RUIZHI RG353V Handheld Game Console Android 11+ LINUX, 3.5

I’ll make it abundantly clear that I was sceptical from the beginning. I’ve seen these advertised and thought that it’s too good to be true, but it’s really not. It does do pretty much what it says it does and have the quantity of games that it claims.

It’s not perfect, so I’ll go over my few gripes first. Some consoles just don’t play at all out of the box – CPS and MAME for me just didn’t work. The button layout does work for practically everything it emulates out of the box, but it’s a little cramped for my average sized man’s hands in some consoles e.g. N64 and some PS1 games where I need the analog stick. Some titles are on there just because, like the DS that uses two screens side-by-side that are so small that they aren’t worth having.

But what I will say is – It looks fantastic (I went for the clear purple), the screen is phenomenal, and I was surprised at it’s ability to emulate more hardware intensive consoles like the PSP flawlessly from what I tested.

I am an infrequent gamer and have been playing with emulators for about 15 years so a few quality of life changes like removing the DS / PSP / Dreamcast titles that were a bit storage-heavy for not their best playing experience, in favour of more playable titles for segments like PS1 etc. was a simple change. I would and have ecommended this to anyone that has half-sensible expectations of what they’re getting. I would and likely will buy again in the future. Just buy the RG353V variant (there’s a handy buyers guide on the manufacturer’s website).

This unit is nice and solid, the screen is bright and crisp, the controls seem responsive and well placed. Customizing it is quick and simple with a little research, and now I get to enjoy playing my old favorites away from the PC or consoles whenever I am travelling or want to lounge in bed.