In answer to the various "but I thought [insert device name here] was your favorite?" questions, here is a quick little roundup of my current favorites: My favorite small / pocketable handheld: Miyoo Mini My favorite handheld for retro (16-bit and below): Anbernic RG552 My favorite all-around emulation handheld: Odin Pro My favorite "does everything" handheld: Steam Deck My favorite handheld PC to look at but not play because of battery life: AYANEO Air My favorite handheld to look at but not play because I'm waiting on NES/SNES cores: Analogue Pocket My favorite "hacked" device: PS Vita Device I am most excited for: AYN Loki
I have an RG552 on the way exactly for this purpose! Had already flashed Amberelec in preparation but you've convinced me to go Jelos. I'm actually just going to use the Android side as a comic/manga reader mainly. Are you running Black Seraph's Android 9 or 11 build? Have you also seen Anbernic's Android 11 update?
@@seanong83 I’ve tried both the 9 and 11 builds from Seraph, I prefer the 9 build because you can use the SD card interchangeably with Android and JELOS.
Thanks for aspect ratio explanation! wish you had a full video just about aspect ratios of the most common handhelds, and how the old systems scale on them :)
So NES, GB, and MD are close to square. which means the wider your handheld gets, the smaller screen you will have since the screen will be limited by height, you won't find any 4:3 modern handheld other than RG353M but that one is 3.5-inch, and this one gives you ~ 4inch for 4:3 since it's not wide enough, but thing gets worse with wide handheld when the aspect ratio goes 16:9 or even worse like phones when it goes 2:1. an example, even though the galaxy S23 ultra have 6.8" but if you play an arcade game with a 4:3 aspect ratio, you will get almost the same screen size as RG552 (7.0cm for rg552 vs 7.3cm for the galaxy). I wish we had an oled 7" 4:3 handheld to play these retro games.
I know this is an old video, but it continues to help. I have a love hate relationship with my RG552, when I use it, it's amazing for retro games. But every time I go to pick it up the battery is as flat as a pancake.
Just got the rg552 yesterday. I’ve made a couple of retro pies in the past, but this is my first hand held unit. This video was invaluable. Thanks very much!
It did play ps1. However my rg552 had such a glitchy os that it’s virtually unplayable. The games themselves are good. Trying to switch from game to game was near impossible.
Something I really love about your channel is that you look into strengths and weaknesses of devices that go beyond "number bigger=better". Like yes, the RG552 is underpowered, but the case you state for the screen brings up a lot of good points for a practical benefit.
Your content here just gave me everything I didn’t know I should know about setting up the device properly. I think you are using this system for exactly what I wanted it for in the first place. I am going to be utilizing the JELOS. Thank you for this so very much!
You can solve a lot of the scaling issues with 240p games on a 1080p screen by using a 5x scale. It only cuts off a few pixels off of the top and bottom which is what CRTs do anyways. No black bars at the top and bottom and you get integer scaling.
Honestly I did not like RG552 when it launched, however this video convinced me to sell my RG351MP and replace it with the RG552 for these old systems + 2D Indies that are being ported, thanks Russ for another great video.
great video. i also think this is a good device. but the integer scaling question becomes even more tricky when you factor in that on some platforms, the pixels were not intended to be displayed square. for example, the capcom cps platforms had a resolution of 384x224 that was to be displayed on a 4:3 crt, squashing pixels horizontally so that they were rectangular. and it was a similar story on snes, etc. and so on these systems, if you want a genuine integer scaled presentation at the intended 4:3, you need super high res displays (close to 4k!) the joys of digital displays...
I'm not that happy with the RG552. I would like to play with the stick and at the same time be able to use the shoulder buttons properly and not be restricted to systems that do not need them. But well not everyone wants to play with the sticks. But I like it when I'm flexible here without restrictions. I love it when I can reach all the buttons easily. I don't even want to discuss the price-performance ratio now 🤷♂️ However, the display is excellent 👍 In the end, everyone has to know for themselves what they value.
@@Pridetoons hating on anbernic has became a norm recently. The win 600 was a complete cash grab. Selling a 30$ processor for 375$ certainly seems like it. But they are realy solid hardware wise. While Ayn , someone which most compare to isn't clean themselves. Anbernic pulled themselves into a puddle and now people are trying to put cement on it.
@@Pridetoons You're right. But I also like to play DS with a stick or Android games (with a stick), for example, and the shoulder buttons are useful there. But if I have to use them, it's important to me that I can reach them easily and without cramping. Especially if I want to use the stick below. Well, my fingers are just too short for that -.- Despite various criticisms, I'm not someone who wants to make Anbernic bad for no reason. I love the RG351V. But if there are things from my very personal point of view that I know differently or I'm used to, I'll say so. Don't get me wrong. I'm the last one who doesn't begrudge Anbernic the success. Other manufacturers have just made better decisions lately that I like better, but that can all change with new products. In the end, the competition is great. We couldn't have imagined that in our dreams 1-2 years ago :)
Mine had issues right away (still does) thankfully I have the Odin Pro too. My issue with RG552 is when I charge it the battery light blinks all crazy and never fully charges either. Seems to be a battery issue and it's annoying that it was shipped this way to me
Great video once again bro! I’ve had the rg552 since January and despite constantly reading negatives about it online, I think it is a fantastic device and I’m loving it as my go-to retro device 🔥🔥🔥
My favourite overall/all round is the Anbernic RG353P with JELOS & The Gameforce Chi with Batocera. Both suit my needs perfectly. I have a Steamdeck too but I mostly reach for the RG353P it's too good man.
perfect review. People who don't know retro don't understand the value of this pixel perfect screen, but those who know retro completely agree with this review. There are many people who like retro and wait a few months after paying $250 for a portable fpga for gb and gba only.
I've played the RP 2 + and newer RP 3 but my favorite is the Anbernic RGP353 for all sprite based arcade and 16-bit and below console gaming. I am drawn to this one over and over. To hear your impressions align with my feelings for what I want do help in my purchasing choices
Part of me wishes I had never seen this video, because I recently purchased a modded PS Vita. I didn't care for the retro emulation through Retroarch on that device at all, but loved the way PSP ran. Plus I was introduced to some PS Vita games. After seeing this video, I decided to add the RG552 to my collection (RG350M, RG351P, RG351V, modded Vita). You are spot on regarding the excellent screen quality. I did have to expand the size of the Turbographix 16 systems and use bilinear filtering, because the integer scaled image was too small for my taste. I'm struggling with aspects of Android 11 (PPSSPP won't advance past the first welcome screen), but Drastic on Android is fantastic for making Nintendo DS playable. I'm using Amberelec as my custom firmware.
@@LiquidTurbo The PS Vita uses the Retroarch interface for GBA, Genesis/Megadrive, SNES, etc., but it doesn't have a fancy front end that makes selecting systems and games easier as you get with Emulation Station. I find Retroarch clunky without it. I also experience slowdown on Sega Game Gear, which is bizarre considering that the Sega Master System runs fine. Not certain if it's due to the way my Vita was set up. The Adrenaline app on Vita is used for PSP, and there's an internal limit of 128 PSP games that can be displayed. That stinks, but the upside is that PSP games run perfectly on the Vita, as it's not being run through emulation as I understand it (runs natively on the Vita).
@@LiquidTurbo Vita ergonomics are excellent and better than 552. It only has one set of shoulder buttons, though, so no L2/R2 for some PS1 games. L2/R2 buttons on the RG552 are hard to reach.
I appreciate your videos a lot, and even though I don't always agree with you, respect that you have your opinions and you came by them honestly. The price is way too much of a dealkiller for me with this one, it's just way too much to spend for me to even be curious. I almost got a Miyoo Mini at your recommendation but ended up sticking with my RG280V, your previous favorite pocketable. It doesn't have as many setbacks to make it a bad purchase, and really, it's great to have a cheaper device to play most of the older games, even if there are problems with some systems and games it's supposed to be able to run. On the more powerful side of emulation, it simply makes more sense to get a Bluetooth controller for your phone and play the games this device can run on that. Anbernic is just going to have to figure out its price/performance ratios better in future products because we all know they're very capable of making great consoles we love to play. They just haven't cracked the code quite yet on getting all those elements just right for a newer generation of chips than what they've been selling
Shame you didn’t take the Mini+ for a spin. Form factor is a real treat, it’s a pretty slick Gameboy, feels awesome to play. Or you can play Crash Bandicoot I guess. Inputs are super, super great, I turned a skeptic into a fan when he got his hands on the Neo Geo/CPS3 fighters. He was 1CCing fighting games all night. Said he got his moneys worth in just a few hours, and he was practically spitting on me for buying it in the first place before I made him try it out.
I've been so close to buying this device... entirely for that screen. I hope they do a v2 of the device fixing some of the issues and upgrading that wifi chip, if so, I'll be all over it. If they go further and do something like a RG555 then I'd happily spring for that as well.
