General Information
Tech Specs
Out of the Box
Pulling it out of the box, and I immediately noticed that this device follows a bit of a trend from Anbernic, wearing its inspiration on its sleeve; in this instance, I notice the most similarities to the Game Boy Pocket console, specifically in the consoles shape and size, but with a much larger screen and additional buttons to add emulation support beyond Game Boy games. My console specifically came in the transparent black shell color, which just adds to the tremendous Game Boy vibes from this thing. In hand, it feels wonderful, sitting comfortably when playing, with all buttons of a good size and the back triggers acting as a perfect resting spot for my index fingers when gaming, with its ergonomic design. All without making it stupidly big or thick, and keeping it very pocket friendly and portable for gaming on the go. Coming packaged with merely a screen protector, and a USB-C cable for charging, loaded with both Anbernic's own Linux OS and RetroArch for emulating (though noticeably missing the Garlic OS from last years RG35XX release), and an 8 hour battery life, this device is ready to load with your game backups and get to playing right out of the box.
If I have to be honest about some gripes in the design? I find that the speaker isn't the best on this device, sounding very blown out and distorted even at low levels; though the addition of an auxiliary input and BlueTooth support alleviates this, as most pairs of earbuds or headphones will work to get around this. There's also a distinct lack of joysticks on the device, which makes playing some DreamCast, PS1, and PSP games a bit of a challenge, and some distinctly impossible; but once again, BlueTooth support alleviates this by being compatible with a variety of external controllers, though this does hinder the portability on those games. I also am forced to think back to previous Anbernic devices that I've reviewed, specifically the RG353PS, where I wasn't particularly thrilled with how depressed the additional joystick was to keep it portabile friendly; in this instance, it seems to me that a sacrifice was made in the name of the aesthetic and portability, which I find myself okay with given how happy I am with both of those aspects.
Long Live the Game Boy
Now, let's get the obvious part of the performance out of the way; 2D games. This device is a beast at playing anything from NES, SNES, Sega MegaDrive and Master System, GB, GBC, GBA… as it should be. It's absolutely no surprise that these games run flawlessly, as just about anything these days has the power to emulate those. For posterity, I decided to spend most of my time testing some romhacks and fan game projects, primarily Pokemon Ultra Violet on GBA, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - Redaction on NES, and Halo: Combat Devolved, the GBC demake of the original Halo. All of these games ran flawlessly on the hardware, and the experience was definitely enhanced by being played on a device like this, as opposed to an emulator on a phone or computer. And this is where the RG35XX Plus excels; the design of the device, being very reminiscent of the Game Boy Pocket with additional buttons, it adds an extra feeling of authenticity to the experience; helping me ignore the fact that I'm playing Rom backups via an emulator. This fact alone has helped it replace my Samsung Galaxy S23 as my default emulation device for any 2D retro gaming, helped by the fact that it's small and convenient enough to easily travel with.
When it comes to emulating 3D consoles, there's three that come packaged with the default OS of the device; the PSP, the PS1, and the DreamCast. This is where I found my mileage varied the most on the performance front. Certain simpler games, such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Harvest Moon: Back to Nature on the PS1 gave me no issues, but when playing Spyro the Dragon, I could tell that the game was distinctly not running at full capacity, though it was definitely playable. On the PSP end, Metal Slug XX, Tekken 6 and Mega Man - Maverick Hunter X all ran perfectly, however God of War: Chains of Olympus was genuinely unplayable; both because of its reliance on a joystick, but also because the system just outright couldn't run the game. The Dreamcast is actually where I ran into the least amount of issues, with Crazy Taxi, SoulCalibur, House of the Dead 2, and Marvel vs Campcom 2 running perfectly. Even Sonic Adventure 2 was running smoothly and without issue, despite my inability to play it with just a D-Pad. Through this, it's clear that the 3D console emulators are more of an add-on for the device, and definitely not a selling point. It's cool that they mostly work, but they're far from the ideal way to play these games; still, I can't deny being excited to have some of these gems available on the go, even with an abbreviated library available.
Comparison to Older Model (Adds: Bluetooth, 10 emulators, longer battery life. Loses: Garlic OS): As I mentioned above, the Plus is an upgrade of sorts to last years RG35XX console, and with that comes both some gains, and some losses. Right off the bat, this release comes packed with two more hours of battery life, bluetooth support, ten more emulators, more ram, and a brand new GPU and CPU as opposed to last year's model. The biggest loss I was able to note? The dual OS system, with Garlic, the alternative to the Linux OS that survived to see the Plus, being cast aside. The only other major change of note is the shell color, losing the transparent white and atomic purple colors in favor of solid white and transparent black (but the SNES grey inspired color scheme surviving the "upgrade"). With that in mind, it's easy to recommend the Plus to someone newly in the market for an emulation handheld, but harder to recommend it as an upgrade. There's just not enough difference here to warrant the upgrade, but still enough to help it stand on its own as a great, and worthwhile, device.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, the charm of the RG35XX Plus has won me over. It may not be the all in one emulation package that some folks may want, and it may be a hard sell to some for something that seems primarily suited for 2D gaming on the go, especially when that type of emulation is already incredibly easy to have on just about any Android phone. But the aesthetic, ease of use, and general gameplay experience on this device have proven worth the cost, in my eyes, and has quickly become my go to solution to any pre-PS1 era emulation. If you're looking for a close to authentic experience with your emulation, at a price that's hard to beat, I can't recommend the RG35XX Plus enough.
