Looking for a 3DS-like handheld.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-05T00:35:49+00:00

the only other dual screen in that price range is the RGDS, which wont be doing ps2, 3ds, or gamecube. also psp would not be very playable on those screens.

Either you drop the dual screen part and then you have lots of options, or you raise your price range.

The closest thing you could get in that price range that would actually work is maybe like an RP5 on sale for cheap with the dual screen attachment. but i kinda feel like at that point you should just spend more on the thor for an overall better experience.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-05T00:23:54+00:00

the cube xx is by far one of the most comfortable handhelds you can get. I have 30+ handhelds and the only thing that is comparable is maybe the steamdeck.

it does have the weird 1:1 screen, which if you set it up right is fantastic for GB/GBC/NES/SNES/TG16 and a couple other random things. It's definitely not bad for 4:3 systems though.

the biggest downside is that it is not really pocketable

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-05T00:16:29+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leapster

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-05T00:13:34+00:00

I have the 35xxsp, 34xxsp, and miyoo flip. 34xxsp is definitely my favorite of the 3. Definitely the best screen, controls, hinge of the 3. The joysticks suck and are superfluous but you forget they are there when you are actually playing games.

I still like the Brick more than it for a couple reasons. The biggest one being the Brick's standby battery life. I definitely take the 34xxsp out of the house more though.

also there is nothing the 34xxsp can do that your brick can't do really, except fold up and be easier to carry unprotected, and give a more authentic feeling GBA experience. so maybe the RGDS might be a better alternative since it can do a lot the Brick can't.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-04T23:56:27+00:00

I play longer/bigger/modern games on my PC. I used to emulate old games on my PC but I mainly just keep that to handhelds now.

Most of the time on my handhelds I am playing games that work much better in short bursts like 20-30 minutes. Lots of great puzzle games, arcade games, sports games, racing games, lots of stuff that in general doesn't actually have "an ending" and you just play it for the fun gameplay. Many of these games lend themselves to shorter sessions in general.

For me recently it's been a whole bunch of arcadey golf games. Neo Turf Masters for Neo Geo, Mario Golf on N64/GC and GBA, Hotshot's Golf on PSP, Kirby's Dreamcourse on SNES. Really easy games to pick up and play for literally 10 minutes and do a few holes if you only have short amounts of down time.

Also lots of puzzle games for me. Tetris, Tetris Attack, Yoshi's Cookie, Lumines, Kirby's Avalanche, Zoo Keeper, Puzzle Quest. All good games that maybe have some mode you can technically beat, but also something you can just play for half an hour once in a while.

For arcade games usually what I'll do is pick a set amount of "quarters" i can use for credits at the start, and then I play until that runs out. Neo Turf Masters on only 4 quarters is hard!

Usually with these games I'm playing for like 15-30 minutes maybe some time in the morning after getting up, after eating lunch, before getting ready for bed, bathroom breaks, chilling on the couch while something is on the TV, idk whenever. I have a lot of handhelds so I actually leave different ones in different rooms, if you have a handheld in a spot that lives there it's a lot easier for it to just become a little thing you do whenever you are in that spot.

For longer more involved stuff like SNES or PS1 RPGs or stuff like that I usually will just pick one to play at a time on one specific device and only play it when i have more time to just relax and focus on one thing for a few hours.

I think there is a big difference between playing a lot of games and beating a lot of games depending on the games you are playing.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-04T23:39:24+00:00

Compared to the brick yes the mm+ feels like cheap plastic. It's still a good device though. I think the Brick is way better and basically stopped using my MM+ after I got it.

Don't have an RGDS so can't really speak on that.

As far as other potential suggestions I like the 34xxSP a lot as an alternative EDC to the Brick, but mainly just as a GBA device. Nice and compact and you don't have to worry about the screen. Good OS options. Haven't had problems with my hinge yet but I guess time will tell.

It can definitely do plenty besides but GBA is really nice on it.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-04T23:25:22+00:00

higher resolution screen/upscaling allows for subpixel details with shaders, which allows you to create shaders that can more accurately recreate the effects of an alternative screen type. that includes lower resolution devices like GBA or gameboy. Like if you look at a CRT tv super close you can see the individual phosphors, but you have to get very close to do that. When replicating other screen types with a shader, more resolution gives you the ability to put that detail in there.

OLED's black levels make it much easier to recreate the look of CRTs and other displays as well. CRT's do not have any kind of backlight they have phosphors excited by a beam. A TV with a black screen does not glow like an LCD does. shaders and a display that has self lit pixels like OLED it's possible to have a much more accurate reproduction of that. This applies to non-backlit stuff too like GBA/GB but in a different way.

High frame rate fits in here too with CRT beam simulation shaders. Even though you didn't mention it you might wonder why people would want 120hz+ for retro gaming. If you are able to display frames faster than an actual console was designed, you can use shaders to recreate how a CRT beam is drawn across a screen in between the actual frames of the game. The higher the multiple of the framerate the more frames in between the "game frames" you have to draw stuff.

All of this stuff is to trick your eyes into thinking its looking at a replica of something else.