I didn't realize how fantastic the screen was until i played 8-bit/16-bit games on it and noticed it looked better on the RG552 than any other device I have ever used. It's quite amazing and the aspect ratio is near perfect, the pixels are so clean and nostalgic. If I had this as a kid growing up, I would never leave the house.
Most of your priorities are the same as the ones I have. Most of the games I will play are 16 bit or below. I will be playing a few ports such as Stardew Valley and Fallout 2 but importantly, I have a few Android apps I want to run. All of the above will benefit from the larger screen. I am looking forward to playing some 3DS and PSP RPG's as well, which are not 3D/graphically intensive and I could probably run them perfectly fine with an underclock. Bring on Chrono trigger and Etrian odyssey!
For me, I actually find the 552 the most comfortable in my hand but I sort of imagined it as a larger 351P, but instead the weight and the fan make it feel generally clunkier and loses some of the charm of the fast, small, pocketable 351P.
This nails why I enjoy the Win600 as well, for dpad gaming just feels comfy and keeps bringing me back. Great vid. I might try the 5ghz mod as well! - Stubbs
found this on FBmarketplace for $120 and instnatly went to get it bc your review. thanks for helping me make my mind up, it was too good of a deal to pass
i think i already left this comment before. but maybe someone will read it now. but YOU ALWAYS NEED FILTERING WHEN RUNNING NON PORTABLE RETRO CONSOLES! most consoles used resolutions that did not had square pixels, CRTS do not care but LCDS do, so you need filtering anyway just for that, else the image will look wrong so if the screen will fit perfectly 2x integer scaled or whatever is irrelevant, unless you talking about portables which did had lcds with square pixels. however there is one very simple method stretch the screen to any resolution that will keep perfect pixel edges and will also deal with non-square pixels you scale the image up on a integer scale till it won't fit the device screen then you shrink it down with bilinear, because shrinking down with billinear does not cause blurryness only streching up does. on devices with real GPUs this is super easy to do, heck retroarch even comes with a shader for it, but you can "ghetto" it on things like a RG350 as well.
Thank you for this detailed analysis. Turns out I am the rare use case who wants exactly what this device offers. I would have passed on this handheld had you not done this follow-up video.
I keep coming back to the rg552. The screen's aspect ratio just can't be beat. I had hoped the rg505 was going to replace it with more performance for higher systems, but for 8 and 16 bit gaming the screen is just not ideal.
Just a heads up for the audience about aspec ratios: - Few classic systems native pixel aspect ratio is 4:3. What this means is that integer scaling with the aspect ratio set at 4:3 - on almost all modern LCD based display panels at a 4:3 aspect ratio, will not provide a 'true' clean integer scale. As a result, you will see some scaling artifacts at least along the horizontal axis, with integer scaling on. In most cases, only the vertical resolution will be cleanly scaled (although there are exceptions) If you want to play at aspect ratios other than the native (8:7 for SNES, 8:7 or 10:7 for the Genesis etc.) then you will need to apply some sort of filtering or shader to mitigate the distortion this introduces (assuming the distortion bothers you). This is essentially true of any modern display, regardless of device.
Hi, this is really a great video, I just bought a RG552 after watching this video, but I found that the JELOS has stopped updateing their system to support the anbernic devices, do you know why? tks.
I like it, but he battery is so so bad it stops me using it Russ and the price not good…but yes playing retro games is a nice experience but still I lost interest very quickly.
Russ in the SNES fast forward example, did you have just little cores going? I can't get anywhere near that framerate with little cores and runahead active!
Awesome video. I had no idea about selecting little cores only to save battery, I'm going to try that! The RG552 makes retro gaming a joy, you don't think about how your experience could be better on something else, you just enjoy the games. Super Mario World hasn't been this fun since I was 7 years old, I've played it on a ton of emulators since then, but never made it to the end due to graphical glitches, sound stuttering, or other issues that ruined the experience on other devices. My biggest gripe with this device is the "sleep" mode - dies in about a day. So you're pretty much forced to power it off after each session, or pick up a dead device the next time you want to play. This is an area I'm curious if the RP3 could improve upon.
Controversial opinion: Sharp pixels is not the retro experience most people remember. In fact, bilinear filtering + scanlines is a more accurate recreation than integer scaling, and in the absence of appropriate composite/s-video/RGB filters or shaders, I would rather go with that, than blocky pixels.
I grew up playing NES on an emulator with the sharp pixels and I still totally agree. They just look so good when they look like they're on a CRT TV 🙏 love finding a good filter for these games
The issue with crt is that you need to go all out imo, CRT Royale is the way to go and none of these devices are powerful enough or have a big/dense enough screen to pull it off. Scanline filters aren't enough, I find them not faithful to the real crt look at all. Need a full shader suite.
So I’ve tried to give JelOS a shot and came back to my main issue which is terrible battery life. When I’m playing a game and am ready to pause for a bit, I press the power button and the screen goes out. I come back 2 hours later and 30% of the battery Life is gone. That’s just nuts. Black Sepaoh fixed that on the his Android build but even then, battery life is just ok. If I press power on my Odin and come back later, barely ANY battery life is gone. I can go a whole week if I wanted on a single charge! I really like the beautiful screen, the D Pad, and the buttons in the RG552, but the poor battery life just kills the experience!
@@apr2499 Yes. On 552 it may not have many themes to choose from ,but the one you have are nice. Also very easy to use and handheld does not take a heat when jou play nes game , what i had with Batocera.
Always appreciate your perspective. While I tend to always circle back to my PS Vita for handheld emulation of these systems, I always watch through your videos because your step-by-steps always inspire me with different things to think about or set up (across my PC and handheld emulation). Thank you as always for your work!
I love my PS Vita but the small face buttons and not being able to use Run-Ahead in SNES games makes it not the best for me personally. Turn based games like Advance Wars for GBA are glorious on it for sure. For ps1 and PSP it's also fantastic, although the small buttons are sometimes annoying with those consoles too.
@@BitterspitBand I can totally understand that perspective, and I don’t disagree that the face buttons are a bit less than ideal in size. And while the d-pad on the Vita is often lauded, it would be another check in the con column for me. With the array of retro handhelds out there right now, I have been tempted time and again to give one a try. My problem is that I can live without things like fast forward, (though I admit that is a great feature to have) and feel that one of these handhelds really doesn’t upgrade the experience in a way that justifies the cost for my use case. For me, the biggest flaw of the Vita is that currently the N64 emulation is at such a state that I cannot play Castlevania 64, and so it’s difficult for me to justify spending the money just to play the game portably (it of course works fine on my gaming PC and laptop). As you mentioned, the ability to play PlayStation 1, PSP, and Vita titles without any real fuss also keeps the Vita relevant for me, as I love being able to play games like Dragon’s Crown on the go. The Vita isn’t perfect-I’m not sure any of these handhelds are-but it’s an impressive piece of kit all these years after its initial release. Thanks for your perspective!
i love the 552's display but i still feel like i got robbed. The device gets really hot, battery life is abysmal and the ergonomics are a pain, using the shoulder bouttons and the joysticks is hell. But again that display is gorgeous and i end up using the 552 more than my rp2+
The RG552 is often slept on, but it is a fantastic device. The build quality is superb, and that screen is just gorgeous. I'm using AmberELEC as it does everything I need, and it supports a ton of systems, more than JELOS I believe. One thing I love doing is running Pico-8's Splore on the RG552. It's almost like having unlimited games on the device! Thanks for the great video! Also, I got an email saying you will be doing an AMA at 6 PM PST this Saturday! Looking forward to it!
For just the screen and that pricetag an Odin Lite is a waaaay better choice. If Anbernic releases a more powerful successor of the 552 with the same screen but with stacked shoulder buttons and capable of emulate perfectly the "modern" 4:3 systems like N64, Saturn and Dreamcast for $220 it would be a hit.
Nice camera work. I am curious: In the light of very recent allegations and open retaliation Anbernic takes with content creators reviewing their devices in ways that is not ultimately positive (has ranged from blacklisting content creators, to even allegations of banning people from buying products independently), I do wonder: Has any of these developments affected the way you also enjoy these Anbernic devices, or tarnish the experience? or, do you believe stuff like that plays any effect at all when reviewing a product or take into account the enjoyment one might have? Thank you!
