After seeing several videos of this specific device, I decided to get one of these (which is going to my brother for Christmas), along with an RG505 for myself, for "on-the-go" gaming. Both systems have really impressed me with their capabilities. For this review, I'll focus on the PAP II.
There are lots of things which Anbernic did right with this system, including (but not limited to)
1. The range of systems it can emulate:
One of the main selling points of the system for me was the systems it is able to emulate. Basically everything up to (and including) the PS1 era is covered here. To its credit, the performance is really good, too. I got near-perfect speeds with PS1 games, and no noticeable frame-drops in the other systems.
There was one game which had an issue (Crash Bash - the menu text was invisible. This issue is one which plagues several other emulators, so I won't fault them for this). Still unfortunate that it didn't work perfectly given that it's a bundled game on the SD card, but it's not a deal-breaker by any means, since the other games I tested worked exactly as you'd expect.
2. The design:
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and there's no denying that Anbernic designed the PAP II with Sony's PlayStation 2 slim console in mind. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, either. The design is elegant, compact, and above all else, it "just works".
PS (no pun intended) - the controllers which are bundled with the system work on PS2 consoles!
3. Build quality:
The console's overall build quality is rather good, and the same can be said about the controllers it comes with. There's only one minor complaint I have, though, which I'll explain below.
Now that all of the positives are mentioned, I need to address the negatives, of which none are particularly problematic.
1. The system is too lightweight:
Adding a few weights in the console so it sits easier and doesn't fly off of surfaces if the controller is tugged hard would go a long way in increasing the perceived quality of the product. It actually fell off of my entertainment center-stand when the other person I was playing with moved while holding their controller.
2. There was no MicroSD / TF card converter in the box:
It may have been an oversight and just an issue I faced, or maybe none of them come with one. In any event, it should've had one. Luckily, I had a spare one laying around so it wasn't too big of an issue.
All in all, do I recommend the PAP II in its current state? Yes, very much so! The pros outweigh the cons, and it's a very solid little emulation box. The interface / game selector is really pretty, too, and it's easy to find exactly what you're looking for (if it has it - if not, you can always add games yourself).
