Can Someone Give a Recommendation For One of Those Handheld Everything Emulators?

[m.sniffles.esq]

There seems to be 628 of them on the market, currently. And I would kind of like to get one as a gift for someone, but have no idea where to even begin. I'm just looking for an all-arounder. Does what it's supposed to reasonably well, decent screen size, battery life, etc, etc.

If I can make one special request: REASONABLY EASY TO USE. It's not for my great-grandma, or anything. But, it is for a 58-year-old-woman who tech-savvy nature amounts to 'turn thing on, select thing you want to do, do thing'. So when someone recommended the Miyoo Mini Plus, at first I was thinking the screen may be a little small for a 58-year-old--but then--when they were like "yeah, once I upgraded to OnionOS and sideloaded this that and the other, it was awesome!", I knew to move on.

Anyway, thank you in advance!

[Josh128]

You want to buy your woman some quality handheld kit?


Here you go. https://www.analogue.co/pocket

[Dochartaigh]

If I can make one special request: REASONABLY EASY TO USE.

Here you go. https://www.analogue.co/pocket

Very much so not "easy to use" for a novice... unless you're fine with them downloading scripts from GitHub, then finding the correct romsets for everything separately, then putting them into a shit-ton of exactly correct folders on the now massive folder tree of the SD card... (if not also having to pay to somebodies Patreon to get the newest cool arcade stuff).

Also total opposite of "easy to use" when you bought the thing for all these features they promised at launch and a full TWO YEARS LATER those features are STILL not available... (which is why my Pocket has literally gathered dust for about 18 months now). Also many people have issues with buttons – diagonals and shoulder buttons especially, the new clear cases cracking after a ~week of use, etc. etc. etc.



Anywhoo... Anbernic handheld devices are well regarded for their built quality - ton to choose from (anything with a proper 640x480 display for 2x 240p correct scaling is good in my eyes for retro gaming). Believe they come with a fully loaded SD card, roms and all... but most of the reviews are about their hardware and (the ones I've seen at least) don't go into how user-friendly the actual stock interface is.... and they ARE so popular that people make alternate OS's and launchers/programs for them if you want to initially set it up for her... but stock should be just fine for a novice.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Anywhoo... Anbernic handheld devices are well regarded for their built quality - ton to choose from (anything with a proper 640x480 display for 2x 240p correct scaling is good in my eyes for retro gaming). Believe they come with a fully loaded SD card, roms and all... but most of the reviews are about their hardware and (the ones I've seen at least) don't go into how user-friendly the actual stock interface is.... and they ARE so popular that people make alternate OS's and launchers/programs for them if you want to initially set it up for her... but stock should be just fine for a novice.

Those look good, thank you!

[ldeveraux]

I'll second the Anberic devices.

But I don't have one, I have a pocketgo from retromimi that I love. They don't make that model any more I don't think, but they have others.
https://retromimi.com/collections/handhelds

[Josh128]

I was so turned off by RBPs in the past I hadnt looked at these devices in years. So these are all ARM CPU based units? Hows the input lag on them? Ive used RaspberryPis in the past and the lag was very noticeable compared to the real systems. The one below looks great and has great hardware specs.

https://retromimi.com/collections/handh ... cts/rg35xx

[m.sniffles.esq]

I grabbed an Anberic, thanks again.

It's for my sister, because she always says the x-mas gift she got the absolute most use out of in her life, is when I got her a used Dreamcast with a stack of emulator CDrs, back in 2003 or whenever. So I figured she was due for an upgrade,

The reason I worried about the screen (other than the fact she wears 5x drugstore reading glasses constantly) is when I got her daughter the Playdate a couple years ago, she mentioned she found it unusable (granted. that thing has a really small screen with no backlight, and was a complete waste of money tbh) so I didn't want history to repeat.

[ldeveraux]

I was so turned off by RBPs in the past I hadnt looked at these devices in years. So these are all ARM CPU based units? Hows the input lag on them? Ive used RaspberryPis in the past and the lag was very noticeable compared to the real systems. The one below looks great and has great hardware specs.

https://retromimi.com/collections/handh ... cts/rg35xx

Not sure why you'd compare AIO handheld emulation to a Raspberry Pi

[Josh128]

Dont know why I shouldnt. They are both ARM CPU based hardware running the same emulators.

[hipsofjw]

I buy one of these every few months to tinker with and then give away as gifts. They are NEVER very good experiences out of the box. Usually the default SD card is loaded up with a clunky OS, junk emulators and ROM packs full of filler. Luckily, quite a few of these devices have strong community support. Installing a new OS and loading your own ROMs only takes an hour or so. Customizing it to where even a tech illiterate person can have fun with it takes another hour or two. Tinkering with settings, scraping for artwork, putting a nice theme on there. Once it's all set up though, you really never need to mess with any settings again. Just pick the system and game and you're good to go.

The best ones under $50 right now are the Miyoo Mini devices IMO. The big thing is the screen which is very nice along with the overall build quality and pocketable sizes. You really do need Onion OS but all these devices need some work to make them worth the money. Ambernic also makes good stuff in that price range too and their devices have good support. Just make sure there's an active community around the device before you buy otherwise you might be stuck with a clunky device that you have no way to improve.

[ldeveraux]

Dont know why I shouldnt. They are both ARM CPU based hardware running the same emulators.

