Hi Russ, thanks for diving this deep into our product! We are so sorry for the speaker😟, yours definitely has an issue because it isn't supposed to crackle even at full volume. Thanks especially for taking the time to show the ecosystem around the FunKey S (documentation, wiki, github, discord), and even going as far as trying out the homebrews/emulators made by the community, and showing how to use the instant action, transfer games, change buttons... 🙏! Appart from the speaker issue that is really unfortunate we understand what you liked less. Our product aims to compete with the really tiny handhelds like the pocketsprite or GameGear micros and be sturdy and pocketable enough to be worn on an actual Keychain. To achieve this size we've had to make some sacrifices, like the audio jack, micro usb instead of USB-C, controls as wide as possible thanks to this clamshell shape but still less big than a standard size console. These are still very good points we hear loud and clear and we already have plans to release wider versions for the future. Hopefully soon ☺️.

I personally don't have an interest in a tiny device like this, the RG280V is small enough, but the level of quality in terms of presentation, ease of use, open source, and documentation that FunKey brings to the table are qualities sorely lacking in the retro handheld space. If FunKey ever has plans to do a more normal sized handheld in the future, I'd be more than happy to support such a device.

I'm a backer and I agree a lot with what you're saying. It's really cute and fun but I wouldn't recommend sitting down and playing it for multiple hours in a row. I personally like to use mine in short 5-10 minutes bursts when I'm at work and need a quick distraction.

Thanks for the extended video incl. teardown. Interesting handheld if you ask me 🤔

After hearing Mario's voice in the recording of the Super Mario 64 OPK, I'm almost certain that the audio issue is a defect with the speaker. In the case of my device, the speaker only crackles in rare instances at 90% or 100% volume in games with tracks that have high frequencies.

Looking at the cpu spec and thinking this tiny device runs at 1.2 ghz and my first big pc was a 486 33 mhz... Wow.. technology is crazy...

Literally want a regular sized one but with this mobo and the biggest battery they can fit it would be perfect

hope to have this great stuff as soon as possible .... once again, the best reviews of retro game corps ...

I think your speaker is simply broken. My FunkeyS has no crackling at all. There is like a highpitch sound, while charging and some distortion at most with some games. But that crackling sounds broken.

I can't justify the price. It's a cool showpiece and conversation starter just wish they could have gotten the price a bit lower. Also not being able to play with game sounds without getting an ear bleed from that speaker sucks. Would love to see this company make a more traditionally sized handheld in the future. With all the documentation they provided and it being open source I think FunKey and the community could make something special.

I think the buttons are great! Try rotating your thumb instead of moving it. I can even play PS1 games on it pretty well. I love mine, great for waiting in lines. I can keep it in my pocket, and I used it while I was waiting for Comcast to run Fiber in our office. My Sony Vita and RG351MP are my primary emulation devices.

Bought the retro gray Funkey s today. I'm working on my bucket list of games to beat, and this will help.

Nice and honest review. Very informative! Keep up the good work

My Original purple just arrived and I can definitely verify, this thing is bloody tiny. Fun as heck but omg tiny. Thanks for the content lad.

I love this little device. I have a bunch of different emulation devices, but this one is the most fun to show to my friends. It always gets a reaction. And its design is just prefect

I like mine. Exactly fit my usecase with really nice sw. Sound issue is fixed 99%.

The funkey S has L2 and R2 buttons: you have to press FN key then L1 for L2 function and R1 for R2 fuction, yes weird combo but it does have it, ive confirmed it on mine :) also you can choose to power it down with the top middle button as well as turn it on, so far these are only things ive found, but will update if i find more

I am not gonna lie, having Atomic Purple as a color option was a HUUUUUUGE selling point for me.

If they made a normal sized GBA SP I’d buy it in a heartbeat! The SP is my favorite handheld ever, it’s perfect for me.

I’m mainly getting this to play all the old Pokemon games so i think I can live with the smaller form-factor, I’m just really hoping that the audio isn’t defective like your one.

I got mine purely for the novelty. Have a RG351P also coming in as my main emulation handheld though

I've seen other videos of the audio not being an issue for some people. I think the one he got was defective. Too bad about the button gameplay though. Still might get one though for the nostalgia and portability. I feel like my friends would love to see it.

Does the S stand for small? If so, does that mean this portable will be available in different sizes like FunKey M, FunKey L, and FunKey XL? I'd love to have one with at least a 3 inch screen and a resolution of at least 320x240. The FunKey S looks awesome, but it's too small for my hands.

I was waiting for this one thanks huge.

Thank you for sharing your experience. This device was well thought out, I see this with the manual and all. Yes, the company should make one that is big hands friendly, bigger screen, Bluetooth headphones, heck, iId buy one instead of some other console I have seen.

I was hoping for you will do review on this device!

My Funkey S just landed today, and i really love it

One of the best reviewers. Another great video!

