Best Retro Handhelds for Every Price Point

This year is a bit of a weird year due to external reasons and everyone knows it.

Hardware sales are down across the board as of right now, but there’s still lots of newcomers to the hobby that want to know what to buy, even today.

So today, we’re going to pick one device from each pricing tier to recommend. 

The entire reason I do these videos every year is to be new person friendly as much as possible, there’s hundreds of handhelds and you have no idea what the best one is.

So let’s make it easy.

Under $50

Starting with the $50 US dollar and under tier, and yes all of today’s prices will be in US dollars.

This tier is the easiest to get scammed in, there’s a ton of bad devices in this price range and devices with so many compromises that you spend another $50 trying to fix them with your own time, so let’s avoid all of that.

Even a year later from last year’s video, my recommendations are still the same here with the Miyoo Mini Plus and BatleXP G350. 

Miyoo Mini Plus

The Miyoo just keeps continuing to be on this list because it’s consistently one of the easiest recommendations in this hobby.

It has super easy to use newcomer friendly custom firmware with OnionOS, it’s a cute little device, it plays a ton of systems up to PlayStation 1 and it’s just great.

It’s aged for sure, but it’s still an easy recommendation. 

BatleXP G350

The BatleXP G350 arrived last year and easily became my recommendation in this category.

It’s made by Anbernic under this brand, so quality hardware and software for under $50.

This device easily replaces the R36S and those clones because you get actually good hardware here – the buttons, sticks, dpad and all of that are a tier above the R36S while having the same custom firmware options and so on.

This device does play a bit more than the Miyoo, it can do some Nintendo 64, Dreamcast and PSP, and it just translates to a better overall device than most in this range. 

Long story short, Miyoo for cuteness and easy or BatleXP for power for under $50.

$50 to $100

Next up is the $50 to $100 tier and this is where we got new additions that have since sort of been priced out due to the market.

The Mangmi Air X would have been the defacto choice here if it was still under $100. 

Anbernic RG CubeXX

Instead, the usual recommendations here is Anbernic’s H700 lineup of devices.

Anbernic has like ten or twelve or a hundred different devices, all using the same processor in different form factors, so it’s sort of a choose your own adventure type thing.

That being said, my favorite recommendation from them is the Anbernic CubeXX.

It’s comfortable, has everything you need, a nice screen and is a great pick.

For the most part, over the previous tier, this tier brings things like WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI and more features that way as well as new custom firmware options. 

MagicX One35

However, another really good option in this tier is the MagicX One35.

This is a really nice candybar type handheld with a 3:2 aspect ratio screen, more power than the Anbernic H700 lineup as you can do some GameCube, PS2 and 3DS, but don’t buy it for those.

It also has the added ability to be used vertical for vertical arcade and so on, making it pretty versatile that way. 

Because I know someone will ask, there is technically a third option with the Ayaneo Pocket Air Mini, however I don’t recommend it as the screen has a lot of visible ghosting.

If you’re someone who can’t notice it, then it would be the best option in this range, but it’s not something I can personally recommend due to that. 

Long story short, for me, the best in this range is the MagicX One35 or any of the Anbernic H700 devices.

$100 to $150

Next we have the $100 to $150 tier and there’s technically three options here I’d recommend.

There’s the Mangmi Air X, which due to price increases moved out of the under $100 price tier, the Retroid Pocket Classic, which is back in stock as of this video, but may be on the verge of being discontinued and the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro for the same reason. 

Mangmi Air X

The Mangmi Air X is similar to the MagicX One35 in that it can play more systems than any of the under $100 devices, and so you get a really nice budget Android handheld with power in it, and comfort.

I wish this was still under $100. 

Retroid Pocket Classic

The Retroid Pocket Classic is a vertical alternative that is mostly on this list due to being super unique, having an OLED screen, a six button option and being a normal vertical style handheld. 

Retroid Pocket 4 Pro

But the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro, at $149 would be the best option in this tier while it’s in stock.

You have colors, you have power and you have a really well made device overall.

This brings you PS2, GameCube and so on, so it’s the most powerful device under $150. 

So overall, for best here, it’s the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro while it’s in stock, then the Mangmi Air X with the Retroid Pocket Classic being the vertical lovers device.

