Smartphones VS Handhelds - What's Best For Emulation? 

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Physycal buttons still the best

Physical buttons the answer you're looking for is "physical buttons"

Phones are convenient, but you don't wanna be playing games for a while and run out of phone battery, you can be playing on a handheld and have your phone charged up and ready to go

IPhone users represents around the 30% of the total market, and I would not say that amount of people is interested on retro emulation... and Android has had this feature for years, and people still prefer to buy a 50$ console rather than dealing with touchscreen, which is, I believe, the main reason to not emulate games on smartphone. So, no. I don't believe this will affect retro handhelds market at all.

The best for me will always be buttons, that tactile feedback can’t be beat.

Dedicated handhelds, cuz.. it's dedicated. :) One can always buy an accessory to attach to your multi-use device and have a good time, but then there are all the downsides that comes with. Dedicated handhelds are the best, but everyone has their preferences.

For 80% of people, nothing beats the convenience of having an emulator in the phone, which is carried everywhere. However for the other 20%, the feedback of physical buttons is unmatched when playing games. The retro consoles should constantly improve on their OS & hardware while keeping the price low to expand their market beyond these 20% of people.

to be honest, I don't think it will do a lot to the handheld market... Android has a huge market share, and even though we have had emulators for ages people still buy handhelds. Games just aren't as enjoyable without physical input. Also, separating the gaming devices from the phone is preferable since the gaming session isn't interrupted by apps, notifications, video calls etc... things that could potentially kill the emulator (due to lack of RAM on 2 - 4GB phones)

I tried mobile emulation a long time ago on my old Windows phone, which had a similar emulator UI to what you showed. I played for 10 minutes and was so angry because I kept missing the button on the screen (I want to look at the game, not buttons; I want to FEEL buttons). So, physical buttons make a world of difference (now I have 3 dedicated handhelds to play and am thinking of buying two more). As for novelty, mobile emulation is nothing new. If anything, only because the iPhone has a larger user base may increase interest in attaching/connectable physical controllers for phones, but even that is at best.

used my phone for emulations together with an external controller, best of both world

I have both miyoo mini and the iphone 14 pro max. The biggest pro on phones are the oled screen on iphone pro models, and how fast and easy are to play cause u always with your phone BUT, the touch screen even with vibration response are very bad, and the old good physical buttons are way more confortable. And a external controler would make it enormous in landscape or weird in portrait mode

Phones or phones with buttons?

I think this is an important thing to ponder. Handheld companies may slow down a bit, not releasing 3 iterations of the same device in the span of a year. Maybe there'll be more variety of controller add-ons to smart phones now. But all in all, I think if someone is really invested in retro games, I don't think they'll get the same fix from a smartphone as they would from a stand-alone device. I could be wrong though.

It opens up the experience to people who want to casually experience retro gaming. Simple as that. 👍

Touch Screen? Hell dubble NO! End of discussion, simple as that.

Dont get me wrong, I'm excited about this... but I need physical buttons.

I agree with the last part of your analysis. I don't think most people will enjoy playing with a touch screen... But connect a bluetooth controller or a USB controller like the GameSir and BOOM: you now have an emulation console with an awesome screen and some awesome speakers. I was about to buy a Miyoo Mini but eventually decided to use my old phone and I don't regret it.

I've really enjoyed being able to pop into a few of my favorite retro games on my iPhone while I'm stuck waiting in certain situations, but outside of something like Pokemon, most other games necessitate that I attach my Backbone. The convenience is quickly lost if I'm having to lug around a rather large accessory to make playing games on my phone at least palatable (I'm still doing it, because, why not?). The beauty of a dedicated handheld is that it's compact and just works, complete with physical buttons.

The fact that you can stream Delta iOS perfectly to your TV, and add a controller with no lag is a game changer for me. Also games look great on my iPhone 15 Pro. OLED screen is fire.

