It’s that time of year when handheld companies release as many handhelds as they can, in hope that they can take advantage of the Christmas period.
ANBERNIC have done this many years in a row, and have now officially revealed the all new RG35XX Plus, a upgraded version of the popular RG35XX which we have reviewed in the past.
This comes shortly after the reveal of the ANBERNIC RG Arc, which I am currently reviewing this week and thoroughly enjoying. So it’s obvious ANBERNIC are working their butts off at the moment.
Update November 21, 2023: Anbernic followed up with a second promotional video with the full spec list. So we now know that the Plus model of the RG35XX will make use of an Allwinner H700 CPU. We also finally got a close look at the rear of the device, showing the new battery door and improved trigger design. I absolutely love the new look. To clarify any possible confusion, the RG35XX Plus still has a 3.5 inch screen. And it does dual-boot between the stock Anbernic OS and Black Seraph's Garlic OS, which will be available day one. Android is possible on this chipset, but it has been confirmed that the RG35XX Plus will not have Android when you purchase it. Update November 23, 2023: The pre-order page is now live and shows a $57.99 early bird price tag, which increases to $63.99 some time after.
Table of Contents
What’s different?
Many of you will be wondering what’s new to the RG35XX Plus, and if it’s worth upgrading from the original.
Well, there’s not a whole lot of new features in all honesty, and nothing has been “officially” announced yet in terms of specs. But the “Plus” in the name indicates a slight upgrade to its performance, and not its size.
In the description of ANBERNIC’s video, it states that the RG35XX Plus can play up to and including PSP, Nintendo DS and Dreamcast games, which wasn’t possible on the original.
The original only performed well up to Playstation 1 games, so it could be a potential upgrade for those that love this Game Boy DMG aesthetic if you have the OG.
It has also been leaked that it has a slightly different battery door mold, indicating the possibility of a removable battery and it’s likely to have a 4500MAH battery ready to go. Which, again, is a decent upgrade from the original.
There is so some adjustments to the shoulder button design too. ANBERNIC has indicated that it will have “better ergonomics” which is great to hear, as we mentioned the terrible shoulder buttons in our full RG35XX review, so it’s good to see that they are listening!
In a leak on Discord a ANBERNIC member of staff said: “it will have a CPU better than the ATM7039” which is good news and confirms that it could have great Dreamcast emulation performance.
Other Features
The promotional video shows the ability to use the HDMI out to connect to the TV and then connect the RG3XX Plus up to a wide number of bluetooth controllers so that you can play with friends.
This is a neat, but i have found I rarely use this features in a handheld of this size.
Obviously it has WiFi, and it has been announced that it has Moonlight Streaming too, so you can stream your PC games to it, should you want to.
My Quick Thoughts
Even though I wasn’t a fan of the original RG35XX, I know a lot of our readers are. So, I do believe many handheld enthusiasts will pick this up, because PSP and Dreamcast is incredibly enjoyable to play on a device with a 3.5″+ screen.
Consoles more demanding and newer than that require far more screen real estate, so it could be the perfect $99 vertical handheld for those wanting PSP/DC emulation.
I just hope it doesn’t feel as plastic-y this time.
I have one coming in for review in the next couple of weeks so be sure to hang around for my unbiased opinions.
Release Date & Pricing
The ANBERNIC RG35XX will go on pre-sale on the 25th November 2023 at 18:00 Beijing Time.
Their listing page is now live, and shows that the RG35XX Plus will start at $57.99 for early bird buyers and will increase to $63.99 soon after.
There will be white, gray and transparent black color variations.