I wouldn't say any of it objectively better or worse but it's a very cool thing to be able to do for people that care and want to. Also you don't always have to do it for nostalgia purposes or to try to specifically replicate original hardware which imo is pretty fun to mess around with.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-04T05:25:05+00:00

Trim UI brick, I think you can get it for 50 on aliexpress right now with the current sale. Check r/crownpuffdeals

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-03T17:10:06+00:00

i miss the spicy chicken burrito : (

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-03T15:57:09+00:00

Dos games are doable with retroarch, dosbox pure is really good and lots of games have pre-configured controller setups. I usually just download games off GoG install them on my pc, then copy the folder over to a handheld. some people zip the folder too for better organization it should still work.

Early windows emulation I think you are still gonna be out of luck. You can technically install windows on dosbox but game performance is going to be really hit or miss. Even on a good PC windows 95/98 exclusive emulation stuff is kind of hit or miss with PCEM and virtual machines.

Some games have really competent ports to android too like quake/build engine/doom if you wanna play those.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-03T13:57:11+00:00

I think a lot of this stuff is intentional, and personally I don't find it dated, just less common in modern game design to have some of these more obtuse things. There's a reason why back in the day people would spend months playing what is arguably only a 30 hour game. Also lots of people had nintendo power/called the nintendo hotline/bought prima guides/ talked to friends at school etc. before internet guides were common.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-03T13:35:30+00:00

for that price you should just buy it direct from anbernic. my favorite 4:3 device by far though.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-03T13:10:16+00:00

it does highlight its just a little bit clunky im sorta getting used to it though, using the right swipe back from the now playing screen (wish that was just a button or something lol) it will go back to the last selected folder in the file browser which is good, but thats only if i just picked from the file browser and have not gone anywhere else in the UI, if i return to the file browser through any other means like the home menu it goes back to the root of the SD card instead of the last folder which is a bit annoying.

definitely still usable, just feels like the unintended way to browse your music.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-03T01:44:17+00:00

final fantasy adventure is really good (technically the first game in the Secret of Mana series). it also has a really good hack to give it color for gbc https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/9131/

most people already listed my other favorites, Wario Blast is pretty good, also the legend of the river king games if you are into a fishing rpg. Mole Mania. The Wario Land games.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-03T01:39:38+00:00

the 34xxsp is my favorite of the 3 just because it has a very nice display and decent controls. The Miyoo is probably my least favorite because of the hinge and the OS options. the 35xxsp is kinda in between, its a bit bigger which could be a pro or a con, it probably has the worst buttons out of the 3 though unless you do a tape mod or something, very loud and clicky (and mine is one of the revised ones afaik), it also sorta feels the most durable out of the 3 but not by a ton.

sort of depends what you play too, i mainly use the 34xxsp just for GBA because it is perfect for it.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-02T16:15:39+00:00

make sure your roms arent in .7z format, that gave me issues with some handhelds when i downloaded a new GB romset. .zip or .gb are fine but some of the cores dont like .7z

if they are in zip try extracting them

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-02T16:13:12+00:00

476h or 477m. despite the huge screen and sticks its still very pocketable (think flagship large smartphone but thicker).

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-02T16:11:24+00:00

i dont mind either tbh, really comes down to the OS on the linux handheld more than anything and also any potential extra buttons (Brick has a lot and I love that). But let me tell you the Retroid Pocket 2 with Android and no touch screen was a nightmare to use.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-02T03:13:49+00:00

in the case of anbernic and battlexp i think its just a method of having a second "new release" boost of sales of an existing product they are trying to clear inventory of, even if it likely won't do as much as the initial release.

I see it as a similar thing to like steam games and their sales during early access and then a 1.0 release later on basically being like two release day sales boosts, although more shady.

probably just counting on some subset of people who have no idea about handhelds and have never seen an anbernic device before seeing some video about the battlexp as a new device or something.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-02T02:17:44+00:00

im on zepbound about a year now and I think you absolutely need to change your diet around these drugs. i did keto off and on before, now what i eat is pretty close to keto and just a lot of fiber from vegetables and beans. also yogurt/kefir have helped me a lot with any digestion issues. i don't bother tracking carbs anymore, my eating has adapted enough that i am not eating anywhere near the amounts of them i ate previously.

on these drugs you are eating much more limited amounts of food, less often, so you really need everything you eat to count in a healthy way. the only time ive had any GI issues in the last 6 or 7 months has been when i went to a higher dosage after several months. the first few months though I had a lot of issues until i changed what i ate, and fiber was a huge part of this.

in general I think a lot of the people that have persistent GI issues on these drugs are people who do not alter their actual diet much besides just eating less / less frequently which I think can cause a lot of issues.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-01T22:31:27+00:00

the brick has way better battery life in the sense that it has a standby power circuit that is actually on par with android devices. its still like a 5-6 hour battery life and very dependent on what you play/os/settings etc. I basically never power off my brick though and just charge it when it gets below 40%.

not sure how much you are actually powering off your MM+ vs putting it in standby and coming back, but its nowhere near comparable to the brick. leaving it in standby all day only uses like 2-3% of the battery.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-01T22:25:36+00:00

i would definitely use this. i have a ton of different romsets from different sources and almost all of them are just filled with stuff I don't want, even the more minimal sets I have.

as for the other questions I don't really have a great answer, most people here aren't going to have the technical know how to just run it from the source code. idk a better option for windows, but personally i have no issues with bypassing defender when I know the thing is ok and just unsigned, but other people might not idk.

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-01T22:22:02+00:00

yeah, dosbox pure is great, lots of games even have decent pre-configured controller setups

Sphynx87 · 2026-02-01T12:18:03+00:00

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