The RG Slide is one of ANBERNIC's first jabs at doing something innovative, creating something out of their own curiosity, and launching it without the typical history of copying what others have done or are currently working on.
I am happy that ANBERNIC believes in this product. We need more innovation from them; they have the funds and the capabilities to create new, incredible devices that differ from the competition.
The RG Slide is a foot in the right direction, and has likely come to fruition due to Sony's patent of sliding keypads for phones expiring on the 21st June 2025. Coincidence? I think not.
Does the RG Slide live up to all of the hype? Is it actually a good handheld games console, and does the sliding mechanism actually work?
Product Details
- Available From: 20th June 2025
- Pricing: $189.99
- Where To Buy: ANBERNIC.COM
- Competition: Retroid Pocket Mini
ANBERNIC RG Slide Specifications

- 4.7" LTPS Touch Display (1280 x 960) - 120HZ - 500 Nits
- Octa-core Unisoc T820 CPU (1xA76@2.7GHz + 3xA76@2.3GHz + 4xA55@2.1GHz)
- Quad-core Mali-G57 GPU
- 8GB RAM
- 5000MAH Battery
- Android 13
- 128GB Storage
- 2.4/5G WiFi & Bluetooth 5.0
The Box & Setup Process

The box is like any traditional ANBERNIC packaging, this time paired with a sleeve that showcases the handheld in a coloured image, something even the RG577 didn't get.
The RG Slide comes with a charging cable and even a screen protector, which I highly advise installing because this device is heavy to say the least, something I will get onto shortly.

When I turned on the device for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised to see that ANBERNIC has taken the time to create a custom setup process for the user and automatically installed a handful of Android-based emulators on the device from the get-go, without needing to log in to your Google account.
This isn't at the quality level of what GoRetroid are doing and is designed very poorly, but it does the job and is a step in the right direction for ANBERNIC.

The setup process feels like it was designed in Microsoft Paint. I've said the same in many of my previous ANBERNIC handheld reviews as a negative, and it still is a negative in the RG Slide to the user experience.
ANBERNIC can do better here, but it's obvious that it's not their focus right now. Still, ff I am spending $189 on a device, I expect a visually pleasing setup process.
It's A Chunky Fella!
When I pulled the RG Slide out of the box, I was shocked at how big, heavy, and thick this device is. It feels like one of those oversized PDA's from the 2000s, coming in at 380g in weight. That is roughly the same weight as a Nintendo Switch (390g).

That might not sound like a lot, but the small form factor when shut makes it look like it should weigh a lot less. The thickness when shut is also something you can't ignore, but that's one of the negatives of a sliding, portable form-factor.
ANBERNIC has rammed a whole games console in the form factor of a small smartphone, so the thickness is to be expected. Still, after sliding open the device this thickness dissipates slightly, and it feels much more like a handheld rather than a brick.
How Does It Look, Feel, And... Sound?
Now, let's get into the design aspects of the RG Slide. It's one of the areas that is not embargoed, and I can talk about it openly before the main embargo lifts on the 20th.
The RG Slide features a 4.7" LTPS Touch Display with a resolution of 1280 x 960. That's an aspect ratio of 4:3, making it great for retro games that fill up the entire display without black borders.
Put simply, an LTPS stands for 'Low-Temperature Polysilicon', a higher-quality material used to make the transistors that control each pixel on the screen. This means that they:
- Perform better than regular amorphous silicon transistors
- Allow for higher resolution displays
- Enable faster response times
The "New" Display

It's the first time ANBERNIC has used a display like this. I've had very few issues with their previous displays; they were bright, had great upscaling, and great saturation, so seeing a new display was, again, another small surprise but warmly welcomed considering that this is a "premium" device.
What I instantly noticed is that the contrasts were much improved to previous handhelds. White hues were perfectly exposed, and dark spots within games had high detailing, making retro consoles such as GameCube, Dreamcast, and PS2 look slightly more vivid in comparison to previous ANBERNIC products.

Viewing angles are not as good, but that doesn't matter much. The display itself looks a little shinier in person, but during gameplay, it's a nice display - there's simply no denying it. In a way, it feels like an OLED display, and it sits in a glass surrounding in a similar vein to what AYANEO has done in the past.

On either side of the display, you'll find front-facing speakers and two buttons, hidden in plain sight. These buttons offer access to emulator settings and menus on the fly. This makes it look minimal for sure and in some way nostalgic, as if it's a nod to those old 2000s slide-up phones and PDA's.
The screen slides up to reveal the controller behind it, paired with a strong spring to assist with pressure. The force needed is a natural amount and in no way will this spring up or down without using some muscle. That's just as it should be and what I would have expected, because we don't want this opening in a pocket when you jump off a curb - it will likely slice something off...
Welcome Back, Sliding Mechanic!
The moment you slide it up, you'll be greeted with an unpleasant "clack". It's a loud, plasticky sound, which is the two large, heavy components snapping together at the end of the rail. It rattles the entire handheld and sounds very unnatural.

