Review: Anbernic RG40XXV
There are many old games, particularly RPGs, from the 16-bit era that I want to play, or that I started playing when I was a kid and never saw the ending: Lufia 1 & 2, Final Fantasy 6, Phantasy Star II, Shining Force, to cite only a few. I could download their ROMs and play them on an emulator at any time today of course, but for some reason I never got to do it. It’s not complicated, it’s not hard to find them, I just never did it for some reason. Maybe in my head it’s a hassle to turn the PC on just to play old games.
So when I started hearing about some Chinese handhelds that ran emulators for all classic consoles, I was intrigued and tempted to get one. Retro gaming and portable consoles just seem to be a good combination - you can play games anywhere and at any time, it’s very accessible and convenient. After watching a lot of reviews, I decided to buy the Anbernic ⤴ RG40XXV as a treat for myself.
When it arrived, the first thing I noticed was its sleek, Apple-like box. The console itself is also really cool looking, I like the transparent plastic that reminds me of a purple Game Boy Color I had many decades ago. But more than its appearance, what impressed me the most was its build quality.
All the reviews I watched said it was a good quality product, but when holding it in my hands, it felt even better than I was expecting. The D-pad and all buttons feel really nice to the touch, and the 4 inch screen is excellent, with good contrast, adjustable brightness and crisp images. Even the built-in speaker does it’s job well, all games I’ve tested sounded great.
The console already comes with a linux based OS and the Retroarch emulator installed. The OS is a little quirky but it’s serviceable. It also comes with thousands of ROMs for practically all the old consoles, up to even some Playstation games (which take up a lot of space). Speaking of which, the PSX games I tested (Crash Bandicoot, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) ran flawlessly without a hitch. I know it can emulate even some Dreamcast and PSP games well, but I didn’t test them (they’re not my main interest anyway). I think everything up to the Gameboy Advance should run perfectly.
This Anbernic is an amazing portable console, but it also has a mini HDMI output port if you want to hook it to an external screen. My eyesight is bad, so even if the 4 inch screen is really good, it’s nice to be able to play on a large TV sometimes. I’ve tested plugging it to a TV and it worked seamlessly, it was impressive. I also tested connecting 2 PS4 controllers, which are my default gaming joysticks, via bluetooth, and they worked amazingly well. It was like playing on an actual console in front of the TV.
The only downside I could say from these 3 weeks I’ve been using it are that the grip is not so ergonomic. Since the console is thin and small, you might not be able to get a good grip to use the D-pad confortably. Maybe the horizontal version, the RG40XXH, has a more confortable grip. For games where you need precise movement, it might take some time getting used to.
In summary, I’m really happy with the RG40XXV, and I’d recommend it in a heartbeat for any other retro game enthusiasts. I paid around R$550 in total with taxes (~100 USD) and it was totally worh it!