An alternative to the Miyoo Mini Plus
I highly recommend installing GarlicOS game launcher and replacing the the MicroSD Card with a reputable brand such as SanDisk or Samsung.
How much?
$25 too much
Part of the fun (or annoyance) with this device is setting it up how you like it. You can stay stock, but most would suggest not doing so. There's plenty of written and video guides on how to set it up more optimally.
Most commonly, it's usually suggested to not use the stock SD card/OS, as they're prone to failure (thus losing all your saves), and/or the games provided aren't organised well (plus many favs are missing).
You can run a single SD card set-up, but most would suggest using a dual set-up; the custom OS on the smaller SD card (<8GB is fine), and the games on a larger SD card (anything from 32GB to 256GB; you would only need the larger sizes if you're planning to play a fair number of PSX games). But for cost purposes, you can just run a single SD card set up perfectly fine.
For Roms, search up on google 'Tiny Best Set Go', or 'Pungent Best Set'. There's many such packs on archive.org ; and if you're keen to explore more, consider Romhacks (which provided either QoL changes/translations/colorisation updates, or entirely new game experiences).
It can be a bit overwhelming, so you might prefer to just pick a few games instead of having everything available. Having an OS like GarlicOS or FinUI gives you a favourites list option.
Once installed, you can also get custom themes and useful mods/apps on: https://www.rg35xx.com/en/
You can also find relevant subreddits: /r/rg35xx ; /r/anbernic ; /r/sbcgaming
I bought two for the kids. Can I mod them to just show a couple of games on the main screen so they don't get confused?
Can you link two consoles together to play 2 player?
MinUI (or FinUI, which is a fork) would be a better OS then Garlic OS for younger kids.
You can just download those Rompacks and choose to keep only the ones you want to make it less complicated.
I don't think there's much player 2 player options unfortunately due to the lack of WiFi capability, but try and use a search engine to see if anyone as solutions. Or ask the subreddit. If it's a game like Pokemon that has trading, usually people play a Romhack version so it's not required.
I've seen people apparently link it up to a TV and connect a controller for 2 person play, but that requires specific parts/cables.
Damn thought too long and missed it.
Don't worry, I expect it will go on sale again. Sometime in the next year RG35xx will be updated.
Furthermore MiyooMini plus is an alternative that also goes on sale frequently too.
If you get Temu (pay with paypal) you can find good deals.
Still available in purple for $67
would not recommend…you're not gonna get anything good for under $50 it will be junk. if you want to go super cheap datafrog is the bare minimum, however would recommend to look up some more reputable brands e.g. powkiddy,
Might give the power kiddy x39 a shot it's similar price to this one.
if you want something really cheap but is somewhat OK. Get the datafrog SF2000. I saw it going for <$20 AUD at one point.
I use my nvidia shield for loungeroom retro arcade titles, how good is this with mame roms? Is it powerful enough?
How? I thought my shield just runs tv apps
Side load retroarch via usb, get urself an sdcard, load it full of roms. Download cores through retroarch and you are good to go. I have over 6000 games on mine. If you find retroarch to complicated you can get mame4rom via the appstore.
Yep I got the same
Good price. Due to the screen size and power don't bother with anything above PS1. The NDS doesn't really work on this device, it's too fiddly. I have a retroid pocket 3+ but I basically keep this one on me a lot, cheap enough to not worry about scratches and fling in a bag. I like playing the old arcade games on Final Burn Neo - metal slug series is a blast on this.
RG353PS Is available for $130 (sideways version)
Damn i should have gotten this but have a GBA SP to play with
Purple is still in stock
Yep, but price has gone up.
Dang and I thought getting a Miyoo Mini plus at $84 delivered was a bargain. These things keep getting cheaper. Wish the more powerful handhelds would come down in price
FYI when I click through on the link it is 60.90 delivered?
Go for it
Yeah looks like the price has dropped a bit again, not quite down to the OP price though.
A couple of USD more inc tax
$67.65 AUD with taxes and shipping. Still great price.
Purple still on sale as of 21:39 AEDT
Mine already shipped out, that's pretty fast, or is that just AliExpress BS shipping notice?
Just the BS notice
Still, don't be surprised if you've received in a week.
Mine turned up today, pretty impressive little unit for $62.23 delivered :) It only took a week to arrive as well
I grabbed put the tiny best set on a new MicroSD along with Garlic OS. The stock card works and has some game and you can also boot GarlicOS from it, but it's a generic card that I expect to fail soon. I went for the clean option.
still waiting on mine
Did you get an Australia post tracking? Tracking says it been handed over to auspost but no local tracking number provided
Yeah I got Australia Post tracking a few days ago
How did you manage to have the different console names showing on home page Garlic OS. Mine just shows pictures under the consoles tab with no console names
I didn't. It's a little annoying that there are only icons, but you'll remember what they are in time :D
The Garlic OS write-up is great but sounds super time-consuming. Is it good enough to copy all the files off the original microSD, onto a higher quality one and just use the device the way it came?
Also in the manual there is an option to switch to GarlicOS, is this the same one that is outlined in OP's guide?
You'd need to copy all of the partitions from the original card to a new one. It has 4 partitions. 2 are ext4
Garlic OS is easy as. Just get the img and write it to a new card with something like Balena Etcher, then copy the files from the fat32 partition onto your PC. delete and recreate the fat32 partition using all remaining space on the card. Then copy the stuff back to it. Then copy roms, etc to the folders on the fat32 partition. It takes 2 minutes to set up :) I've been playing with scummvm and dosbox pure as well. I also updated some of the garlic os cores with newer versions. You can use it with the stock card, but you're not getting the best out of it
Ok thanks for that, I'm going to attempt that tonight.
Would it be ok to copy over the roms off the original SD?
Yep, that would be fine
All these games pre-installed, not one Tetris game? :(
I instantly removed the included SD card and set up a new one.
Should take 2 minutes to find, download and install the classic GB tetris if that's what you want :)
I'm loving this device. Currently loading it up with c64 games and using Skraper to download the box art so it looks all pretty in garlic os
ScummVM works a treat as well
I agree it's really well-built. A tiny bit on the small side for my hands (and eyes) though. very fun to play.
Is there a 5" screen version of this?
I actually performed th stock games to tiny set go.
The FC contra has 30 lives by default lol
Is anyone having issues with volume not working after installing GarlicOS. No matter what i do the volume buttons do not work.
Hmm, weird, I haven't had that issue. I did notice I have to hold them down for a while before they do anything though.
Do they work in the stock OS?
I didnt try on the stock firmware
Hmm is it possible the speakers were faulty?
Son of a …. I bought one of these this morning about two hours before this deal was posted. Dammit!