I’m in the US and have been using Delta since it released on my Iphone14. It’s honestly quite impressive. It’s so easy to set up and use, and everything runs incredibly smooth, and the drain on the battery is surprisingly low. I do like solid buttons on my go to mini+ but for the convenience of having literally everything I have up to DS on my phone is crazy. I know they said more systems will be added, so depending on what they can make run smoothly it will be a game changer. I know IPhones are capable of impressive graphics and frame rates so I’m excited to see how it works out with maybe some psp and 3ds emulation. I am surprised there is no full top/bottom screen swap option the DS emulator. Especially since it’s pretty standard with DS emulators that only have one screen available it’s odd it didn’t launch with it. I’ve gotten so accustomed to a button I can swap between the 2 screens and it makes playing DS so much easier. I do have a skin that makes the bottom DS screen clear as a small window in the upper right corner, which is the best it can get now until a swap option is released. Add that, and give me my psp and especially 3ds games and it’s pretty much perfect.

I have an S21 FE with a Backbone one combo, it emulates like a dream and it's not my primary driver as a phone, just a device I had lying around and decided to turn it into a console, best decision ever

This is personally perfect for my situation. On the go, I really only play N64 and below let’s face it, these consoles were made, and designed to be played sitting down at home. This is what I realized after many years of collecting and selling retro video games and of course playing them. I really wanted to play AAA call of duty on the go. At least I thought I did. I also wanted to Relive my childhood and play through all of the Mario and classic games I played as a kid. It all started with a modded PSP go. I truly love that thing, and to this day it’s still my favorite handheld. I of course modded regular PSP‘s. But my intention was to play N64 games and as we all know that PSP doesn’t do that very well. PS Vita was my next handheld that I modded, back when it was difficult to do it lol I fell in love with the Vita but it was not truly portable. Not like the PSP go. And for my “on the go” gaming needs, it needs to be in my pocket. Or else I really won’t end up playing it because I end up doing other things like work on my phone. I realized that for my gaming needs I have to actually take the time to sit down and play and enjoy games like banjo Kazooie. If it’s just gonna be a 15 to 20 minute gaming session or less I’m just going to play something like super Nintendo and below. I realized this after I bought my GPD win 4 Windows handheld. I bought it because for me I’ve always wanted the PS Vita or PSP to play call of duty or AAA games. So this is the perfect handheld for me. I ended up using it most of the time docked with my external monitor. I only used it on the go one time while shopping with my girlfriend at the mall. I got like five or six games of call of duty online. So now that I am able to play N64 and below on all my iOS devices, and have everything synced is actually pretty amazing. Most of the time I end up playing on my iPad mini, which is docked as a center console in my truck so it’s on me all the time and now I just use an external controller. I find more time to play before I go to the gym or sometimes when I get home I’ll stay in the truck for 30 minutes more and play some goldeneye. I realized that I just love all of these devices and even after having my dream device already I don’t use it as much as I thought I would. (At home) So, having everything ready to emulate on the devices that I use every day, has made it more convenient for me to actually play the games. Here’s the thing, though, I travel for work 60% of the year. And when I leave for work, I pretty much use the GPD win 4 every day With my external monitor to emulate everything. If I’m traveling on the bus or on the plane, it’s got everything covered. However, for longer gaming sessions, N64 and below, I can put my iPad down on the table and have a bigger screen now. All in all, it’s a win for retro gaming

What is the name of the game at 4:10?

What's the handheld at 1:58?

Emulation on a phone has laways been a neat novelty, but never for serious gaming. I been playing retro games on my phones for years and it was never practical; even with a telescopic controller. I need my phone for calls, video calls and actual communication usage. The idea of draining my battery, carrying extra battery banks and accessories just to game on it; always led me to just get a dedicated handheld. The GPD XD was my daily driver for years, until the recent trend of handhelds. The only awseome use I been able to get with the phone recently; was using an old Galaxy S9 that has USB-C video out; with my Rokid Max glasses. That works, because the phone is so slim and small and directly connects to the glasses without any additional peripherals, just a bluetooth controller and it really is an awesome experience.

