Anbernic has slowly clawed its way into the Android handheld market with stellar offerings that have excellent build, quality, a nostalgic design language, and powerful guts that can play AAA games without breaking a sweat. The shell options and the freedom to choose from a variety of form factors, right from tiny pocket devices to Nintendo-inspired designs, make their handheld gaming consoles special.
Now the Guangdong-based gaming accessories maker has just revealed the RG 55G1 handheld, which has more of the Nintendo-style layout. There were rumors in the air that the company was working on a couple of handhelds based on the discontinued Nintendo devices, but for now, the maker has announced just one of them. This is the Anbernic RG 55G1 handheld, which gives off the Nintendo Switch Lite vibes. If I compare it to the existing models, the new handheld does look pretty similar to the Retroid Pocket 6.
Designer: Anbernic
While on the superficial level, the handheld is inspired by the Switch Lite, on a closer look, it has some key differences. The device has “double shot” face buttons teased in the video trailer. While I don’t exactly have an idea what that means, it could be the buttons being made out of dual layers of molded plastic – one for the button functionality and the other for text function. Glass on the handheld is gently curved at the edge, and Anbernic calls it the 2.5D glass design. Predictably, the handheld gets the Hall-Effect joysticks and triggers, along with the USB-C port and SD card slot to complete the functionality set.
The horizontal orientation handheld is speculated to have a 5.5-inch display and could most likely be powered by the Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 SoC. If the latter is true, this will be the first time an Anbernic handheld will have a Qualcomm processor, as opposed to the MediaTek or RockChip processors in previous versions. These two speculations stem from the fact that the naming convention usually gives away the device’s specifications, as with the previously released versions. If the handheld has this hardware, playing PlayStation 2 games should be a breeze on this retro-futuristic device.
For now, there is no revelation about the other hardware specs, nor is there any hint of the release date or the pricing. The only thing conclusive is the color options that the RG 55G1 will be released in – Indigo, Retro Gray, and Black. This is the second handheld announcement this week, along with the AYANEO Pocket Micro 2 powered by a Snapdragon chip, on which we’ll have more in the coming days.
