ANBERNIC RG552 Retro Gaming Handheld

I don't get the hate this device gets online: it's a great handheld, with great controls and a beautiful screen.
Installed JELOS and BlackSeraph AOSP on mine: linux is basically "perfect" for systems till PS1 (great performances, low latency...), while Android is really great for Saturn, N64 and DS, and Android games.

Love this device. Screen is amazing and so far have not loved a handheld console more (apart from my switch)

Quick delivery and follow up call to ask if I had any problems. Games played well very happy

I fell out of love with gaming many years ago but was a massive gamer growing up in the 8-bit/16-bit era.
To try and rekindle my childhood I recently purchased an Anbernic RG350.

My son loves his gaming but is too young to have experienced the games that I grew up with. He has been playing with the RG350 and loved it.

He was 18 last week so I decided to purchase him the Anbernic RG552, literally minutes after ordering it I had size envy so decided I wanted one too. I jumped straight back onto the site and ordered another.

I very quickly (within 30 minutes) got an email from droix querying if I had meant to order 2. This was the first sign to me this was a company to be trusted. I’ve dealt with companies who would have just taken the money and argued it was my mistake so it’s tough.
I confirmed I wanted both devices so they immediately told me they would refund my postage for one of the orders and ship them both together.
Next day I received them both very well packed.

Opened them up and to my disappointment one of the consoles was faulty (loose cooling fan rattling around inside) so needed to be returned.

I got onto the online chat with customer service who immediately sent me an RMA number along with a postage label to return the faulty console at no cost to me.

I sent it back the same day and awaited a response.

Using tracking I could see it was delivered back to them on Friday morning. So come Friday lunchtime i decided to enquire on timescales (the email from droix regarding the RMA stated it would take UPTO 7 working days to process a replacement, but I’m not well known for my patience!)

I rang them and explained the situation and a really helpful chap (didn’t catch his name) asked me for the RMA number which I gave him and he told me funnily enough he had it in front of him. He opened it up examined it with me on the phone and agreed it was faulty and needed to be replaced. He told me he would send out a replacement which I would receive the next day which was Saturday.

I had the email containing tracking details within 5 minutes of ending the call and the replacement was delivered by 930am the next day.

If you’re in the least bit worried about dealing with independent companies who you have no experience of let me assure you this company are amazing. Look up customer service in the dictionary and it will say droix.

I’ll definitely be back. Thank you.

5 star company

Performance is impressive, Saturn, Dreamcast and PSP play well, but ergonomics are questionable. Reaching L2 while using the left stick is almost impossible.
My biggest issue is with build quality. It initially seemed great, but then after one day, R1 failed. On opening the device, I found spacers had been stuck to the bottom of the trigger, to make contact with the microswitch. The one on the right had come unstuck, so no contact was being made. This is shockingly poor in a device that costs so much and if they're all made this way, I'd say it's a serious issue.
Granted, I fixed it with some superglue, but after 1 day... I really shouldn't have to. And sure, I could've sent it back.... but again, I shouldn't have to.
So in conclusion, when it works, I love it, but unless Anbernic sort out their quality control and production standards, I'd hesitate to recommend buying one.
To be clear, my issue is with Anbernic, and not DroiX, who I'm always very impressed with.