Okay so apparently the animal on the sticker is a Qilin, which is a Chinese mythological creature. I wasn’t accounting for mythology when doing my fancy zoology breakdown 😊

"Powkiddy knows my name and adress" sounded a bit scary 😅

I feel like a clamshell console with screen like this could be amazing. Well especially if made by anyone but Powkiddy...

That system is the happiest little system ever. That select/start/whatever button on the bottom is the cutest little smiley face!

Hey Russ, I recently bought an Odin 2 and set it up using your guide, with a Miyoo Mini Plus on the way too. I'm having an amazing time with the Odin, revisiting all my old favourites. Emulation is such an interesting rabbit hole and your videos have been incredibly useful in helping me learn about how everything works. I know you put a ton of time and effort into every video and it means a lot to the emulation community. Thank you for everything you do, for the reviews and for simplifying the experience for beginners. I really appreciate it! Big love from Ireland 🇮🇪

I love that screen, reminds me of the old Zune.

Powkiddy has the talent of trying, sometimes makes it sometimes lose it. But at the end the player (we) is the winner. I love niche handhelds. Thanks russ for your absolutely lovely reviews.❤

Good, fair review. I've had my RGB20SX for a week now and really like it. I own the RGB30 as well but, for the systems I'll be playing on it (GBC, Pico-8), I prefer the vertical form factor so I guess the 20SX niche is perfect for me.

My greatest surprise with the RGB30 was how great SNES games look with 8:7 and overscale.

I absolutely love the Vertical device. The screen is so nice! Wish it was a bit cheaper but I think I’ll save enough to go for this one 😊

Watching every video he releases 🤝🏽

I have the RGB30 and love it. Re the charging. Mine was like that when I first got it and it was infurating. In the end I took the back off, disconnected the battery for a few seconds then reconnected it. Now the device charges flawlessly (but only with low-power charger and USB A-C cables still) and the battery life is much much longer (I can actually use the sleep mode and the battery doesn't just go flat just like that!). This also worked for my RG35XX Plus as well. I know you shouldn't have to do that, but that's what worked for me.

I found out about the device last night and, since i know the he loves the RGB30 (And for good reason, its amazing), i knew a video for this new device was on its way, but dayum that was fast!

Holy crap this is it. I'm very, very much a vertical form factor user - I only prefer horizontal for 16:9. The HUGENESS of that screen adds so much drama to the experience. Just looking at it in your hands, it's such an over-the-top, gorgeous screen, and sells its hugeness and drama so much better than the RGB30 did. I'm sold. I've been considering an RGB30 for dedicated pico 8, vertical arcade, trying 8:7 SNES and NES, and GBA/GBC duty. But over and over I just think "I really don't like the horizontal form factor" every time you announce a sale on it and my hand is over the "add to cart" button. This seemed like an absurd idea when I heard about it, but seeing it, it's calling to me. The ONLY thing that jumps out to me as a real negative is that protruding shoulder button design. But I can live with it, and it wouldn't be a pocket device for me (that's still the 35xx and MM+ - one of the two sits in my EMS uniform pants pocket and I can just pop it out whenever I'm stuck waiting at a hospital or between calls - I got an hour of pokemon black 2 in the other day waiting for an air evac team to land while we waited at the hospital, playing old RPG's 1-handed is just the best) I honestly kinda like the top and bottom bars more than the side to side bars of using something like my RP4pro with 4:3 content. The bars on GBA didn't bother me at all. I honestly might even see if retroarch lets me move the GBA image towards the top of the screen, and then look into designing some kind of filter/shader that fills in the bottom with some fun art like maybe the special pikachu edition game boy color design details (I have no idea how plausible that is with my skillset, just wishful thinking about something I may pursue). That even makes me think that I'd want to model and custom print a new back shell in blue for the special pikachu look (and maybe redesign the shoulder button setup to be flush and flat, looks very do-able.) Weirdly I even like how the sticker's antlers extend into the bezels. It gives that slightly off sense of 3d orientation that you can create by putting a border around an image that's slightly smaller than the image in one or two dimensions. I don't think I'd use the sticker, but I actually dig it a LOT more than I thought The charging thing is slightly dumb that ALL of the chinese manufacturers other than retroid are doing the same "not including the two cent resistor that completes the handshake for any type c power supply" , but I have multiple chargers and a battery bank already around that can charge a MM+, 35xx, etc. Damnit Russ. I was planning on not buying anything until I found out if the Miyoo Mini flip or anbernic's version were worth it. Next paycheck I'm apparently getting an RGB20SX. Enjoy your affiliate tip, lol.