I definitely think Anbernic's choice to publicly end certain reviewer relationships is not a good look, and just dumb marketing overall. But I also think that people throw around the word "blacklist" too often. Just today a company decided not to send me a product because they didn't like my terms of review (that I wouldn't accept promo payment, and that I wouldn't show them the review ahead of time). I don't consider myself "blacklisted", nor will it affect my review of the hardware. I'm just going to pay out of pocket for my review sample instead, which I'm thankful to be in a position to do thanks to my Patreon backers. But companies do this all the time, they send their units to reviewers who they feel gives the product a fair assessment (now how they interpret "fair assessment" can vary wildly, and I think Anbernic doesn't have a good grasp on that). And sometimes they choose not to work with reviewers or influencers if they are unreliable in delivering reviews on time, or feel like they don't accurately represent their product. I'm new to the tech/TH-cam thing but I was a food blogger and cookbook author for 10 years before this, so I've seen the same thing play out in that world too. All of this drama doesn't really affect my relationship with the hardware itself, nor does it affect the content of my videos, which focus on the end product instead of a company's poor marketing strategy. There are plenty of things that bum me out about the scene: Valve's neglect of Steam Deck Windows support or a publicly available SteamOS release candidate, AYN's history of failing to deliver on their promises in a timely manner, Anbernic not working with developers until AFTER they design a product, Miyoo not sharing source code to allow for true custom firmware, etc. In the end I like to focus on two things: is the end product good/enjoyable, and if you order one right now can you expect to receive it in a reasonable timeframe? Those are the two most important factors to me as a potential buyer, and so that is what I choose to address.
@@RetroGameCorps "All of this drama doesn't really affect my relationship with the hardware itself".... This is where you and I are not the same which is all good, I just like to know where people stand and their priorities are at.
@@RetroGameCorps So, just to be clear... You believe both Anbernic's choice is not a good look/bad marketing, but that doesn't affect the way you perceive products... And that all these big button issues are happening with device makers, yet that your main focus is the enjoyment and availability of the device? I can agree with you that there is a lot to be bummed about in this niche space; from companies doing less than the bare minimum or just overall bickering and not fully enjoying handhelds for the fun they can provide. Is the reason why, in my case, I no longer hype the AYN Loki despite having done an event for their pre-order launch; I cannot fathom bringing promo for a company that has a history of failing to deliver on their promises in a timely manner. While one person alone can;t fix this industry, it does help if more do so; and until they do so I might be more vocal about it again. Would be great to see that from other content creators too with bigger numbers than me, but I appreciate you answering my questions.
@@scott. Yes, as we have discussed privately, I approach these devices as an end user, and provide my experience as a member of the community, not as its spokesperson. I have privately shared my concerns with Anbernic, and I've tried reaching out to AYN, Retroid, and Miyoo with requests and suggestions and have not received responses. I will continue to review their products as they release, and when I have an insight into a particular piece of hardware (like with this video), I will share it. I do not consider reviewing a device, making a tutorial, or an editorial on the user experience to be promo for a company; instead I treat it as an act of service to the community, who tends to appreciate those insights. I do not think it is incumbent upon me to "fix this industry" and I certainly don't think that any of these companies' practices would warrant a wholesale boycott, although that is not something I'm opposed to if the circumstances someday warrant it. A good example here is Miyoo/Bittboy/PocketGo and their handheld from last year, the PocketGo S30. The company sent me a development unit and asked me for feedback on it before release. I spent a week testing it and sent detailed feedback on everything from the components to the software. They didn't use any of my feedback, and shipped it out as-is. I then reviewed the finished product (which was the same as my dev unit), and also worked with others from the community to create Simple30, a more streamlined and improved OS from the stock experience. Shortly after that, the company took Simple30 and started shipping it on their units without my permission. They also refused to release source code which would have allowed the community to make more fundamental improvements to the experience. THEN they made a hardware revision that broke a lot of Simple30's functionality, and then discontinued the product anyway. All those things were shitty, and I resolved not to work with Miyoo/Bittboy/PocketGo on the development side in the future. Then earlier this year they released the Miyoo Mini, a device I really came to love once the v2 units came out and community software improved the experience. I made reviews and showcase videos for accessories, mods, and my own use case/experience. I still don't want to work with the company in the future, but I still recognized the quality of the Miyoo Mini handheld and how users would appreciate the handheld and the joy it provides. To me, that end user experience means more to me than whatever dumb things these companies are doing behind the scenes. After all, if I was to choose my content solely based off the fact that I agree with the company's actions, then I wouldn't show Nintendo content, either.
@retrogamecorps I have a 351mp. All I play mainly on it is NES and SNES and some mame. Im thinking about upgrading to the 552. I have old eyes and would like a bigger screen. Also I only play at home. Do you think the 552vwill fit me well?
The RG552 will work well in that scenario, but I would also consider the PowKiddy X55, it's half the price and has a nice big screen, I made a video about it recently.
@@RetroGameCorps I did think about the X55 but don’t like the d pad being below the analog stick, since 99% of my gaming is 16bit and below. What do you think about me going with a RGB10MAX? Lot cheaper (about half) then the 552. Has built in Wi-Fi and BT. And looks like I will give me a little bit over 4 inches of screen when doing 16bit and below gaming. My main goal is to just get a little bigger screen than my 351mp.
Yes! Got my RG552 a couple of weeks ago thanks to you. I'll admit, it was in part because the Odin Lite wasn't even shipping (RG552 arrived in a little over a week), but ultimately, yeah, the screen. I truly don't understand why so many devices are now designed with 16:9 displays that prioritize the analog stick (disappointed in the RP3 and RG505, though at least Retroid changed the D-pad placement). If you're playing fifth gen consoles and below, that design just doesn't make any sense. Even for 6th gen games, a 16:9 display barely makes sense. That said, if you're trying to take PC games on the go that design is great (like on the Aya devices), but that's not what I was going for. I believe the premium price is worth the premium experience. It's just a shame the firmware is such jank. Glad the community came through.
I know this device is over priced and there are more "powerful" bang for the buck systems out there, but the overall pocket-able size and screen really scream this is the best for a pure retro experience. The better devices (Steamdeck, Odin lite/pro) just seemed a little too large for quick and easy retro gaming, and since I'm coming from a RG350m and I think this device will be just perfect. Thanks for the very informative video!
We need a new PS Vita in this size. 5.5” 720p OLED or miniLED, 1,000 GFLOP docked, 2,000 GFLOP in handheld mode. Oval shape, stacked shoulder buttons, 64GB built in storage, 8GB memory, 8 core cpu(4 high performance, 4 high efficiency).
Hi Russ! I know this is a long shot but would you consider making a video comparing various VERTICAL handhelds? I love that form factor and I want to know which one is better. Cheers, man!
He Russ, what is your favorite retro gaming 8-bit/16-bit device currently? Would really like to know if this is still the best and I do not care about price, thank you.
I have one now ☺ This video was super informative. I have a Steam Deck and obviously it can do all the emulation I would need. But the screen and d-pad focused layout helped steer me towards this one. Plus it was listed used and locally to me so I was able to pick it up and at a decent discount from the new price, more like $150 USD. It's nice to have the option to play Minecraft Bedrock with the kids in Android as well and not have to boot the Steam Deck into Windows mode for only that one game
@@Pyke64 Been using JelOS. I have the Anbernic Android upgrade installed as well, but haven't really used it. For PSP and above, the Steam Deck is basically better in every way, other than the screen.
A couple of things: The option within JELOS to be able to switch off the Big cores is absolutely fantastic. Is there anything comparable in Android? I'd love to know. I'm also routinely amazed by how powerful Retroarch is. I keep finding out about new tweaks which I haven't heard about. It's not at all easy to set up, but it's incredible. I don't have an RG552 as it isn't a good fit for me. I enjoy the games which this can play, but I'm most interested in PS2 gaming. I REALLY enjoyed this video though Russ. All the best.
I modded my wifi chip to 5ghz with bluetooth, with andriod pie thanks to black-seraph. Works so much better with game streaming and performance is so much better.
You and I seem to approach 552 in a lot of the same ways, except my favorite is snes compared to yours being nes. It's one of my most used handhelds as a result, even over rp2+, Odin pro, and steam deck. Just really hits a sweet spot with the controls and screen, and Jelos is just much more enjoyable for me to work with over all of the Android front ends I've tried (Reset Collection, Daijisho, Launchbox). The only consideration for me is the battery since it drains quite a bit even when turned off, but as you pointed out it's also one of my fastest charging devices and I can get back to around 80% in an hour. I agree it's a niche device. For the person wanting a "one size fits all" that does solid with a broader range of tougher systems and still has a relatively good screen, Odin is the versatile choice. I just like how 552 does so well with the games I enjoy most so I favor that one. I have other devices for advanced stuff when I care to play those. I mostly reach for Steam Deck for gamecube and above.
I am in completely agreement with you here. I'm a simple guy: if I can play the best version of NES, SNES, or Genesis games on a handheld with Retro Achievements, then that's a good use of my time.
I currently have a single OS, Android 11 with Daijisho, and ditched JELOS because I didn’t want to split off games over 2 different operating systems. Could you go into a bit more detail why JELOS offers a better experience. Thanks.
