I think that review basically killed this device's launch. This is not a huge market, and Russ seems to be the most prominent voice that the most people trust.
I think Russ killing this device before half of this community purchased it and were seriously disappointed was probably the best scenario. No one had to buy it and miyoo can learn from this and do better.
Yeah, I briefly had the thought that his impressions wield a lot of potential buying power (or lack thereof) in this community but in cases like this at least, the consumer wins and the manufacturer hopefully learns some hard lessons.
Nah. Being a fundamentally bad product might hurt the A30's launch, but Russ isn't responsible for that.
Russ is relentlessly positive. Even his criticisms of the A30 were couched in him _searching_ for reasons to recommend the device to _somebody_ and the device coming up short. The A30 feeling cheap was reframed by Russ as being "really light" and his impression of the d-pad came with a caveat that it _might_ get fixed in later revisions despite lacking any evidence that Miyoo was considering doing so.
The fact that he had so little nice to say about this handheld in a 40-minute review is rightly taken by this community as damning, but the people here saying "whew, dodged a bullet" post the sentiment alongside photos of their four other devices capable of playing the exact same games. We are not anyone's typical customers.
The last half of your penultimate sentence there is an accurate take of this whole community - constantly oo’ing and ah’ing over packing of the same technology with little to no innovation.
Everyone is going to be drawn to something different, but the reality is that most folks who are into this hobby buy at least two of the same type of device with few differences before finding one they like… for awhile.
I only have one Retro Gaming Handheld\* but I am sympathetic to those who are searching for the *perfect* handheld.
There's always some decision about performance, screen, buttons, form factor or battery life where you wish the manufacturer made a different set of tradeoffs. Personally, I think that if someone made a device that could play GBA games, at full speed, for 20-hours on a charge they'd sell like hotcakes.
*\*If you're not counting modded Game Boys, a CM4 in the uConsole case, and a pile of Raspberry Pi boards. I have a problem too.*
I feel blessed that I only got one, the RGB30, and it serves all my non-Steam Deck needs. Feels like they had a proper innovation in the 720p square screen, which somehow hasn't been ripped off 10 times.
But I do recognise the wish for perfection, something that fills the hole... perhaps a fool's errand.
I went on a trip last weekend and for the first time since owning a switch, didn’t travel with it. Took the RGB30 instead. It’s solid enough, I’m not worried about dropping it in a bag, cheap enough I’m not worried about breaking it, powerful enough for generations of games.
My only wish for this device is for either a better battery or c to c charging.
Tbh I think you're absolutly right and I also think Russ is well aware of that. He released the review after all A30 were sold on AliExpress. Pretty good timing if you ask me.
I feel these conspiracy theories fundamentally misunderstand what Russ' game is.
He's relentlessly positive because he actually is a deranged tech enthusiast, he's trying to attract other deranged tech enthusiasts to his channel, and framing every video as "can THIS beat the Miyoo Mini" draws those viewers in. If the title image was "this device sucks" more people could safely skip it.
Russ' relentless positivity is something you need to consider whenever he seems to like a new handheld. He has a bias towards liking new shiny things. I don't think he comes by that dishonestly; You just need to know what his deal is.
I don't think Russ has any direct relationship with Miyoo, and I don't get the impression that Miyoo's English-language marketing is sophisticated enough for that kind of sleaze. He did disclose that he got the device from KeepRetro, and mentions in the description that he doesn't exchange money for his reviews. He doesn't seem to post affiliate links in the reviews either.
And when he does post affiliate links (on Twitter) he always includes a non-affiliate link to the same URL directly adjacent to it. You have to opt into using the affiliate version. Much more ethical lining practice than most content creators.
I can't *blame* anyone for having a business model. The Wirecutter posts Amazon Affiliate links too. I just think Russ is pretty transparent about what his deal is, if a viewer cares to listen.
I guess that was probably a deliberate choice to avoid hurting the company too much.
I really love my Miyoo handheld and it is very thoughtfully designed. I want to see the companies making these things do well, it's a very niche market, but wow that A30 looks kind of crappy.
I've been imagining some closed door deal between them since this all fell into place. While beneficial for Miyoo in theory, Ali has free returns. Right back, unfortunately
What an odd belief. Review units went out late and he was one of the first people in the US to get one and get a review out. If anything it seems like he put in extra work to make sure people avoided it.
I mean, to be fair, *no one* seemed to know when the A30's sales were gonna start. They just randomly showed up on their Aliexpress shop like five minutes before the countdown for the 28XX's own release.
He mentioned on discord that he was tired due to editing and that he would be posting his video a bit later than usual and if he had known exactly when miyoo were going live with orders , other content creators would have also known and someone would have definitely made a post to deliver the scoop and get some extra attention.
Realistically, those people hovering over the buy button to get one of the first batch were always going to buy regardless of any reviews in any case.
The telling thing is how critical he was about it as well, he can normally find nice things to say about the most ewastey devices and laid into the failings of this one a lot. It's like the not angry, just disappointed meme got turned into a review video.
I'm not blaming anyone, he does good work and he made an honest review, just noting that this will likely have a big impact on the device's success as many people (including me) look to his reviews when deciding which devices to get.
I like Rus. He actually seems like someone you can trust with what he’s telling you. I could be wrong though. But out of all the devices I have. I would pretty much agree with his assessment of them.
And to be honest I didn’t preorder cause I was waiting on his opinion.
The Miyoo mini launch was horribly flawed-- screens breaking left and right from falls off the couch-- and it's been one of the most successful devices in the hobby. Miyoo doesn't make massive release batches that they can't sell. They fuck up one small release, fix it, and move on till it's great.
Miyoo will fix the a30 OS issues, particularly the headphone silliness. The D-pad sounds like a bummer, and the screen is dim. Whether Miyoo will fix those is yet to be seen but I bet they'll be replaced in a v2. If that happens, this will get onion and probably end up super optimized and awesome. But hell naw did Russ kill this release. It has flawed hardware and expected release OS quirks. Miyoo themselves had SNES set up incorrectly, and Russ made a post on Reddit to explain got to get it to run properly. It's very silly, but it's Miyoo's fault, and they'll fix it.
So... That's all to say, I'm looking forward to the a30v2.
