A Personal Handheld History

Handheld gaming might be the best kind of gaming. It certainly isn’t the flashiest or the most visually sophisticated, but it always feels immediate and personal. Each era of handheld gaming is technologically impressive in its own way, carefully balancing the limitations of portability with the hardware of its time to put entire worlds in our pockets.

Reflecting on that, I’ve put together a list of every gaming handheld I’ve ever had. This is a record of the devices I’ve owned, borrowed, lost, sold, and rediscovered over the years.

This is my handheld history.

Nintendo Game Boy (DMG-01)

Released: 1989
CPU: Sharp SM83 @ 4.2 MHz
Display: 2.5-inch monochrome LCD (160×144 px)
Power: 4×AA batteries
Launch Price: $89.99 USD

My first experience with the original Game Boy is still vivid. Sometime in the mid-1990s, I found my cousin’s Game Boy and a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening at my grandmother’s house. I don’t remember how long I played, only the feeling of disappearing into that screen.

Shortly thereafter, I think I briefly owned one of these myself, or maybe borrowed one long-term from a friend. I honestly don’t know what happened to it. What I remember is that the device seemed impossible, and yet I had one.

Nintendo Game Boy Pocket (MGB-001)

Released: 1996
CPU: Sharp SM83 @ 4.2 MHz
Display: 2.5-inch monochrome LCD (160×144 px)
Power: 2×AAA batteries
Launch Price: $69.99 USD

Sometime around 1998, I received a green Game Boy Pocket for Christmas, along with a copy of Pokémon Red. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Pocket felt sleek and modern. It was smaller and lighter, and the refined LCD made the screen look crystal clear and sharp in a way the old DMG never quite managed.

My parents didn’t buy us many video games, so for a long time this was essentially a Pokémon machine. That suited me just fine. I carried it everywhere and spent countless hours slowly building a team, returning to the same cartridge again and again.

At the time battery life was a constant concern. I wanted to take this with me, but disposable batteries were a bit of a luxury. I ended up getting a large, clunky rechargeable battery pack that snapped onto the back of the system.

I don’t remember exactly when it was misplaced, only that it quietly disappeared the way so many childhood objects do.

Nintendo Game Boy Color (CGB-001)

Released: 1998
CPU: Sharp SM83 @ 4.2 / 8.4 MHz
Display: 2.3-inch color LCD (160×144 px)
Power: 2×AAA batteries
Launch Price: $69.99 USD

Not long after that, my brother received an atomic purple Game Boy Color. He was never quite as invested in video games as I was, so I played it from time to time. Seeing games in color felt novel. But we didn’t own a single game that was enhanced to take advantage of the color screen, and the screen itself was slightly smaller, so the Game Boy Pocket was often the better way to play.

In the end, the Game Boy Color felt like a novelty that never really cemented itself in my life. And that marked the end of handheld gaming for a long time. We moved, I went through high school, and my interests shifted more toward console and PC games.

Like the Pocket, my brother’s Game Boy Color eventually went missing. I’m reasonably certain it turned up many years later, and that my sister has it now, tucked away for safekeeping.

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP (AGS-101)

Released: 2005
CPU: ARM7 @ 16.8 MHz +
Sharp SM83 @ 4.2 / 8.4 MHz
Display: 2.9-inch backlit color LCD (240×160 px)
Power: Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Launch Price: $99.99 USD

In my first few years of college, I wasn’t especially plugged into what was happening in video games beyond word of mouth. The most exciting thing in gaming for me at the time was the PlayStation 2, which I was late to adopt because I was broke. I knew there was a new Game Boy out, and it seemed cool enough, but I didn’t have any real plans to get one.

That changed while I was working a retail job one holiday season. I came across a shiny blue Game Boy Advance SP sitting in a cart full of returned items I was restocking. I put it in my pocket and took it home. I shouldn’t have done that, but I did end up playing with it quite a bit.