Russ,I went back to this video because I am wondering if it isn’t better to buy the RG552 over the RP3 due to the shipping bringing the RP3 up to $175 and i can get the RG552 for $199 incl shipping. The RG552 has a better screen and is it not also a bit more powerful? To me it seems the RP3 just has better ergonomics, but the RG552 is built better as well.
The RG552 definitely has a nice feel to it, although some people think it feels a bit less solid than their other devices. The main downside to the RG552 over the RP3 is going to be the battery life, at best you'll get 4-6 hours on low-end emulation. But as I showed in the video, its scaling for classic systems just can't be beat. Thankfully, JELOS has improved performance quite a bit even in the past couple months, so there is nearly parity with Android emulators now on their firmware. I'd be torn between the two if they were of a similar price too -- if you just want to focus on classic gaming around the house with a premium feel, then the RG552 is a great fit. If you are interested in other aspects, like game streaming or longer battery life, then the RP3 would be a better choice.
@@RetroGameCorps thanks Russ, I think this is an idea that a lot of buyers could benefit from. I am going to save and wait for a special price on the RG552 - I am really keen to get a large screen device and, for me, retro emulation (SNES, NES, SEGA) is the priority - the rest is just extra. Oh a big downside that bothers me with the RG552 is the fact that it has no Bluetooth for headphones… :-(
This handheld still stands unique in terms of its price to performance for a handheld that could run Linux custom firmwares. It's a pity many of those flaws are even more relevant today.
Getting a Cat Break just makes me realize how long I've been watching and it reminds me to come off idle on Teams lol. Thanks for helping me keep my job Chicken!
Great video, I've never loved any of the custom firmware's for Anbernic devices. To me, EmuElec is the best overall emulator you could have with great performance all around, I just wished it could run on Anbernic devices.
Hey Russ, I've been wondering what you think of those mini laptop handhelds like the new Win Max 2 . Haven't seen them talked about much on your channel
I picked mine up for $180 on Ebay. It was pristine and had a screen protector on it. Both SD cards were still there. I threw amber and android 11, ended up paying Black Seraph 20$. I still don't know if i can get over the battery stamina, I played GBA Metroid on my rg351 for like 6 hours and still had like 50% battery left. Thinking about selling it, unless you know of any decent battery upgrades???
I got the rg552, after a week the battery die and I have to return it, this device have a lot of returns because of that,Im going to get my refound and wait till they fix that problem or make a strong one.
A while back I was actually wondering what the perfect aspect ratio for displaying 4:3 and 16:9 content on a single screen would be. I did some basic calculus to find the optimal aspect ratio for displaying both, and it actually worked out to around a 1.58 (edit: 1.54) aspect ratio. That's the magic number for wasting as few pixels as possible. Was wondering why I couldn't find a retro console with something close, a 16:10 display or a 5:3 display, but here it is. That's really cool.
Nice, yeah the RG552 is a 1.66 aspect ratio, so pretty darn close to the 1.58! Sounds like 16:10 would be even better at 1.6 (and it's definitely great on the Steam Deck!).
@@RetroGameCorps This was just a casual comment going off of memory, but after your reply I wanted to make sure it was accurate. Went ahead and redid my math (I deleted the old text file many months ago) and the magic number is actually a 1.54 aspect ratio. I realize changing the number like this hurts my credibility a bit, so I'll share my work below: A = (4/3) / x B = x / (16/9) y = (a+b)/2 A is % of screen used when displaying 4:3 on an aspect ratio of x B is % of screen used when displaying 16:9 on an aspect ratio of x y is the average of these values we substitute A and B for their formulas, and simplify, and we get y = (27 x^2 + 64)/(96 x) when we take the derivative we get y' = (27 x^2 - 64)/(96 x^2) we want to find a local maxima, because that'll tell us at what aspect ratio A and B are equal to do this, we set y' to 0 0 = (27 x^2 - 64)/(96 x^2) when we simplify we get x = sqrt(64/27) which means our optimal aspect ratio is approximately 1.5396 (and in retrospect, this is the hard way to solve this problem but whatever)
@@Pridetoons I own or have owned all anbernic handhelds since the 351P. I don't have the metal ones only ones. If I am a hater than you are a shrill. I own the devices I comment about. Do you? The things no every talks about. IS the CFW freezes a lot if you use the sleep function. To fix you just have to use the volume buttons. I think this is a bug in the Rockchips. Plus I never commented on your shill comment. Yet you can't keep my name out your mouth.
This is a strange take Russ 🤔! But, I appreciate how often you tell us your favorite devices, considering how quickly these devices are released. Keeping me up to date!
Great, useful video :) I also have RG552. Bought it after RG351P , as upgrade, and yeah, I needed to think a lot about pricing, and I really wasn't convinced BUT at the end, when I got the device, I absolutely love it. Games on this big screen look just amazing. Not too big, not too small. Fighting games look very nice here, also PC-Engine (CD) shoot'em up games look just ... gorgeous, crisp, so colorful :) I use it mainly with Linux (AmberElec) - to be honest, some PSP jRPG (more 2d oriented) work nice too. I just ... don't like Android. I like the whole UI / UX experience coming from EmulationStation. Yes, that's the first handheld I actually USE. RG552 very often wins vs my switch Lite :) Yes, it's underpowered, it's overpriced but still, if you like Linux, bigger screen then ... to be honest, there is no better alternative (especially if you're into PC-Engine, Amiga, NES, SNES, MegaDrive, PSX1, GBA) This year I also bought Nintendo DSi XL, 3DS XL - both are great machines, I was really excited playing them but when i got RG552, I actually use it the most.
In answer to the various "but I thought [insert device name here] was your favorite?" questions, here is a quick little roundup of my current favorites:
My favorite small / pocketable handheld: Miyoo Mini
My favorite handheld for retro (16-bit and below): Anbernic RG552
My favorite all-around emulation handheld: Odin Pro
My favorite "does everything" handheld: Steam Deck
My favorite handheld PC to look at but not play because of battery life: AYANEO Air
My favorite handheld to look at but not play because I'm waiting on NES/SNES cores: Analogue Pocket
My favorite "hacked" device: PS Vita
Device I am most excited for: AYN Loki
RG351MP my favorite for nes-psx
@@buster5661 the first one in the list above is my favorite small/pocketable handheld, the Miyoo Mini.
I have an RG552 on the way exactly for this purpose! Had already flashed Amberelec in preparation but you've convinced me to go Jelos. I'm actually just going to use the Android side as a comic/manga reader mainly. Are you running Black Seraph's Android 9 or 11 build? Have you also seen Anbernic's Android 11 update?
@@seanong83 I’ve tried both the 9 and 11 builds from Seraph, I prefer the 9 build because you can use the SD card interchangeably with Android and JELOS.
@@RetroGameCorps by this you mean SD Card 2 with the roms on it?
Thanks for aspect ratio explanation! wish you had a full video just about aspect ratios of the most common handhelds, and how the old systems scale on them :)
So NES, GB, and MD are close to square. which means the wider your handheld gets, the smaller screen you will have since the screen will be limited by height, you won't find any 4:3 modern handheld other than RG353M but that one is 3.5-inch, and this one gives you ~ 4inch for 4:3 since it's not wide enough, but thing gets worse with wide handheld when the aspect ratio goes 16:9 or even worse like phones when it goes 2:1.
an example, even though the galaxy S23 ultra have 6.8" but if you play an arcade game with a 4:3 aspect ratio, you will get almost the same screen size as RG552 (7.0cm for rg552 vs 7.3cm for the galaxy).
I wish we had an oled 7" 4:3 handheld to play these retro games.
I know this is an old video, but it continues to help. I have a love hate relationship with my RG552, when I use it, it's amazing for retro games. But every time I go to pick it up the battery is as flat as a pancake.
Just ordered one and currently waiting for it to be delivered. Main reason is for the retro gaming experience, taking me back to the childhood.
How did you like it? I'm considering one just for GBA. The screen looks amazing and the aspect ratio is perfect.
Just got the rg552 yesterday. I’ve made a couple of retro pies in the past, but this is my first hand held unit. This video was invaluable. Thanks very much!
Did you can play ps1 on that?
It did play ps1. However my rg552 had such a glitchy os that it’s virtually unplayable. The games themselves are good. Trying to switch from game to game was near impossible.
Does it suck? How isn't for GBA? The scaling should be awesome. I'm considering one in 2024..
It’s a hard pass. I ended up buying the Miyoo Mini plus. Way more reliable.
The best part about the RG552 is that i can order it from Amazon and have it next dayVS waiting forever for something better
Something I really love about your channel is that you look into strengths and weaknesses of devices that go beyond "number bigger=better". Like yes, the RG552 is underpowered, but the case you state for the screen brings up a lot of good points for a practical benefit.
