Commenting yet again the following: Miyoo only got popular thanks to Onion OS and some reviewers (some pretty popular ones) that couldn't stop yapping undeserved praises to these fragile, low quality, fomo pumped devices. At least now they're charging the price that should've been.
Totally gonna toot my own horn on this, but you're welcome for helping Miyoo fix their wifi. I spent an unhealthy amount of time digging in to find out what was going on there and sent them a rather long report on that. It's still not perfect, but way better than Miyoo shipped it with. And all because I love syncthing. 😅 Not sure why they released it with something that horribly mangled on it in the first place.
A lot of hate for Miyoo on this, but to give them their flowers, the device itself (software aside) is perfect; the face buttons, the dpad, the thumbstick, the shoulder buttons, the feel of the device, the lack of rattling. Say what you want, but from a hardware standpoint, Miyoo knocked it out of the park. So much so that it would have been a travesty to let this beauty sit as is, just to send a message to Miyoo.
Perfect? Hell no. The d-pad is atrocious and completely fails the contra test. You can trigger diagonals while rocking the dpad in any single direction - the worst of any handheld i own. And the L1/R1 triggers are so sensitive you can’t even rest your fingers on top of them with ANY weight whatsoever or you’ll end up pressing them. Oh and the thing takes 8 f’ing seconds of holding the power button down to turn on. Way off from perfect
@ajcics Maybe you have a dud or heavy hands, I don't have those issues with the dpad or the shoulder buttons. CPU is perfect for what you are going to play on something this size. The only thing I can concede is the length it takes to press the power button, but not enough to cry a river about. Keep in mind, I'm obviously referring to this device as being perfect in this form factor and intended use-case. You compare it with the 28xx and you begin to realize what a joy it really is.
they tried to take the review down??? shit, that should be a huge story in this community. If that's the kind of company they run, I'm just not going to support them in the future. Even if the flip turns out to be incredible, I'm just saying now I'm done with them.
Like, the focus of the complaints in the video-- releasing a device to be fixed by community-- is valid, warranted criticism. But trying to even eliminate critiques of the device is so much worse, in my mind.
Received my Miyoo A30 yesterday and realised it was a little warm to the touch when I took it out of the casing/bag and the device wrapper. Turned it on for the first time and it was less than 40% charged, more like 20%. Set it up with SpruceOS with your guide, everything was working and I turned it off. Today I can't even charge it or turn it on, great... I haven't even used/played any games yet...
On this one specifically, RetroAchievements and now Syncthing. On most devices, the above, plus artwork scraping, over the air updates, over the air file transfers and a lot more.
Joey, you are 100% on point with the fact that Miyoo and other companies are half assing some of their products and just hoping the customers deal or fix it on their own. I feel the same way about major game companies releasing an incomplete game only to fix/complete it over the next year with updates and and paid add ons. Ridiculous how the industry has made a lot of people okay with this. 🍻
By what? By the fact that it heats up and throttles because of its antediluvian processor, even in Gameboy color games, or by the fact that the battery lives for 4 hours when playing GBA games? Or maybe by the fact that it slows down even in some very simple N64, Dreamcast and PSP games It only has better ergonomics and wi-fi. Otherwise, it totally sucks, even on Spruce compared to RG28XX!
@@Сержант-ш2к the buttons are better and it has a analogue. I couldn’t care less for the more then 4 hour battery in a device like this, and haven’t experience any relevant warming . And yes, I have the rg28xx
Good review! I enjoyed your analysis! I also enjoyed the snippet of gameplay from Adventure Island on the GameBoy. I just beat that game the other day! It's a fun one! :)
I’m really thinking that once the firmware is unlocked a bit the Magic X Xu Mini m is going to be the king of this form factor. I love my Rg28xx and I’m really excited to see how devices in this size continue to improve!
In terms of power and game catalog, yes. It doesn't have WiFi or quiet. Some people just don't want pocket stick snag. If anything that wasn't a clamshell, came with one of those grip cases that the community makes to protect screen and stick and smoother pocket, then on the back to improve ergonomics, that'd be one thing. They'd want to charge a price for that most don't want to pay. So they remain lesser known overpriced 3D printer community jobs. Probably the real expense would be if they had to engineer better thermals if those cases were stock or have more failed units.
I love when reviewers advice on ignoring a device when the company seems to not care about the users. I love the a30 design and don't mind installing custom firmware but when a company is THAT LAZY I prefer sticking to what I have and at least waiting for THEM to fix it
They should sent short circuit one completely stock and tell them its capable of playing AAA ps1 games with thrilling 2 player battles online and offline.😂
I'm sad to hear Miyoo pratice about A30 negative reviews. Flaws must be exposed so they can fix them in future releases, or at least reduce the asked price. I got the Grey A30 for $ 29 and a White/Black A30 as shown in the video for $ 35. I have my MM Pluses too but is hard to support them with this kind of atitude. Tenlevels did an amazing job with Spruce. I don't know if Miyoo team is willing to make Onion for it.
for sub $30, it’s a perfectly viable device to play some quick games on the go. i’ve already finished dragon quest 1 sfc version on it and it was a lot of fun. thank goodness for spruce. the trimui smart case to screen ratio is abysmal. looks like of ridiculous lol. a30 over the rest for sure.
