So I did get and R36S from the recommendation from last years budgets handhelds but This will hopefully be either an honorable mention just for the ergonomics I also got the M17 and this M18/ R43 feels even better. I'm hoping that we can get some more people to work on this for a MinUI or SpectralElec version for this device. This device I feel is solid but that stock sd card is just so bad. Dreamcast is a bit meh on this device but it didn't come with a swapfile like ArkOS does on the so it's really starved for memory space. I just think this is a solid device is it perfect nope though you'll pay far more in this format and the only other option would be the RG405V which will give you better performance and given the taxes some with have to pay for getting other devices to them this maybe their only option. Well and I'm a E-Waste lover too I love to tinker with these system that we all like to reject as just being terible and turn that Potatoe in to a gem of mid tier quality.
Thanks Zu for at least trying out my repo, giving me feedback on what got broke so I can fix it would be help though. There are some things I still need to add as well, but some of it is just adding folders for various systems too. I really do hope I can figure out how to make this handheld even better and I'm going to look at your repo and see if I'll add those changes for n64 as well. I also go sega 32x setup on this as well as Dreamcast but Dreamcast is like N64 from stock but never used frame skip for it either.
Zu if you used the 0.1 release that did have some broken issues in it it's why I made the 0.25 release to fix those issues as well as add some m3u file support for Dreamcaset and sega 32x in the es_system.cfg file.
No worries Zu, it's not a big deal just weren't using my best effort is all I did delete v0.1 that way no one uses that by accident again. It's my first real attempt at a repo so I try to always use the latest so didn't think it would be an issue is all. I'm currently working on testing the various systems to see what work and adding the rom folders and to make readme for what you'll need to make them work for each folder. After that's done I'm going to focus on trying to find a way of building a proper CFW. Though making a proper CFW and my skills my just not happen.
Hi, i downloaded and installed your files and it made a significant difference. Thank you. A question if i may: Is there any way to fix the button mapping? I don't know if its only on my device, but Y an X are swapped for every single console. For example PlayStation games have square and triangle inverted, and arcade SF games have low and mid punch switched. I am able to manually correct this in retroarch but the core override option is never applied so the issue returns once the device is powered off. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the review Zu. Can't say it's ticking my boxes. Looking around on Ali the Boyhom store page has it with A17 cores which implies 3288 maybe? priced at $40 though. Anyhoo, in M17 candybar format it would be a bit more interesting but the stock firmware is pretty off putting, tinkering or no. Shame really, like the M17 the hardware deserves better.
This is a very strange device. The most interesting thing, or maybe, the only interesting thing? is the ergonomics, which look fantastic. Otherwise, using a PSP screen on a device that can’t quite play that system well? Having everything else be stretched from 4:3? The extremely odd way the screen actually takes up less space than the rest of the console? I gotta wonder what they were thinking here. Maybe they decided to really go all in on ergonomics, and the only screen that wouldn’t make the device extremely tall while also not being strangely wide was this random ancient PSP piece? Idk. Wouldn’t want to daily drive it, but definitely a cool oddity!
You know how four out of five dentists agree that you should brush your teeth regularly, avoid excess sugar, and don't do meth? That fifth dentist is probably one of my exes. Well; when it comes to the M18/R43 Pro duo four out of five gamers seem to hate this layout. They think it's ugly. They don't get it. I'm the fifth dentist of vertical widescreen handhelds. Yeah, the detail work isn't ideal at all; but, the basic layout speaks to me. It is, to my eyes, the handheld equivalent of clipping a phone onto an Xbox controller, except without the balance issues. I'm not entirely thrilled with the stock software though. I've been following this unit since February, or whenever I first became aware of it, and that's been the one bugbear. I'm not anti-Linux; but, I am anti-locked down builds. With a cheapo Android handheld, like the E5 "Son of Steam Deck", you can easily bypass the OEM shenanigans. Here not so much. That's why I've not bought one yet. I'm waiting for either the price to drop enough that I'll be happy to settle for EmuElec with some config mods or for a good custom OS alternative to be developed. A question and a comment about config mods: 1 - At 10:16 Zu said that PSP games render at 2X. The screen itself is literally a PSP panel, so it makes no sense to do 2X. Is it possible to edit the config files to make PSP play at 1X? 2 - It's actually pretty easy to fix the "stretch all the things" preset. I saw a comment elsewhere that said you could go into Retroarch config and change one of the settings from "18" to "22", which will tell the device to use the correct core provided aspect ratio.
Can it run final fantasy 0, and persona 3 smoothly? i got it for 52 usd on aliexpress. early bird deal. Maybe revisit this device, back in a few months, when theres custom firmware for it.
I have a theory that 16:10 is the best normal aspect ratio for retro consoles. GBA's 3:2 screen translates to 15:10, which means it fits perfectly with only some very slight bands on the sides. Meanwhile, 16:9 content fits perfectly with some slight bands on the top and bottom. 4:3 (or 16:12) isn't actually a square, it's a fat rectangle. More space vertically translates into the image using quite a bit more space horizontally without being stretched. It's not as ideal as a bespoke 4:3 panel; but, 16:10 is a reasonable compromise if you're also using that device to also emulate wider screen consoles too.