"Underpowered" is always a relative concept
Your content here just gave me everything I didn’t know I should know about setting up the device properly. I think you are using this system for exactly what I wanted it for in the first place. I am going to be utilizing the JELOS. Thank you for this so very much!
Is the RG552 still your favorite for retro 8 months on?
I just got a used one for $75 and after installing jelos and android 9 I'm having a blast.
I love the screen on the 552! The screen is delicious. 😋
Great video. The 1-1 scaling info is very informative.
You can solve a lot of the scaling issues with 240p games on a 1080p screen by using a 5x scale. It only cuts off a few pixels off of the top and bottom which is what CRTs do anyways. No black bars at the top and bottom and you get integer scaling.
Honestly I did not like RG552 when it launched, however this video convinced me to sell my RG351MP and replace it with the RG552 for these old systems + 2D Indies that are being ported, thanks Russ for another great video.
great video. i also think this is a good device. but the integer scaling question becomes even more tricky when you factor in that on some platforms, the pixels were not intended to be displayed square. for example, the capcom cps platforms had a resolution of 384x224 that was to be displayed on a 4:3 crt, squashing pixels horizontally so that they were rectangular. and it was a similar story on snes, etc. and so on these systems, if you want a genuine integer scaled presentation at the intended 4:3, you need super high res displays (close to 4k!) the joys of digital displays...
I'm not that happy with the RG552. I would like to play with the stick and at the same time be able to use the shoulder buttons properly and not be restricted to systems that do not need them. But well not everyone wants to play with the sticks. But I like it when I'm flexible here without restrictions. I love it when I can reach all the buttons easily. I don't even want to discuss the price-performance ratio now 🤷♂️ However, the display is excellent 👍 In the end, everyone has to know for themselves what they value.
@@Pridetoons hating on anbernic has became a norm recently. The win 600 was a complete cash grab. Selling a 30$ processor for 375$ certainly seems like it. But they are realy solid hardware wise. While Ayn , someone which most compare to isn't clean themselves. Anbernic pulled themselves into a puddle and now people are trying to put cement on it.
@@Pridetoons You're right. But I also like to play DS with a stick or Android games (with a stick), for example, and the shoulder buttons are useful there. But if I have to use them, it's important to me that I can reach them easily and without cramping. Especially if I want to use the stick below. Well, my fingers are just too short for that -.- Despite various criticisms, I'm not someone who wants to make Anbernic bad for no reason. I love the RG351V. But if there are things from my very personal point of view that I know differently or I'm used to, I'll say so. Don't get me wrong. I'm the last one who doesn't begrudge Anbernic the success. Other manufacturers have just made better decisions lately that I like better, but that can all change with new products. In the end, the competition is great. We couldn't have imagined that in our dreams 1-2 years ago :)
Mine had issues right away (still does) thankfully I have the Odin Pro too. My issue with RG552 is when I charge it the battery light blinks all crazy and never fully charges either. Seems to be a battery issue and it's annoying that it was shipped this way to me
Great video once again bro!
I’ve had the rg552 since January and despite constantly reading negatives about it online, I think it is a fantastic device and I’m loving it as my go-to retro device 🔥🔥🔥
My favourite overall/all round is the Anbernic RG353P with JELOS & The Gameforce Chi with Batocera. Both suit my needs perfectly. I have a Steamdeck too but I mostly reach for the RG353P it's too good man.
perfect review. People who don't know retro don't understand the value of this pixel perfect screen, but those who know retro completely agree with this review. There are many people who like retro and wait a few months after paying $250 for a portable fpga for gb and gba only.
Has anyone had any battery issues or charging problems with this device?
I've played the RP 2 + and newer RP 3 but my favorite is the Anbernic RGP353 for all sprite based arcade and 16-bit and below console gaming. I am drawn to this one over and over. To hear your impressions align with my feelings for what I want do help in my purchasing choices
Part of me wishes I had never seen this video, because I recently purchased a modded PS Vita. I didn't care for the retro emulation through Retroarch on that device at all, but loved the way PSP ran. Plus I was introduced to some PS Vita games. After seeing this video, I decided to add the RG552 to my collection (RG350M, RG351P, RG351V, modded Vita). You are spot on regarding the excellent screen quality. I did have to expand the size of the Turbographix 16 systems and use bilinear filtering, because the integer scaled image was too small for my taste. I'm struggling with aspects of Android 11 (PPSSPP won't advance past the first welcome screen), but Drastic on Android is fantastic for making Nintendo DS playable. I'm using Amberelec as my custom firmware.
How is retro experience on the PS Vita vs the RG552? I would have thought it would have been quite similar?
@@LiquidTurbo The PS Vita uses the Retroarch interface for GBA, Genesis/Megadrive, SNES, etc., but it doesn't have a fancy front end that makes selecting systems and games easier as you get with Emulation Station. I find Retroarch clunky without it. I also experience slowdown on Sega Game Gear, which is bizarre considering that the Sega Master System runs fine. Not certain if it's due to the way my Vita was set up. The Adrenaline app on Vita is used for PSP, and there's an internal limit of 128 PSP games that can be displayed. That stinks, but the upside is that PSP games run perfectly on the Vita, as it's not being run through emulation as I understand it (runs natively on the Vita).
@@davidlhsl How's the physical feeling of playing retro games on Vita vs the RG552? (aside from the interface)
@@LiquidTurbo Vita ergonomics are excellent and better than 552. It only has one set of shoulder buttons, though, so no L2/R2 for some PS1 games. L2/R2 buttons on the RG552 are hard to reach.
@@davidlhsl which do you pickup to pay retro games?
I appreciate your videos a lot, and even though I don't always agree with you, respect that you have your opinions and you came by them honestly.
The price is way too much of a dealkiller for me with this one, it's just way too much to spend for me to even be curious. I almost got a Miyoo Mini at your recommendation but ended up sticking with my RG280V, your previous favorite pocketable. It doesn't have as many setbacks to make it a bad purchase, and really, it's great to have a cheaper device to play most of the older games, even if there are problems with some systems and games it's supposed to be able to run.
On the more powerful side of emulation, it simply makes more sense to get a Bluetooth controller for your phone and play the games this device can run on that.
Anbernic is just going to have to figure out its price/performance ratios better in future products because we all know they're very capable of making great consoles we love to play. They just haven't cracked the code quite yet on getting all those elements just right for a newer generation of chips than what they've been selling
Shame you didn’t take the Mini+ for a spin. Form factor is a real treat, it’s a pretty slick Gameboy, feels awesome to play. Or you can play Crash Bandicoot I guess. Inputs are super, super great, I turned a skeptic into a fan when he got his hands on the Neo Geo/CPS3 fighters. He was 1CCing fighting games all night. Said he got his moneys worth in just a few hours, and he was practically spitting on me for buying it in the first place before I made him try it out.
I've been so close to buying this device... entirely for that screen. I hope they do a v2 of the device fixing some of the issues and upgrading that wifi chip, if so, I'll be all over it. If they go further and do something like a RG555 then I'd happily spring for that as well.
you can upgrade the wifi chip yourself, its not that hard.
I didn't realize how fantastic the screen was until i played 8-bit/16-bit games on it and noticed it looked better on the RG552 than any other device I have ever used. It's quite amazing and the aspect ratio is near perfect, the pixels are so clean and nostalgic. If I had this as a kid growing up, I would never leave the house.
Most of your priorities are the same as the ones I have. Most of the games I will play are 16 bit or below. I will be playing a few ports such as Stardew Valley and Fallout 2 but importantly, I have a few Android apps I want to run. All of the above will benefit from the larger screen. I am looking forward to playing some 3DS and PSP RPG's as well, which are not 3D/graphically intensive and I could probably run them perfectly fine with an underclock.
Bring on Chrono trigger and Etrian odyssey!
For me, I actually find the 552 the most comfortable in my hand but I sort of imagined it as a larger 351P, but instead the weight and the fan make it feel generally clunkier and loses some of the charm of the fast, small, pocketable 351P.
When you spend time with it and see the internal layout the price kinda starts to justify itself. I got the grey and it looks amazing
This nails why I enjoy the Win600 as well, for dpad gaming just feels comfy and keeps bringing me back. Great vid. I might try the 5ghz mod as well! - Stubbs
It's incredible how after one year and a half I am still learning things about retroarch and emulation in general. Thanks!
found this on FBmarketplace for $120 and instnatly went to get it bc your review. thanks for helping me make my mind up, it was too good of a deal to pass
Yep, thats a good price.