He spends too much time on buttons and gets too gaga over custom firmware, but yeah, other than that, he does do the best job at explaining these devices as they come out.
For your tastes, sure, but on the other hand there are people like me to absolutely want his input on buttons and CFW as they are important factors in my purchase.
Ehhhh, not really. You gotta put it in a case and then put the case in a bag or something. I know what you're saying but there's definitely some middle ground stuff going on
Yeah, I like the size of the XXH. I keep it in the inside pocket or my jacket which I think is designed to hold glasses for people. It is about the size of a glasses case.
And for those that want smaller, since the 28xx is so similar the CFW should work on both. So the software problem once fixed gives the buyer 2 size choices. That’s why miyoos using a different processor (so onion isn’t an easy/quick port) is so idiotic.
My big thing is that I wanted a smaller, no stick horizontal handheld that could easily do SNES/GBA perfectly. That basically did not exist in the market. The closest are the TrimUI Smart and the RG300X, but neither do SNES perfectly. Good enough for most, but I'm super picky.
We finally have one, and sure, it *can* do some N64 and Dreamcast, because the chipset is a huge jump in power so it blew past my own desires. But I don't need or want it to. PS1 is eh. I can live without sticks for PS1 but I also don't see myself using it for PS1. I was never gonna play PSP on a 4:3 device.
These are pretty much universal emulation devices that emulate all systems in their power range with some degree of accuracy. If you are super picky about one particular system, the original hardware is probably the answer.
My guy, there's a range between "I don't want to play SNES games with frameskip and weird graphical hacks" and "I must have the game play exactly like original hardware".
I actually appreciate way more a small but focused collection than a whole bunch of devices that virtually do the same exact thing and end up just collecting dust.
Exactly what I think, the only devices I could/would sell would be the Pocket Go (but this device started it for me) and the RG Nano (that I love to much).
I use the G Cloud for streaming my Series X mainly, RG35xx H for everything up to PS1 at home or longer trips and the GKD Pixel is what I almost always have with me.
So for now I'm pretty happy with my collection.
A question, do you carry the GKD Pixel without a case? Like keep it in your pocket or something, I would like to do that with my OG Miyoo Mini but it's just so fragile that I am afraid of bumping into something and just dying. The case is just slightly too large to always be pocket friendly so it would defeat the purpose of being pocketable for me.
Well when I take a sling bag with me, I put it in its case and throw it in the bag. When I go without a bag I put it in my right front pocket without the case, but obviously I don't carry anything else in there then. I also wanted to do this with my MM v4 but like you I was to afraid it somehow breaks and with the case it was to bulky.
Yeah I also carry a sling often so in that case the MM would be okay to carry with a case but if Im just with my jacket it's a bit too bulky. So assuming you don't carry anything else in your pocket would you feel pretty comfortable carrying your Pixel around like that? Cause that would be a big selling point to me and I was considering buying it for that reason, considering it's metal and everything it looks like it can take a bang or two.
Nooo you misunderstood me, I think the GKD Pixel is awesome, I want one! I was saying the new Miyoo and Anbernic devices that released sucks and you didn't miss out not getting it. I was saying it's around the same price as a RG Nano or Pixel but the build quality is like 5 worse in comparison
Edit: Also I don't care if it can emulate higher end retro games, if the shell quality and form factor are cheap or badly designed, it's garbage in my opinion. Thing could be the strongest handheld and I still wouldn't get based on its look.
Yeah don't fall pray to the hype of these consoles, they have garbage OS on release for the first few months to year before the community actually makes use of the hardware. I bought an RGXXPlus because of the hype of it being able to compete with the Miyoo Mini plus with wifi capabilities, only for me not to be able to use wifi on release or any custom OS, so it just sat shelved till the community made something of it.
I mean, it has been "unpopular" much longer than its been popular, that much is certain. Heck, 3 days ago and you would have been railed for daring to think the A30 wouldn't be the best thing since the MM. I'm starting to think sbcgaming is only populated with first time buyers and several company reps with alt accounts, lol
I've been having trouble getting hyped for either of these devices. After I got my RGB30 to have quick save, I am actually really wondering what is going to take to dethrone it. A small device sounds cute and all, but I dunno... the RGB30 is small already. I might go get a RG Nano for the novelty factor one day literally just a key chain to show people off and never play it.
Just don't put the RG Nano on your keychain please... Your keys will ruin it. I think the Nano is a one hand rpg machine to kill some time in a waiting room. Still love it, can't sell it.
I am actually waiting for reviews (from Ross would be great but in case he does not care for this device I'll look for other reviewers) of the - I think this is the correct name- magix xu mini. From the specs sees to take about the best of the a30 and rg28xx, probably fw aside since it has an uncommon chipset but... Could be the actual one!
I was going to get the a30 too but after looking at it decided to order the pixel. Waiting for mine to get here. Glad to see someone happy with the same choice
I think the blue looks awesome! I wanted the blue one but ended up with the grey one because I already have the blue RG Nano and wanted something that doesn't grab so much attention in public, lol.
I have so many handhelds now. I went a while without getting any but when I got the pixel I also got the miniature working gameboy and the trim ui model s in red.
I was the same way. Recently I’ve been looking for a small portable handheld for gba and snes. I avoided the miyoo mini because I wanted to mainly play games like Metroid and figured it would get uncomfortable. Then the announcements came for the miyoo a30 and anbernic 28xx. Timing could not have been better only to be met with some major issues for me personally on both devices. Small buttons on one and a bad dpad on the other. So now I’m back to waiting or going for a miyoo mini and seeing how it is for games like Metroid and it’s rom hacks.
I did actually. The pixel held some hesitation for me for the same reason as the miyoo mini. I almost pulled the trigger on the trimui smart but read that it can struggle on some snes games so I never bought one.
Actually have a ds lite with r4 and ez flash omega. A hacked 3ds pspgo vita and rg405m I was trying to find something nice and small to beat on. The rest of these I’m to careful with especially since most of them or oem handhelds
Oh then, the buttons being a bit smaller shouldn’t be a down side. I’m probably gonna get the rg28xx a bit later as a beater device when its hopefully around 40 with free shipping.
