Miyoo Mini v2 Review with video – An amazing low price retro gaming handheld

In our Miyoo Mini Review we will unbox it, check out its features on the OS and test some emulators, to see how well this low priced retro game handheld runs them.

Miyoo Mini Review Video

Unboxing the Miyoo Mini v2

Lets start the Miyoo Mini review with the unboxing. It comes in its own custom hard-shell case which keeps everything protected. 

Inside is a user guide in full english and chinese languages, with instructions on how to use the handheld.

Next we have the Miyoo Mini handheld. We will show it in more detail shortly.

In the case side pocket is a USB Micro SD Card reader for copying games to the included 64GB Micro SD Card. And last but not least is a USB Type-C charge cable. We recommend using this cable for charging.

Miyoo Mini v2 Overview

The Miyoo Mini retro game console is available in two colours; Snow White & Retro Grey. Let us know in the comments which colour is your favourite?

It measures 2.55 x 3.68 x 0.70 inches (6.5 x 9.35 x 1.8 cm) and weighs 110 grams. It’s tiny, and extremely portable retro handheld!

The screen is a 2.8 inch IPS display with a 640×480 resolution. It actually looks quite nice for retro gaming.

Below is your classic D-Pad, SELECT and START buttons, there are four gaming buttons and a Menu button in the middle.

On the left side is a volume dial. On the top are the status LEDs and power button. And, on the bottom are a 3.5mm headphone jack, Micro SD Card slot and a USB Type-C port for charging.

On the back are your left and right buttons which are traditionally Shoulder and Trigger buttons. There is also a battery cover making it very easy to replace the battery should you need to. 

Miyoo Mini Technical Specifications

CPU	ARM Cortex-A7 dual core. Frequency up to 1.2GHz
RAM	128MB
STORAGE	64GB Micro SD Card included. Can use up to 128GB Micro SD Card
BATTERY	2000 mAh battery Up to 5 hours battery depending on usage Rechargeable via USB Type-C port

OS Overview

Continuing our Miyoo Mini review, we are taking a look at the menu software.

When you boot up you have the main menu. Recent shows a list of recently played games, and Favourites shows your favourite added games.

The Games menu shows a list of gaming systems which includes Arcade, Mega Drive, Master System, Neo Geo, Neo Geo Pocket, PC Engine, PlayStation and WonderSwan Color.

Once in a console system menu you are shown a list of games found on the Micro SD Card. You can scroll through them with the D-Pad or skip a page with the trigger buttons on the back of the device. Then you pick a game and it will run it.

Returning back to the main menu, next is the RetroArch menu which uses different emulators to those in the Game menu. Again you can browse the games and pick one to load.

There are two more options on the main menu if you scroll right. The Apps menu has a file manager, access to the RetroArch settings and a Power Menu to safely shutdown.

The final option is the Settings menu which allows you to change various settings including the brightness, theme colours, language, key mapping. Factory reset, and buttons test.

You can copy your games to their respective system folders on the Micro SD Card and then press the Menu button to rescan the Micro SD Card and add any new games.

Miyoo Mini v2 Emulator Tests

So how well does the Miyoo Mini emulate the popular consoles of past years? Let’s find out with some emulator tests.

Arcade – Charlie Ninja

There’s a whole bunch of Eastern market arcade games that I have never really played much. A random one I am playing appears to be called Charlie Ninja. I tried a few random games and did not have any issues with the games running or them running too slow. Everything seems to be working great.

MAME Plus – Outrun

MAME has many popular Western arcade games on it that I know and love. So I was in more familiar territory. Again I tried a few random games including one of my favourites OutRun and did not see any issues with performance.

Mega Drive – Sonic The Hedgehog

We can’t try the Mega Drive without showing Sonic The Hedgehog. I tried a few different games and as expected I ran into no issues with compatibility or performance. I would not expect anything less on the Miyoo Mini.

Neo Geo – Shock Troopers 2nd Squad

Neo Geo is up next and everything seems to be working fine. There are some slowdowns which are due to the original hardware rather than the actual Minis performance. Other than that the games are working fine.

Neo Geo Pocket Pocket Tennis Color

Everything on the Neo Geo Pocket will work just fine. The games actually look good on this display. Which is a godsend if you have ever tried the original Pocket handheld which does not have a backlit screen.

PC Engine – Operation Wolf

Again, you will have no issues with PC Engine games. Everything I tried runs great.

WonderSwan Color – Golden Axe

The WonderSwan Color is another system that you will have no issues at all with. And another where you can actually see the screen on this retro handheld console unlike the original WonderSwan handheld.

CPS-III – Street FIghter III 3rd Strike

CPS-III games take a little longer to load compared to others. Give it a few moments while it extracts the zip file and loads all the files. But that seems to be my only complaint as everything else works just fine.

PlayStation – Tekken 3

PlayStation 1 is where we start to see some games working and not working. It depends on the compatibility mainly on how well it performs. However if you use the RetroArch core PCSX, the compatibility improves a great deal. You will still have games with performance issues though.

Custom Firmware for Miyoo Mini

One thing I wanted to mention is that you can upgrade the firmware to a custom firmware which improves some things. These include the front end menus as well as adding some new emulators. There is also a clean SD card image with improved folder organisation which you can add your own games to.

It does require flashing the firmware to the device and making a new SD card, so it is not without its risks. But there is a clear step by step guide on the Github page at https://github.com/Takiiiiiiii/Miyoo-Mini

If you do update the Miyoo Mini custom firmware, then you will find a few more emulators including Atari 2600 and 7800, Amstrad CPC, SEGA CD and Virtual Boy. It is worth considering if you are a fan of the added systems to get the most out of the handheld.

UPDATE: Another custom firmware you should definitely look into is Onion OS which completely transforms the Miyoo Mini. You can find out more about Onion OS at https://github.com/jimgraygit/Onion

Final Thoughts

To sum up my Miyoo Mini review, overall I am very impressed with this retro console. It is small and lightweight, meaning it is perfect for while out and about. For example if you want to play a game while on the train or bus, it fits easily inside your jacket pocket for quick access. The display, while small, looks fine and the games overall look OK on it. 

I also liked the simplicity of the menu, although it may be a little confusing having both native emulators and RetroArch cores to choose from, when playing some systems such as PlayStation. 

Is the Miyoo Mini worth buying?

What we like most is the price. It is fairly cheaper than other retro handhelds which are generally in the £100+ price mark. And apart from some higher end consoles supported in those handhelds, they do much the same job for the 8 and 16-bit systems. If you don’t want to break the bank or want a truly portable retro handheld then the Miyoo Mini is definitely one to consider!

Where can I buy the Miyoo Mini?

If you enjoyed our Miyoo Mini review, you can learn more and buy the Miyoo Mini v2 here. You can browse our wide range of handheld game consoles here.