MINILOONG Pocket 1 Review

Yes, that’s the name – Miniloong Pocket 1.

It’s hard for me to say that I was completely wrong about ignoring this device when it released as on paper, it’s not that sexy (especially since it’s biggest feature isn’t listed on any website) – but after using it, I have to say, it’s actually a lot better than I expected.

Specs & Display

This comes in two colors, white and gray, and the part that put me off for months is that this has an RK3566 processor.

So, in terms of performance, this is roughly taking you back four years, and I just don’t think I was ready to go backwards that much in 2026.

The top end of what you can play is PS1, and while it does have a stick for N64, I would not personally play N64 on an RK3566 device. Or PSP or Dreamcast.

That being said, more than enough power for PS1 and under and that’s really what you want to use it for. 

The standout feature here is the display, although I’d argue there’s other good features too.

It’s a 4” IPS 960x720p display.. And it’s 120hz.

Yeah, I was surprised too – it’s not just 60hz, you can use 120hz on this and it’s supported by custom firmwares like dArkOS that I use.

I don’t know why this is barely mentioned anywhere, but it works well.

It’s a great display that helps display the classic 4:3 systems at a much better resolution, and therefore just a sharper image overall plus the benefits of 120hz of which there are many, but response time being the major one. 

With my limited lizard brain memory, this would be one of the better displays under $80 that I can remember, the usual competition being the RG CubeXX, or MagicX One35.

I’d say the TrimUI Brick Pro would be in the conversation, but that’s above $80 on a normal day, even if I love that screen. 

None of those have 120hz though. 

There’s 1GB of RAM here – not a lot, but more than enough for these retro systems, and we have a 4000mAh battery.

Lastly, we do have WiFi, Bluetooth and video out with two USB-C ports. So it’s fairly feature rich here. 

Pricing & Software

Pricing is a range as you’d expect with AliExpress, but I’ve seen this device go for around $70 US dollars with an average of around $85 or so US dollars.

Now I played around with a few different operating system options – this comes with an operating system called LoongOS which is Linux based by default, but there’s other options like Leaf and dArkOS.

I did play around with Leaf for a bit, but ultimately went back to dArkOS as I’ve long since liked ArkOS when I used these RK3566 devices years ago, and was glad to see it’s back with dArkOS and works here.

dArkOS is just a super easy to use Linux-based custom firmware, as anyone who’s familiar with EmulationStation would feel right at home with it, including the ability to just use those themes like Art Book Next. There’s online updates, scraping, and everything you’d need here. 

My personal favorite part is that it never touches RetroArch outside of RetroArch, so you don’t have to worry about making changes from the frontend to affect RetroArch and instead you just open RetroArch and make the changes you need to make. 

But I have to say, I’ve been fairly impressed with the Miniloong.

Comfort & Controls

I had to train myself to ignore the fact that this is an RK3566 for $80 in 2026, but if I remove that aspect, there’s actually a lot to like here.

The first was the software that we talked about, dArkOS being compatible is instantly a plus in my opinion, but I was surprised at the design and hardware too.

The Miniloong is comfortable as all hell, like amazingly comfortable.

The front TPU style face plate along with the soft plastic back make this just a joy to hold in the hands.

The dpad is a very loose, circular style dpad which from what I understand, is swappable although my unit didn’t come with any replacement dpads.

The entire front plate just comes off allowing you to swap it if you wanted to.

The buttons, while a bit smaller than I’d have liked, have a nice feel to them with a lot of travel.

They pretty much nailed the controls on this and it feels good.

I think the stick is unnecessary here, I know I say this a lot, but I would likely remove this stick entirely and 3D print a cover because I find it just gets in the way and will never be used. 

I do wish Start and Select were on either side of the screen, but it’s a nitpick.

Lastly there is a Menu button bottom left which I use for hotkeys in ArkOS, works great.

The shoulder buttons are silent, and work well, but I’m not a super fan of the trigger design.

They kind of have a little bit of that Retroid Pocket Flip 2, AYN Thor style where the edge of the triggers aren’t curved enough for your fingers, but it’s a nitpick and something that isn’t as bad as it is on those other devices. 

Final Thoughts

Honestly, I made a mistake passing over this device when I did – this definitely deserved my eyeballs months ago. The screen resolution, the refresh rate, the comfort, the good controls and it’s just good all around. I’ll limit my RK3566 dislike for this one – I think this is a fantastic option for a lot of people, especially during a sale.

I’d love to see what this company comes up with next if this was their first device – something to keep an eye on.