The Best Handheld Retro Emulators in 2022
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. At some point pretty much everyone thinks to themselves: «I’d like to try that thing I used to do long ago.» For those who grew up as gamers and find themselves wanting to play the games of their childhood, there’s no more practical option than retro handheld emulators.
What is a Retro Handheld Emulator?
That’s a good question! Let’s delve into it a little…
Throughout gaming history, a prominent (until recently) section of the industry was focused around the idea of «handheld gaming». For more of an overview on handhelds, you can check out our article on the history of gaming handhelds.
To summarize the above article however, handheld gaming devices were small electronics that allowed you to enjoy substantial gaming experiences on the go.
As technology progressed, the all-consuming platform known as the «mobile phone» began to encroach on the territory of multiple gadgets and gizmos. Superseding the common user’s desire for cameras, MP3 players, and more.
This runaway technological singularity would eventually reach the domain of games. With mobile gaming functionally eliminating the segment, and becoming responsible for approximately 51% of the gaming industry’s revenue.
The Rise of The Retro Handheld Emulators
The idea of retro handheld emulators grew in tandem with the popularity of «emulation» as a medium. While it is difficult to say exactly when they really exploded in popularity, most would posit that it was at some point in 2019, with the launch of ANBERNIC’s RG350 retro handheld emulator.
This device was capable of playing games from a variety of platforms. From NES, MAME (arcade), and even Playstation 1 titles with very little difficulty.
Because of the mixture of high build quality, affordable price, (relative) ease of use, and the surprisingly respectable power, the retro handheld emulator scene truly began to blossom.
Since that time, many more devices have made their way to the market. And as with any market, there are some devices that are good, and some that are not-so-good. So we at DroiX have put together a small list of what we consider to be the best retro handheld emulators on the market today.
The Best Retro Handheld Emulators 2022
Best Retro Handheld Emulator – Retroid Pocket 3
The Retroid Pocket 3 represents great performance vs price and rightly deserves our vote for the best retro handheld emulator.
Despite the CPU being the same as the previous Retroid Pocket 2+ model, there are a number of improvements. These include a larger 4.7″ 16:9 touchscreen with a higher resolution 750×1334 resolution. It has 3GB instead of 2GB RAM and Android 11 instead of Android 9. The changes are all for the good and it still manages to have a small increase in performance over the Pocket 2 Plus.
The design is very comfortable to use for extended gaming sessions. But we did find the placement of the SELECT and START buttons very strange. They are at the top of the retro handheld emulator, so you need to move your hand to press either button.
The frontend for adding and launching games is easy to use and works very well, offering support for dozens of consoles. There is also a slide menu which gives you quick access to commonly used settings as well as screen mapping the buttons to screen presses.
You can read our in-depth Retroid Pocket 3 review here.
What we like!
- Larger 4.7″ display
- Android 11
- 3GB RAM
- Easy to use frontend
- Built-in screen mapping
What we don’t like!
- Badly located SELECT & START buttons
Best Handheld Emulator – GPD XP+
The GPD XP Plus is the best handheld emulator if you want the highest performance. Taking a comfortable first place in our best Android handheld gaming console for 2022, it excelled in all of the system and emulation benchmarks.
Featuring the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 processor with ARM Mali-G77 MP9 GPU, the GPD XP Plus is great for both Android gaming and retro emulation. There is 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS storage with a micro SD card slot and 4G LTE sim card for mobile data.
If you desire higher end retro emulator performance such as stable PSP and more recent consoles and handhelds, then the GPD XP+ is the best handheld emulator to choose. You can enjoy some games on PlayStation 2 with AetherSX2 as well as Dolphin and Citra retro emulators.
You can read our in-depth GPD XP+ review here.
What we like!
- Very high performance Dimensity 1200 processor
- 6GB RAM
- Large ultrawide 6.81″ display
- Excellent for Android gaming and emulation
What we don’t like!
- Kinda pointless modular controller design
Best handheld for emulation – Anbernic RG353V
The RG353V and RG353VS are the latest two models of handhelds for emulation from Anbernic. The V model is both Android 11 and Linux OS dual boot, while the VS model is Linux only.
Our in depth review of the RG353V and RG353VS models explained the differences between the two models. We mentioned that we did feel the Android side of the OS was a bit weak but with some time and patience with some setting up, you have a great Android handheld gaming console.