How do you have all the time to.explore devices, critique, Make content and actually play games through? Or do you not play lengthy games? Always appreciate your insights. I get overwhelmed with my game backlog so I cannot imagine yours

I think phones are the future for emulation, because of how convenient they are. Anyone can just download an emulator now. Plus, i use an iPhone 11. 8 hour + battery life for me. However, I like (and prefer) physically buttons. But hey, a controller works great and can be switched out for different games.

The ability to emulate on my iPhone has been great. I own a couple of retro handhelds but I didn’t always want to carry 2 devices around. Now I can casually play Pokemon Platinum while on my break at work.

Thank you for inadvertently reminding me to get a plastic phone clip for one of my controllers!

I really enjoy the delta app, but it was mostly the first couple days for me honestly. It just kinda taught me how much better the original hardware and these games are. So while I enjoy playing games on my apple device, I have gotten a bigger enjoyment from my gameboy and ds because of this emulation.

I’ve been having the same discussion bout getting something smaller. I have the Odin 2- and the debate as to wether I should get a tiny device just got more dificult bc I can play on my phone 🤦‍♂️

I like both kind of how I use a kindle it’s more convenient to carry my phone and play games but there are a lot of distractions and interruptions so I will still play them on my steam deck I would only use my phone for short sessions or when I’m just going out and don’t want to bring 30 things with me

beefy phone + MHL cable + 4 wireless controllers and you have basically all consoles up to ps2/wii on any hdmi capable screen. Also just one of those controllers that wrap around your phone (switch style) is dope too. There are lots of em.

Playing pokemon while listening to classic rap albums on the same device has always been the best to me

Those retro handhelds are a blessing, my smartphone is solely used for calling, messaging apps, watching content, and staying connected on various platforms. I refuse to play games on it, especially when people are trying to reach me.

For those on a budget that hate touchscreen controls: Find a controller for your phone that you like, and then you not only have buttons but a much larger screen than whatever you can buy

I've been playing pokemon emerald on my iphone, even though emulation on cellphones have been a thing for a while, the ability to just download it on app store and get the rom of the games i want on a matter of seconds is just convenient as hell. With that said, i managed to send my emerald save file from a real cartridge all the way to my iphone and keep playing where i left off. Is insane been able to play the same save file on cartridge, pc emulator and now iphone lmao. Just FYI, i used a Wii with GCN cable to exctract the save file.

I have to agree. I used to use mini discs and iPods, as well as antique HP calculators. I can use my phone to do all three things through emulation. Now that I can do emulation on my iPhone, I really don’t need, even though I still want, a handheld device.

In my experience, having dedicated devices for gaming works better, both for the battery and to better enjoy the relax through something apart from working or any-other-stuff related object. I love my green RP2S, as well as my modded 3ds: maybe I will consider a Miyoo Mini Flip for a more compact device.

I was so excited to play on my ipad and my iphone, I played for 5 mins and I was so excited. 5 more minutes later, I stoppped playing because it didn't give me the same feeling as playing on a gameboy. I switched right back. edit: This is coming from someone who used to play GBA4IOS on my ipod touch when I was 11 years old. Which was great at the time, but the emulation retro handhelds we have are sooo much better.

After trying out both, Handhelds are the best for emulation but its way better for you if you use smartphone emulators first so you get experienced with them. The physical buttons of handhelds and their great form factors make them the winner. They are a great companion with the phone as it can reduce your doom scrolling and it also helps sustain your phones battery.

This was a good video, but you forgot the option to attach a physical controller to your smartphone. Some of those even have extra battery IIRC.

I said this on Twitter and I'll post it here as well: Having a very limited experience of using emulators on both smart phones and Handheld devices, I will always prefer handheld because they're more comfortable and using screen controls or having to buy a separate controls is too much hassle.

This could be a way to reuse an old ipod touch: decent performance, decent screen, just need to add an external controller ;)

When I'm firing up Dragon Quest 8, Paper Mario 1000 Year Door, and PSP games at 4k I don't regret my Odin 2 at all.