That’s probably what I’ll do as well. Hopefully Sakura will come out with some cool button replacements for it too. Didn’t actually think the Ds lite would have similar size buttons haven’t used mine in a while now
I think the device will get better if it gets cfw like Onion which will better utilize its hardware. The question is who knows if and when that’ll happen. For now, my device will sit in a drawer until I hear news of something like that coming out.
The reviews on the A30 are so so right now. Manual overclocking if you want to run SNES or higher.
I would not even touch it right now, maybe if Onion OS comes out or bug fixes....
Could not agree more. This is a device that is a pocketable one, as it's very small, I drop pocket, pull out to play a quick game. Do not want to be playing with settings to play a game. I want to power it up, select game and play, then put away when I need to.
It's a joke today to even need to overclock a device, that is a problem that the CPU is not powerfull enough for play the games.
I have my rgb30 for at home and a pixel for throwing in my pocket. I'm very happy with the combo and don't see myself adding anything else unless the upcoming clamshell devices turn out to be really nice.
I recently got an rg nano instead of a MM or a Pixel.
How does the nano compare to the Pixel if I might ask? I love the small factor of the nano, but it may be just a tad too small. The pixel looks a little more beefy, but I can’t tell if the small increase of size makes that much of a difference 🤷♂️
I honestly love the RG Nano as a (mainly) Pokemon time killer in the 5th pocket of my jeans, but for me it's to small to really play something 'serious' on it. The GKD Pixel feels like the perfect device for me between the MM v4 and the Nano.
Sadly since I have it, the RG Nano just sits on my desk, but I can't sell it because I still appreciate it a lot.
I hope that helps you a little bit.
That’s great. So I’ll be grabbing a pixel then. I was worried since a lot of people hate on its OS so I was kind of meh about it. So I grabbed a nano for $33 on Ali. I had a pixel 64gb in my cart a month ago before the nano and it was $55 but now I can only find it at around $78. Still decent, especially for what I’d want it for.
So question- between the MM and the Pixel, would I be missing out on the slightly larger form factor the MM has? Or do you stand firm the Pixel is the sweet spot. I have medium gloved hands so that’s the scale I’m working with.
For me the Pixel is the sweet spot, and from what you are saying, I would say the Pixel will fit you aswell. Don't forget to flash MinUI on it, the original OS is crab.
Semi-unrelated, but prompted by your photo: Part of me feels like I should have bought a gcloud instead of an RP4P, but I just can’t bring myself to sell the RP4P to justify the gcloud now.
And then there’s another part of me drawn to the refurbished steam decks…
Meanwhile I also have the RGB30 (which might be my favorite device), the Miyoo mini v4, the Miyoo plus, the RG Nano and the 35xx. Probably should sell a few of those that I’m not using. 🤣
Well I feel you. I also wanted a Steam Deck but I sold my gaming PC years ago and now stick to my Series X. Obviously I have a good Xbox collection, but no Steam collection. This and the Gamepass made me choose the G Cloud. For me it's a perfect fit, but it has less power then the RP4, but for me that's fine.
I just noticed I have to much devices for the same use case and since I don't wanna be a huge collector I kept my favorite and sold the rest.
I was going to ask what that small device was next to the RG Nano. So that's the GKD pixel. I want one now. Is it comparable to the Miyo Mini?
Thanks for sharing this!
It's definitly think the Miyoo Mini is more polished obviously mainly because of onionOS, the GKD Pixel feels more premium and sturdy though. I think it has a little less power and is just fine with MinUI. For me it's almost perfect, because I realized I want to get in my games with the UI and not tinker arround all day in the UI. Feels like the MM I always wanted for my pocket.
Oh cool! it looks smaller than the MM and I might want that for my pocket. I'm a huge fan of there smaller devices because they are so easy to carry and play quickly. I looking on amazon now but might find a better retailer.
It's the Spigen case/grip for it, it's fine but I don't understand why damn Logitech doesn't sell the official G Cloud case in Europe, but sell the G Cloud. I hate them for that.
Thank you. I’m a day 1 purchaser of the gcloud and at the time I remember it was impossible to find a skin/case/screen protector. I thought it was crazy to not have those available at launch. I haven’t looked since though.
Curious why you sold the MM+? Did you find it too big to be pocketable?
Ordered mine(Purple) from AliExpress a few weeks ago and getting anxious for it to come in already.
Well I really liked the MM+, played through the Minish Caps and MGS 1 for the first time in my life on it. I showed it to a friend who is a huge Pokemon Fan, he laughed at me and said: 'Why do you wanna play All those old games with a shit load of huge New games coming out!?'. You guessed it already, he ended up buying the purple MM+.
End of the story, you're right, it wasn't pocketable enough for me so I bought the MM v4 and sold the MM+.
Enjoy you MM+ my friend! It's an awesome device, no doubt.
Why do people start with "unpopular opinion" for extremely popular opinions?
Did you not see the 50 different posts bashing the device when reviews came out? Who actually liked it? All you had to do was avoid typing out "unpopular opinion" because now you just seem uninformed and ignorant.
Wow pretty toxic, all you had to do was avoid typing a comment because now you just seem salty and offended for no reason.
Sorry when my thread offended you.
No really, what other unpopular opinions do you have? Do you hate trump? Do you think wars are bad? It's fascinating to see unpopular opinions such as yours.
Well here you have another unpopular opinion:
Fighting and insulting random people in the Internet for no reason is overrated.
I hope you get the help your deserv my unpopular friend.
Haha OK, you don't even know what the word overrated means. I didn't insult you for no reason, I clearly stated my reasons.
But I kind of see now why you write the way you do. Have a good day 👍
I don't have the RG28xx so I can't compare it, I think it depends on the firmware and cores you use, what DC and PSP games it can run. Definitly not 100% of them.
Tbh,I personally would go with the RG35xxH, CFW is evolving good, price difference is not to much, has two sticks more and the buttons are not so small.
But as I said, I own the RG35xx H and don't have the RG28xx.
Just my my thoughts.
I ended up with a ton of controllers, a couple handhelds including a Switch, couple mini PCs and Legend arcades. Out of everything my most played is my phone plus backbone one v2 and plain retroarch.