Absolute quality review and video and 100% agree of why you would prefer RGB30 and honestly opened my mind when you said it’s basically a SNES controller with a screen in the middle. However, the RGB20x looks so much better to me especially in that school bus yellow and now it has that 1:1 screen with the game boy body style

thanks for including the sound test of the buttons! really helps to get a better idea of the feel of the device

I seriously love your videos Russ, and have enjoyed learning about emulation and chipsets and software so much , I ended going back to school for my degree in computer science

I’d love to see a truly premium Pico-8 centric handheld with 1:1 screen and amazing build quality.

I love my rgb30 and I love vertical handhelds, so I think I'll like this one a lot. Can't wait to get mine! That transparent blue looks really good, actually!

oh hell yeah! Now this is my kind of vertical gameboy type of device

Kapton tape modding the dpad on the RGB30 changed the entire experience for me, definitely worth it on that and so likely this. It's my favorite device now.

ngl I'd rather have this without the analog sticks

The RGB30 really is magical when you dial in the screen.

wow this screen is cool

Another quality video 🎉

Like always, great video❤❤

I've legit never in my life cared about the diagonal problem, if anything it's much more annoying when its too hard to get them

This was a good surprise

*Grabs snacks, drinks, AND blunts" 😂

I am one of those people who need this for the screen specifically. It is beautiful!

Thank you for this video! This hits all my personal preferences and is EXACTLY what I wanted and the perfect Mashup. With that beautiful blue. It's your opinions for certain things so I respect that! You were very fair in other ways obviously. I dont put any devices in my pocket ever. Its either in a case protected in a bag or on the shelf or being played.

I like that there's a smiley on it.

I would love if Retroid or someone like that, that has high quality controls would use this screen. I would love like a 2s style device with this screen. Would be amazing with those controls.

The animal on the sticker is a fantasy animal called "Qilin," a very famous sacred beast in China and Japan. In Japan, it is also the name of a beer company.

I can't wait until someone makes something like this in a flip clam shell form factor and upgrades the chip that is powerful enough for PS2 and Gamecube. I feel like there should be a compact device for the 4:3 low def area, and let things like the steam deck handle everything after that in the HD era. We should have something pocketable that can play everything in the pre-HD era.

Been loving my rgb30 with Jelos. Amazing. Using it more than Miyo Mini Plus, even my RG35xx h. It's all i need, forever.

One thing I think these videos absolutely must start going into is the screen quality. And I don't mean just the brightness and resolution for integer scaling -- which is the most these videos ever do, for whatever reason -- but also color depth and especially ghosting. The screen represents a huge chunk of the device, and may correspond to over half the reasons to prioritize a device over another. Also, many retro games ran on CRTs -- which offered virtually zero ghosting -- and as such, motion clarity and motion resolution are supremely important for any retro device

I like the ‘smiley face’ the buttons arrangement make at the centre.

@09:33 the SNES was really ahead of its time with that kind of graphics :D.

I love a big screen like this. I also like the "idea" of a vertical handheld but my adult hands scream horizontal. I got an RGB30 because of your review and I love it.

I'm a vertical fanboi so this was a day one order for me (I own the RGB30 and will sell it soon). Mine should arrive today actually. One point, you mention how compact the RGB30 is -vs- the 20sx, they're almost exactly the same size (ignoring the back buttons/thickness): RGB20sx Size:143*87*22mm RGB30 Size:145*86.5*18mm. Also, the battery is ~20% larger which is nice. For me this isn't really a leave the house option though, that's why I have my 35xx/35xx+ and gkd pixel. I'm excited for mine to arrive. Thanks for the review!