Found some locally on ebay where I am for what works out to be same price looks like a scammer.
i think i already left this comment before. but maybe someone will read it now.
but YOU ALWAYS NEED FILTERING WHEN RUNNING NON PORTABLE RETRO CONSOLES!
most consoles used resolutions that did not had square pixels, CRTS do not care but LCDS do, so you need filtering anyway just for that, else the image will look wrong
so if the screen will fit perfectly 2x integer scaled or whatever is irrelevant, unless you talking about portables which did had lcds with square pixels.
however there is one very simple method stretch the screen to any resolution that will keep perfect pixel edges and will also deal with non-square pixels
you scale the image up on a integer scale till it won't fit the device screen then you shrink it down with bilinear, because shrinking down with billinear does not cause blurryness only streching up does. on devices with real GPUs this is super easy to do, heck retroarch even comes with a shader for it, but you can "ghetto" it on things like a RG350 as well.
@retro game corps is this still your favorite retro gaming handheld? Would love to know, sir. Thank you, in advance.
Thank you for this detailed analysis. Turns out I am the rare use case who wants exactly what this device offers. I would have passed on this handheld had you not done this follow-up video.
I totally agree, for all the hate RG552 gets I think it's my favorite for 16-bit emulation. I always go back to it and I have all the handhelds
It's my favorite as well, the screen is near perfect for 8-bit and 16-bit emulation. Jelos, AmberElec, Botocera, and Android are all great!
the Max2 and odin lite is a better bang for buck. But these devices have the best joystick dpad and buttons.
Unfortunately, for that price it is a no no from me.
I keep coming back to the rg552. The screen's aspect ratio just can't be beat. I had hoped the rg505 was going to replace it with more performance for higher systems, but for 8 and 16 bit gaming the screen is just not ideal.
And just like that, they removed support for the RG552 in december.
Patiently waiting for your thoughts on the New Anbernic RG505.
Just a heads up for the audience about aspec ratios:
- Few classic systems native pixel aspect ratio is 4:3. What this means is that integer scaling with the aspect ratio set at 4:3 - on almost all modern LCD based display panels at a 4:3 aspect ratio, will not provide a 'true' clean integer scale. As a result, you will see some scaling artifacts at least along the horizontal axis, with integer scaling on.
In most cases, only the vertical resolution will be cleanly scaled (although there are exceptions)
If you want to play at aspect ratios other than the native (8:7 for SNES, 8:7 or 10:7 for the Genesis etc.) then you will need to apply some sort of filtering or shader to mitigate the distortion this introduces (assuming the distortion bothers you).
This is essentially true of any modern display, regardless of device.
Hi, this is really a great video, I just bought a RG552 after watching this video, but I found that the JELOS has stopped updateing their system to support the anbernic devices, do you know why? tks.
Great video. Is this better than the RG353M for 8 and 16-bit gaming?
I like it, but he battery is so so bad it stops me using it Russ and the price not good…but yes playing retro games is a nice experience but still I lost interest very quickly.
Ill give you a 10'r for it Sonic.. 😊
Russ in the SNES fast forward example, did you have just little cores going? I can't get anywhere near that framerate with little cores and runahead active!
Awesome video. I had no idea about selecting little cores only to save battery, I'm going to try that! The RG552 makes retro gaming a joy, you don't think about how your experience could be better on something else, you just enjoy the games. Super Mario World hasn't been this fun since I was 7 years old, I've played it on a ton of emulators since then, but never made it to the end due to graphical glitches, sound stuttering, or other issues that ruined the experience on other devices. My biggest gripe with this device is the "sleep" mode - dies in about a day. So you're pretty much forced to power it off after each session, or pick up a dead device the next time you want to play. This is an area I'm curious if the RP3 could improve upon.
I already have a lot of handhelds, but this is irresistible!
Controversial opinion: Sharp pixels is not the retro experience most people remember. In fact, bilinear filtering + scanlines is a more accurate recreation than integer scaling, and in the absence of appropriate composite/s-video/RGB filters or shaders, I would rather go with that, than blocky pixels.
I grew up playing NES on an emulator with the sharp pixels and I still totally agree. They just look so good when they look like they're on a CRT TV 🙏 love finding a good filter for these games
gotta have filters and shaders! can't play the classics without them
The issue with crt is that you need to go all out imo, CRT Royale is the way to go and none of these devices are powerful enough or have a big/dense enough screen to pull it off. Scanline filters aren't enough, I find them not faithful to the real crt look at all. Need a full shader suite.
@@steel5897 While I agree, if the option isn't available for whatever reason, I'll gladly take an approximation instead of an unprocessed image.
Yes, I think that's totally fair. I've grown to prefer sharp pixels over the years.
I’ve been waiting for this vid!
Great video. I have the same preferences as you for retro gaming. DPAD on the right place and perfect pixel scaling.
I just grabbed one of these second hand for $60 dollars. Approaching it as a $60 dollar device, how would you rate it?
So I’ve tried to give JelOS a shot and came back to my main issue which is terrible battery life. When I’m playing a game and am ready to pause for a bit, I press the power button and the screen goes out. I come back 2 hours later and 30% of the battery Life is gone. That’s just nuts. Black Sepaoh fixed that on the his Android build but even then, battery life is just ok. If I press power on my Odin and come back later, barely ANY battery life is gone. I can go a whole week if I wanted on a single charge! I really like the beautiful screen, the D Pad, and the buttons in the RG552, but the poor battery life just kills the experience!
Same hiere, tried JelOS and Batocera and did not like it at all. The battery was drawning like crazy. Ended up with amberelec ans its work like charm
@@wujachi is AmberElec a Linux based operating system?
@@apr2499 Yes. On 552 it may not have many themes to choose from ,but the one you have are nice. Also very easy to use and handheld does not take a heat when jou play nes game , what i had with Batocera.
Always appreciate your perspective. While I tend to always circle back to my PS Vita for handheld emulation of these systems, I always watch through your videos because your step-by-steps always inspire me with different things to think about or set up (across my PC and handheld emulation). Thank you as always for your work!
PS Vita is still unbeatable 10 years later
I love my PS Vita but the small face buttons and not being able to use Run-Ahead in SNES games makes it not the best for me personally. Turn based games like Advance Wars for GBA are glorious on it for sure. For ps1 and PSP it's also fantastic, although the small buttons are sometimes annoying with those consoles too.
@@BitterspitBand I can totally understand that perspective, and I don’t disagree that the face buttons are a bit less than ideal in size. And while the d-pad on the Vita is often lauded, it would be another check in the con column for me. With the array of retro handhelds out there right now, I have been tempted time and again to give one a try. My problem is that I can live without things like fast forward, (though I admit that is a great feature to have) and feel that one of these handhelds really doesn’t upgrade the experience in a way that justifies the cost for my use case. For me, the biggest flaw of the Vita is that currently the N64 emulation is at such a state that I cannot play Castlevania 64, and so it’s difficult for me to justify spending the money just to play the game portably (it of course works fine on my gaming PC and laptop). As you mentioned, the ability to play PlayStation 1, PSP, and Vita titles without any real fuss also keeps the Vita relevant for me, as I love being able to play games like Dragon’s Crown on the go. The Vita isn’t perfect-I’m not sure any of these handhelds are-but it’s an impressive piece of kit all these years after its initial release. Thanks for your perspective!
i love the 552's display but i still feel like i got robbed. The device gets really hot, battery life is abysmal and the ergonomics are a pain, using the shoulder bouttons and the joysticks is hell. But again that display is gorgeous and i end up using the 552 more than my rp2+
I've never once held a device that have me trouble with the analogs and shoulder buttons. Is this really a problem for people?
At the very least the rg351mp lasts longer even when playing psx
It would be better if there was a strap wrist where you put through your hand.
The RG552 is often slept on, but it is a fantastic device. The build quality is superb, and that screen is just gorgeous. I'm using AmberELEC as it does everything I need, and it supports a ton of systems, more than JELOS I believe. One thing I love doing is running Pico-8's Splore on the RG552. It's almost like having unlimited games on the device! Thanks for the great video!
Also, I got an email saying you will be doing an AMA at 6 PM PST this Saturday! Looking forward to it!
I wonder if Anbernic plans to release a new version of this devise with better specs.
Especially, better battery life.
For just the screen and that pricetag an Odin Lite is a waaaay better choice.
If Anbernic releases a more powerful successor of the 552 with the same screen but with stacked shoulder buttons and capable of emulate perfectly the "modern" 4:3 systems like N64, Saturn and Dreamcast for $220 it would be a hit.
Nice camera work. I am curious: In the light of very recent allegations and open retaliation Anbernic takes with content creators reviewing their devices in ways that is not ultimately positive (has ranged from blacklisting content creators, to even allegations of banning people from buying products independently), I do wonder: Has any of these developments affected the way you also enjoy these Anbernic devices, or tarnish the experience? or, do you believe stuff like that plays any effect at all when reviewing a product or take into account the enjoyment one might have? Thank you!