It turned out to be really nice to have a game to play while I was on campus between classes. The GBA SP fit that life perfectly. It felt like having an entire Super Nintendo in the palm of my hand.

At the same time, the Super Nintendo already felt like a generation I’d moved past, and handheld gaming still felt more like a compromise than a destination. Eventually, I got bored, sold the GBA to a friend, and returned to more exciting frontiers in console and PC gaming.

Nintendo DS Lite (USG-001)

Released: 2006
CPU: ARM9 @ 67 MHz +
ARM7 @ 33 MHz
Displays: dual 3-inch color LCDs (256×192 px); resistive touchscreen on lower screen
Power: 1000 mAh lithium-ion battery
Launch Price: $129.99 USD

Sometime in late 2006, I was trying to decide whether to upgrade my computer for games or buy a Nintendo DS Lite. I was still in college and spending most weekends traveling to play shows with my band. Investing in a desktop upgrade felt pointless for a season of life where I was rarely home. A handheld felt like the right choice.

I bought a black Nintendo DS Lite, and it served me well. It was easy to carry, easy to play in short bursts, and perfectly suited to how I was living at the time. Over the years, I spent hundreds of hours with it, many of them playing Pokémon.

By the end of my time with the DS Lite, my tastes had shifted. I had started following games media, paying attention to releases, and getting excited about a wider range of games. Handheld gaming no longer felt like a compromise or a curiosity. It was becoming a staple in my gaming life.

Nintendo DSi (TWL-001)

Released: 2009
CPU: ARM9 @ 133 MHz +
ARM7 @ 33 MHz
Displays: Dual 3.25-inch color LCDs (256×192 px); resistive touchscreen on lower screen
Power: 840 mAh lithium-ion battery
Launch Price: $169.99 USD

When the DSi was released, I traded in my DS Lite to buy the newest model with its powdery, baby blue matte finish. It felt like a refinement rather than a reinvention, but it was the new cool Nintendo handheld. I had to have it.

In hindsight, this was the beginning of a pattern that would define my relationship with handhelds for years. It was a cycle of minor, incremental upgrades. Each new model was just interesting enough to justify a trade-in. I had traded in my DS Lite, and it wouldn’t be long before I traded in the DSi as well. Even though I really don’t need to reaquire one of these, I’ll check eBay from time to time and wish that I hadn’t gotten gotten rid of this.

Not before a brief detour, though.

PlayStation Portable (PSP-2000, Star Wars Edition)

Released: 2007
CPU: MIPS R4000 @ 333 MHz
Display: 4.3-inch LCD (480×272 px)
Power: 1200 mAh removable battery
Launch Price: $199.99 USD

Sometime in mid-2009, I picked up the white Star Wars Edition PSP bundle. I was back in college after a career false start in software development, and I had newfound clarity and focus. Even though I was a bit more mature, I held on to video games as a source of childlike joy during a season of challenging transitions. I was following writers and podcasters from the defunct Electronic Gaming Monthly and 1UP.com, which inspired me to start writing about video games for the earliest version of this blog. By June, I was replaying Final Fantasy VII on my PSP.

This was also the point where I started taking an interest in modding my devices to expand what they could do. The PSP was the first handheld I learned how to hack, kicking off a long-standing habit of tinkering with my hardware.

While the PSP did have a few different hardware revisions, I never felt the need to trade my PSP-2000 for a PSP-3000 the way I had with previous (and future) versions of the Nintendo DS. As a result, I still have my white Darth Vader PSP Slim after all these years.