Are you replying to my question? When you buy a handheld, you expect it to work out of the box unless it's a tinkerer's item. There is no presumed expectation at all with a Pi. It's an open canvas, the user does what they want with it. The user has to find and install software and hardware. They don't even belong in the same sentence.

[Lander]

Are you replying to my question? When you buy a handheld, you expect it to work out of the box unless it's a tinkerer's item. There is no presumed expectation at all with a Pi. It's an open canvas, the user does what they want with it. The user has to find and install software and hardware. They don't even belong in the same sentence.

That only holds if you ignore the context of "seeing as they're all ARM devices". A curated user experience is immaterial to a given board's processing power, and by extension its ability to provide low-lag emulation.

[ldeveraux]

Are you replying to my question? When you buy a handheld, you expect it to work out of the box unless it's a tinkerer's item. There is no presumed expectation at all with a Pi. It's an open canvas, the user does what they want with it. The user has to find and install software and hardware. They don't even belong in the same sentence.

That only holds if you ignore the context of "seeing as they're all ARM devices". A curated user experience is immaterial to a given board's processing power, and by extension its ability to provide low-lag emulation.

Sure, throw the ARM based Surface tablets in there and we can pretty much talk about every platform ever. This question was about handheld emulators, not ARM based everything.

[Josh128]

Are you replying to my question? When you buy a handheld, you expect it to work out of the box unless it's a tinkerer's item. There is no presumed expectation at all with a Pi. It's an open canvas, the user does what they want with it. The user has to find and install software and hardware. They don't even belong in the same sentence.

That only holds if you ignore the context of "seeing as they're all ARM devices". A curated user experience is immaterial to a given board's processing power, and by extension its ability to provide low-lag emulation.

Sure, throw the ARM based Surface tablets in there and we can pretty much talk about every platform ever. This question was about handheld emulators, not ARM based everything.

So what you are saying is that the form factor of a device affects its quality of emulation and thus invalidates any comparison discussion, regardless of whether the internal hardware and software used is similar or identical.

[ldeveraux]

So what you are saying is that the form factor of a device affects its quality of emulation and thus invalidates any comparison discussion, regardless of whether the internal hardware and software used is similar or identical.

No I'm asking why are you talking about Raspberry Pis when the whole purpose of this thread is to ask for an AIO handheld, which the Raspberry Pi is not. You're off topic, but at least you quoted this time.

[Lander]

Adjacent topics are, as a rule, fair game for discussion. If the moderation feels a relevancy line is crossed, I'm sure they'll step in and have a word. Until that point, however, picky semantic backseating is just going to derail proceedings in a whole other direction.

Come on lads. Back it up.

[Josh128]

So what you are saying is that the form factor of a device affects its quality of emulation and thus invalidates any comparison discussion, regardless of whether the internal hardware and software used is similar or identical.

No I'm asking why are you talking about Raspberry Pis when the whole purpose of this thread is to ask for an AIO handheld, which the Raspberry Pi is not. You're off topic, but at least you quoted this time.

So now you declare that the discussion of input lag of these handheld devices, which were recommended to the OP, is off topic? Its not off topic. Try actually reading what I wrote before you make accusations of me being OT. If anything, your accusation that Im trying to discuss RBPis instead of these handhelds has veered this thread off topic. Im not trying to discuss RBPis, I havent asked anyone about them or recommended them to anyone here, and I already answered your question as to why I compared them.

It should have been clear from my original and subsequent replies, but I'll say it again- the reason I compared them to RBPis is because RBPis use similar ARM based hardware and thus the same ARM software emulators as these cheap handheld devices, and my experience with input lag on the RBPi was not good. Therefore, it follows that unless the emulators have been updated with newer features such as frame delay, low latency, or other features as used in GroovyMAME and RetroArch, that they could still be sub-par as far as input lag.

Now, if you have some new information that these devices dont use ARM hardware and that the emulators they use have new features that would reduce or eliminate the issue, please do share.

[Deubeul]

but at least you quoted this time.

What's the point of quoting the very precedent message?

[Josh128]

but at least you quoted this time.

What's the point of quoting the very precedent message?

There is no point, and anyone reading this thread knows that. This is just the hill he chooses to die on. I am apparently wrong in inquiring about input lag on the mentioned devices. Im at peace with that.

[ldeveraux]

but at least you quoted this time.

What's the point of quoting the very precedent message?

There is no point, and anyone reading this thread knows that. This is just the hill he chooses to die on. I am apparently wrong in inquiring about input lag on the mentioned devices. Im at peace with that.

You're not wrong about anything, you're just a jerk. Maybe you can determine what a random post is a reply to, but that's what quoting is for. To avoid that confusion. You're also a jerk for "I don't want to answer OP's question, I'd rather compare handhelds to Raspberry Pis and hijack the thread." I'm just going to block you so I don't have to hear about it any more.

[bigbadboaz]

The only one coming off as a jerk here is you. You've demonstrated a complete lack of reading comprehension ability since your first response to Josh, and continue to do so.

Of course he wasn't going to answer OP's question; his initial post made clear that HE DIDN'T KNOW THE ANSWER. And proceeded to ask about modern Anbernic handhelds, which is exactly where the thread had gone.

Either admit you were way off base, or fuck off until you've learned how to follow a discussion with some degree of clarity.