The most relaxing channel on youtube

“The charging is a little bit unintuitive as well.” It sure is. I’m running Rocknix on mine. If I shut down via the menu, the device continues to draw power and will be dead within probably an hour or two, despite in theory being shut down. If I power it off with the power button (holding for about four or five seconds), the power draw is usually (although not always) much lower, at least to the degree I managed to get six days between charges this week. Although it apparently went from 15% to dead overnight. So there’’s that. As for the charging, the only way I’ve reliably got this to work is by plugging it in via a USB-C to USB-A lead, into my Anker multiport, turning the device on, and leaving it alone for an hour or so. If I try to charge the device while it’s off, that doesn’t seem to work either. I really like the RGB30. Sure, it feels cheap and the D-pad isn’t great. And I’ve also learned you have to be quite careful how you hold it (I nudged the display in at the top by a fraction of a mm with my thumb one time). But that charging thing is intensely annoying. I’ve never owned another device where it’s a gamble whether the thing will be charged when I want to use it. This is a real shame, because take away that charging issue and all the other shortcomings can - for the price point - be forgiven. But with it, the RGB30 is a massive ‘with caveats’ purchase. And it sounds like the RGB20SX is too.

Great review 🫡

Square isn't far enough, I'd like to see one with even taller screen for DS and vertical games.

It is an interesting optical illusion I am sure with it being a vertical handheld but it looks like the screen is much taller than the RGB30.

I keep watching your videos just to find out more games to play on my MM+ loaded with done set

I've never been interested in a powkiddy device until now

I may be alone in wanting this but I would love that screen on a budget device optimized for gameboy and Pico-8. It could be really thin and only need 2 face buttons.

We have been blessed with more rgc content today 😊

As someone who already owns an RGB30 I think this one may actually suit my use case (vertical shooters) better; l feel the screen kind of "pops" more and looks bigger with that layout despite being the same size. Also helps that I've got some old anbernic devices lying around that I can scavenge a superior dpad from.

Enjoyed the video. Would have been nice to mention the OS, for those new to the scene. Ordered a Miyoo Mini Plus last night because of how awesome OnionOS looks to be. Went for the Grey for that DMG vibe.

I feel like if this came out before the RGB30, i would have ordered it in an instant. Vertical-style handhelds like this are big nostalgia hit for me, and seeing that beautiful screen in a setup like that would have been amazing. However, the RGB30 came first, and i have that one instead of this one. As it stands i feel like i don't have a good enough reason to order the RGB20SX, though i am glad that it exists. Also i'm still amused about "pocketability" concerns when women's jeans can't comfortably hold anything larger than a GKD Pixel 😅

Mole Mania! Lets go!

There are other fanged deer that do have antlers. Muntjac is one we have in England (transplanted from South East Asia)

Not a huge fan of verticals but great offering from Powkiddy for Gameboy style lovers :) Only wish they made a new upgraded RGB30 without the charging / battery percentage fluctuating issue so change to a maybe better chipset, better sound (cause the RGB30 sounds incredibly muffled), the D-Pad fixed out of the box and a rumble motor for like Pinball games. The transparent blue RGB20SX is gorgeous, hopefully they do some transparent ones too with the RGB30 :) Stellar review as usual Russ, thank you !

I've been wanting an RGB30 but without the "it's a toy steamdeck" aesthetic that makes it look like it would come on one of those blister pack peg cards at the dollar store. Thankfully they seem to have gotten over that with the RGB20SX. So I guess what I REALLY want is something in between the two? And the weird charging issues are, well, weird. I do like that they got the battery away from the cpu though. It seems like Powkiddy is still in that stage that Anbernic and everyone else was a while back where they all seemed determined to make something wrong with each model to keep it from being "the one." I remember Bob Wulff getting hilariously frustrated with these companies fixing one thing only to wreck another part of it. LOL. Anbernic seems to have progressed out of that for the most part (I'm sure thanks to the pressure from premium feeling products from Retroid/AYN) and I think Miyoo stumbled onto magic accidentally with the mini and mini plus and now they don't know what to do. Then there's Powkiddy.. still Powkiddying along.

Well said.