Nintendo DSi XL (UTL-001)

Released: 2010
CPU: ARM9 @ 133 MHz +
ARM7 @ 33 MHz
Displays: Dual 4.2-inch color LCDs (256×192 px); resistive touchscreen on lower screen
Power: 1040 mAh lithium-ion battery
Launch Price: $189.99 USD

I don’t remember exactly when I first got a DSi XL. If I had to guess, it was sometime in late 2010 or early 2011, likely by trading in my regular DSi. The screens were substantially larger, and the overall design felt more mature, a rich navy blue DSi XL instead of the baby blue DSi. It’s also worth noting that the DSi’s true successor, the Nintendo 3DS, came out around this same time. But there wasn’t much compelling software for it yet, and I wanted those bigger screens!

Like most of my Nintendo handhelds during that period, I eventually let the DSi XL go as the upgrade treadmill continued.

Nintendo 3DS XL (SPR-001)

Released: 2012
CPU: Dual-core ARM11 @ 268 MHz
+ ARM9 @ 133 MHz
Displays: 4.88-inch 3D LCD (800×240 px) + 4.18-inch LCD (320×240 px)
Power: 1750 mAh lithium-ion battery
Launch Price: $199.99 USD

While the original Nintendo 3DS launched in early 2011, I was still completely satisfied with my large-screen DSi XL and didn’t feel much urgency to upgrade. That changed when a new mainline Pokémon game was announced. It was a given that I’d be playing it.

By the time Pokémon X and Y were released in October 2013, Nintendo had introduced the 3DS XL with comparably large screens. That made the decision easy. I traded in my old device and came home with Pokémon X and a new handheld.

The 3DS’s glasses-free 3D display was undeniably impressive. Looking at the top screen was like looking into another world. The effect was a cool novelty, but I left the 3D slider off most of the time.

Nintendo “New” 3DS XL (RED-001)

Released: 2015
CPU: Quad-core ARM11 @ 804 MHz + ARM9 @ 133 MHz
Displays: 4.88-inch 3D LCD (800×240 px) + 4.18-inch LCD (320×240 px)
Power: 1750 mAh lithium-ion battery
Launch Price: $199.99 USD

Eventually, I traded my Nintendo 3DS XL in for a New Nintendo 3DS XL. By then, “New” was literally part of the name. It was a bit more powerful, added a small analog nub for enhanced control, and used face tracking to deliver a more stable 3D viewing experience. Even though I mostly played with the 3D turned off, it was still fun to turn it on from time to time.

This turned out to be the last of Nintendo’s dedicated dual-screen handhelds, so there was no next device to trade it in for. I’ve kept it around and still boot it up occasionally, since there hasn’t really been a way (at least until late 2025) to replicate the particular magic of Nintendo’s dual-screen handheld design.

The Space that Nintendo Left Behind

By the late 2010s, the era of the dedicated first-party gaming handheld had come to an end. Nintendo folded the 3DS for the last time, and Sony stepped away from the PlayStation Vita. The idea of a small, purpose-built device designed primarily to be held in your hands was no longer a priority for the major manufacturers.

Something meaningful was lost when that era ended.

First, many of us began to feel nostalgic for the handheld devices we had grown up with. Dedicated handhelds had always felt intimate in a way home consoles didn’t. The closest modern equivalent was the smartphone, a device increasingly designed to demand attention at the cost of your mental health. We missed the experience of a single-purpose device with simple controls that we could pick up and put down without friction. So we went looking for our old handhelds in our closets, attics, and eBay listings.

Second, a new market began to emerge to fill the gap. As mobile hardware became more powerful, more efficient, and cheaper to produce, a wave of gaming handhelds started appearing from China. These early devices were often rough around the edges, but it was exciting to see new companies stepping into a space the major players had left behind.

GPD XD Plus

Released: 2018
CPU: MediaTek MT8176
(2×A72 @ 2.1 GHz + 4×A53 @ 1.7 GHz)
GPU: PowerVR GX6250
Memory: 4 GB LPDDR3
Storage: 32 GB eMMC
Display: 5-inch IPS touchscreen (1280×720 px)
OS: Android 7
Power: 6000 mAh lithium-ion battery
Launch Price: $210 USD

For years, I had been reading about small handheld devices from China that could supposedly emulate retro consoles. Devices like the Dingoo A320 or the GP2X Wiz were interesting, but they felt more like prototypes or clever hacks than finished products. The hardware was cheap, the software was rough, and the user experience never seemed close to what Nintendo had been delivering for decades.

