old phone, a Samsung Galaxy A20. When I upgraded, I kept my A20 mostly for wide lens photography. Out of curiosity, I decided to start playing old arcade games through MAME on it. I used two different controllers for it: the Ipega Wolverine, and the telescopic BSP-D3. I still use the D3 with my A20 whenever I game with it. The main reason I ended up buying a Miyoo Mini Plus was out curiosity, even though my A20 is a strong phone. So now, for lower-spec gaming, I use my Miyoo, but for higher-spec gaming (especially when I'm playing N64 and PSP games), I use my A20.
I did this years ago in 2014. Walmart was selling a prepaid Verizon Moto G Gen 1 for $20. I bought it with the intent to use it as a dedicated streaming device/remote for my Chromecast. Turned it into a solid gaming/retro gaming handheld for my kids until it met its tragic end in 2019 after a kids dropped it. One of the best tech purchases I’ve ever made. To your point about carrier mess, the phone would ask you to activate on Verizon’s network at startup but wouldn’t pop up after that.
After watching lots of videos on this channel and having trouble zeroing in on a device that could run the games I wanted while also streaming games from my computer and having a decent screen for various resolutions... I realized the phone I was watching the videos on already did all the things I wanted! So I snagged a refurbished Kishi for $50 and it's been game changing (pun intended). I'm not wild about the d-pad on the Kishi itself, but otherwise am enjoying the ability to freely stream and emulate so much stuff. Note: If you don't want to deal with a carrier or with used phones, you can just buy a new phone from a vendor like Amazon. My current phone was one I got new, for relatively cheap, after being frustrated with my carrier trying to upsell me on flashier, newer models. It was easy enough to activate it and so on, but if you were buying it with no intention of activating, that would be even easier.
My solution is a bit more expensive than $85, but I bought a Moto phone on sale and got a free controller that connects through the phone's interface (no lag.) The whole thing winds up being slightly smaller than a Switch Lite and runs everything up through Dreamcast and Gamecube, depending on emulator support. If I'm going to use a separate controller, I like 8bitdo and a Samsung tablet.
This does make sense in terms of buying dedicated hardware. If you do end up using your phone for everything it can make sense to toss in a Bluetooth controller or grab the kishi in the go bag. If you invest in your phone (there are a considerable amount of people who have good phones and either do not have or do not daily drive on a computer), then adding accessories like this and even a lapdock could fill your needs without more devices. You get the benefit of not being dependent on wifi as well.
I have lg v30 I’d probably still be using if I didn’t get a free iPhone. I wanna put like a 1tb sd card it in it and put that DaC to good use. Maybe get some wired headphones again and have like an apocalypse phone with every game ever made and every album I’ve ever listened too on. Yes I need this
Great review man, that’s a killer phone 📱. You get awesome prices compared to us here in the uk 🇬🇧, the same phone here is nearly twice the price that you get them for. Loved this video. 😎👍👍👍🇬🇧
You still can't beat the value of an LG V20 for retro gaming. SD 820 (still more GPU power than many budget phones) removable battery, 1440p screen and headphone jack and an LCD so you can play at max brightness without feeling stressed. And the second screen let's you see notifications without getting in the way of your game. Playing though Birth by Sleep in 1440p60 (it's a 60 FPS game with a patch) was awesome, it's a great 1440p emulation device.
I put this on my Samsung Z Fold which is just about 4:3 on the inside. Ideal for everything up to Ps3 and wii (except psp). But it plays all these perfectly. I'm also playing Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360, and PS3 with varying degrees of success. But because of the 4:3, it's best to stick to emulation up to the Wii.
I'm already returning it, I tried to turn the bloatware off via ADP but it wasn't successful. I'm going to try an older, smaller phone like I mentioned in this video instead :)
swappa.com/listing/view/LVDS67336 I think the pixel 2 would be right up your alley. No sd card slot though, but everything else is on point. 16x9, small foot print and this has 128gig.
Actually I've thought about making old smartphones into dedicated retro handheld gaming systems. I've got several other ideas which I simply don't have the resources to invest in immediately every time.
I recently turned an old Pixel 2 into a retro gaming device, while upgrading to a Moto G Power on Google Fi (for $50!). I use a Dualshock 4 controller with a clip I bought on Amazon for a few bucks. The points in this video are all fair, especially with respect to always feeling like I'm using a phone instead of a proper device, but being able to reuse my old hardware was an unbeatable deal, plus it can play N64 and PSP games! I was hoping Russ would make a video like this to compare to the "real thing", so I'm glad he did. Perhaps one day I'll upgrade to when you can buy a dedicated device that plays more of the consoles I grew up with.