Well at least it got the award for quietest micro (currently for sale)? I wouldn't know, since I don't have any of them. Also it's still your top micro now, even with the drawbacks.
It sucks that these companies just throw these devices on the market knowing that community will pick it up for them with no charge. Spruse team are true heroes, grand kudos to them. And shame on miyoo. I had to change their faulty screen for my v4 twice already and still there is ghosting. It was a pain to make them admit that the ghosting was there, had to take like 50 photos of the screen in different angles and lighting. Ugh jeez.. If they screw their flip, I'm done with Miyoo
One of the nice things i noticed about this device is that it doesn't include an SD card. Making it cheaper and better for consumers as nobody ever wanted their shitty off brand SD cards with horrible rom selection.
They had one job stick the me you mini into a horizontal shell and profit but they couldn't even do that. I'm scared as to what the flip is going to end up being. That being said you're no man's Sky analogy was on point sir . Hoping this one doesn't get flagged for your approval LOL
As launching with undercooked software, the analogy is correct. Although NMS was lacking, but not buggy, like A30? However, the studio actually did all the software development for years and years, to improve it. You need a game that launched 💩 and was fixed by community patches\mods, not the devs to make a better analogy.
I tried SpruceOS on mine. While it is good and fixes all the software issues, I feel like MinUI fits this type of device better... quick to deploy and saves/loads the game when you switch it off/on. It is a sleep function with no battery drain.
These emulator manufacturers really need to work more with the community. With OnionOS, GarlicOS, and MuOS, there is no excuse to launch these devices with the awful firmware they typically have.
How much more are you willing to pay for them to pay devs to do so? Even if they have Chinese equivalent to 5-6 figure western dev. There's still a vast difference between leisure dev and crunch dev. Releasing later than a competitor with a higher price, does not necessarily mean more profit.
But your accusations apply to all these cheap Chinese Linux devices. Which Linux device has such good factory software that it doesn't need CFW. Anbernic (muOS, ArkOS, Rocknix), Trimui Smart Pro (Crossmix), etc. Now Xu Mini M is out and PlumOS is already being developed which is supposed to fix software errors.
I think you’re drawing too far of a conclusion with “if we release a broken device, we’ll fix it”. For one thing a handheld company still has to create a device that has good enough potential that the community would want to support it. I think you’re attributing to malice what can actually be attributed to incompetence.
> For one thing a handheld company still has to create a device that has good enough potential that the community would want to support it. I have yet to see an opposite example to this so far. MagicX just defrauded people (for the second time) and is still being developed for, as an example from just this week. I don't know of any examples of a broken device not being fixed by the community - someone always does.
Once the XU Mini firmware is where it needs to be, I think it will move to the top of the pack. It's the biggest of the micro handhelds, but also the most comfortable, and the only one with dual analog sticks. I do wish they had used the added size to make the screen a full 3 inches, as I feel like that is the sweet spot for a micro device. My A30 was great...until the screen cracked while in my pocket. I got a second one, but now I'm afraid to carry it in my pocket, which is the main appeal of a micro handheld. The RG28XX has never quite clicked with me. The buttons are just too small. It's serviceable, but not quite where it needs to be. It does have the best firmware out of the box by far, though. The TrimUI Smart needs a refresh with a larger screen and dedicated volume controls and headphone jack. Most of all, I would love to see a new OG TrimUI/A66 with a larger screen. The super-thin profile is very appealing, and the buttons are nice. The tiny screen is just too hard on my old eyes.
Get a case and grip to protect your Miyoo A30. EpicPrinting(last word rhymes with hop) makes one. You can find Et on the sea 😉. I didn't include a link in my first reply, so I don't know why it was muted., hopefully this comment won't be suppressed and the riddles are easy. I got great support from EPS, when my 35xxH was not any good and I had to cancel.
Miyoo: "You are the worst reviewer I've ever heard of!" Joey: "But you have heard of me." Miyoo: "Execute this ruffian's video at once!" Joey: * Escape montage intensifies * I haven't really kept up with the A30 since its initial belly flop. I clicked the link expecting you to spend 10 minutes flogging a dead horse and I would get some joy out of your anger. It turns out to have been a much more thoughtful and upbeat video than I was expecting. Which is joyful in its own way. Good job.