That perception started to change for me when a GPD released the XD Plus. It had a clamshell form factor reminiscent of a 3DS XL, a more modern mobile processor, and it ran Android. It was expensive for what it was, but it felt like the first device that might actually deliver on the dream of handheld emulation.

I probably would have loved it. Unfortunately, my unit stopped working a few days after I got it. Completely dead. I was able to get a refund, but I didn’t bother trying again. It was a niche, expensive device, and the failure made it clear that while the idea was finally right, the hardware still wasn’t ready for prime time.

This Time, with Purpose

In early 2019, a friend shared a photo of his old PlayStation Portable in a group chat. I remembered that I still had mine. I dug it out, tinkered with it, and revisited a few games. It felt surprisingly good to have that little device in my hands again.

At the time, I had a young child. My leisure time was limited and unpredictable, and handheld gaming fit the contours of that reality far better than sitting down at my computer or occupying the television.

So in early 2019, I decided to reacquire some of the old handhelds that I had gotten rid of over the years. By the end of April, I had purchased a pair of Game Boy Advances and a Nintendo DSi XL identical to the one I used to own. While I was at it, I also picked up a PlayStation Vita since I had never owned one.

In hindsight, it was an unusually good moment to do this. Prices were still reasonable, and a year later, a global pandemic would dramatically reshape the retro game market.

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP (AGS-101)… again

One of the Game Boy Advance SPs I reacquired was in rough shape. Instead of replacing it, I took it apart and reshelled it. You can read more about that saga on the blog.

Modded Nintendo Game Boy Advance (AGB-001)

Released: 2001
CPU: ARM7 @ 16.8 MHz +
Sharp SM83 @ 4.2 / 8.4 MHz
Display: 2.9-inch color LCD (240×160 px)
Power: 2×AA batteries
Launch Price: $99.99 USD

The other Game Boy Advance I picked up was a custom-built AGB-001 with an aftermarket glow-in-the-dark shell and a screen transplanted from an AGS-101. Higher-quality screen mods have appeared since, but at the time this felt like the ideal version of the original GBA.

PlayStation Vita (PCH-2000)

Released: 2014
CPU: Quad-core Cortex-A9
Display: 5-inch LCD touchscreen (960×544 px)
Power: 2100 mAh battery
Launch Price: $199.99 USD

By the time I picked up a PlayStation Vita Slim in 2019, Sony had already ended production of the device. It hadn’t been a commercial success, but it was still a remarkably capable piece of hardware.

In the years since, the Vita has developed a thriving hacking and homebrew scene, and even now people are doing interesting things with it. For a long time, it was one of the best ways to play indie games on the go, before that role was eventually taken over by newer hardware (*ahem*nintendo*switch*ahem*).

I still pick it up from time to time, but these days it’s often more enjoyable to tinker with than to actually play.

Nintendo Switch (HAC-001)

Released: 2017
CPU: Nvidia Tegra X1 (quad-core Cortex-A57 @ 1.02 GHz)
Memory: 4 GB LPDDR4
Storage: 32 GB eMMC
Display: 6.2-inch IPS LCD touchscreen (1280×720 px, 60Hz)
Power: 4310 mAh battery
Launch Price: $299.99 USD

It was a genuine surprise to get my hands on a Nintendo Switch. This convertible console represented something entirely new for me: a full console experience in a portable form factor. Handheld gaming had already proven to fit the contours of my life better than any other way of playing, and now mobile hardware had matured enough that portability no longer felt like a compromise.

I could play the Switch as a handheld and have a great time, then drop it into the dock and continue on the television with almost no friction. That alone would have made it special. What truly made it my favorite piece of gaming hardware up to that point, though, was what happened after I hacked it.