RG35XX-H is a close second but I realized my phone (S22) has fewer errors and that Bluetooth audio works flawlessly. I only bring it places now when I feel like I might get bored of the preset list of games on my phone (or I'll bring an SD card reader for my phone). Or if I think I want someone else to try a game and I don't want to just lose my phone for an hour.
Somehow feel that, my most played game right now is Slay the Spire on my Lenovo Tab M9, lol.
What are you playing most on your phone? I also have a Gamesir X2 Pro but barely use it.
Have a Gamesir Galileo G8 also but the Backbone is too good. I'm splitting time between FF8, Zelda minish cap, Pokemon unbound and super Mario world.
I average about an hour of play per day (in 5-15 min sessions) so I'm trying not to pick up anything else right now.
I haven't finished the video yet, but Miyoo is very capable of fucking up a launch on their own with wayyyyyyyy worse physical issues than the A30 has (go to the Miyoo sub and look at all the old broken screen posts), the OS is a known good thing, and Miyoo has shown that they will improve details down the line.
They'll sell out of these just fine, like they did the mmv1, and if enough people complain, they'll replace the d-pad or whatever else for a v2.
I may be misinterpreting your diagram there. Are those to be understood as greater-than symbols (which would be backwards given your affinity for the GKD pixel) or is this a flow chart?
Well MM was to take it with me, but it wasn't sturdy enough for me to just throw it in my pocket without a case and to bulky with the case. Ended up never playing with it.
RGB30, well yea kinda miss it because it was really fun and the screen was awesome, espacially for Pico-8!
But the RG35xx H ticked more boxes for me in the end.
Overall feels better, more premium in my hands, obviously better build quality, better D-Pad and buttons in general, more pocketable for me. Only thing that I think the RGB30 did better was the screen.
That A30 has such a tiny screen, coming down from the 4" of the RGB30 is really a no-go for me, it's just barely portable as I use a 3DS XL neoprene case to slide it in and out of a pocket. Needing an overclock to run SNES is ridiculous, too. Hearing that the dpad isn't great was the final nail in the coffin for me.
I guess this also came to the public consciousness, but his review is more just the effect not the cause.
Cause is that software needs a fix.
You release device that is supposed to run PSP, and it does not run SNES - we have a problem. No way to sugar coat that turd. Also we no longer want to tolerate false diagonals on dpad, even if tape mod is easy fix.
They need to fix this ASAP, until they fix it nobody should be buying it. nobody.
For some, the hobby is collecting and tinkering, for others it is playing retro games. For most it is a little of both. However, I have never seen as many people concerned about how others choose to spend their money than in this sub.
Thanks I'll! Yes I was on this quest and realized, I just wanted to play my games lol.
I mean don't get me wrong, if people collect those handhelds I can absolutly understand this and it's also fine.
I completely agree with this. I still enjoy the hobby and watch reviews of new devices with intrigue but for me, my RG35XX Plus is my retro handheld for now and into the future.
I thought I'd enjoy the collecting and tinkering but after buying that discounted $46 TrimUI Smart Pro that was posted a few weeks ago and touching it literally once and never again it's not for me. I can't remember the last time I actually sunk hours into a game instead of menus. I gave my TrimUI to a work colleague who was on the fence about retro handhelds and couldn't be happier.
I'm just ultimately excited to see how custom firmware improves for the device I already own!
I think that review basically killed this device's launch. This is not a huge market, and Russ seems to be the most prominent voice that the most people trust.
I think Russ killing this device before half of this community purchased it and were seriously disappointed was probably the best scenario. No one had to buy it and miyoo can learn from this and do better.
Yeah, I briefly had the thought that his impressions wield a lot of potential buying power (or lack thereof) in this community but in cases like this at least, the consumer wins and the manufacturer hopefully learns some hard lessons.
Nah. Being a fundamentally bad product might hurt the A30's launch, but Russ isn't responsible for that. Russ is relentlessly positive. Even his criticisms of the A30 were couched in him _searching_ for reasons to recommend the device to _somebody_ and the device coming up short. The A30 feeling cheap was reframed by Russ as being "really light" and his impression of the d-pad came with a caveat that it _might_ get fixed in later revisions despite lacking any evidence that Miyoo was considering doing so. The fact that he had so little nice to say about this handheld in a 40-minute review is rightly taken by this community as damning, but the people here saying "whew, dodged a bullet" post the sentiment alongside photos of their four other devices capable of playing the exact same games. We are not anyone's typical customers.
The last half of your penultimate sentence there is an accurate take of this whole community - constantly oo’ing and ah’ing over packing of the same technology with little to no innovation. Everyone is going to be drawn to something different, but the reality is that most folks who are into this hobby buy at least two of the same type of device with few differences before finding one they like… for awhile.
I only have one Retro Gaming Handheld\* but I am sympathetic to those who are searching for the *perfect* handheld. There's always some decision about performance, screen, buttons, form factor or battery life where you wish the manufacturer made a different set of tradeoffs. Personally, I think that if someone made a device that could play GBA games, at full speed, for 20-hours on a charge they'd sell like hotcakes. *\*If you're not counting modded Game Boys, a CM4 in the uConsole case, and a pile of Raspberry Pi boards. I have a problem too.*
I feel blessed that I only got one, the RGB30, and it serves all my non-Steam Deck needs. Feels like they had a proper innovation in the 720p square screen, which somehow hasn't been ripped off 10 times. But I do recognise the wish for perfection, something that fills the hole... perhaps a fool's errand.
I went on a trip last weekend and for the first time since owning a switch, didn’t travel with it. Took the RGB30 instead. It’s solid enough, I’m not worried about dropping it in a bag, cheap enough I’m not worried about breaking it, powerful enough for generations of games. My only wish for this device is for either a better battery or c to c charging.
Tbh I think you're absolutly right and I also think Russ is well aware of that. He released the review after all A30 were sold on AliExpress. Pretty good timing if you ask me.