@@MrZakuRetro - If you're only going to play GBA and 4:3 consoles then sure, I guess. The PS1 had some 16:9 games and a lot of those that weren't can be seamlessly hacked to run at 16:9 by the press of a button in your emulator of choice. "Gran Turismo" being a wonderful example of the latter. PS2 likewise. PSP was all 16:9. Even Dreamcast had some factory wide screen games; "F355 Challenge" being the first that comes to mind. I actually play some of those games and playing them on a 15:10 screen does not sound like a good time. It's either going to be shrunk down and letterboxed or distorted. No thank you. Thanks for telling me about the KTR-1. I know now to avoid it. I'll return the favor. The Steam Deck, many Android tablets, some laptops, and some fancy monitors are 16:10. So, buyer beware. I can't think of any pocketable 16:10 handhelds though. I believe that one has to exist somewhere; but, my brain doesn't work so good near closing time.
If the you use duckstation the aspect ratio wil be correct with putting wide-screen hacks and yeah you have bars in 16:9 but they are still small, as you gonna have bars in 16:10
Fun, Funky or Fruitless effort? Let us know!
So I did get and R36S from the recommendation from last years budgets handhelds but This will hopefully be either an honorable mention just for the ergonomics I also got the M17 and this M18/ R43 feels even better. I'm hoping that we can get some more people to work on this for a MinUI or SpectralElec version for this device. This device I feel is solid but that stock sd card is just so bad. Dreamcast is a bit meh on this device but it didn't come with a swapfile like ArkOS does on the so it's really starved for memory space. I just think this is a solid device is it perfect nope though you'll pay far more in this format and the only other option would be the RG405V which will give you better performance and given the taxes some with have to pay for getting other devices to them this maybe their only option. Well and I'm a E-Waste lover too I love to tinker with these system that we all like to reject as just being terible and turn that Potatoe in to a gem of mid tier quality.
I just got it, its the most comfortable vertical handheld, and the dpad, and sticks are so easy on ur fingers, quite silent!!
Thanks Zu for at least trying out my repo, giving me feedback on what got broke so I can fix it would be help though. There are some things I still need to add as well, but some of it is just adding folders for various systems too. I really do hope I can figure out how to make this handheld even better and I'm going to look at your repo and see if I'll add those changes for n64 as well. I also go sega 32x setup on this as well as Dreamcast but Dreamcast is like N64 from stock but never used frame skip for it either.
Zu if you used the 0.1 release that did have some broken issues in it it's why I made the 0.25 release to fix those issues as well as add some m3u file support for Dreamcaset and sega 32x in the es_system.cfg file.
You know what, I think I did snag 0.1 instead of 0.25 by accident.
No worries Zu, it's not a big deal just weren't using my best effort is all I did delete v0.1 that way no one uses that by accident again. It's my first real attempt at a repo so I try to always use the latest so didn't think it would be an issue is all. I'm currently working on testing the various systems to see what work and adding the rom folders and to make readme for what you'll need to make them work for each folder. After that's done I'm going to focus on trying to find a way of building a proper CFW. Though making a proper CFW and my skills my just not happen.
Lemme update my links
Hi, i downloaded and installed your files and it made a significant difference. Thank you. A question if i may: Is there any way to fix the button mapping? I don't know if its only on my device, but Y an X are swapped for every single console. For example PlayStation games have square and triangle inverted, and arcade SF games have low and mid punch switched. I am able to manually correct this in retroarch but the core override option is never applied so the issue returns once the device is powered off. Any suggestions?
Its the same sneaky marketing tactics like ISP's use. Its 4Gb (gigabit) not 4GB (gigabyte) so yeah it would be 512MB in ram.
Even that number is wrong after getting access to the eMMC and being able to check it out with free it's only got 768MB of RAM.
"Todos juegos" is Spanish not Portuguese from Brazil.
Nice analysis as always... The M18 is quite interesting with that screen aspect ratio.
HOLA, ME LLAMO GARY
@@retrohandhelds 😅🤣😂
Oh, that is literally a PSP display. Same resolution AND size.
I need a photoshop pic of Zu like Hackerman.
Thanks for the review Zu. Can't say it's ticking my boxes. Looking around on Ali the Boyhom store page has it with A17 cores which implies 3288 maybe? priced at $40 though. Anyhoo, in M17 candybar format it would be a bit more interesting but the stock firmware is pretty off putting, tinkering or no. Shame really, like the M17 the hardware deserves better.