One annoying aspect of this form factor that I never hear ANYWHERE is that while playing a shmup or any game where mashing the buttons is required, you are shaking the screen because of the low position of your fingers that create a rocking effect. That doesn’t happen on an horizontal layout.

Gotta say this one's a niche inside a niche, that 4" screen is still gorgeous though. They'll sell dozens of them... DOZENS!

I don't have a vertical handheld yet. Horizontals are always more appealing, but I love the RGB30 enough where I am interested in trying this one as well.

My buddy liked my RGB30 but, his complaint was it would be cooler as a vertical handheld. He isn’t into these but, I was looking for a gift idea for him this year and think I found it!

I now know more about musk deer than I ever wanted to, thanks to the pow kiddy RGB20SX retro handheld console and a dude that only wears cargo shorts

The RGB30 is my most used handheld. It’s basically perfect in my opinion. Especially after doing the kapton tape d pad mod and installing ArkOS.

i swear i saw this handheld yesterday on aliexpress and i was just looking for a review from Russ and i wondered why i couldn't find any.

I ordered this console yesterday. It's my first ever retro handheld so I'm definitely excited. To be honest I would prefer rg35xx h, but the costs of delivery and tax made it way more expensive than this vertical cutie. Powkiddy currently has -20$ coupon so I've decided to try it out. Looking forward to play some old classics

**Grabs snack and drink**

On the handheld I received I noticed that down on the d-pad required more force to push down than the other directions. Enough so that I can easily see myself missing inputs from time to time.

I love that they're doing different form factors for this. I just got an RGB30 (still waiting on it in the mail) because I don't have many horizontal devices but I love the look of this one, too. You mentioned JelOS was no longer in development. Does that mean when I get my RGB30, I'll have to manually flash Rocknix to get updates for that device or will it install via an OTA from the device?

I'd love if Miyoo made a competitor to the RGB30. I really want to try out that screen and having one with Miyoo's quality d-pad would be perfect for me.

I'll probably get it. Specially if there's a way to share SD Card between my RGB30 and it. I'd like to send the message to Powkiddy and the other companies that this screen sells.

I've got to say, I like my new RGB20SX as much as my old RGB30. Vertical or horizontal, it really doesn't matter to me, and perhaps that's because I never owned any of the 16-bit systems that these devices emulate so well, so there's no yearning on my part, conscious or otherwise, for a horizontal controller to play those home console games. So, why own both? I don't have a compelling reason, other than that I like that 1:1 aspect ratio so much that I don't mind owning it twice, and the device isn't that expensive to begin with. Add to that the fact that so much CFW is available from day 1, and you have a fantastic UX from the moment you unpack the device. All in all, I'd have to say that the RGB20SX is an adorable little device.

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I really feel like we should all be able to figure out cooling issues as a mod, for most handhelds. There was this special gunk that CryoGaming had a video on for the Steam Deck but, im not sure if that was only going to be useful on the internal memory chip or if it works on more. We could also just add better ventilation and or a mini fan that's whisper quite. I've got a few small German made ones that are killer, dc, two wires.

I love my RGB30 and would get the RGB20SX, but it seems like it’s worth to wait for a newer version. The v2 of the the RGB30 (coloured buttons) has a better D-pad and less battery issues. So maybe the v2 of the RGB20SX will have more issues solved.

It'd be cool if one of these manufacturers innovated on the shoulder buttons. Hear me out: Foldable shoulder buttons. They fold into the shell for a seamless flat surface, and fold out for gameplay when you want 'em!

Every since you got me to buy the odin 2 , i watch every video . Even though im not buying ANYTHING ELSE NO TIME SOON 😅

I really wish they would just release a horizontal form of the device with the same screen but improved controls for like an extra $20 they could go all out and have amazing sticks and a great d-pad. Why can’t they just make a single GOOD device instead of a million variants that all have issues?! 😤

Waiting on the next gen where they finally add touchscreen support for RG30. A must for playing DS titles.

Love the inclusion of the more obscure titles

Thanks for the review. The charging issue alone is enough to ignore this, along with sucky dpad.

