TrimUI Brick Pro Review

Super Size Me

The TrimUI Brick and Brick Hammer have been super popular handhelds in the community, and now TrimUI has essentially super-sized the Brick, added some sticks, made the display bigger, upgraded the battery, and said, “Here you go.”

And honestly, those are really the main differences here.

The TrimUI Brick Pro uses the same processor and 1GB of RAM as the original Brick, so you shouldn’t expect any meaningful difference in performance. The big changes are the 3.95-inch display compared to the 3.2-inch screen on the original Brick, along with the larger battery and redesigned body.

The screen is still 4:3 and 60Hz. Because it’s larger at the same resolution, pixel density is lower, but it’s still a nice panel for the price.

Design, Controls and Comfort

The Brick Pro is available in black, white and gray. My personal favorite is the white because it really pops, with the gray coming in a close second. The black is sleek, but I’ve never been a huge fan of completely black handhelds.

The D-pad feels very similar to the Brick Hammer, although slightly looser, while the buttons have essentially the same feel as the previous models. Both have always been squarely in the good category for me, so there isn’t much to complain about here.

The sticks are a different story.

I don’t think this device really needs sticks at all. With the amount of performance available here, you’re really looking at older systems where a D-pad is more than enough. The Retroid Pocket Classic, for example, takes the same approach and leaves them off entirely.

The placement is also awkward, especially on a vertical handheld. They’re usable, but I don’t find them particularly comfortable.

More concerning is that the sticks actually rub against the shell when pushed to the side. That’s a pretty significant design flaw. Over time, I can see the rubber on the sticks wearing down and the shell itself getting damaged.

Considering that Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast are already towards the upper limits of what this hardware can handle, I don’t think the sticks add enough value to justify that tradeoff. I’d much rather have a stickless version of the Brick Pro.

Otherwise, the handheld itself is comfortable. It’s not particularly top-heavy and feels good to hold for a vertical device.

The shoulders and triggers remain one of my bigger complaints with the Brick family. TrimUI includes different options in the box, but I still find them awkward to use on the back of the device. They’re bigger than the original Brick’s, but the placement and shape don’t work particularly well for me.

Even something like Super Mario 64 doesn’t feel great with these controls.

The only other major addition is a home button on the left side. Pressing it brings up an Android-style quick settings interface where you can make some quick adjustments.

Software

The stock software is largely unchanged from previous TrimUI Brick devices, just scaled up for the larger display.

Unfortunately, one of the long-standing issues with TrimUI’s software is still present. Certain Nintendo 64 games simply don’t work correctly, including Mario Tennis, Mario Golf and GoldenEye, regardless of which emulator you try.

This has been an issue going back to the original TrimUI Smart Pro, so it’s frustrating to see it continue to exist after several years.

NextUI does support the Brick Pro, and those Nintendo 64 games work correctly there. There were some display issues with NextUI during testing, but this is an early build and will likely be addressed. Overall, NextUI looks like the better route if you want to get more out of the device.

Battery Life

Battery life is one of the biggest improvements over the original Brick.

Using Super Mario World on both the Brick Hammer and Brick Pro with brightness at 100%, audio disabled and Wi-Fi turned off, the Brick Hammer shut down after 3 hours and 16 minutes.

At that same point, the Brick Pro still had 62% battery remaining and ultimately shut down at 6 hours and 20 minutes.

Both devices were running NextUI for the test.

The Brick Hammer was noticeably warmer throughout testing, while the Brick Pro was primarily hot around the upper portion of the back. You can feel it if your fingers are resting around the shoulders and triggers, but otherwise the heat isn’t particularly noticeable.

Display

The 3.95-inch display is probably the best feature of the Brick Pro.

It’s a 60Hz panel with good brightness, good colors and minimal to no ghosting during testing. It’s not the highest pixel-density display around, but it’s a very good panel for the price.

The larger size also makes 4:3 systems and Game Boy games more enjoyable than they are on the original Brick.

Performance

There’s not much reason to do a deep performance dive here because this is yet another handheld using the same processor we’ve already seen several times.

The Brick Pro handles systems up through PlayStation 1 extremely well, along with the usual assortment of Nintendo 64, Dreamcast and PSP games that this class of hardware can manage.

I wouldn’t recommend buying it specifically for those higher-end systems. The real strength of the Brick Pro is everything underneath that performance ceiling.

Super Nintendo, Sega consoles, PlayStation 1 and the various Game Boy systems are all excellent fits, particularly with the larger 4:3 display.

The extra screen size is really what you’re buying here.

Competition

The competition in this particular vertical price range is fairly sparse.

You have the Anbernic RG40XX V, the Retroid Pocket Classic and the upcoming MagicX Air Y.

Of those, I’d still put the Retroid Pocket Classic at the top of my list. It’s my favorite of the vertical options and, importantly, doesn’t include unnecessary sticks.

I’d put the Brick Pro ahead of the RG40XX V as well, primarily because of its better display.

The MagicX Air Y could shake things up once it’s available, but we’ll have to see how it turns out.

Final Thoughts

The TrimUI Brick Pro is essentially exactly what it sounds like: a bigger Brick.

If you like the original Brick and wanted a larger version, there’s a lot to like here. The bigger screen is good, battery life is substantially better, the build quality is solid and the controls are generally good.

At the same time, I keep coming back to the sticks.

If this didn’t have sticks, I think the Brick Pro would be a much better product. I personally wouldn’t play Nintendo 64 or Dreamcast on this anyway, and those are really the systems where the sticks become useful.

Instead, we’re left with awkwardly placed sticks that rub against the shell and could potentially cause damage over time. That’s a pretty significant design flaw on an otherwise solid handheld.

For everything else, though, the Brick Pro does what it’s supposed to do. It’s a larger Brick with a larger screen, a larger battery and the same familiar performance.

If that’s what you’re looking for, there’s a lot to like here.