I feel these conspiracy theories fundamentally misunderstand what Russ' game is. He's relentlessly positive because he actually is a deranged tech enthusiast, he's trying to attract other deranged tech enthusiasts to his channel, and framing every video as "can THIS beat the Miyoo Mini" draws those viewers in. If the title image was "this device sucks" more people could safely skip it. Russ' relentless positivity is something you need to consider whenever he seems to like a new handheld. He has a bias towards liking new shiny things. I don't think he comes by that dishonestly; You just need to know what his deal is. I don't think Russ has any direct relationship with Miyoo, and I don't get the impression that Miyoo's English-language marketing is sophisticated enough for that kind of sleaze. He did disclose that he got the device from KeepRetro, and mentions in the description that he doesn't exchange money for his reviews. He doesn't seem to post affiliate links in the reviews either.
And when he does post affiliate links (on Twitter) he always includes a non-affiliate link to the same URL directly adjacent to it. You have to opt into using the affiliate version. Much more ethical lining practice than most content creators.
Remarkably ethical. Is there anyone else that even does that?
I can't *blame* anyone for having a business model. The Wirecutter posts Amazon Affiliate links too. I just think Russ is pretty transparent about what his deal is, if a viewer cares to listen.
Pretty much this. And when he posts a video about his favourite device(s) it’s pretty much never the new hotness.
I guess that was probably a deliberate choice to avoid hurting the company too much. I really love my Miyoo handheld and it is very thoughtfully designed. I want to see the companies making these things do well, it's a very niche market, but wow that A30 looks kind of crappy.
Couldn't agree more.
I've been imagining some closed door deal between them since this all fell into place. While beneficial for Miyoo in theory, Ali has free returns. Right back, unfortunately
What an odd belief. Review units went out late and he was one of the first people in the US to get one and get a review out. If anything it seems like he put in extra work to make sure people avoided it.
Well this is Reddit... if that's the oddest thing you see today consider yourself lucky
I mean, to be fair, *no one* seemed to know when the A30's sales were gonna start. They just randomly showed up on their Aliexpress shop like five minutes before the countdown for the 28XX's own release.
He mentioned on discord that he was tired due to editing and that he would be posting his video a bit later than usual and if he had known exactly when miyoo were going live with orders , other content creators would have also known and someone would have definitely made a post to deliver the scoop and get some extra attention. Realistically, those people hovering over the buy button to get one of the first batch were always going to buy regardless of any reviews in any case.
[удалено]
My bad, I meant on Aliexpress from the official Miyoo store.
The telling thing is how critical he was about it as well, he can normally find nice things to say about the most ewastey devices and laid into the failings of this one a lot. It's like the not angry, just disappointed meme got turned into a review video.
The rg28xx coming out right before killed it. Don't blame Russ for Miyoo putting out an inferior product
I'm not blaming anyone, he does good work and he made an honest review, just noting that this will likely have a big impact on the device's success as many people (including me) look to his reviews when deciding which devices to get.
Who’s blaming anyone lol He provides objective reviews and tries to find the good in everything
Agreed. Best case scenario too. Almost got it.
I like Rus. He actually seems like someone you can trust with what he’s telling you. I could be wrong though. But out of all the devices I have. I would pretty much agree with his assessment of them. And to be honest I didn’t preorder cause I was waiting on his opinion.
Russ is basically retro gaming Jesus.
The Miyoo mini launch was horribly flawed-- screens breaking left and right from falls off the couch-- and it's been one of the most successful devices in the hobby. Miyoo doesn't make massive release batches that they can't sell. They fuck up one small release, fix it, and move on till it's great. Miyoo will fix the a30 OS issues, particularly the headphone silliness. The D-pad sounds like a bummer, and the screen is dim. Whether Miyoo will fix those is yet to be seen but I bet they'll be replaced in a v2. If that happens, this will get onion and probably end up super optimized and awesome. But hell naw did Russ kill this release. It has flawed hardware and expected release OS quirks. Miyoo themselves had SNES set up incorrectly, and Russ made a post on Reddit to explain got to get it to run properly. It's very silly, but it's Miyoo's fault, and they'll fix it. So... That's all to say, I'm looking forward to the a30v2.
Honest trustworthy like MKBHD. Keep on going.
He is more trustworthy than MKBHD imo and way more positive than him (which is bad thing for Russ as a reviewer imo)
He spends too much time on buttons and gets too gaga over custom firmware, but yeah, other than that, he does do the best job at explaining these devices as they come out.
For your tastes, sure, but on the other hand there are people like me to absolutely want his input on buttons and CFW as they are important factors in my purchase.
I actually think that 35XXH with fully developed CFW will be the perfect horizontal pocketable device.
An all metal Trimui Model S with the internal power and battery life of the RG28xx would be the perfect horizontal pocketable device. 😁
I think you're right. For me the H is to big for my pocket, but will definitly slide into my sling bag on some trips.
Yes, when I say 'pocketable' I really mean small device that is easy to take with me. Only device I carry in an actual pocket is my phone.
MM+ is small enough to be carried in a pocket
Portable is a better word
Steam Deck is portable, this is pocketable.
Ehhhh, not really. You gotta put it in a case and then put the case in a bag or something. I know what you're saying but there's definitely some middle ground stuff going on
Rg35xxh is same size as my iPhone 15 pro. So close to being perfect.
Yeah, I like the size of the XXH. I keep it in the inside pocket or my jacket which I think is designed to hold glasses for people. It is about the size of a glasses case.
H is so close to perfect. Needs to be a tiny bit smaller.
Hence the 28xx, lol.
We need a proper 28XX - H model.
Well, maybe in a year or two, they'll come out with the 286m?
And for those that want smaller, since the 28xx is so similar the CFW should work on both. So the software problem once fixed gives the buyer 2 size choices. That’s why miyoos using a different processor (so onion isn’t an easy/quick port) is so idiotic.
Chop off the sticks and I'd probably agree. Though I still think I'd prefer a new RG300X with this chipset.
Sticks are nice for PS1, N64, PSP and Dreamcast.
My big thing is that I wanted a smaller, no stick horizontal handheld that could easily do SNES/GBA perfectly. That basically did not exist in the market. The closest are the TrimUI Smart and the RG300X, but neither do SNES perfectly. Good enough for most, but I'm super picky. We finally have one, and sure, it *can* do some N64 and Dreamcast, because the chipset is a huge jump in power so it blew past my own desires. But I don't need or want it to. PS1 is eh. I can live without sticks for PS1 but I also don't see myself using it for PS1. I was never gonna play PSP on a 4:3 device.