That would BE an awesome port machine for retro modern stuff with better RAM since the processor is Nice some Ark OS and RAM and 🎉
This is a very strange device. The most interesting thing, or maybe, the only interesting thing? is the ergonomics, which look fantastic. Otherwise, using a PSP screen on a device that can’t quite play that system well? Having everything else be stretched from 4:3? The extremely odd way the screen actually takes up less space than the rest of the console? I gotta wonder what they were thinking here. Maybe they decided to really go all in on ergonomics, and the only screen that wouldn’t make the device extremely tall while also not being strangely wide was this random ancient PSP piece? Idk. Wouldn’t want to daily drive it, but definitely a cool oddity!
Excellent points! There are a few odd choices on this thing. That's for sure.
The man is making sense!
even A.I. wouldn't imagine that!!
Needs some jank fingers to be a true AI construct.
Hello, how do I backup my SD card and burn it to a new card with better quality?
You know how four out of five dentists agree that you should brush your teeth regularly, avoid excess sugar, and don't do meth? That fifth dentist is probably one of my exes. Well; when it comes to the M18/R43 Pro duo four out of five gamers seem to hate this layout. They think it's ugly. They don't get it. I'm the fifth dentist of vertical widescreen handhelds. Yeah, the detail work isn't ideal at all; but, the basic layout speaks to me. It is, to my eyes, the handheld equivalent of clipping a phone onto an Xbox controller, except without the balance issues.
I'm not entirely thrilled with the stock software though. I've been following this unit since February, or whenever I first became aware of it, and that's been the one bugbear. I'm not anti-Linux; but, I am anti-locked down builds. With a cheapo Android handheld, like the E5 "Son of Steam Deck", you can easily bypass the OEM shenanigans. Here not so much. That's why I've not bought one yet. I'm waiting for either the price to drop enough that I'll be happy to settle for EmuElec with some config mods or for a good custom OS alternative to be developed.
A question and a comment about config mods:
1 - At 10:16 Zu said that PSP games render at 2X. The screen itself is literally a PSP panel, so it makes no sense to do 2X. Is it possible to edit the config files to make PSP play at 1X?
2 - It's actually pretty easy to fix the "stretch all the things" preset. I saw a comment elsewhere that said you could go into Retroarch config and change one of the settings from "18" to "22", which will tell the device to use the correct core provided aspect ratio.
its actually close to the game boy classic in terms of dimension.
Can it run final fantasy 0, and persona 3 smoothly? i got it for 52 usd on aliexpress. early bird deal. Maybe revisit this device, back in a few months, when theres custom firmware for it.
is this by the same people unknown individuals that make the r36s?
Ah no, that is "Game Console"
What are they thinking with this design?
Why would you not just get a 353 for that price?
Zu, Juegos is spanish not brazilian portuguese. I wouldn't buy it anyway. Great review though 😂
I'M TRYING MY VERY BEST
same size screen as the psp
It does an evil look😂😂😂
Can it run arkos?
Not currently! (and probably not futurely)
i have the r36s and it works out the box !i still updated sd's /roms and i thank it kicks a$$
Earliest I've been to a video
They say Billy the Kid is the fastest commenter in the West.
4:02 it's Spanish.
it would be better if the screen was 3:2
I have a theory that 16:10 is the best normal aspect ratio for retro consoles. GBA's 3:2 screen translates to 15:10, which means it fits perfectly with only some very slight bands on the sides. Meanwhile, 16:9 content fits perfectly with some slight bands on the top and bottom.
4:3 (or 16:12) isn't actually a square, it's a fat rectangle. More space vertically translates into the image using quite a bit more space horizontally without being stretched. It's not as ideal as a bespoke 4:3 panel; but, 16:10 is a reasonable compromise if you're also using that device to also emulate wider screen consoles too.
@@mattdavis9601 i think 15:10 is the reasonable compromisse the KTR1 have that screen ratio
@@MrZakuRetro - If you're only going to play GBA and 4:3 consoles then sure, I guess.
The PS1 had some 16:9 games and a lot of those that weren't can be seamlessly hacked to run at 16:9 by the press of a button in your emulator of choice. "Gran Turismo" being a wonderful example of the latter. PS2 likewise. PSP was all 16:9. Even Dreamcast had some factory wide screen games; "F355 Challenge" being the first that comes to mind. I actually play some of those games and playing them on a 15:10 screen does not sound like a good time. It's either going to be shrunk down and letterboxed or distorted. No thank you.
Thanks for telling me about the KTR-1. I know now to avoid it. I'll return the favor. The Steam Deck, many Android tablets, some laptops, and some fancy monitors are 16:10. So, buyer beware. I can't think of any pocketable 16:10 handhelds though. I believe that one has to exist somewhere; but, my brain doesn't work so good near closing time.
If the you use duckstation the aspect ratio wil be correct with putting wide-screen hacks and yeah you have bars in 16:9 but they are still small, as you gonna have bars in 16:10
Juegos is Spanish word not Portuguese😅.
I WAS MISINFORMED BY GARY
🚮👍🏻
One of the ugliest console I ever seen 😅
That is the ugliest handheld ive ever seen!
The M18 has feelings too!