I bought the A30 for about $30 only after Spruce OS came out. But I did test out the stock firmware and while checking out the pre-installed themes, the device got stuck on a theme I absolutely hated, with annoying background music that couldn't be turned off, and it wouldn't let me change the theme after that. It was stuck on the ugly theme with the annoying music. I immediately installed Spruce OS and now everything is great. Besides the awful stock firmware, I do like the build quality and color options, especially compared to the RG28XX and it's tiny ass buttons.
At the end of the day, its night. I still remember when you said "What are you getting warm about" when the device was getting warm from doing nothing. I was laughing. lol.
@@nickentros I'm glad you're happy with it! For me, deciding between it and the RG35XX-H (or even A30), it was just a no-go. No analog stick(s), tiny buttons, smaller screen, no WiFi, cheaper-feeling build, single worse speaker. Too many sacrifices just for slightly improved pocketability. If it didn't have at least ONE of those first 4 drawbacks I would have considered it much more.
I may be the standout here, but I don't think the fact that having the community producing better firmware is all bad. I betting on the fact that most of us don't have Chinese-level manufacturing capabilities in our basements. The manufacturers do have this. Software development, however, is not their strong point, and there are developers around the world who can do this very very well. Since getting into the retro handheld space, I have found it a unique blend of relatively cost-efficient manufacturing of hardware combined with thoughtfully designed software - software that is designed way WE, the users, want it. Not what a big corporation wants to satisfy its shareholders. What we do need is a better way to support the developers who do. this work, because they are, in most cases, NOT getting paid for their contributions. They are doing this out of a passion for the retro gaming experience and community, but if they burn out, THEN we have a problem.
It's kinda pointless to complain about the software really, usually those taiwanese companies have a single competent person that design the board and nobody that is actually qualified to work on the software. Having a nice hardware that doesn't catch fire and a good price is already a win in my book, if you look at the steam deck competitors market it's the same deal with way bigger companies. I'm kinda surprised everyone keeps mentioning wifi as a plus, it does nothing aside the first time scaping of boxart and only eat at the battery afterwards, i'm more than fine with a dumber device thanks.
Thanks Joe for this video. Everything you say is true. I bought it and I even play with it. I think Miyoo will do an update but not now. Asia is currently going through several crises (financial, weather, etc.)
Hi Joey I respect your opinion and yes you're right but I'll have to disagree on some of it. From a common sense point of view Miyoo have dropped the price by half and probably just about breaking even or a very small profit but they have done the right thing unlike the MSI Claw. The CFW has saved the unit but for the price and performance you getting a good deal
I'm not sure I agree, MSI has done a lot to fix and update the Claw since release. Miyoo hasn't done a single thing. Miyoo dropped the price because no one was buying it, same with MSI. Difference is, one company cares.
You asking a company to put love into their products is just naive. It's money over everything my friend, each and every day. Profit wins out in every industry out there right now.
Honestly a30 is great with spruce. I waited until spruce came out. Every device I have bought requires custom os installed. I don’t understand the hate against miyoo. I returned the 28xx for a30. It is the miyoo mini version in horizontal that I always wanted.
I think required is the key word that isn't correct in your sentence. Plenty of devices release with software that is fine, it works, nothing crazy, but nothing special. You can upgrade to custom firmware for some additions and changes, but none of it is required. This device, it's required because it fixes absolute broken parts of what it shipped with. That's the main difference. Here it's required, most others, it's optional.
I think the hardware design of this has been underrated. Obviously the bad software was the elephant in the room, and it deserved negativity over that. But the buttons, quiet and soft and precise especially those shoulders, and the general design is a higher grade than its peers making for a very ergonomic device. Miyoo and Anbernic both have predictably bad software at launch, which sucks, and the community saving them with cfw is the norm and I get how frustrating this is. But it just confirms that these devices are the domain of enthusiasts not the general public. Trimui is the standout in terms of stock software really.
Glad you did a review, I ordered an A30 awhile back when prices dropped to around $25 and spruce was available. It’s a good device, but it gets so hot especially when playing Mario 64. They could have pre-drilled some holes in the back plate to help with heat ventilation.
You know I do like how honest you are. I am now halfway through the video, and all you have done is tread on and on about the same complaints. I dont know if you like to repeat yourself to make the videos longer, but i had to stop at the midway cuase I was not getting anything new. I dont want you to be all sunshine and rainbows, but know when you have made a point and move on. Ill try another one of your videos in the future.
@@JoeysRetroHandheldsI took it more as an editing note, but a change is a change. I'm definitely guilty of verbosity or repetition myself, so I'll take this as a reminder to be mindful about this. Sometimes I need to do that kind of editing to better communicate. Other times, restating things in different ways helps different people understand the point. With video you can't really tell how the audience is receiving it know whether to continue or not. Given some of this is a conversation with Miyoo, where there's both a language barrier and their actions imply a lack of understanding or a dismissal of the point, I get it.