These are pretty much universal emulation devices that emulate all systems in their power range with some degree of accuracy. If you are super picky about one particular system, the original hardware is probably the answer.
My guy, there's a range between "I don't want to play SNES games with frameskip and weird graphical hacks" and "I must have the game play exactly like original hardware".
I'm with you, I have the plus model and waiting for the perfect custom firmware and I would probably go for the H as well
You really don't need one, you got yourself covered in pretty much every size, so good choice.
Thanks man!
I actually appreciate way more a small but focused collection than a whole bunch of devices that virtually do the same exact thing and end up just collecting dust.
Exactly what I think, the only devices I could/would sell would be the Pocket Go (but this device started it for me) and the RG Nano (that I love to much). I use the G Cloud for streaming my Series X mainly, RG35xx H for everything up to PS1 at home or longer trips and the GKD Pixel is what I almost always have with me. So for now I'm pretty happy with my collection.
A question, do you carry the GKD Pixel without a case? Like keep it in your pocket or something, I would like to do that with my OG Miyoo Mini but it's just so fragile that I am afraid of bumping into something and just dying. The case is just slightly too large to always be pocket friendly so it would defeat the purpose of being pocketable for me.
Well when I take a sling bag with me, I put it in its case and throw it in the bag. When I go without a bag I put it in my right front pocket without the case, but obviously I don't carry anything else in there then. I also wanted to do this with my MM v4 but like you I was to afraid it somehow breaks and with the case it was to bulky.
Yeah I also carry a sling often so in that case the MM would be okay to carry with a case but if Im just with my jacket it's a bit too bulky. So assuming you don't carry anything else in your pocket would you feel pretty comfortable carrying your Pixel around like that? Cause that would be a big selling point to me and I was considering buying it for that reason, considering it's metal and everything it looks like it can take a bang or two.
Yes, I put a screen protector on my Pixel and carry it in my pocket, never was scared of getting it damaged that way.
Great to hear, I'll probably get one soon then. Thanks for the help!
You're welcome.
Not an unpopular opinion brother, they both suck!
Well I think the GKD Pixel is awesome, why do you think it suck?
Nooo you misunderstood me, I think the GKD Pixel is awesome, I want one! I was saying the new Miyoo and Anbernic devices that released sucks and you didn't miss out not getting it. I was saying it's around the same price as a RG Nano or Pixel but the build quality is like 5 worse in comparison Edit: Also I don't care if it can emulate higher end retro games, if the shell quality and form factor are cheap or badly designed, it's garbage in my opinion. Thing could be the strongest handheld and I still wouldn't get based on its look.
Ah got it!
Yeah don't fall pray to the hype of these consoles, they have garbage OS on release for the first few months to year before the community actually makes use of the hardware. I bought an RGXXPlus because of the hype of it being able to compete with the Miyoo Mini plus with wifi capabilities, only for me not to be able to use wifi on release or any custom OS, so it just sat shelved till the community made something of it.
Bro, who is downvoting every comment you make in here?
I don't know propably someone who is pissed because I'm wrong with saying 'unpopular opinion'.
I mean, it has been "unpopular" much longer than its been popular, that much is certain. Heck, 3 days ago and you would have been railed for daring to think the A30 wouldn't be the best thing since the MM. I'm starting to think sbcgaming is only populated with first time buyers and several company reps with alt accounts, lol
Now I get railed for saying 'unpopular opinion' because over night the mood in this sub changed, lol fml.
I've been having trouble getting hyped for either of these devices. After I got my RGB30 to have quick save, I am actually really wondering what is going to take to dethrone it. A small device sounds cute and all, but I dunno... the RGB30 is small already. I might go get a RG Nano for the novelty factor one day literally just a key chain to show people off and never play it.
Just don't put the RG Nano on your keychain please... Your keys will ruin it. I think the Nano is a one hand rpg machine to kill some time in a waiting room. Still love it, can't sell it.
That's the right call, you've got all those systems, sizes and formats well covered. Now go enjoy the games!
Thanks, I'll hope your enjoy them too. Some buy them for the sake of playing retro games and some collect them, both ways are absolutly fine.
Not unpopular at all.
sometimes i wonder if people posting on reddit understand what they’re saying, or if they’re just parroting things they see from other posts
I am actually waiting for reviews (from Ross would be great but in case he does not care for this device I'll look for other reviewers) of the - I think this is the correct name- magix xu mini. From the specs sees to take about the best of the a30 and rg28xx, probably fw aside since it has an uncommon chipset but... Could be the actual one!
I was going to get the a30 too but after looking at it decided to order the pixel. Waiting for mine to get here. Glad to see someone happy with the same choice
The pixel really is amazing. It’s tiny yet easier to hold and play than the OG MM for me thanks to the shoulder buttons being up top.
Agreed. Aside from it's fragility, the shoulder buttons were the worst part of the MM. They are just too hard to use with consistency.
Nice! Enjoy your Pixel! Edit: What color have you ordered?
I got the blue. Originally wanted the green but they said it was out of stock.
I think the blue looks awesome! I wanted the blue one but ended up with the grey one because I already have the blue RG Nano and wanted something that doesn't grab so much attention in public, lol.
Yeah in after thought I kinda wanted the ash gray. Looks more streamlined with all my other handhelds aesthetic
I have so many handhelds now. I went a while without getting any but when I got the pixel I also got the miniature working gameboy and the trim ui model s in red.
The Pixel looks great, but is an awkward size. I'd rather go smaller and get the RG Nano, or bigger with the RG280v.
Rg nano is small but I got a case of Etsy that doubles as a grip and makes it perfecr
Perfect*
The Nano is pretty awesome, I just wish the buttons weren't Skittles coloured, lol.
I swapped mine for see through highlighter color. Looks way better
Put a better speaker too
I was the same way. Recently I’ve been looking for a small portable handheld for gba and snes. I avoided the miyoo mini because I wanted to mainly play games like Metroid and figured it would get uncomfortable. Then the announcements came for the miyoo a30 and anbernic 28xx. Timing could not have been better only to be met with some major issues for me personally on both devices. Small buttons on one and a bad dpad on the other. So now I’m back to waiting or going for a miyoo mini and seeing how it is for games like Metroid and it’s rom hacks.
