ANBERNIC are going crazy with the product launches recently, and more of their new products are being teased as the days go by.
For example the recent RG505 was revealed on their YouTube channel as of yesterday showing a RG351P look-a-like with a wider screen that can emulate some of the best PS2 games.
Now just a few hours later a new ANBERNIC handheld has been leaked on Instagram by user cn_play_ which shows a device that looks like the popular Miyoo Mini.
This doesn’t surprise me at all, as the Miyoo Mini has been one of the best selling retro handhelds of the year so far, bringing in new gamers to the niche and they even updated the device very swiftly with their version two shortly after launch.
ANBERNIC being ANBERNIC must have seen the huge success and want a piece of the mini pie. The leaked video shows a very small device, almost identical to that of the Miyoo Mini, but instead it has flared shoulder buttons, much like their bigger RG351V.
If I had to guess, the unit showed is their prototype, and is not the finalised product. It looks far too simple to be an ANBERNIC product. Typically they like to jazz it up with new colours, or even a Famicom sticker on the front to give it a quality look.
Who knows, we could even get a metal variant, but it’s unlikely. They haven’t made a metal handheld in a very long time.
This mini handheld from ANBERNIC could be a good competitor to the Miyoo Mini, the Miyoo Mini sits in a place on the market that has very little competition due to the pricing and portability of the device.
Yes, ANBERNIC has their RG280V, but it’s a little outdated, under powered and still not reasonably prices. Miyoo got it right with the price and fun colour variants of the device, alongside the easy to use user interface.
ANBERNIC could pull this off, but it all comes down to price and built quality, something which ANBERNIC has been lacking recently, as mentioned in the video below on our YouTube channel.
CN_PLAY_, the user who has leaked this device has had a good track record of getting their hands on devices before anyone else. They are situated near the factories in China that manufacture most of the upcoming handhelds that we see.
So, I somewhat believe this could be true, mainly because of ANBERNIC’s greed of wanting to pump out more handhelds than I have hot dinners.
In terms of design, and comfortability, I think it will be a nice handheld to play with, especially with the flared shoulder buttons which is a personal preference of mine.
Update August 25, 2022
Max Zhou, owner of Anbernic, has released a concept image via Baidu.
We can now see what the new device might look like in its final form.
The new “Anbernic Mini” appears to be a larger version of the Miyoo Mini, and is taking similar inspirations from the original Nintendo line of products.
Perhaps Anbernic will offer a wider range of color options this time around.
Update 26th September 2022
While this image is likely photoshopped or altered in some way it does give us a glimpse of what the upcoming mini handheld could look like if it uses the RG353V aesthetics, transparent shell and historical buttons.
This was “leaked” on Instagram by cn_play, a page that usually leaks handhelds, but for some reason this one is looking more suspicious than usual, so please take it with a pinch of salt.
It still looks bigger than the Miyoo Mini, so i’s likely to have a slightly bigger screen and possible larger shoulder buttons.
Overall, I am liking the look of this leaked design (if it’s real), and it could be a good competitor for the king of mini handhelds, that is the Miyoo Mini.
ANBERNIC’s Mini Handheld Release Date & Pricing
As of now there is no official information regarding release date or pricing of this device, heck there’s not even an official name, but if we had to guess, it will be under $100 and released before Christmas of this year.
We will update this article with more information once we receive it.
