ANBERNIC RG351M Retro Gaming Handheld

If you're here you already know this handheld does all the things you want it to do and more. More to the point I chose to purchase it here as I didn't want to gamble on AliExpress so was willing to pay a little exra. I recieved my rg351m a week ago and it came with a few dead pixels which I was a little disappointed about. However Droix encouraged me to return the console and provided me with a replacement unit checked over by their team to ensure it was up to scratch. Overall I couldn't recommend them any more if you're after one of these handheld. Now I can enjoy ps1 Hagrid on the go!

Buying from Droix has been a great experience: no issues at all choosing my unit's colour, flexibility regarding delivery (I could choose which day I wanted it, and since I didn't use "next day", my delivery was free), simple payment options.
The delivery was perfect, with the item arriving in perfect condition.
And what to say about the handheld? It's great. I'm playing the games I didn't have when growing up (and replaying the ones I had), and the the rg351mp feels great.
Droix included a screen protector (easy to fit), a small WiFi dongle and a 64gb sd card. Absolutely recommended!

This is my first retro handheld. All systems up to PlayStation games play almost flawlessly. The unit itself is durable and comfortable even after hours of usage. Overall very satisfied with this product. Also a very speedy delivery. Highly recommend.

This is the best handheld I’ve ever owned for what it does. The options to upgrade and download titles are endless!

It looks pretty good and it works well as an emulator up to PS1 and a bit above. The screen is very nice and it suits 4:3 games great and it's not bad at all for 3:2 games (with tiny black borders top and bottom). The build quality is quite exquisite, buttons are nice and it does look like a premium device.

A few negatives:

- expensive; The chipset (SOC) it's quite old and the performance is not up to par with the price. You're paying mostly for the premium build;
- no wi-fi/BT built in; Yes, it comes with a dongle but it's so bulky with the extra adapter you can only use it for short tasks;
- it's heavy; the aluminium shell, whilst premium, makes the device quite heavy and slightly uncomfortable for long sessions;
- it's prone to scratches; especially with the dark colours, any scratch or nick will be very visible. Better not drop it on a hard surface;
- creates annoying condensation; the case being metal, gets quite cold when not in use and when picking the device up with warm hands, creates immediate condensation where you touch it. The dark colours are also very prone to fingerprints;
- on my unit, the D-Pad registers fake inputs; mostly noticeable when playing games like Tetris with a hard-drop option (or at high speeds). I noticed my unit sometimes registers UP when pressing Left and Right or Left/Right when pressing down. This behaviour can make games like Tetris unplayable but it can be fixed using the tape mod (apply some tape over the D-Pad contacts to avoid registering wrong inputs);
- my unit seems to have a small issue where the bottom part of the screen is not glued well and it's a bit raised and moves down under slight presses. I believe this can be fixed easily but I haven't looked into it.

It might seem that the cons outweigh the pros but to be honest, I quite like it and I was aware about some of the negatives before buying. It looks great and it works well if manage your expectations on how far can you push it.

I recommend changing the microSD as soon as possible to something reliable (Samsung, Sandisk, Lexar etc.) and changing the stock OS with 341Elec or ArkOS - the experience will be much improved. There are great tutorials on Youtube on how to do it (RetroGameCorps have very detailed ones).

Happy gaming!

Excellent birthday present for hubby super quick delivery as well thank you

Nice device, but it corrupted the SD card after playing 4th game. Ok, I was sent a new card, but now feel its flakey and don't trust it.

I already have a rg351v woody gameboy version, which is an excellent system but I just had to have the metal rg351mp (mint Green ) in my collection as well.! Especially at such a great price in the sale (£112) at launch. Amazing build quality from a handheld to come out china.
Great service as always from droix.Thanks.

From a hardware perspective, this is a premium product; everything feels as good as you’d hope. In my experience, everything up to PS1 and some N64 run and look really good. Just bear in mind that not everything you try does run smoothly or look that great.

Obviously, emulation is tricky with some emulators being better than others and some games are more demanding than others. Understand this and you won’t be disappointed.

One thing to be mindful of is the screen resolution. For the most part, the 480x320 screen is a good match for the 8/16-Bit era with the exception of any arcade games that utilise a vertical orientation; 320px isn’t enough to render a 1:1 pixel output so it looks a little squashed (although still perfectly playable).

One of the first things I’d recommend is installing the ‘elec351’ operating system for a much better user experience and user interface; it really removes all impressions of a bootleg system when compared to the out-of-the-box experience.

Final thoughts: I love it. It’s the perfect portable way of reminiscing your youth as well as exploring all those gems you missed first time around.

Amazing quality and screen plus so many pre installed games wish Amiga was there though