I was expecting some kind of smooth "schlock" and to then feel a small rubber pad softening the blow at the end, but that isn't the case. It feels like it shouldn't make the noise it makes, but again, it is reminiscent of those 2000s sliding phones that would "clack" loudly because their makers wanted to cut costs.
Maybe the fact that I haven't used a sliding phone/device in a long time is why I was so unsettled by it, or perhaps I'm just comparing it to their RG35XXSP clamshell that snaps together softly because of the rubber pads.
Something feels very... 'apparent' when it opens and closes, like the whole room will look at you to see if you've dropped your phone. Instead, you've just pulled out a 380g black brick that looks like a PSP Go that's had too much pizza all its life and is playing God of War on PS2.
A look and audio of the sliding "snap"
I believe ANBERNIC will likely make this better in future sliding handhelds, as I am sure it will get comments when it ships later in the month.
That said, the sliding function works as it should, with little resistance. It's incredibly nostalgic and fun to use, and it brings life to a handheld in a way that clamshells don't. I believe many will love the function, but there's no denying that it feels loud and somewhat cheap when opening and closing.
The Hidden Controls

Once you've spent 15 minutes opening and closing the handheld hundreds of times and finally gotten it out of your system, you'll focus on the gamepad and controls that are hidden underneath the display.
When the device is "open", the weight and thickness distribution feels much better and far more natural. The display isn't heavy, so there's no imbalance. The weight is at the bottom, giving your palms the center of gravity and making it comfortable to play on for long periods. I forgot how comfy these things are to play on.

The analogue sticks are not Hall-joysticks, but are something called "high precision joysticks". I am not entirely sure why they are called that and am sad that Hall joysticks and their backlights haven't made an appearance here. But so far, these sticks have performed well.
They sit deep into the device so as not to rub against the sliding display. They have a small amount of travel to them, click down, and feel very secure with good grips. When you fully extend them in one direction, however, it reveals the stick's internals, something I rarely see.
This isn't a good look, and it's due to the rubber crown not being big enough to cover the base. This could mean that dirt, crumbs, or tiny objects could, in fact, fall into the device itself and stop the stick's fluid motion.

In typical ANBERNIC fashion, the D-pad is remarkable. It's thick and sturdy, yet easy to press. The same goes for the action buttons; these have a tough resistance and will need some force to press. They sit far from the receivers but feel nostalgic to press with no clicking noises, wrapped in a high gloss for that premium feel.
In between all of this is your very basic start and select buttons surrounded by a small black base that has some small detailing too it to fill up the empty space.
The rest of your buttons and ports such as a 3.5mm headphone jack, volume controls, and an on/off button can be found around the side of the handheld, along with a very tight SD card slot. I had to get my girlfriend to insert the card as the slot was too deep for my fat fingers to click it in.

The shoulder buttons are what you would expect here - small, clicky, and are in no way exciting to use, but they do the job and keep the handheld from being any thicker.
Many of you will know I am a fan of the stacked formation, but as aforementioned, this would add even more bulk to the device, which certainly isn't needed.
Gaming Performance
The OS/UX Combo

Darn it, ANBERNIC. I am getting bored writing about how low quality their user experience is, and it's one of the biggest reasons why ANBERNIC still feels like a "cheap Chinese handheld company." It's their biggest letdown.
Yes, it has Android 13, which opens up ample opportunites to use Android apps and Cloud Streaming. Their RG Launcher and setup experience is just so poor though, especially considering that competitiors like GoRetroid and AYANEO have had custom solutions for a long while now.
ANBERNIC really needs to catch up in this area as it makes the product feel cheap, and although it doesn't dull the gaming experience, so to speak, it does just add a grey cloud over the whole process of organisin your games library.
It's all very disappointing, and the annoying thing is that ANBERNIC knows it. They're too focused on releasing more handhelds than I've had hot dinners instead of cleaning up their user experience, and that has to change.
What On Earth Is ANBERNIC AI?

The time and investment they could have spent on upgrading their launcher and front end looks to have been spent on installing some kind of terrible AI assistant named "ANBERNIC AI" in app form.
It's now all over their social media and has become a prominent "feature" on their website. But in reality, it's just a terrible Android application that overlays in games to help with translations and questions.

The app is so bad that it gets you to agree to terms and conditions in Chinese before using it, without the ability to use the AI to translate it... which is one of the very few features that I would actually use this thing for. So, I agreed to it, and may have signed my life away to it unknowingly before testing.
This is a feature that nobody has asked for, and again, just like its launcher and setup guide, it's designed very poorly. I am frustrated to see ANBERNIC go down yet another route that makes the device feel incredibly cheap... which it is not.

ANBERNIC needs to be spending time on mastering the gaming experience from a software standpoint, and not launching terrible AI-focused apps that make the product a more negative experience.
My Overall (But Not Final) Opinion

- Unique fun sliding design
- Enough power to emulate PS2
- Good comfortability & battery life
- A welcomed new display
- Sliding mechanism sounds/feels cheap
- ANBERNIC's Launcher & UX Is Terrible
I am happy to see the return of sliding devices; it has been a long time coming. ANBERNIC has respectfully jumped on the opportunity to give their customers something different, and different it certainly is.
There's no denying that the structure, design, and power make this a fun gaming experience that can happily emulate consoles up to and including PS2 in a missed format.
However, it has a big problem, a problem ANBERNIC are obviously ignoring, and that is the user experience from ANBERNIC's side. Their competition are building far more pleasurable devices to explore retro games on, and customers are noticing.

ANBERNIC are so focused on quantity that this is yet another device that lacks quality from a software standpoint, which is something that should not be said about a $189 handheld of this calibre.
I can somewhat let that slide (pun intended) on their affordable devices under $99, but at this price point, I stand firm without budging.
It might have a lot of power and a fancy slide-up display, but it still feels like a typical ANBERNIC handheld once you turn it on, which is a real shame because I've said this time and time again about their premium devices.
ANBERNIC needs to step up if they want to step away from just being that "cheap handheld manufacturer".