You need to stop drinking that Taki Koolaid, my dude. Anbernic is fine. Taki is just a complainer. lol
I definitely think Anbernic's choice to publicly end certain reviewer relationships is not a good look, and just dumb marketing overall. But I also think that people throw around the word "blacklist" too often. Just today a company decided not to send me a product because they didn't like my terms of review (that I wouldn't accept promo payment, and that I wouldn't show them the review ahead of time). I don't consider myself "blacklisted", nor will it affect my review of the hardware. I'm just going to pay out of pocket for my review sample instead, which I'm thankful to be in a position to do thanks to my Patreon backers. But companies do this all the time, they send their units to reviewers who they feel gives the product a fair assessment (now how they interpret "fair assessment" can vary wildly, and I think Anbernic doesn't have a good grasp on that). And sometimes they choose not to work with reviewers or influencers if they are unreliable in delivering reviews on time, or feel like they don't accurately represent their product. I'm new to the tech/TH-cam thing but I was a food blogger and cookbook author for 10 years before this, so I've seen the same thing play out in that world too.
All of this drama doesn't really affect my relationship with the hardware itself, nor does it affect the content of my videos, which focus on the end product instead of a company's poor marketing strategy. There are plenty of things that bum me out about the scene: Valve's neglect of Steam Deck Windows support or a publicly available SteamOS release candidate, AYN's history of failing to deliver on their promises in a timely manner, Anbernic not working with developers until AFTER they design a product, Miyoo not sharing source code to allow for true custom firmware, etc. In the end I like to focus on two things: is the end product good/enjoyable, and if you order one right now can you expect to receive it in a reasonable timeframe? Those are the two most important factors to me as a potential buyer, and so that is what I choose to address.
@@RetroGameCorps "All of this drama doesn't really affect my relationship with the hardware itself".... This is where you and I are not the same which is all good, I just like to know where people stand and their priorities are at.
@@RetroGameCorps So, just to be clear... You believe both Anbernic's choice is not a good look/bad marketing, but that doesn't affect the way you perceive products... And that all these big button issues are happening with device makers, yet that your main focus is the enjoyment and availability of the device?
I can agree with you that there is a lot to be bummed about in this niche space; from companies doing less than the bare minimum or just overall bickering and not fully enjoying handhelds for the fun they can provide.
Is the reason why, in my case, I no longer hype the AYN Loki despite having done an event for their pre-order launch; I cannot fathom bringing promo for a company that has a history of failing to deliver on their promises in a timely manner. While one person alone can;t fix this industry, it does help if more do so; and until they do so I might be more vocal about it again. Would be great to see that from other content creators too with bigger numbers than me, but I appreciate you answering my questions.
@@scott. Yes, as we have discussed privately, I approach these devices as an end user, and provide my experience as a member of the community, not as its spokesperson. I have privately shared my concerns with Anbernic, and I've tried reaching out to AYN, Retroid, and Miyoo with requests and suggestions and have not received responses. I will continue to review their products as they release, and when I have an insight into a particular piece of hardware (like with this video), I will share it. I do not consider reviewing a device, making a tutorial, or an editorial on the user experience to be promo for a company; instead I treat it as an act of service to the community, who tends to appreciate those insights. I do not think it is incumbent upon me to "fix this industry" and I certainly don't think that any of these companies' practices would warrant a wholesale boycott, although that is not something I'm opposed to if the circumstances someday warrant it.
A good example here is Miyoo/Bittboy/PocketGo and their handheld from last year, the PocketGo S30. The company sent me a development unit and asked me for feedback on it before release. I spent a week testing it and sent detailed feedback on everything from the components to the software. They didn't use any of my feedback, and shipped it out as-is. I then reviewed the finished product (which was the same as my dev unit), and also worked with others from the community to create Simple30, a more streamlined and improved OS from the stock experience. Shortly after that, the company took Simple30 and started shipping it on their units without my permission. They also refused to release source code which would have allowed the community to make more fundamental improvements to the experience. THEN they made a hardware revision that broke a lot of Simple30's functionality, and then discontinued the product anyway. All those things were shitty, and I resolved not to work with Miyoo/Bittboy/PocketGo on the development side in the future. Then earlier this year they released the Miyoo Mini, a device I really came to love once the v2 units came out and community software improved the experience. I made reviews and showcase videos for accessories, mods, and my own use case/experience. I still don't want to work with the company in the future, but I still recognized the quality of the Miyoo Mini handheld and how users would appreciate the handheld and the joy it provides. To me, that end user experience means more to me than whatever dumb things these companies are doing behind the scenes. After all, if I was to choose my content solely based off the fact that I agree with the company's actions, then I wouldn't show Nintendo content, either.
Will a lot of these settings work on a powkitty x55? I like the way it looked in the menu! Great video
How does this compare to getting a Vita?
@retrogamecorps I have a 351mp. All I play mainly on it is NES and SNES and some mame. Im thinking about upgrading to the 552. I have old eyes and would like a bigger screen. Also I only play at home. Do you think the 552vwill fit me well?
The RG552 will work well in that scenario, but I would also consider the PowKiddy X55, it's half the price and has a nice big screen, I made a video about it recently.
@@RetroGameCorps I did think about the X55 but don’t like the d pad being below the analog stick, since 99% of my gaming is 16bit and below.
What do you think about me going with a RGB10MAX? Lot cheaper (about half) then the 552. Has built in Wi-Fi and BT. And looks like I will give me a little bit over 4 inches of screen when doing 16bit and below gaming. My main goal is to just get a little bigger screen than my 351mp.
Yes! Got my RG552 a couple of weeks ago thanks to you. I'll admit, it was in part because the Odin Lite wasn't even shipping (RG552 arrived in a little over a week), but ultimately, yeah, the screen. I truly don't understand why so many devices are now designed with 16:9 displays that prioritize the analog stick (disappointed in the RP3 and RG505, though at least Retroid changed the D-pad placement). If you're playing fifth gen consoles and below, that design just doesn't make any sense. Even for 6th gen games, a 16:9 display barely makes sense. That said, if you're trying to take PC games on the go that design is great (like on the Aya devices), but that's not what I was going for.
I believe the premium price is worth the premium experience. It's just a shame the firmware is such jank. Glad the community came through.
Can we PLEASE get a 4.5" 4:3 device?
I'm beggin ya!
Thanks for all you do bro.. you have educated me very well and I am primed to make a good handheld purchase soon..
I know this device is over priced and there are more "powerful" bang for the buck systems out there, but the overall pocket-able size and screen really scream this is the best for a pure retro experience. The better devices (Steamdeck, Odin lite/pro) just seemed a little too large for quick and easy retro gaming, and since I'm coming from a RG350m and I think this device will be just perfect. Thanks for the very informative video!
We need a new PS Vita in this size. 5.5” 720p OLED or miniLED, 1,000 GFLOP docked, 2,000 GFLOP in handheld mode. Oval shape, stacked shoulder buttons, 64GB built in storage, 8GB memory, 8 core cpu(4 high performance, 4 high efficiency).
Hi Russ! I know this is a long shot but would you consider making a video comparing various VERTICAL handhelds? I love that form factor and I want to know which one is better. Cheers, man!
Can someone please tell me which game is he playing with that red bat creature thingy at the 6:57 marker?
Aero the Acrobat (SNES)
@@RetroGameCorps dude. Thanks a lot. Have added it and the sequel to my list now 😌
I really like the new playable breakdown chart.
I like theses videos where Russ goes personal and deep on how he really feels about a device after a few months in. Great work, Russ.
He Russ, what is your favorite retro gaming 8-bit/16-bit device currently? Would really like to know if this is still the best and I do not care about price, thank you.
I have one now ☺ This video was super informative. I have a Steam Deck and obviously it can do all the emulation I would need. But the screen and d-pad focused layout helped steer me towards this one. Plus it was listed used and locally to me so I was able to pick it up and at a decent discount from the new price, more like $150 USD. It's nice to have the option to play Minecraft Bedrock with the kids in Android as well and not have to boot the Steam Deck into Windows mode for only that one game
What OS did you end up installing on your RG552?
@@Pyke64 Been using JelOS. I have the Anbernic Android upgrade installed as well, but haven't really used it. For PSP and above, the Steam Deck is basically better in every way, other than the screen.
The 552 is the best device for true retro gaming ie
A couple of things:
The option within JELOS to be able to switch off the Big cores is absolutely fantastic. Is there anything comparable in Android? I'd love to know.
I'm also routinely amazed by how powerful Retroarch is. I keep finding out about new tweaks which I haven't heard about. It's not at all easy to set up, but it's incredible.
I don't have an RG552 as it isn't a good fit for me. I enjoy the games which this can play, but I'm most interested in PS2 gaming.
I REALLY enjoyed this video though Russ. All the best.
@Hit me up OfficialRetroGamecorps There are too many scammers on TH-cam.
I modded my wifi chip to 5ghz with bluetooth, with andriod pie thanks to black-seraph. Works so much better with game streaming and performance is so much better.