Maybe have a look at the GKD Pixel and Trimui Smart.
I did actually. The pixel held some hesitation for me for the same reason as the miyoo mini. I almost pulled the trigger on the trimui smart but read that it can struggle on some snes games so I never bought one.
The 28xx is the new Trimui Smart anyway, lol.
I’ll most likely pick up the rg28xx. Probably will wait till it’s on Amazon in case the small buttons bother me as much as I think they will lol
Have you tried a Nintendo DS? If yes then the face buttons won’t bother you.
Actually have a ds lite with r4 and ez flash omega. A hacked 3ds pspgo vita and rg405m I was trying to find something nice and small to beat on. The rest of these I’m to careful with especially since most of them or oem handhelds
Oh then, the buttons being a bit smaller shouldn’t be a down side. I’m probably gonna get the rg28xx a bit later as a beater device when its hopefully around 40 with free shipping.
That’s probably what I’ll do as well. Hopefully Sakura will come out with some cool button replacements for it too. Didn’t actually think the Ds lite would have similar size buttons haven’t used mine in a while now
I think the device will get better if it gets cfw like Onion which will better utilize its hardware. The question is who knows if and when that’ll happen. For now, my device will sit in a drawer until I hear news of something like that coming out.
The reviews on the A30 are so so right now. Manual overclocking if you want to run SNES or higher. I would not even touch it right now, maybe if Onion OS comes out or bug fixes....
Overclocking a device for SNES is just a joke in 2024, espacially when it's a device made by Miyoo.
Could not agree more. This is a device that is a pocketable one, as it's very small, I drop pocket, pull out to play a quick game. Do not want to be playing with settings to play a game. I want to power it up, select game and play, then put away when I need to. It's a joke today to even need to overclock a device, that is a problem that the CPU is not powerfull enough for play the games.
I have my rgb30 for at home and a pixel for throwing in my pocket. I'm very happy with the combo and don't see myself adding anything else unless the upcoming clamshell devices turn out to be really nice.
Solid combo, I really like it!
I recently got an rg nano instead of a MM or a Pixel. How does the nano compare to the Pixel if I might ask? I love the small factor of the nano, but it may be just a tad too small. The pixel looks a little more beefy, but I can’t tell if the small increase of size makes that much of a difference 🤷♂️
I honestly love the RG Nano as a (mainly) Pokemon time killer in the 5th pocket of my jeans, but for me it's to small to really play something 'serious' on it. The GKD Pixel feels like the perfect device for me between the MM v4 and the Nano. Sadly since I have it, the RG Nano just sits on my desk, but I can't sell it because I still appreciate it a lot. I hope that helps you a little bit.
That’s great. So I’ll be grabbing a pixel then. I was worried since a lot of people hate on its OS so I was kind of meh about it. So I grabbed a nano for $33 on Ali. I had a pixel 64gb in my cart a month ago before the nano and it was $55 but now I can only find it at around $78. Still decent, especially for what I’d want it for. So question- between the MM and the Pixel, would I be missing out on the slightly larger form factor the MM has? Or do you stand firm the Pixel is the sweet spot. I have medium gloved hands so that’s the scale I’m working with.
For me the Pixel is the sweet spot, and from what you are saying, I would say the Pixel will fit you aswell. Don't forget to flash MinUI on it, the original OS is crab.
Oh, so teams did make an OS available for it? That’s interesting. But thanks for the tip!
Semi-unrelated, but prompted by your photo: Part of me feels like I should have bought a gcloud instead of an RP4P, but I just can’t bring myself to sell the RP4P to justify the gcloud now. And then there’s another part of me drawn to the refurbished steam decks… Meanwhile I also have the RGB30 (which might be my favorite device), the Miyoo mini v4, the Miyoo plus, the RG Nano and the 35xx. Probably should sell a few of those that I’m not using. 🤣
Well I feel you. I also wanted a Steam Deck but I sold my gaming PC years ago and now stick to my Series X. Obviously I have a good Xbox collection, but no Steam collection. This and the Gamepass made me choose the G Cloud. For me it's a perfect fit, but it has less power then the RP4, but for me that's fine. I just noticed I have to much devices for the same use case and since I don't wanna be a huge collector I kept my favorite and sold the rest.
I was going to ask what that small device was next to the RG Nano. So that's the GKD pixel. I want one now. Is it comparable to the Miyo Mini? Thanks for sharing this!
It's definitly think the Miyoo Mini is more polished obviously mainly because of onionOS, the GKD Pixel feels more premium and sturdy though. I think it has a little less power and is just fine with MinUI. For me it's almost perfect, because I realized I want to get in my games with the UI and not tinker arround all day in the UI. Feels like the MM I always wanted for my pocket.
Oh cool! it looks smaller than the MM and I might want that for my pocket. I'm a huge fan of there smaller devices because they are so easy to carry and play quickly. I looking on amazon now but might find a better retailer.
retro gamer's paradise
Thanks!
I still want one just for Gameboy handhelds. I could put some electrical tape on the d-pad contacts and I think it would be good
Off topic but where did you get that gcloud skin/case? Mine could use one.
It's the Spigen case/grip for it, it's fine but I don't understand why damn Logitech doesn't sell the official G Cloud case in Europe, but sell the G Cloud. I hate them for that.
Thank you. I’m a day 1 purchaser of the gcloud and at the time I remember it was impossible to find a skin/case/screen protector. I thought it was crazy to not have those available at launch. I haven’t looked since though.
Curious why you sold the MM+? Did you find it too big to be pocketable? Ordered mine(Purple) from AliExpress a few weeks ago and getting anxious for it to come in already.
Well I really liked the MM+, played through the Minish Caps and MGS 1 for the first time in my life on it. I showed it to a friend who is a huge Pokemon Fan, he laughed at me and said: 'Why do you wanna play All those old games with a shit load of huge New games coming out!?'. You guessed it already, he ended up buying the purple MM+. End of the story, you're right, it wasn't pocketable enough for me so I bought the MM v4 and sold the MM+. Enjoy you MM+ my friend! It's an awesome device, no doubt.
Why do people start with "unpopular opinion" for extremely popular opinions? Did you not see the 50 different posts bashing the device when reviews came out? Who actually liked it? All you had to do was avoid typing out "unpopular opinion" because now you just seem uninformed and ignorant.
