ANBERNIC RG477M Review: Metal Design Meets Mental Power

I have been waiting for ANBERNIC to release a new metal handheld for almost two years now. The last one they made was the RG405M and it was superb. The only downfall with it was that it couldn't emulate every PS2 game, only less power-intensive ones.

Well, that has all changed. The RG477M is bigger, heavier and packs a Dimensity 8300 Processor and 12 GB of RAM, making it capable of PS2 emulation at 2x native resolution.

Is this the portable, metal retro handheld we have all been waiting for?

Product Details

• Available From: 4th August 2025
• Pricing: $289.99
• Where To Buy: ANBERNIC.COM
• Other Competing Metal Handhelds: ModRetro Chromatic & AYANEO Pocket Micro

ANBERNIC RG477M Specifications

• 4.7" LTPS In-Cell Display (1280 x 960) @ 120Hz
• Octa-core Dimensity 8300 Procesor (1 x A715@3.35GHz + 3 x A715@3.20GHz + 4 x A510@2.2GHz)
• Mali-G615 MC6 GPU
• 12GB RAM
• Android 14
• 5300mAh Battery

The Metal Shell

When you first pull the RG477M out of the box, you'll immediately notice its weight. This thing comes in at 350g, which is almost the same weight as a Nintendo Switch (390g).

I have the silver version in, and typically in the past ANBERNIC's metal devices feature a matte finish; however, this time that's not the case. The RG477M keeps the shiny, grittier look that sparkles in the light as if it came straight off the CNC machine.

This shell is incredibly durable because... well, it's metal! Bumps, scratches (which will show) and everyday wear is no issue for this device; however, the weight is. Dropping this thing will certainly damage the internals and/or the screen.

So although it's durable, it's also prone to heavier fall damage, which could cause damage to the "non-metal" parts of the device, such as the joysticks, shoulder buttons, motherboard and display.

This is what I like to call an "indoor handheld". Yes, it's just about portable to put in your pocket, but you'll need to put the belt up a couple of notches so that it doesn't pull down your pants.

I love the metal body; it adds a premium feel to it, but it's not for everyone, and I totally respect that.

The Display

The screen takes up the majority of the face and features tiny black bezels around the display, something I wish wasn't there in all honesty, as I have a special liking to bezel-less displays found in other similar-priced devices, but I can live with it.

The display itself is gorgeous and is the same display featured in the ANBERNIC RG Slide that we reviewed a few weeks ago. This uses a new form of technology called LTPS, which stands for low-temperature polysilicon and basically means it can:

• Perform better than regular amorphous silicon transistors
• Allows for higher resolution displays
• Enable faster response times

This display is bright, easily visible outdoors, has a lighter contrast to older ANBERNIC displays and is incredibly crisp when upsclaing games.

The Design

Around the display, you'll find your signature, strong and sturdy DPAD, which I absolutely love. I am glad ANBERNIC hasn't changed this. Below that LED hall-joysticks that feature removable grips.

These are comfortable, work well, have great travel to them and the LEDs underneath are very bright, so much so that they're still easily visible in broad daylight. They do protrude a lot, so you'll find it snagging in bags or pockets fairly often, so I recommend getting a case for this.

The action buttons are high gloss, multi-coloured and have a strong, firm press to them that requires a normal amount of pressure. They'll drop into the device nicely too, rather than "click".

Across the chin, you'll find four buttons, such as start, select, the ANBERNIC button and a home button. These all do a multitude of things in games and in emulation menus. They're easy to understand and easy to access.

Along the side of the RG477M, you will find no buttons or ports, which shows off the stunning metal curves your hands rest on. Up top are your shoulder buttons, which are incredibly clicky and very loud.

I have not seen these shoulder buttons in an ANBERNIC device before, they're slightly curved and the LS/R2 buttons raise ever so slightly above L1 and R1. They work well, are durable, but the sound will slowly irritate you over the weeks, and likely your friends/family too if you're playing on this around them constantly. Nobody wants loud shoulder buttons, right?

Between them, you'll find a power on button, volume buttons, an LED light indicator and ventilation for the fan.

At the bottom, there is a USB-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an SD card slot, alongside two speaker grills.

Flip the device around, and the back feels very... empty, as if the designer just gave up. It's flat with no curves, and two very cheap plastic "grips" which do nothing. They're not made of rubber to stop it from sliding off surfaces, and they're not centralised either.

The logo and model information are also misaligned, making the whole back of the device feel very out of place. It's a real shame because the rest of the device looks and feels beautiful; however, the back looks like... a mistake.

OS/UX

The RG477M runs on Android 14, and ANBERNIC has recently installed a setup process for its users that they have installed on all of their handhelds released from 2025 onwards.

This was a requested addition from us for a couple of years, and although they eventually got around to helping their customers set up the device, it's still very poorly designed. Once you get through that painful process, you will be greeted with your Android homepage with an array of pre-installed Android emulators.