Let’s not forget iOS and Android has Afterplay. Great for cross platform progression and doesn’t need the internet to play, just on startup. Not sure how it works but I think it keeps in cache or something then syncs when you go online.

It won’t affect anything, it’s just another thing to play games on, and why you and I have many handhelds that basically all do the same thing. Also an iPhone, even the cheapest one, is damn expensive in reality and in comparison to a Anbernic handheld

I can c a casual gamer going for the smart fone option since it’s free and they r pretty powerful to emulate a lot of systems but proper gamers will always prefer physical buttons and a lot of people may enjoy setting up an emulation handheld to their liking

Nothing will truly replace the feel of physical buttons!

Metroid zero mission, it took me 40 minutes to get to an area on my phone vs 10 minutes on my handheld emulator.

Handheld with buttons RULEZ. Thanks for video.

Personally I disagree with you on people possibly migrating to dedicated emulation handhelds. Most of the people using delta are the super casuals who just want to be able to relive their childhood games/play classic Pokémon. If you haven’t already bought a dedicated handheld I don’t think delta is going to springboard them into buying dedicated machines.

I prefer original hardware with a flash cart, and physical mods or changes if possible such as an extended battery.

Surprising to think that having a smartphone essentially means you technically have a handheld console.

I love physically handhelds most because a smartphone distract me alot with other stuff. Besides that, I like tinkering and firmwares like OnionOS. The only way to play retro games over a long time on a smartphone for me is, to get an older smartphone which isn't used anymore and set it up with an external controller as a retro machine. GalaxyS10 by the way. Oled Display, nice battery life and a lovely speaker. Nice one for most under 100€. Wish you all the best!

Sadly I can’t try out the delta emulator as a French citizen currently being in Asia so no American Apple Store nor possibility to install the app from the alternative European store without being « physically » in Europe. In my case I prefer to have a gameboy style console emulator such as the anbernic 35 xx Plus. I loved the pixel density and retro style to it when I had my hands on 😊 So I believe people will also buy this kind of handlet once they will be thinking between a good controller versus the price of a standalone console emulator

Im holding my breath for RetroArch. Screen filters, cores, options galore, etc. Screen quality and processor power is a major W for smartphones. Delta is great but the community controller skins aren't my favourite.

With this i see companies leaning towards Backbone style controllers. Once you add a controller to the iPhone it makes it 10x better.

Someone needs to make a Gameboy still case with physical buttons for phones.

If you decide to go the route of using a cellphone for emulation while it has no physical controls. Why not just go all the way and use an Android or Windows tablet for emulation? That way you could keep your cellphone as a phone.

I had emulators on my S60 Nokia 20 years ago. Apple 😂

I think you understating how handhelds have their market even when emulators have been available in Android for like forever (which is the biggest OS for smartphones) so I don't think this will change thinks drastically. Plus a dedicated dehice with physical buttons is way better.

Bought an RG35XX H, installed custom firmware, after bugs (battery drain when shut off) and realizing that I highly value ps2 emulation, I sold it and bought a Galaxy S20 FE and a type c controller, couldn't be more happy tbh, I have DEX, a reliable software, plenty of parts if it breaks and it's pretty much the same size.

showcase that CHONKY CORGI in the next vid PLEASE

i used to be the guy who used phone to play all these games but trust me, nothing like physican buttons.