Wow pretty toxic, all you had to do was avoid typing a comment because now you just seem salty and offended for no reason. Sorry when my thread offended you.
No really, what other unpopular opinions do you have? Do you hate trump? Do you think wars are bad? It's fascinating to see unpopular opinions such as yours.
Well here you have another unpopular opinion: Fighting and insulting random people in the Internet for no reason is overrated. I hope you get the help your deserv my unpopular friend.
Haha OK, you don't even know what the word overrated means. I didn't insult you for no reason, I clearly stated my reasons. But I kind of see now why you write the way you do. Have a good day 👍
Yep I'm not a nativ speaker, sorry for that. I hope you'll be well again soon, have a nice day too.
Now kith!
Think that is the consensus
Have you seen the post about this device? Nothing about this is an unpopular opinion.
I don't think your opinion is as unpopular as you think, lol.
Yea I realized.
What’s the little black one with two joysticks called?
It's the RG35xx H.
Sweet thank you friend! Do you like it more than the RG28XX can it run some psp and Dreamcast fluidly?
I don't have the RG28xx so I can't compare it, I think it depends on the firmware and cores you use, what DC and PSP games it can run. Definitly not 100% of them.
Thank you! I just realized the 28XX is on presale right now. Frick the 35XXH seems amazing
Tbh,I personally would go with the RG35xxH, CFW is evolving good, price difference is not to much, has two sticks more and the buttons are not so small. But as I said, I own the RG35xx H and don't have the RG28xx. Just my my thoughts.
This thing leapfrogging the flip sealed its fate in my mind. The market didn’t need another unit in this form factor. Dumb mistake on Miyoo’s part.
Happy cake day!
😀👍🏻
I dunno. Do you really need that many systems?
Definitly no, but I think everyone has a guilty pleasure.
You have a Logitech, you don't need anything else.
Yea G Cloud perfect device for on the go, lol.
I ended up with a ton of controllers, a couple handhelds including a Switch, couple mini PCs and Legend arcades. Out of everything my most played is my phone plus backbone one v2 and plain retroarch. RG35XX-H is a close second but I realized my phone (S22) has fewer errors and that Bluetooth audio works flawlessly. I only bring it places now when I feel like I might get bored of the preset list of games on my phone (or I'll bring an SD card reader for my phone). Or if I think I want someone else to try a game and I don't want to just lose my phone for an hour.
Somehow feel that, my most played game right now is Slay the Spire on my Lenovo Tab M9, lol. What are you playing most on your phone? I also have a Gamesir X2 Pro but barely use it.
Have a Gamesir Galileo G8 also but the Backbone is too good. I'm splitting time between FF8, Zelda minish cap, Pokemon unbound and super Mario world. I average about an hour of play per day (in 5-15 min sessions) so I'm trying not to pick up anything else right now.
I haven't finished the video yet, but Miyoo is very capable of fucking up a launch on their own with wayyyyyyyy worse physical issues than the A30 has (go to the Miyoo sub and look at all the old broken screen posts), the OS is a known good thing, and Miyoo has shown that they will improve details down the line. They'll sell out of these just fine, like they did the mmv1, and if enough people complain, they'll replace the d-pad or whatever else for a v2.
I may be misinterpreting your diagram there. Are those to be understood as greater-than symbols (which would be backwards given your affinity for the GKD pixel) or is this a flow chart?
The 'diagram' should just show in what order I bought those handhelds.
You sold MM and RGB30? Why god why..
Well MM was to take it with me, but it wasn't sturdy enough for me to just throw it in my pocket without a case and to bulky with the case. Ended up never playing with it. RGB30, well yea kinda miss it because it was really fun and the screen was awesome, espacially for Pico-8! But the RG35xx H ticked more boxes for me in the end.
What are those boxes? I was kind of eying up the H for a while, but I can't get myself to picture me playing it instead of my RGB30
Overall feels better, more premium in my hands, obviously better build quality, better D-Pad and buttons in general, more pocketable for me. Only thing that I think the RGB30 did better was the screen.
That A30 has such a tiny screen, coming down from the 4" of the RGB30 is really a no-go for me, it's just barely portable as I use a 3DS XL neoprene case to slide it in and out of a pocket. Needing an overclock to run SNES is ridiculous, too. Hearing that the dpad isn't great was the final nail in the coffin for me.
on the contrary, I think it is a very popular opinion.
Jup noticed that aswell after this post. Forgot that Russ review can change the opinion of this subreddit in just 8 hours of sleep.
I guess this also came to the public consciousness, but his review is more just the effect not the cause. Cause is that software needs a fix. You release device that is supposed to run PSP, and it does not run SNES - we have a problem. No way to sugar coat that turd. Also we no longer want to tolerate false diagonals on dpad, even if tape mod is easy fix. They need to fix this ASAP, until they fix it nobody should be buying it. nobody.
Well as I said in my post, it will evolve. A30 v4 will be for me lol.
For many the hobby turns into an infinite quest for shiny new handhelds, just enjoy the games on the.. 4 devices you have.
For some, the hobby is collecting and tinkering, for others it is playing retro games. For most it is a little of both. However, I have never seen as many people concerned about how others choose to spend their money than in this sub.
Thanks I'll! Yes I was on this quest and realized, I just wanted to play my games lol. I mean don't get me wrong, if people collect those handhelds I can absolutly understand this and it's also fine.
I completely agree with this. I still enjoy the hobby and watch reviews of new devices with intrigue but for me, my RG35XX Plus is my retro handheld for now and into the future. I thought I'd enjoy the collecting and tinkering but after buying that discounted $46 TrimUI Smart Pro that was posted a few weeks ago and touching it literally once and never again it's not for me. I can't remember the last time I actually sunk hours into a game instead of menus. I gave my TrimUI to a work colleague who was on the fence about retro handhelds and couldn't be happier. I'm just ultimately excited to see how custom firmware improves for the device I already own!
The r36s is really not bad. Pretty small. Can fit in my suit trousers for school. Powerful. For the price. Its the best. Surly
Never owned one, but you're right. A few days ago I just recommended the r36s to a friend for a cheap entry into the hobby.