Once I loaded the system up with retro games, the Switch stopped feeling like a collection of tradeoffs and started feeling like an answer. I no longer had to choose between playing a retro game on a handheld or sitting at my computer to play it on a larger screen. I could do both, seamlessly, on the same device. At the time, that felt genuinely mind-blowing.

Of course, there were consequences. Hacking the Switch eventually resulted in the console being banned from Nintendo’s online services, which severely limited what I could do with it. Even so, the experience fundamentally reshaped how I thought about gaming hardware. The Switch wasn’t just another device in my collection. It marked the beginning of a new way of playing.

Anbernic RG350

Released: 2019
CPU: JZ4770 dual-core @ 1.0 GHz
Memory: 512 MB DDR2
Storage: 16 GB
Display: 3.5-inch IPS (320×240 px)
OS: OpenDingux (Linux)
Power: 2500 mAh battery
Launch Price: $79.99 USD

The Anbernic RG350 was the first handheld emulation device that felt genuinely viable. It wasn’t perfect. The OpenDingux interface was clunky, and some games had performance or compatibility issues. But it was powerful enough to handle Super Nintendo, Game Boy Advance, and even many PlayStation 1 titles.

The RG350 did what it promised well enough to matter, though it wasn’t user-friendly enough to be anything more than a curiosity for enthusiasts. It showed that there was real demand for a small, purpose-built emulation device. This is where it all started.

Retroid Pocket 2

Released: 2020
CPU: Mediatek MT6580A (quad-core Cortex-A7 @ 1.5 GHz)
GPU: Mali-400 MP2
Memory: 1 GB LPDDR3
Storage: 8 GB eMMC
Display: 3.5-inch IPS (640×480 px)
OS: Android 6
Power: 4000 mAh battery
Launch Price: $80 USD

In August 2020, I sold my RG350 and picked up a Retroid Pocket 2. It felt well-built, with decent controls and enough power to be genuinely usable. The small, pocketable form factor made it a great stealth device, easy to slip into a pocket and pull it out for a few minutes without drawing attention. The RP2 could comfortably run Super Nintendo, Game Boy Advance, and most PlayStation 1 titles with fewer (but not none) performance and compatibility quirks. There were still plenty of instances where certain games required a bit of tinkering with settings before they were playable.

The biggest compromise was the operating system. The RP2 ran Android, but it lacked a touchscreen, making navigation of the operating system awkward and unintuitive. Overall, the device was functional but far from perfect.

PowKiddy V90

Released: 2020
CPU: Allwinner F1C100S (ARM926EJ-S @ 533 MHz – 702 MHz)
Memory: 2 MB
Storage: 32 GB eMMC
Display: 2.8-inch IPS (320×240 px)
Power: 1020 mAh battery
Launch Price: $40 USD

I picked up a PowKiddy V90 on sale because I liked the form factor. Clamshell emulation devices were still uncommon at the time, so it felt like a distinctive little handheld.

In terms of performance, the V90 wasn’t great. It could handle up through Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance, though not always smoothly. But it was extremely inexpensive, and with a bit of careful curation, it became a low-risk way to introduce my daughter to retro games.

I still have it… but mostly because it isn’t worth selling.

Retroid Pocket 2+

Released: early 2022
CPU: Unisoc T310 (quad-core Cortex-A7 @ 1.8-2.0 GHz)
GPU: PowerVR GE8300
Memory: 2 GB LPDDR4X
Storage: 32 GB eMMC
Display: 3.5-inch IPS touchscreen (640×480 px)
OS: Android 9
Power: 4000 mAh battery
Launch Price: $99 USD

My indigo Retroid Pocket 2+ looked almost identical to the RP2, but it was a much more refined device. It added a touchscreen, a faster CPU, and noticeably better build quality. The result was a snappier, more enjoyable experience. The RP2+ was usable enough that I spent more time actually playing games with it than tinkering to see what was possible.