Why ignore the existence of amazing smartphone controller attachments? :3 Oh yeah... My opinion on the matter is that getting a Gamesir Galileo or even something cheaper will be leaps and bounds better than most dedicated handhelds in terms of ergonomics and quality of controls. After that comes the screen. 120Hz (for some games that may support it? Idk... But most importantly, reduced latency and if we're talking about OLED which we kind of do... even more reduced latency through non existent pixel response times). Way better resolution. Way better brightness. Size?? You were saying that dedicated devices have bigger screens. They kind of don't... Unless we're talking 4:3 at 5+ inches, they don't... Most smartphones nowadays are 6.3+ inches. Many of them being at 6.7". In 4:3 games, they are pretty much the same for about 5" of usable screen space. For 16:9, even more than that. And even if the smartphone is just slightly smaller in certain games, is it worth it to lose the brightness, color richness and responce time of an OLED smartphone? Speakers? Potentially better, potentially worse... Depends on the smartphone. I would use AptX LL earbuds... Although yeah, not as fast as the screen I'm afraid... Maybe wired headphone passthrough through type C on some smartphone controller attachments? Maybe. I don't like tiny speakers, but then again, most old games have tiny sound... Performance: There is NO handheld that can hold a candle on similarly priced smartphones when the price exceeds 200$. Let's face it, if you want an operationan on most aspects smartphone, you will pay more than 200$. At that point you can get an OLED with decent-ish performance. But when compared with handhelds at this price point, you realize that the performance is way better on the smartphone... And now, if we talk about the quite realistic scenario of owning a 400-500$ smartphone, you get a Snapdragon 8 gen 1. With a bit more money, gen 2. At 500$ you get a smartphone with a damn good camera for the price, performance that would shame your 7 years old laptop, more ram than you really need, an amazingly bright, contrasty and color accurate screen, good speakers... And it happens to give you better performance than any handheld for the next idk, 5-6 years? Because handhelds DO NOT have fast SoCs... They just put an SoC that can barely reach the emulation of some console of the past... Quite honestly, it's fine... But if you can't emulate PS2, what are you doing? We should be aiming for xbox 360 emulation by now. PS3 even... I believe smartphone emulation does aim there nowadays... And the hardware is powerful enough I believe, at least for Xbox 360 titles. So. Why not a controller like Galileo? It's not like you lose something compared to a handheld and if you already have the smartphone, you'll just pay 50-70$ to get a controller... Now Imagine having a 10" tablet with decent-ish specs... Imagine mounting the controller on that? At the distance you'll be playing, it's gonna be like having plugged the "console" on a 60" OLED screen. Really amazing stuff... And I really wanna do that, but I don't have the money for a nice tablet right now 🤤🤣 For me there is absolutely no reason for dedicated handhelds to exist nowadays... Unless their emulation is more bug free that the smartphone one (which I don't believe so), they should be avoided. Battery life is the only real advantage, but if charging passthrough is provided by the controller, there is an interesting invention called a power bank... Are you willing to sacrifice so much, just to be able to play for more than 2 hours (smartphone battery life on high brightness and gaming hard... realistically even longer battery life...) at a time without even wanting to charge at the same time because the cable bothers you? I don't know... I find it unwise to waste money on an underpowered, lame small screen, overpriced product such as a dedicated handheld... Once again, smartphone controller attachments have reached the point where there is the same if not way better ergonomics and controller accuracy than the best dedicated handhelds... So. I believe, your next video should be a comparison. Unless handhelds is a big part of your channel and by maybe proving my point, you will no longer have as appealing of content as before... In that case don't 😅 Anyways, I want to get a Galileo or something and a tablet at some point. I'd like to play with some dedicated handhelds and compare the experience. But from a specs/technical standpoint that I am looking from right now, it appears that everything I already said stand true... We'll see ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ I basically saw your video to get my answer, but it wasn't really what I was looking for.

I don't really think this is going to happen... Half or more of the people (maybe not in us but surely in the rest of the world) could already do emulation on the phone woth no isuues at all... If anuthing, this is a very "US centric" point of view... I think this will bring more people into emulation, sure, and possibly steal a bit of the handhelds market but marginally. Btw... Linux handhelds difficult??? Probably for the typical iphone user, not in the real world (sorry, couldn't resist... But seriusly, the linunhamdhelds are as plug and play as it gets)

I just got an sn30 pro, and I will probably keep that in my backpack instead of my miyoo mini plus.

I think what will happen and there is a sub-genre to this is that with smart phone emulators, its easier to get a bluetooth controller and cheaper too.

I don’t think the iPhone will replace my RG280m anytime soon. Physical buttons are why people flock to these retro handhelds, and the fact it’s ready after you power it on. I have a backbone for my phone, but it sucks as I have to take my phone case off when I want to play. Kinda waste too considering it costed as much as one of those handhelds 😅 It’s nice to have when I forget my handheld, and DS has been a revelation on it

Have the app, the retroid is still my go to.