Both models come with the RK3566 Quad-Core 64-bit Cortex-A55 processor running up to 1.8GHz and 2GB or 1GB RAM with 16GB Linux and on the V model, 32GB eMMC storage. The V model also has a touchscreen as it is runs Android. Performance is near identical for both models so you can save some cash by opting for the VS model.
What we like is that it is supported with custom firmware such as ArkOS. It is very easy to install, follow our step by step ArkOS install guide here. It transforms an average handheld into one of the best handhelds for emulation.
What we like!
- Vertical orientation
- Choice of Linux or dual boot Android/Linux OS
- Custom firmware supported
- Very comfortable to play on
What we don’t like!
- Android OS takes some setting up to be useable
Retroid Pocket 2 Plus
Iterating on the popular Retroid Pocket 2 handheld, the Retroid Pocket 2 Plus brings with it a number of improvements and firmly cements its position as one of the best retro handhelds on the market.
Featuring an improved Unisoc T310 SoC, alongside a larger quantity of RAM, the RP2+ can handle a greater variety of emulated games than its predecessor. Including various Sega Saturn and Dreamcast titles.
This retro handheld also features a newer version of Android — Android 9.0, over the previous model’s Android 6 (which was upgradable to Android 8.1).
While visually similar to the older model, this retro handheld features a new membrane for the buttons. Giving them a softer, springier feel — as opposed to the previously click-y feeling of the older model.
To learn more about the Retroid Pocket 2 Plus, please check out our Retroid Pocket 2 Plus review!
What we like!
- New faster processor
- Touch Screen
- Newer Android version
What we don’t like!
- Not user friendly for beginners
- Takes a while to set everything up
Miyoo Mini
The Miyoo Mini is among the best retro handheld emulator out there with two cool selling points. The first is that it is very portable. It measures 2.55 x 3.68 x 0.70 inches (6.5 x 9.35 x 1.8 cm) and weighs 110 grams., its ideal if you want a quick pick up and play while out and about. The second important point, is that the price is excellent, it costs around half the price of similar retro handhelds.
The ARM Cortex-A7 dual core can be found inside the Miyoo Mini, it has a frequency up to 1.2GHz. The 128MB RAM takes care of the frontend and emulators which use less memory,. The amazing looking display is a 2.8″ IPS display with a 640×480 resolution, perfect for retro gaming!
The Miyoo Mini is capable of running up to the PS1 and it is where it starts to struggle with slow performance on many games. No is all lost, instead you can update the firmware to Onion OS which is an excellent replacement. It has a bunch of improvements including full speed PlayStation emulation, new menu theme and much more!
To learn more about the Miyoo Mini, you can read our full Miyoo Mini review.
RG552
The RG552 is the first entry in the «fourth generation» of retro handhelds by ANBERNIC, an experienced manufacturer of many retro handheld emulator.
Unlike it’s predecessors, the ANBERNIC RG552 pushes linux-based firmware to the wayside. And is the first handheld in ANBERNIC’s RG family to feature a native android operating system (Android 7.1, for those curious).
This pairs well with the increased performance. The RG552 makes use of a more powerful RockChip RK3399 SoC. This six-core processor coupled with 4GB of RAM allows the RG552 to handle far more systems than before, while also cementing superior performance on consoles that its predecessors were shaky with (Dreamcast, N64, etc.)
The centerpiece of the device is it’s large, colourful, high resolution display. Coupled with touch-screen functionality, it’s a natural fit for the Android operating system.
This retro handheld is also feature-rich compared to its predecessors, including the presence of a HDMI output, the ability to switch between Android and Linux based operating systems via microSD card, and even keymapping functionality via an optional update.
All in all, the Anbernic RG552 is an excellent retro handheld that does not deviate too far from the familiar appearance and feel of the RG351MP and co. While providing superior performance over the lot of them.
To learn more about the ANBERNIC RG552, we encourage you to check out our ANBERNIC RG552 review! Please also check out our RG552 starter guide to help you get started with this awesome handheld.
What we like!
- Extremely high-quality display.
- Feature-rich
- Can handle more games than the RG351 family.
What we don’t like!
- Price/Performance ratio could be better.
- Ergonomics could be better.