$150 to $200

Next up is the $150 to $200 tier, which has quite a lot of options nowadays, but only a few actually good ones.

This tier opens you up to proper GameCube, PS2 and so on, so a nice jump from the previous tier for the most part excluding the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro.

There’s the Retroid Pocket 5, Retroid Pocket Flip 2, and the Anbernic RG476H. 

Anbernic RG476H

The Anbernic RG476H is a fantastic 4:3 device with a 120hz screen, it’s sort of the quintessential retro handheld in that way and it’s a fantastic device for the price if you really want 4:3.

That’s the reason you buy it, you really only want 4:3. 

Retroid Pocket 5 & Retroid Pocket Flip 2

The Retroid Pocket Flip 2 and the 5 share the same processor, so the same power, which puts it above every device up to now.

They can upscale PS2, GameCube and so on easily and without issue where the RG476H is more of a native experience with some hacks.

The main difference between the Flip 2 and 5 is the form factor, so a matter of do you want a clamshell or a typical handheld.

I think of all three, if I have to recommend one device, it would be the Retroid Pocket 5 as it’s the best all around device in this range, has a 16:9 screen so there’s versatility there and it’s just overall the best in this range.

$200 to $300

Next up we have the $200 to $300 tier, which is the last tier that we’ll talk about Android handhelds before talking about PC handhelds. 

There’s a few options in this tier like the Retroid Pocket 6, the Mangmi Pocket Max, the AYN Odin 2 Portal, the AYN Thor, the AYN Odin 3 and so on.

There’s only two devices I can properly recommend though.

AYN Odin 2 Portal

The best overall device, for anyone to purchase, for any reason and for everything is the AYN Odin 2 Portal that has been and is currently on sale for $249.

This price, for this device, which has a gorgeous 7” OLED screen, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor that plays everything including PC games, and so on is a steal.

The Portal is the best Android handheld on the market by far and $249 is a steal for it.

If you have no actual budget, and wanted one handheld to buy today, this is what you buy. 

AYN Thor

The second option is the AYN Thor.

The AYN Thor is the best dual screen device on the market, same power as the Odin 2 Portal except you now have two screens which opens up your possibilities immensely.

There’s drawbacks to comfort and so on, but the Thor is a fantastic device for anyone.

A lot of people can’t choose between a Thor and a Portal – and I think it comes down to whether you want an on the go device like the Thor, or an at home device like the Portal.

But obviously if you have interest in DS, or 3DS or multi tasking, the Thor wins out.

Retroid Pocket 6 & Mangmi Pocket Max

When it comes to the Retroid Pocket 6, it’s a good handheld, but I can’t recommend it at its current price of $244 compared to the Odin 2 Portal which is a vastly better handheld.

However, it is a bit smaller and does have that positive to it. It’s a similar answer for the Mangmi Pocket Max, where the Odin 2 Portal’s price just makes it a non-starter. 

AYN Odin 3

The only outlier here is the AYN Odin 3, which starts at $339 and has a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor.

I personally can’t recommend this device as the fan itself makes it unusable to me, but it is the most powerful handheld of them all, so it does have to get mentioned because of it.

If you think the fan noise won’t bother you or you think you can work around it using underclocking and so on, then it’s a decent option. 

That being said, the Portal at $249 is the absolute best deal in the entire handhelds hobby, so you run don’t walk to it over everything else aside from the AYN Thor in my opinion.

PC Handhelds

And I guess we get to the PC handhelds space now with this last little bit, and this is likely the toughest of the entire list. 

XBOX Ally X

I want to say that the current only best recommendation is the XBOX Ally X.

Mostly because I’ve had every PC handheld and it’s the only one I would actually recommend with today’s current prices.

But I think the real answer is the used market for an ROG Ally X, that would likely be the best actual answer. 

However, since we’re focused on new devices today, the XBOX Ally X would be my choice of recommendation to anyone looking for a brand new PC handheld – it has the power, the battery life, the comfort and everything along with fantastic cooling and fan noise. 

For a budget option, or what would be a budget option it today’s climate, it would be the XBOX Ally that I’d suggest.

It’s currently the best brand new entry level PC handheld that you can buy and has pretty good compatibility across the board for games it can play. 

So there are technically two options in this tier, but since I’m trying to make your life easy by picking one, the choice by a long margin would be the XBOX Ally X.