Retroid Pocket 3+

Released: late 2022
CPU: Unisoc T618 (octo-core Cortex-A75 @ 2.0 GHz)
GPU: Mali-G52 MP2
Memory: 4 GB LPDDR4X
Storage: 128 GB eMMC
Display: 4.7-inch IPS touchscreen (1334×750 px)
OS: Android 9
Power: 4500 mAh battery
Launch Price: $154 USD

This was a messy period for Retroid, but the handheld emulation market as a whole was moving incredibly fast. I had been enjoying my Retroid Pocket 2+ for a handful of months when the Pocket 3 was announced in August. I told myself I didn’t need to upgrade so quickly. Then three months later, the Pocket 3+ was released, and the performance increase was impossible to ignore. I sold my RP2+ and picked one up.

The Retroid Pocket 3+ could easily emulate PlayStation 1, PSP, and Nintendo 64. It also handled native Android games more comfortably and introduced a better aspect ratio for modern titles. In my opinion, this was where Retroid found the sweet spot with devices that felt both affordable and genuinely capable.

At the same time, mobile hardware was improving so quickly that even these relatively low-cost devices were being replaced within months.

Anbernic RG35XX

Released: late 2022
CPU: Quad-core Cortex-A9
GPU: PowerVR SGX544MP
Memory: 256 MD DDR3
Storage: 2×microSD
Display: 3.5-inch IPS (640×480 px)
OS: Linux
Power: 2100 mAh battery
Launch Price: $49.99 USD

Another consequence of the market’s rapid evolution was the arrival of genuinely good budget handhelds, often priced well under $100. It started to make sense to own devices for different moods rather than searching for a single handheld to do everything. I could have a more powerful main device at home and a smaller companion that lived in my bag.

I received an Anbernic RG35XX for review in April 2023, and it was striking to see how far Anbernic had come since the RG350. The stock interface was passable, but community-developed firmware like GarlicOS made the device really shine. The lightweight, minimalist interface made it more pick-up-and-play friendly than the Android-based Retroid devices I’d been using.

The device was powerful enough to emulate PlayStation 1 games, but the lack of analog sticks meant the RG35XX was best suited for games up to the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy Advance. It turned out to be the perfect upgrade for my daughter’s clunky PowKiddy V90 (though none of these handhelds seem as magical to her as they do to me).

Anbernic RG35XX Plus

Released: late 2023
CPU: Allwinner H700 (quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz)
GPU: Mali-G31 MP2
Memory: 1 GB LPDDR4
Storage: 2×microSD
Display: 3.5-inch IPS (640×480 px)
OS: Linux
Power: 3300 mAh battery
Launch Price: $63.99 USD

The RG35XX turned out to be a real success for Anbernic, and they quickly followed it up with a whole line of RGXX devices in different form factors. The first of these was the RG35XX Plus. It added a slightly faster processor and built-in Wi-Fi & Bluetooth, and this added functionality supercharged the custom firmware scene. As a result, these Anbernic devices became the kind of emulation handhelds that simply worked without requiring constant tinkering, while still leaving room to experiment if you wanted to.

It became a true pocket companion. I ended up passing this along to a friend, who passed it on to a friend. May it live forever in the hands of one person or another!

Steam Deck

Released: early 2022
CPU: Custom AMD APU (quad-core Zen 2 @ 2.4 – 3/5 GHz)
GPU: RDNA 2
Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5
Storage: 64 GB
Display: 7-inch IPS LCD touchscreen (1280×800, 60 Hz)
OS: SteamOS (Linux)
Power: 5200 mAh battery
Launch Price: $399 USD

The Steam Deck excited me in much the same way the Nintendo Switch did when it first launched, but it quickly proved to be something more. SteamOS made my existing PC game library playable on a handheld. To be clear, it isn’t magic. Mobile hardware still has limits compared to a desktop, but a surprisingly large portion of my library runs well enough to make the Deck a viable option.