I'd love a vertical console like that, but one with similar power to (and similar price point of) the Odin 2. I really don't like the form factor of horizontal consoles and most vertical consoles are either completely insanely priced (ayaneo flip), or cheap but too weak to play more demanding things like PS2/GC emus. That being said, if you're in for PS1 or earlier games on a retro handheld these days, you're very well served on a reasonable price. You love to see it.

Everybody's Super Sonic racing Try to keep your feet right on the ground When you're Super Sonic racing There's no time to look around We're just Super Sonic racing Running to the point of no return Everybody's Super Sonic racing Come on, let the fire burn

I have the RGB30 and I LOVE the huge screen - but personally I like to fill up the screen so maybe I should have gone for something 4:3 instead. But also I don't mind cutting off the sides to fill up the screen which I know to some people would be crazy haah.

RGB30 is amazing

Great review as always. I really wish they get rid of those trigger-like back buttons that are not really triggers. The fact that are all in a single line makes hard and awkward to press, for example, the R1 and R2 at the same time. I would prefer back buttons similar to the SteamDeck's that let you easily use different fingers for each button.

Yeah, I'm sticking with the more comfortable RGB30 horizontal form factor, so much so I bought a second one in a different color as a spare when it went on sale. I just can't get used to the vertical format, from my DMG OG GB to my analogue pocket. FWIW, some 200-300 grit sandpaper does a great job in rounding out the edges on the D-Pad. So while you're doing a tape mod, just do a sanding mod too. I switched to ArkOS early on and never had the charging issues others see. However the reason I went to ArkOS was for the vibration motor mod support. GBA games "Goodboy Galaxy" and "Drill Dozer" are a ton of fun with the rumble support on the RGB30. I'm wondering if that black circle on the right side of the RGB20SX's PCB (at the 21:30 time marker in the video) has pads next to it for adding a vibration motor?

I returned my RGB30 due to the cheap plastic feeling, iffy buttons and awful power management/charging. The screen was absolutely stellar though, if they offer a proper horizonal v2 I'd definitely be interested.

I really hope one day Anbernic and PowKiddy will involve you in some handheld development, at least regarding to shell design. It is good that you can think objectively about these and highlight small but possibly annoying nuances which could lead to an overall better device on the market (or they do this with purpose not to create some perfect handhelds which is not ideal for business :) ).

I like vertical handhelds, but mostly when they are about the size of the miyoo mini plus because that's just about the size I can still use comfortably with one hand without sacrificing too much usability with two hands. Speaking of Neo Geo Pocket Colour ... I wish these companies would stop messing around and finally clone the digital stick on that baby, I'd want that over a dpad any day.

I definitely feel like I would enjoy classic Pokemon games on here

How balanced is that device in the hands? Im thinking between rgb30 and this, for travelling I guess this one better for comfortable home gaming, And rgb30 is better on the road, or to take it outside

Vertical handhelds are actually more comfortable while lying down.

Hi, just wanted to ask a silly question.. Does your steamdeck make plastic creaking sounds when you press on the surfaces or slightly twist or flex the device? I noticed on reddit many peoples steam deck does have plastic creak and feels a bit cheaply made. Is it normal for plastic device like steamdeck inevitably start to creak?

Non related question Russ, How long did it take for that arm sleeve and rate the pain level from 1-10 PPlease!!!!

Any help getting pico-8 setup? I've bought it and I'm dragging everything from the raspberry pi folder in the roms/pico8 folder. I choose "splore" and get a black screen for 2 seconds then back to the menu w/o it loading anything.

Do you think that other companies may come up with a big screen like these in the future? I already own an R36S, Miyoo Mini Plus, RG35XX Plus and Retro Pocket 4 Pro. Really looking for a pure Game Boy experience with such a big screen, but I also read and saw that the button quality is not on par with other devices.

what about the speakers? one of the biggest flaws of rgb30 they were side facing but i didn't see any mention of it here

Yeah im not going to buy another powkiddy anytime soon (bad rgb10max experience that became ewaste) but i hope some more square screen devices come along. I can play widescreen on my phone no problem but a "tall screen" device would be worthwhile if it was good

Review could just have been Russ stating into the camera: "Powkiddy does it again!" and after 5 seconds "RK3566" flashes in red across the screen and then the video just ends.