Just as we finished writing about the reveal of the smaller GKD Mini Plus, they then reveal on the same livestream the bigger and better GKD Mini Plus Classic.
GKD are wanting to make a comeback, after a long wait they have now revealed not one, but two new handhelds.
The GKD Mini Classic looks to be the larger vertical handheld, with a more premium look, two extra analogue sticks and the same RK3566 chip.
It’s likely they saw the success of the RG351V and wanted a piece of the pie. In all honesty, it’s about time a good vertical handheld came to compete!
GKD Mini Plus Classic Specifications
- 3.5″ Display (640 x 480)
- 1.8Ghz RK3566 CPU
- 3000MAH Battery
- 1GB RAM
- USB-C Charging
- Two Micro SD Card Slots
- Headphone Jack
What’s new?
Well, everything! This is a brand new handheld designed with the Gameboy Color in mind. In their livestream they did not show a working unit, in fact they could only show the prototype mould, and they compared the sizing with the Gameboy Color.
Positioning two analogue sticks at the bottom of the device is odd and extremely uncomfortable, but many are doing it this year, so it looks like GKD has followed.
In terms of specs, it’s almost identical to their recently revealed GKD Mini Plus, but instead it has been redesigned in a larger, sharper shell with what looks like a removable battery and the same tiny shoulder buttons.
The design (without the placement of the sticks) looks incredibly sleek, and I love the addition of the sharp corners and a cartridge look-a-like on the back that says “hello”.
I am not entirely sure what the 3 means on the front, but you can tell the design is inspired by the original GKD Mini in many ways, it’s as if its evolved into a larger form.
The GKD Mini Plus Classic is still in early development, but could potentially launch before the end of the year. The vertical market is certainly under served at this moment in time, so seeing a new competitor on the scene is exciting.
I just hope that they can price it correctly and get it shipped in a reasonable amount of time. With older GKD products, they released them on Kickstarter so it may be likely that that’s the route they go with this one.
As of now there’s not much information about this device apart from the screenshots you have seen above, keep an eye on their website for more details.
We will update this article with more information once we receive it.
A 29 year old fella that’s had a Gameboy addiction ever since he was a child. Brandon is the founder of RetroDodo and created a YouTube channel with 240,000 subscribers dedicated to retro gaming products. He now wants to create the No.1 site to showcase the latest retro products from around the globe.