That's a great deal on the Moto G Power! It makes sense when upgrading to keep your old phone and repurpose it. I have been in the iOS ecosystem since the iPhone 3G, and I usually wait a long time between upgrades, so my old phones never really have much value when I'm done with them.
I bought a ps controller to use with mine it would never pair came in blister pack sealed brand new turned out to be fake tho that was why it would never work dont know how the person i got it from got it but i got stung with it on a classified ad thouggt it wud be ok cos was new in box but was fully fake bad times :(
There seems to be at least 4 methods for rooting this phone from what I can see on the Net. Once you've done that, disabling "Carrier Device Manager" and "Carrier Hub" via adb (or other software like Titanium Backup) seems to stop the pop-up (at least until you cold restart the phone.) You could also use "System app remover" on the Google store (free) on a rooted phone to completely remove those services. Worth investigating.
I have that exact phone, i activated it with boost, with just a 20 dollar prepaid card, which is great for unlimited , but i only did it 2 times, and then just use it with google voice for free, and my home wi fi still works fine, after 8 months now, so pretty confident, just get a 20 buck card, activate it, and then your good
You will get better performance with a good phone yes, but a phone or tablet with a telescopic controller or whatever will never be the same as a dedicated handheld. Ive done it, it works pretty good but its just not the same at all.
Russ have a look at the rotor riot controller for android. It inclueds a phone clip and a wired usb c connection. I think you would have a much better experience with something like that
it's wired? :-O I already own 2 wireless controllers for my phone but if I knew this thing existed I'd buy it instead, I hate having to charge the wireless ones I have! Edit: although it is kinda on the expensive side... :-(
@@stevethorpe9755 I had one, modded the buttons on it to use Nintendo DS membranes under the buttons. Still didn't like the poor ergonomics of the controller. After 10 mins my hands would be in quite a lot of pain. Now I just use a clip on my Xbox one controller. Not as stream lined, but way more comfortable.
Modern Samsung devices are so versatile in this department that its almost disruptive. Features like Samsung Dex allows you to literally connect your phone to a tv or monitor in order to use the same device in a desktop mode. And because of how powerful smartphone chipests are these days, it effectively becomes a gaming console with local and network multiplayer support. I often totally forget that I'm on a phone. Performance is top notch, even on a Samsung S10e from 2019 (which is what I still have).. If you experimented with that, you would have been far more impressed. Retrogaming can be very potent and enjoyable on modern smartphones..
17:13 As a Vita user, I'd not recommend it as a replacement or upgrade for the RG351p or the RP2... Though the Vita is really good for PS1 and PSP games, its emulation capabilities leave a bit to be desired... You can play most of the 8 and 16 bit stuff just fine, SNES, PCE, MD, NGPC, Wonderswan, GBC, but it absolutely STRUGGLES with GBA, and don't think you can run N64, Dreamcast or DS on it, you're not going to have a good time... If you already have an RP2 or RG351p, I'd only recommend a Vita if you want to play the Vita's own games, which like, there is a lot of good stuff in there, even some PS2-to-Vita conversions, and some very nice homebrew ports, but I'd tell you to just get a new 3DS instead, it just has a much better library, a lot more exclusive games, plus you get to play DS games the proper way... Now if you DON'T already have one of the better emulation handhelds, THEN I'd say consider a Vita, it may not be the best option for handheld emulation, but it will do PS1, PSP and most of the 8 and 16 bit stuff pretty well, but if you do get one, absolutely play the Vita's own games, there's some good stuff in there...
I'm a retro gaming fan and I think Android do an awesome job in emulation. I use my regular phone (Samsung S20 FE, 6GB RAM) and 8bitdo Pro 2 (with smartphone clip) as a controller and everything feels amazing. In the specific case of Samsung, you can add 2 amazing things (I'm not sure if any other have a counterpart): 1 - When you activate Game mode, you can deactivate all notifications (or select some to still be there, if you are in stand-by for a job, for exemple) 2 - You can eventually use dex mode when you want to play in a bigger screen Other thing all Android can do is sync files with your PC (or even Raspberry PI) and keep your saves sincronized when you use multiple devices. Now You can play on the phone during a flight and when you are home you can continue in your PC exacly where you were before.
M64PlusFZ has a widescreen hack as well. Though it takes some fiddling to find, it's in the gliden64 plugin settings and you actually have to create a copy of the plugin to actually edit the settings, you can only edit the copy for some reason). There are also widescreen hacks that you can find that can be applied through cheat codes, which are generally less prone to graphical glitches.
One other app I saw is lemuroid from the store. It plays pretty much everything but dreamcast. play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.swordfish.lemuroid
