ANBERNIC RG35XXSP

Custom OS is the way to go. Performance is not there with the original OS, menus and and evrerything is a cluttery mess.

Hardware is robust, battery is pretty good, screen quality is impressive.

Great handheld with that nostalgia feeling is a plus. My order didn’t take long at all and came loaded with games !!!!! The screen is just perfect for the games I’m looking to play. I’ll be ordering the RG552 to add to my collection soon.

Great little device for the price.

I’ll start with the weak points: It’s slightly bigger in each dimension compared to the classic SP shape, so there’s a little bit of uncanny valley feeling when you pick it up for the first time. The plastic quality also isn’t that visually appealing, at least for the grey model. It’s perfectly functional with no problems in the hands but just feels and looks a bit “cheap”. Only a single speaker (mono), like the original SP. Only one USB port for both charging and external controller, and it’s fussy about hubs, I haven’t found a way to keep it charging while using USB. GBA looks pretty good but a 720x480 screen would do a little better scaling than the 640x480 in this. Having L1 and L2 etc in line with each other instead of staggered makes for a nice little package but it’s tricky to play PS1 games like Armored Core or MM Legends that expect you to use all 4 shoulder buttons constantly. Default software/ UI is pretty clunky, and the other OSs I tried seemed glitchy/crashed lot, whereas the stock OS was stable, so I went back to stock. HDMI output force stretches everything to 1280x720 widescreen, so you’ve either got to correct the output in retroarch or the external monitor if you want unstretched 4:3. Bluetooth connection for external controllers works, but doesn’t seem to autopair for future sessions, so I end up re-pairing my controller a lot. You also have to play around with the controller input port mapping in retroarch to use an external controller. I wasn’t able to pair this to my bluetooth headphones. HDMI output can’t be switched in the middle of a game. The DPAD has nice tactile clicky switches, but doesn’t have a central pivot and can be pressed in with both opposing sides at once. Not sure exactly how this gets handled internally and what’s presented to games i.e. SOCD etc. The stock video player handles h264 and h265 at 480p30 with smooth motion (rare!), but I haven’t been been able to get any kind of softsub to show up. Player lacks a “resume where you left off?” feature, and I haven’t been able to get it to play files in a folder one after another ( I haven’t tried playlist files yet). The version of Retroarch that comes with the stock OS was compiled without ffmpeg support. It seems to only charge with an old school slow charger (USB-A to C cable), it doesn’t seem to charge with a PD charger with USB-C to -C and the manual warns you about it. It’s just under the power required to really play N64 and PSP, Saturn, DC era games well, and also a bit lacking in the buttons/sticks, so don’t plan on making heavy use of those unless you’re forgiving. The default UI wont let you launch games that are more than 2 subfolders deep, to get around this I simply launch Retroarch manually from Menu Button - Retroarch Settings - Start Retroarch each time then load games from inside RA.

The Good:
So that’s a laundry list but those are all really mild gripes. The screen looks really great and 8:7 -> 4:3 stretch games (SNES) etc really look better on these new 480p screens compared to the older 240p gen. The clamshell design is great and keeps the screen nice. Hinges seem to be about 90% of OEM SP quality - OEM SPs can be balanced open at a couple different points between 90 degrees and fully open, whereas this is either shut, 90, or fully open. But that’s just a nitpick and the hinge has been great so far. The magnet sensor for putting the device to sleep is great and a genuine improvement over the OEM SP. Turn on the “deep sleep” setting , then just close the lid when you’re done playing. Open the lid and tap the power button and you’re right back in the action. I haven’t measured closely, but it seems to only lose about 10% battery per day in deep sleep, fine for my purposes.

Despite the lack of a pivot, I still give the D-Pad a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. It has no loose diagonal problems and is snappy and responsive. I can jump and slash through the halls of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night with about 95% of precision compared to an OEM PS1 controller or arcade stick. This is MASSIVE since I’ve used so many of these types of devices over the years where competent hardware ends up sitting in a drawer. It’s comfortable to play for hours, unlike some of the cutesy miniature devices. When I say 95% as good as an OEM PS1 controller, there are still a few super frantic games like Metal Slug and Contra where I feel just a touch off, but most regular action games and platformers feel just great.

Playing in “docked mode” with a bluetooth controller is a bit janky to set up. If this cost as much as a Switch, I would hold it to a higher standard. But for what this costs, a little jank to deal with a nice bonus feature is no problem. I end uo mostly using the HDMI out to play old VHS rips for background watching while I do other stuff lol.

So yeah, there’s War and Peace for you. It’s a great way to work your way through PS1 and earlier classics, 5 minute...

Very happy with the sp model, took a couple days more than expected to arrive, but has been as advertised very comfortable and solid feel, doesn’t feel cheaply made at all buttons sound good screen is good quality, one of my only issues has been the speaker has a small crackle that’s mostly noticeable in the menus but otherwise sounds good when playing game soundtracks.

If your looking for a fairly priced nostalgic model it’s absolutely the right one to buy would recommend.

I purchased the Rg35xx back in early July of 2024 and LOVED using it for my lunch breaks and little moments I had some free time. Sadly even though I had a protective case for it I turned it on one day and the screen was orange for 1 minute then it hasn't displayed anything since. So when I saw there was one that was in a shell similar to a GBA SP I knew I had to get it for myself as a early birthday gift. 10/10 recommend