Bro I need this so bad, I collect small gaming consoles and this will look so good.

Nice overview of the device. Where would I be able to get a battery replacement after the battery degrades?

SUCH a good review!! Thanks!!!!!!!

Yey, Russ's intro music is gonna be stuck in my head again! So excited for mine, should be arriving next week. I got the Retrogaming Gray one! :)

BRILLIANT REVIEW. Thank you.

Just the size makes this awesome. Lol...great video as always

Definitely a novelty, conversation piece. I can already feel my hands cramping up during long gameplay. Great review as always.

Did you ever make/get dig working on any of your android hand-held?

these types of reviews are great because it's more honest and talks about more of the bad parts as well as good parts, unlike IGN which probably gets paid by the game to rate them. that's why there's so much 9/10 because they don't want people to be suspicious

Hello. Currently waiting for mine to be delivered. A question. Would I need to use GMenu2x to access Mario 64? Thanks!

Still waiting for mine 😂 great video buddy

Russ you've been heaven sent for retro handheld gamers all over the world!

I like this little console. It's certainly not meant for serious gaming, but it's well made and has good performance, so I like to play for a few minutes in between. It's also great that the FunKey shuts down and saves by simply folding it up. Thus very discreet to use in critical situations ;) Such a function would be desirable for the Powkiddy V90.

Here's a question. I am interested in the device, but do you think this is also a good way to get access to all the games it has and can you just copy them and play on PC with an emulator?

Can’t wait for a V2 that increases size a little to make it more usable.

They really dropped the ball when placing only one speaker mono in this device and to then hear that it sounds like it has a blown woofer, and then no stereo headphone jack, bummer. SMH! Otherwise, it looks excellent for its size. I am grateful you mentioned how the buttons are too close to play games well, hence I'm skipping this item for now. Great video!

Can you tell me how many games come on it and where exactly do you get the games and how do you do it

I just got my funkey s and there are 3 problems with it, It doesn’t load gmenu2x and it can’t play gb nor gbc. Please help.

Wicked shared this video... awesome handheld ;)

I'm looking forward to playing RPGs on this when I get mine. Tony Hawk, Aladdin - I wouldn't expect something really action oriented to be very playable on this size

I don’t want to bash on it, it’s a relatively good device but for that price range I actually am more inclined towards my RG351P. Great video as always nonetheless 👍🏼

I'd definitely be interested in a follow up to this device. give it a proper 4:3 screen even if it's still 240p, a teeny bit more performance and a headphone jack then you have me sold

Can be connected to a pc (for example) to put other games into it?

Oh my God ! How lovely )))

I’d be interested in a larger version of this handheld.

Before getting this myself, is it possible to download Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for this? That’s the main game I’d want to play

Thanks for the very honest review. Lots of gushing reviews of this out there, with people breezing over the godawful sound and waving off how quickly your hands get crampy playing it with 'you aren't meant to play it for a long time'. This thing would be a gimmie at the toy price of $30-40, but $75 is getting into some real money. The tiny form factor is a novelty, but not one that really pays for itself because something like the PowKiddy or the Anbernic fit into a pocket just as easily and will actually be more fun to play in the line at the grocery store or while waiting for the dentist. The only thing I'll give this guy is that the autosleep when closing the clamshell is neat af, but really these days lots of devices offer a sleep function.

So what retro gaming device do you recommend for some one who wants such gaming on the go?

I have just got mine landed after a very long time and quit happy with it

Placed it on my must-buy list. Had to check this video, just to make sure. Seven minutes into the video and BAM! "Bad speaker". No problem, I told myself, as I always play this kind of device with in-ear headphones. ...Then came the fatal blow: "no audio jack". Yep! Crossed this one out of my list. LE: can you test a micro USB to Jack?

Maybe wait for the metal shell version right? 😂😉 Seriously though, defo one for the collector. But excellent video as usual 👍

I get the novelty, but I am not gaming on a sub 2inch screen personally but I get some people like that.

Change the speaker for one of those used in Cybershot type cameras! They're tiny and sound pretty good for their size!

Another great review I agree with everything you said. It's an amazing piece of kit, but the v90 is the smallest size I can use. It's just too small. Just a shame isn't v90 gba sp sized and I'd snap it up. The v90, is horrible at snes emulation but is a great gba sp emulation device.

I've seen a few other reviews and they def didn't have that audio issue... Looks like you've maybe got a faulty speaker unfortunately.

I feel like your speaker might be messed up. Mine and others I see online don't have crackle on any games I've seen. Maybe when you changed the buttons out something went wrong?

I'm having a terrible time trying to figure out how to get other games on here. Any suggestions?

I hope I get this for Christmas

Why does the screen have such a large bevel? Is there a reason for it?

They need the funkey xl. I'd buy that version lol

I still want this.