The non existing shoulder buttons are gonna be main reason to buy an actual handheld.

The clamshell can make a difference for the handhelds companies.

Their will be a surge in sales of controllers that plug into phones for tactile buttons we will see.

Physical/ tactile controls will always be better than virtual controls this is a non-issue yes you can emulate on a phone but the experience is not as good as a good handheld

I have been an iPhone user since my first smartphone. I own some Android based retro handhelds and Android is not a good experience. If we get Dolphin running on iOS I will have no reason to use an Android handheld - just grab a telescopic controller and I’m good. I can see a lot of people being the same way. I 100% believe that emulation is best with physical controllers though. Having something built all in one like a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro (which I have) is great and feels the best - but I would happily use just my iPhone with a Gamesir or Backbone controller as long as I can play the same games, at the same or better performance, without having to use Android.

I wouldnt say they are very very complicated (the hand helds). They literally involve downloading programs and drag and dropping files, but i guess that is not familiar territory to long time apple users

my handheld emulator broke and now i bought a new midrange samsung phone im just gonna use my phone to play retro games.

My prediction is Backbone and GameSir will have a heyday before people start forking over $150 for a dedicated emulation device

Wholeheartedly agree

Definitely will choose smartphone over this guy cause i can play GoW2 on Aethersx2 via my PocoX6 Pro 60fps in 2K resolution

Having those GameSirs and RazerEdge things attached to a phone for emulation is so overrated, overly complicated, bulky and tacky. Though, that's just my personal opinion. If you prefer attachments to your cell phone for game emulation and that's your thing. I'm totally happy for you. Spend your hard earned money according to your preferences whether it's smartphones or handhelds.

The reasons to use a Linux handheld are: The open-source OS and the physical controls. The reasons to avoid an iPhone are: The proprietary OS and the lack of physical controls.

Now, if only i could make a phone call from my Miyoo Mini Plus

I feel like the only ones who make a huge thing out of it are people from the Americas where Apple probably is more popular than Android. I have been emulating games on my phones since before smartphones were even a thing, my Galaxy S5 was amazing at running PPSSPP, now with Apple allowing this multi system emulator people make it up like this is huge where it really isn't unless you daily drive an iPhone. The best thing that could happen is that get more of these attachable controllers that work either via USB or bluetooth and which preferably go down in price. If not... eh... I always say in RU-vid comments just to buy a SteamDeck and that's still my opinion.

Disagree on the impact here. Gamers are not as stupid and are quite tech savvy. Physical buttons are always king. Even the cost of the well made telescopic controllers such as the Backbone cost more than some of these retro handhelds, yes i do realize there are cheaper options out there like the Gamesir. Android has also had emulators for years, don't think Apple getting emulator support is to do anything than we have not already seen. If anything i would be more watching Apple TV sales skyrocket if emulator support comes to it as they will be affectively consoles.

I mean just get a dedicated GAMEPAD CONTROLLER for your smartphone. Like the D8 Gamepad with physical buttons. You can clamp your Phone into it and you are good to go.

Phones all the way. Once you go down the handheld rabbit hole you'll spend massive amounts of money.

I disagree. Having emulators on my iphone is nice to have and actually the real value for me is now having retroarch on my apple tv. However, when it comes to pocket gaming I prefer a separate device that does not waste my battery or my memory.

The iOS emulator available currently is very barebones.

my prediction before i watch the video. It will have a net benefit on the handheld market. People will realize why tactile buttons are a thing.

I dont understand why people want one device to do everything more screens is better

I love my handheld devices

why is PC not mentioned ?

Apart from the controls which can be fixed , smartphones are definitely better.

Between all the controllers you can connect to the phone, I think the answer is obvious

Physical buttons always range supreme

Handhelds. Because the buttons are much more satisfying to press rather than touch controls on your phone.

People will go to the budget handhelds since they'll be looking for buttons