You and I seem to approach 552 in a lot of the same ways, except my favorite is snes compared to yours being nes. It's one of my most used handhelds as a result, even over rp2+, Odin pro, and steam deck. Just really hits a sweet spot with the controls and screen, and Jelos is just much more enjoyable for me to work with over all of the Android front ends I've tried (Reset Collection, Daijisho, Launchbox). The only consideration for me is the battery since it drains quite a bit even when turned off, but as you pointed out it's also one of my fastest charging devices and I can get back to around 80% in an hour.
I agree it's a niche device. For the person wanting a "one size fits all" that does solid with a broader range of tougher systems and still has a relatively good screen, Odin is the versatile choice. I just like how 552 does so well with the games I enjoy most so I favor that one. I have other devices for advanced stuff when I care to play those. I mostly reach for Steam Deck for gamecube and above.
I am in completely agreement with you here. I'm a simple guy: if I can play the best version of NES, SNES, or Genesis games on a handheld with Retro Achievements, then that's a good use of my time.
I currently have a single OS, Android 11 with Daijisho, and ditched JELOS because I didn’t want to split off games over 2 different operating systems. Could you go into a bit more detail why JELOS offers a better experience. Thanks.
Russ,I went back to this video because I am wondering if it isn’t better to buy the RG552 over the RP3 due to the shipping bringing the RP3 up to $175 and i can get the RG552 for $199 incl shipping. The RG552 has a better screen and is it not also a bit more powerful? To me it seems the RP3 just has better ergonomics, but the RG552 is built better as well.
The RG552 definitely has a nice feel to it, although some people think it feels a bit less solid than their other devices. The main downside to the RG552 over the RP3 is going to be the battery life, at best you'll get 4-6 hours on low-end emulation. But as I showed in the video, its scaling for classic systems just can't be beat. Thankfully, JELOS has improved performance quite a bit even in the past couple months, so there is nearly parity with Android emulators now on their firmware. I'd be torn between the two if they were of a similar price too -- if you just want to focus on classic gaming around the house with a premium feel, then the RG552 is a great fit. If you are interested in other aspects, like game streaming or longer battery life, then the RP3 would be a better choice.
@@RetroGameCorps thanks Russ, I think this is an idea that a lot of buyers could benefit from. I am going to save and wait for a special price on the RG552 - I am really keen to get a large screen device and, for me, retro emulation (SNES, NES, SEGA) is the priority - the rest is just extra. Oh a big downside that bothers me with the RG552 is the fact that it has no Bluetooth for headphones… :-(
This handheld still stands unique in terms of its price to performance for a handheld that could run Linux custom firmwares. It's a pity many of those flaws are even more relevant today.
I love this “Second Look” style video! Very helpful for us buyers who are just entering the handheld emulator scene.
Getting a Cat Break just makes me realize how long I've been watching and it reminds me to come off idle on Teams lol. Thanks for helping me keep my job Chicken!
Great video, I've never loved any of the custom firmware's for Anbernic devices. To me, EmuElec is the best overall emulator you could have with great performance all around, I just wished it could run on Anbernic devices.
Amberelec is an emuelec port for Anbernic devices.
Hey is this still your favourite for 2D gaming? I am not sure if any of the newer options would be better. If you could help that would be great!
If I could play 'Persian Gulf inferno' I'm getting this handheld.
I prefer the rewind versus the fast forward.
Just got one and it's coming in the mail next week. So excited.
Just wondering how you're finding the 552? How's the battery life? Thinking of getting one over the 351p.
Hey Russ, I've been wondering what you think of those mini laptop handhelds like the new Win Max 2 . Haven't seen them talked about much on your channel
I haven't had a chance to test one but I did ask GPD for a review unit. They said they didn't have any to spare but would keep me in mind :)
I picked mine up for $180 on Ebay. It was pristine and had a screen protector on it. Both SD cards were still there. I threw amber and android 11, ended up paying Black Seraph 20$. I still don't know if i can get over the battery stamina, I played GBA Metroid on my rg351 for like 6 hours and still had like 50% battery left. Thinking about selling it, unless you know of any decent battery upgrades???
I got the rg552, after a week the battery die and I have to return it, this device have a lot of returns because of that,Im going to get my refound and wait till they fix that problem or make a strong one.
Steam Deck, PS Vita and Miyoo Mini are the holy trinity ❤️
That's a GREAT combo. I took that same setup on a trip with me in April, did a whole video on it! th-cam.com/video/Xj7eGYcmYdg/w-d-xo.html
I can't find JELOS for RG552 anymore, am I missing something? Its not listed in their releases.
It's not supported anymore. But Amberelec and Batocera still do and are much better anyway.
A while back I was actually wondering what the perfect aspect ratio for displaying 4:3 and 16:9 content on a single screen would be. I did some basic calculus to find the optimal aspect ratio for displaying both, and it actually worked out to around a 1.58 (edit: 1.54) aspect ratio. That's the magic number for wasting as few pixels as possible.
Was wondering why I couldn't find a retro console with something close, a 16:10 display or a 5:3 display, but here it is. That's really cool.
Ooo math.... GJ.
Nice, yeah the RG552 is a 1.66 aspect ratio, so pretty darn close to the 1.58! Sounds like 16:10 would be even better at 1.6 (and it's definitely great on the Steam Deck!).
@@RetroGameCorps This was just a casual comment going off of memory, but after your reply I wanted to make sure it was accurate. Went ahead and redid my math (I deleted the old text file many months ago) and the magic number is actually a 1.54 aspect ratio. I realize changing the number like this hurts my credibility a bit, so I'll share my work below:
A = (4/3) / x
B = x / (16/9)
y = (a+b)/2
A is % of screen used when displaying 4:3 on an aspect ratio of x
B is % of screen used when displaying 16:9 on an aspect ratio of x
y is the average of these values
we substitute A and B for their formulas, and simplify, and we get
y = (27 x^2 + 64)/(96 x)
when we take the derivative we get
y' = (27 x^2 - 64)/(96 x^2)
we want to find a local maxima, because that'll tell us at what aspect ratio A and B are equal
to do this, we set y' to 0
0 = (27 x^2 - 64)/(96 x^2)
when we simplify we get
x = sqrt(64/27)
which means our optimal aspect ratio is approximately
1.5396
(and in retrospect, this is the hard way to solve this problem but whatever)
contrast color saturation and brightness seem better than odin lite
You are pretty much the only reviewer who is positive about this overpriced device
It is heavy and the dpad is the worse out of any anbernic handheld
it is because he is the best reviewer and he knows what he is talking about. This thing is a beast when used correctly
@@Pridetoons I own or have owned all anbernic handhelds since the 351P. I don't have the metal ones only ones. If I am a hater than you are a shrill. I own the devices I comment about. Do you?
The things no every talks about. IS the CFW freezes a lot if you use the sleep function. To fix you just have to use the volume buttons. I think this is a bug in the Rockchips.
Plus I never commented on your shill comment. Yet you can't keep my name out your mouth.
@@TOAST818989898 this isn't a review video. It is a love story.
hmmm , got a chance to get used one for about 120€ ... mainly for the 16bit and bellow integer scale 🤔 not sure if i shoudl bite or not
Retroid Pocket 2+ is my current favorite
I love my 552. Like you Russ I am mainly in it for the 8 to 16bit era games and they are just incredible on that screen.
This is a strange take Russ 🤔!
But, I appreciate how often you tell us your favorite devices, considering how quickly these devices are released. Keeping me up to date!
Hi Russ, is it possible to put hall sensors sticks into the RG552 according to you?
I enjoyed this video, seeing your explanations and tweaks.
Great, useful video :)
I also have RG552. Bought it after RG351P , as upgrade, and yeah, I needed to think a lot about pricing, and I really wasn't convinced BUT at the end, when I got the device, I absolutely love it.
Games on this big screen look just amazing. Not too big, not too small. Fighting games look very nice here, also PC-Engine (CD) shoot'em up games look just ... gorgeous, crisp, so colorful :)
I use it mainly with Linux (AmberElec) - to be honest, some PSP jRPG (more 2d oriented) work nice too. I just ... don't like Android. I like the whole UI / UX experience coming from EmulationStation.
Yes, that's the first handheld I actually USE. RG552 very often wins vs my switch Lite :)
Yes, it's underpowered, it's overpriced but still, if you like Linux, bigger screen then ... to be honest, there is no better alternative (especially if you're into PC-Engine, Amiga, NES, SNES, MegaDrive, PSX1, GBA)
This year I also bought Nintendo DSi XL, 3DS XL - both are great machines, I was really excited playing them but when i got RG552, I actually use it the most.
Totally agree! Couldn't have said it any better myself!
The only issue with this console is the input limitation that makes games like Super Metroid unplayable...
This IS just one Great Video , Retro Game Corps !!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!