Retro handheld devices

[SwimOdin]

I'm in the market for a emulation-based handheld, that's under $100.  Y'all have any suggestions?  This is my most likely purchase at the moment, but I'm still researching.

 

https://mangmi.com/products/mangmi-air-x?variant=51817216409967

[Greeny]

What are you trying to emulate? If you want to do PS2/GC era stuff I'd move up to the 150-200 dollar range. And there are plenty of dual screen handhelds now if you want to do DS/3DS. Those might be a bit pricier though.

Edited yesterday at 04:36 PM by Greeny

[UwPp]

On 2/1/2026 at 9:31 PM, SwimOdin said:

I'm in the market for a emulation-based handheld, that's under $100.  Y'all have any suggestions?  This is my most likely purchase at the moment, but I'm still researching.

 

https://mangmi.com/products/mangmi-air-x?variant=51817216409967

I have a friend selling a bunch of his! Uhh if you have reddit find him and talk to him. 

 

antimatt_r I believe is his username. 

[UwPp]

Miyoo Mini, Anbernic RG35XXSP, Anbernic RGCubeXX, TrimUI Brick, an Odin 2 Pro (12GB model), and an Ayaneo DMG (8GB model)

[UwPp]

antimatt_r here

Having an answer to Greeny's question would help a lot. The Mangmi Air X is a pretty decent device, but if you're trying to hit PS2 and Gamecube with minimal tweaking, it might not be a great fit. It can struggle with about half the library for each.

Mangmi is releasing their Pocket Max soon, I believe it's on preorder. That has a Snapdragon 865, which can handle PS2 and Gamecube quite well, often allowing for a 2x upscale. Looks like it's selling for about $200.

Out of what I'm selling, the closest equivalent is the AYN Odin 2 Pro. It's got a Snapdragon 8 gen 2 which is a super well supported chip and even more powerful than the 865, allowing for higher upscales and more headroom. That chip was pretty much the gold standard for a couple years. I can emulate a good amount of Switch on it (I've only played Legends Arceus so far), and it can even play some light PC games by using apps like Gamehub Lite and linking your Steam account (I'm about halfway through Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo and I also played some Jackbox games with family on Christmas). I also occasionally use it to stream newer/more demanding games from my PC so I can play on the couch with it hooked up to the TV through a dock. Played through the entirety of Metaphor: Refantazio that way. I love mine, but I'm letting it go because I bought an AYN Thor, which has the same internals but is the dual screen device I've been waiting for.

The Retroid Pocket 6 is basically an Odin 2 but a little more refined. It's in the preorder stage right now. Same chip, but it has a 5.5 inch OLED vs the 6 inch IPS of the Odin 2, if that's something you care about

Now if you don't care about PS2/GC, everything above is a moot point. All depends on what systems you're targeting and how willing you are to stretch your budget. But for $100? It's hard to go wrong with the Mangmi Air X, as long as you understand the limits of what it's capable of

Edited 1 hour ago by UwPp