As much as I would love to get this little sucker, I probably would struggle in recognizing the screen activity correct, as I am quite farsighted, due to my older age. And not having a headphone jack is also a negative for me. Maybe, somewhere in the future, they will do an updated model, a little bit bigger and with a headphone jack, - maybe a funkey m ;) - then I would order one.

Does the games come with the funkey s

What website do u use to get games

Yall need this as much as you need a box of donuts.

Does anyone know if Chrono Cross or The Legend of Dragoon is playable on this?

Ah I wish I knew about the audio more before I bought mine but that’s alright I got this while I sit at the doctors office since I’m disabled I’m constantly seeing doctors and I’m waiting for quite some time but I’m not able to carry something much larger than this so this fits that niche really really well.

A bit of a tangent, but IMO assuming they can get past any legal and technical hurdles, the next desirable step for these retro handheld systems is to develop their own unified online market like Steam, PSN, Nintendo Eshop, Play Store, App store etc. specifically for retrogame systems (I know some of them can run Android and access the Play Store but not all of them and the games wouldn't be made from the ground up for these retrogame systems) wherein developers can release their games for free or for a fee. I'm speaking purely from a consumer's perspective so feel free to educate me if this idea is implausible at the moment.

I've noticed your mouse pad in a few videos now. I need to have one for myself. :-)

Would anyone recommend this to me for just playing pokemon gb/c/a games with fast forward and without Sound on it?

Thank you

I think there might actually be something wrong with that speaker. Most of the reviews I've seen the sound was weak but legible with no major crackling and you could clearly hear it over person talking. None of them sounded anything close like that, and I'm pretty sure a few of them showed the volume range. Micro devices like this and the Game Gear Micro are interesting. They are a novelty, but you also expect a level of functionality as well. They kind of feel like collectable Jordans - and they need to be well made and function as shoes, but you never intend on actually wearing them.

Yeah, I love my Pocket Sprite, but I was concerned with this. Too many buttons. The upgrade in systems is cool, but I can't see more than 2 face buttons being functional at this size. So basically full compatibility up to GBA if shoulder buttons are included. Imagine a GBA and under machine that small. And if you can play some higher games with creative button mapping, cool.

I love mine for GB and GBC games. Wish either they'd make a larger version with the same software - or that someone could make an RG351 device work like the Funkey S does. The simplicity is simply king. Firmware update? Just mount it as a USB drive and put the firmware file on the root directory of the USB drive. After unmounting, the Funkey S installs the update. Similarly, you can simply switch through the scaling/stretching options available with a hotkey - no need to configure anything by hand.

Imagine if they would have had use a USB and bordless screen with bigger resolution? Crazy

I know I probably shouldn’t buy this, I doubt I would play it very often, but for some reason I want one soooo badly. I already have better emulators, I really don’t need to buy this thing but I want it mostly just because it’s tiny. Someone else in the comments mentioned this and I agree, I think it would be great for the old Pokémon games. That style of gameplay would be a lot more manageable in this tiny form factor than something like a Mario game. That being said I think it would be fun to challenge yourself to playing some more difficult games on this thing. I’m torn about getting it, it’s not crazy expensive but I don’t know if it’s actually worth $75. I feel like I wouldn’t play it much and it would become just like a conversation piece mostly, so I don’t know man. Maybe if they lower the price eventually I’ll buy it. It’s a pretty new product so I’m assuming that’s why the price is so high. If it was $50 I would pick it up in a heartbeat but $75 just seems steep for something like this.

🤔...Soooooo intriguing...💯✔

Gosh darn cute. Sold.

How does the size compare to a gba micro?

Why would it have 240x240 1:1 ?

Ah, it's such a shame the sound is so poor and that it didn't have a headphone socket otherwise I'd have perhaps got one, thanks for the review!

"no man its not for you , its for me" ahhahahahha Russ u killed me bro , give your kids a chance ! :P

Does this come with the games on it?

I have yet too see a real gaming phone with the physical buttons, thumbsticks and touchscreen with the front facing camera and pocketable size that can turn all the way like the duo.

this man ruthless to his kids lmao 17:08

how i can install srb2 on that?

Can I play multiplayer with other FunKey users?

Why is the refresh rate set to 50hz? Is it aimed at european releases of games?

Did you mean IPS or ISP display?

I have watched a lot of videos on this... I really, really want to love this thing. Something small to bring in my bag to work, or while in the car with my wife driving, or something that. It sounds like a perfect thing but, it's just TOO dam small. If it was just a little bigger, not as big a v90 but, maybe 1/2 the size larger, 2 to 2 1/2" display and more distance between the keys, and actual usable speakers, with USB-C that we can use headphones off... it would be perfect... I do really want to love this thing but, I just can't...

I think you may have some problem with your speaker, because in some other videos it sounds pretty decent, definitely not broken as yours do!

If they ever release a Funkey S 2: ::Bezel-filling 4:3 60hz screen ::HDMI out ::Built in Bluetooth/WiFi for controller pairing, firmware updates/artwork scraping