ANBERNIC allows you to use either the Android OS, which is what I us,e as its simply, effective and provides easy access to your Android games.

Or you can use ANBERNIC's own launcher, but again, it's poorly designed, very simple and stands out like a soar thumb on a $289 device when you compare it to the likes of GoRetroid and AYANEO who make cheaper devices in the space.

ANBERNIC have just not got the whole software part right, and that's across every single one of their devices and is one of the biggest negatives about their brand. It shouldn't take a lot of time or investment to build a beautiful front-end for their devices. They're just lazy and would rather focus on launching a new product in 8 weeks time.

If you can ignore ANBERNIC's software and use Android's instead, it will be a semi-pleasant experience, but there's no denying that a custom-made front end to match the beautiful hardware is expected at this price level.

ANBERNIC AI?

As I write this part, I realise that most of this article has been negative, but that changes in the next section about performance. That said, there's no glossing over the fact that ANBERNIC are shoving their AI software down your throat when you turn this on.

It's also a "feature" amongst their specifications, which I won't go as far as saying, it's more of a cheap distraction or a gimmick.

ANBERNIC has created an ANBERNIC AI application for Android that basically uses terrible AI responses to help with your gaming needs. For example, one part of it is being an AI chatbot that steals copyrighted material from the web to answer your queries without crediting the owner of that content.

The answers are typically low quality and take up to 60 seconds to respond to you (so long that the device goes to sleep before it generates a response). Another part generates crappy images for you, alongside an AI shop of some kind? This is all just terrible and lowers the overall product and quality of their brand. This is not what gamers want, and the product itself is pretty useless.

I just can't imagine the ANBERNIC team sitting together and thinking "this is great, let's add this to our product, our customers will love it". It's likely more along the lines of following the trend and shipping something half-baked... as usual.

Gaming Performance

Finally, the good part. The stunning metal shell meets pocket power, and that's what makes this device so magical. It's one of the most powerful, truly portable metal retro handhelds on the market.

The strong choice of CPU, matched with 12GB's of RAM and a Mali G615 GPU allows this to perform incredibly well across the board.

For example, I tested two incredibly strenuous PlayStation 2 games. Need For Speed: Most Wanted and God of War. The RG477M could emulate them effortlessly, and even welcomed 2.5x native resolution with zero issues.

Playing PS2 games at above 2.5x on a 4.7" display looks incredible, yes some text in certain games is small, but it doesn't bother me. Anything smaller than this screen size, and it will start to get annoying for sure.

GameCube works well too in scaled resolutions, and even PSP games don't look too squished on this display, making it a great all-around for those that want powerful and reliable "high-end" emulation in a metal device.

Consoles like the GAME BOY Advance, Nintendo 64 and Mega Drive all look great on here too, with no issues, just expect some branded borders around the games.

Does it get warm?

When you're emulating high-end games for anything over 30 minutes, you will notice the metal shell will warm up quite quickly. This doesn't get "hot" but will get warm, and there's no way around this with it being a metal device.

They could have encapsulated some thermal insulation inside the shell, but that's likely a little overkill. So if you don't like warm handhelds, this won't be for you.

The same goes for when it's left out in the cold, or playing in cold countries, it will contain the heat effectively, which again might annoy some of you in colder climates.

Battery Life?

With great power comes poor battery life. This is a portable device, and is small, so the battery capacity is fairly "average" for a retro handheld like this. However, the specs are very power hungry, meaning I would only get 4 - 6 hours out of one charge when emulating anything about SEGA Dreamcast.

This isn't ideal, and I would have liked to see a bigger battery capacity, but this is just where we are at this moment in time in terms of battery capacity on retro handhelds.

Any handheld that can emulate PS2 at 2.5x native resolution will sap your battery. Period.

Extra Bits

To switch between casual and high modes, and to switch on your fan settings, you can do so by swiping down from the top of the screen, and the Android menus will show handheld settings.

This is quite nice to change settings on the fly and turn off the fairly loud fan settings.

Inside the packaging, ANBERNIC has added a case for the device too, which I believe is the first time they have done this. It's a nice touch and helps protect from pesky scratches; however, it takes away from the beautiful shell.

Overall Opinion

I have a soft spot for metal handhelds, there's no denying it. The way they feel, alongside the premium, heavy design, makes it different from all of the other choices on the market, and there are thousands!

That design, matched with incredible Playstation 2 performance, makes this an almighty device that I will use regularly. It scratches my EDC itch and pairs well with modern aesthetics.

However, there are areas that ANBERNIC need to work on, like the lack of attention to their front-end and installation guide. The back panel is boring with no grips, and the battery life could be better.

There's also the worry of taking this out and dropping it. The metal protects it from minor bumps and scratches but increases the impact from drops due to the additional weight of the shell.

This is a super niche device, and I get that. But if you're into metal devices, and finally want one that can emulate up to Playstation 2 flawlessly, then this is the best you are going to get under $300 for a good while.