ANBERNIC RG Cube

I own a bunch of handhelds. RG353P, RG Arc D, several RG35XX's for my kids, one RG40XXV, as well as a GPi, and lastly a Powkiddy RGB30. Now I also have an RG Cube.

The Powkiddy RGB30 is terrible. It was cheap. I tried to like it. It is terrible. Why did I get one? The RG CubeXX didn't exist yet, and I thought the RG Cube was too expensive. What a mistake. I really liked my RG353P; The RG35XX's (3 of them for my kids) really impressed me; I love my RG Arc D, it is amazing, but I wanted a square screen and analogs. The RG Cube dropped, and I was in love with everything about it, but the price. RGB30 to the rescue I thought. Well, I thought wrong. Charging issues and abysmal battery life, especially on standby. Quirks with the OS. The screen falls out and breaks really easily. It's terrible, especially after having many Anbernic's at this point.

But hey, this isn't a RGB30 review, it's a RG Cube review. I mentioned the cost of the RG Cube as being prohibitive. Well, it is kind of expensive when you look at the RG35xx and RG40xxV, but, it offers so much more. I wasn't sure about the concept of Android on a handheld, and I'm glad I decided to go for it. All my Anbernic's have an okay battery life, but they usually don't do well in stand by modes, as in they self discharge pretty quickly; I'm guessing that is down to some tweaks being needed in the C states for lower power modes in the Linux OS being used, but Linux isn't exactly known for good low power and standby states any way. Android though, just wow. I'm plugging in all my other Anbernics, or turning them right off, every time I'm done using them. Not because the battery was dead, but because if it sits for a couple of days, it's dead the next time I go to use it. The RG Cube on the other hand is amazing. I've charged it once since I got it, and have yet to shut it off. The battery life on stand by is amazing.

Okay, the battery is good, and the stand by performance is good. Is that it? Well, not really. The Android OS is a whole other level of interesting. You can install anything on there. It has full playstore. Everything I tried just works.

Is that all? Not really. The D pad is solid. Not RG Arc good, but better than my other handhelds. The buttons are solid, if a little loud. The should triggers are analog. The analog sticks are hall effect. The sticks feel good. There is a utility to test and calibrate things. All in all, really good.

Circling back to Android again, you can go full Android, and use the individual emulators, or you can quickly flip to a dedicated interface and use that to access everything. All of it has worked for me. Actual performance of emulation has been good all the way up to PS2. Everything I've tried runs well.

Construction is solid, and feels good in hand; It feels more premium. The screen is great. Touch response is great. My only complaint would be the screen size. Anbernic, any chance of a 5" model? Despite being nearly the same diagonal size as the RG Arc, it feels smaller.

There is an elephant in the room. The RG CubeXX. It's RG40XX money. First off, it's Linux only, which probably means poor standby performance. Secondly, it's just another re-packed RG XX variant running the H700. They're great and all, but meh on the performance side. Same screen, but no touch on the XX. Last thing is preference, but the analog and D-pad layout is X box style on the Cube, and PS style on the CubeXX. I prefer X box style myself.

TL:DR; despite trying to cheap out on lower end models, I've ended up regretting not grabbing a RG Cube sooner. It is the best Anbernic handheld I've owned so far. I love it. The sceen is great. Stand by battery life is incredible. Android is different, but works great. My only complaint is I wish the screen was a little larger; which is by far not a deal breaker.

Great device excellent 5 out of 5

I'm on the train playing shadow of the collossus right now

I would have been ever so slightly happier with six face buttons instead of four and perhaps a different position for 'start' and 'select'. I've also found the analog sticks somewhat awkward to use - but then again, that is, in all likelihood, actually just a 'me' problem. Therefore, I deduct no points; the changes I would have liked would have been impossible for the price point that made the device so tantalizing--and for its price, it IS as good as it gets. Absolutely worth it. 100%.

This device is right in the range of being able to do what you want it to do, with some compromises. Games that have heavy 3d graphics will chug. If you want to play ps2 buy something else. This is great for GameCube and below, can run everything at 1x resolution which is all you need on this screen, but it will require a decent knowledge of the dolphin emulator and how to properly tweak it. The front end is usable and can scan for new games, but has no built in function to scan and create a new xml file which would include checking for pictures with the same name in the file folder, and removing the file type from the display title. The android OS great I like being able to play android games with the built in controller. Roblox and SOH run smooth and work great with the controller. If the console was better tuned for the price point then I would feel obligated to leave 4 stars or above. But there are comparable products that can do the same. It does what I need it to do so I have no problem enjoying what I have, but keep in mind the price point and what you want out of it.