Unlike some of the handhelds I’d owned before, the Steam Deck never felt like a novelty. I actually complete games on it, regularly. It’s open enough to invite tinkering when I want to, but polished enough that I don’t have to. Most importantly, it fits easily into short play sessions and can be put down just as easily. At the end of a long day, I’m not sitting down at my computer to play games. I’m curling up on the couch with my handheld.

I don’t want to be too hyperbolic in my praise of this device, but the Steam Deck has absolutely changed the way I approach PC gaming.

The Trifecta

In just a few years, the handheld market had expanded in every direction. You could buy a capable budget device, a powerful handheld PC, or anything in between. As the options multiplied, it became clear that different devices were better suited for different kinds of play. But over time, most handheld gaming devices seemed to naturally fall into three broad categories.

Pocket Companion

Small screens (generally 4 inches or smaller)
Square or near-square aspect ratios (4:3, 1:1, 3:2)
Lower-powered, focused on retro systems
Best for GBC, GBA, SNES, Genesis, and often PS1
Rarely include analog sticks
Easy to toss into a pocket or bag without thinking

These are the devices you bring everywhere. The barrier to taking one with you is extremely low. They excel at short, frictionless sessions.

Mid-Use Portable

Slightly larger screens (between 4 and 6 inches)
Widescreen aspect ratios (often 16:9 or 16:10)
Include dual analog sticks
Generally Android-based
Powerful enough for reliable PS2 and GameCube emulation

These devices are still portable, but not always pocketable. They’re powerful enough to open up more modern libraries while still remaining handheld.

Big Boy Handheld

Larger screens (6.5 inches and up)
Significantly more powerful hardware
Often run full desktop operating systems (Linux or Windows)
Handle modern PC games and demanding emulation

These are powerful, versatile machines, but they’re not subtle. They’re the least friendly to throw in a bag without thinking about it.

I feel extremely fortunate to have handhelds to cover all of these different use cases. It continues to be an amazing time to be into gaming.

Funnyplaying FPGBC

Released: late 2023
FPGA replicates GBC hardware
Display: 2.95-inch IPS (640×576 px)
Power: 1800 mAh battery
Launch Price: roughly $84 (all parts)

I was excited about the FunnyPlaying FPGBC from the moment I heard about it. It uses FPGA technology to replicate Game Boy Color hardware at a low level rather than relying on software emulation like the devices I had used previously.

The Analogue Pocket had released a few years prior with similar technology, but it was very expensive. FunnyPlaying came in with a less powerful FPGA chip dedicated specifically to the Game Boy Color, and it was far more affordable. They paired it with one of their excellent aftermarket displays, added a beautiful retro shell, and threw in USB-C charging for good measure. After a bit of assembly, I had an authentic but elevated Game Boy Color experience.

I love this little thing.

Retroid Pocket 5

Released: late 2024
CPU: Snapdragon 865
GPU: Adreno 650
Memory: 8 GB LPDDR4X
Storage: 128 GB
Display: 5.5-inch AMOLED
(1920×1080 px, 160Hz)
OS: Android 13
Power: 5000 mAh battery
Launch Price: $229 USD

If the Retroid Pocket 3+ could comfortably emulate PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64 games, a next-generation device would have to reliably emulate PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube games. The Retroid Pocket 4 was not this device, so I didn’t feel compelled to upgrade. When the Retroid Pocket 5 arrived, that threshold had finally been crossed.

The most immediately striking feature was the 5.5-inch AMOLED screen. It was beautiful. Everything looked incredible on it.

More importantly, PS2 finally felt attainable. For years, the idea of comfortably playing PlayStation 2 games in the palm of my hand had felt impossible (because it was). Now I could finally explore one of the richest libraries in gaming history with little compromise.

This handheld felt perfect. I was obsessed with it.

The next real generational jump would be from PlayStation 2 to PlayStation 3. Even today, I wouldn’t consider PS3 emulation on a full desktop PC to be either convenient or joyful. At the time I’m writing this, reliable PS3 emulation is still years away. That made the RP5 feel like a ceiling. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t see an obvious reason to upgrade.

Then something happened that I wasn’t expecting.

Anbernic RG40XXV

Released: late 2024
CPU: Allwinner H700 (quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz)
GPU: Mali-G31 MP2
Memory: 1 GB LPDDR4
Storage: 2×microSD
Display: 4-inch IPS (640×480 px)
OS: Linux
Power: 3300 mAh battery
Launch Price: $66.99 USD

The RG40XX is, at its core, an evolution of the RG35XX Plus. It adds a slightly larger screen and an analog stick, but otherwise sticks closely to the same formula. That’s part of its appeal. It’s simple, inexpensive, and always ready. This has become my go-to pocket companion handheld. I’ll happily toss it in my bag to play at a coffee shop, while waiting to pick my daughter up from school, or sitting at my in-laws’ house.

It can handle anything up through PlayStation 1 without much trouble, and the added analog stick makes certain games playable that otherwise wouldn’t be. Most of the time, though, I’m playing older things (Picross, Pokémon ROM hacks, occasional SNES with a subtle CRT shader).

It’s not the most powerful device I own, but it’s one I reach for almost every day.

Nintendo Switch 2 (BEE-001)

Released: 2025
CPU: Nvidia Tegra T239 (octa-core ARM Cortex-A78C @ 998 MHz / 1101 MHz)
Memory: 12 GB LPDDR5X
Storage: 256 GB UFS 3.1
Display: 7.9-in LCD touchscreen (1920×1080 px, 120Hz, HDR10, VRR)
Power: 5220 mAh battery
Launch Price: $449.99 USD

When I turned 40, my family pitched in some money so I could pick up a Nintendo Switch 2. It was the first new console I’ve ever bought at launch. I took my daughter with me to get it, which made the moment feel a little more special than it otherwise might have.

It’s interesting to compare this to when I bought the original Switch six years earlier. Back then, it was the most powerful portable device I had ever owned. I wanted it to do everything, which is how I eventually got that console banned from Nintendo’s online services.

Now my hardware landscape looks very different. I have devices that fit different use cases, and I no longer feel the need for a single machine to do it all. I have no desire to tinker with this one. Instead, the Switch 2 is reserved for something more specific: the particular kind of magic that only first-party Nintendo games seem to deliver.

AYN Thor (Base)

Released: 2025
CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
GPU: Adreno 740
Memory: 8 GB
Storage: 128 GB
Displays: 6-inch AMOLED
(1920×1080 px, 120Hz)
+ 3.92-inch AMOLED
(1240×1080 px, 60Hz)
OS: Android 13
Power: 6000 mAh battery
Launch Price: $299 USD

I wasn’t expecting to see a dual-screen clamshell handheld running Android. When the AYN Thor started appearing in online videos, it immediately stood out from anything else in the space. I quickly purchased the base model and sold my Retroid Pocket 5.

On paper, the Thor looks like an iterative improvement over something like the RP5, but the second screen truly does change the equation. It’s an extremely modern device, wrapped in a design that evokes a very specific nostalgia.

As a mobile device, it runs native Android games effortlessly at maximum settings. As an emulation device, it has no trouble with anything up through PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Wii, and appears capable of going well beyond that as software continues to mature. Performance has never felt like the limiting factor.

At the time I’m writing this, many people (myself included) consider the Thor an “endgame” handheld. Not because it does everything perfectly, but because it does nearly everything well enough that I no longer feel compelled to chase incremental upgrades. After years of buying, selling, modding, and experimenting, the Thor feels like a place to stop.

For now.