If your eyesight is getting a little worse for wear, then you might need a magnifying glass for this tiny handheld! The GB Micro is a pint-sized playable handheld that you can hang from your keys, and it actually plays Game Boy & NES ROMs too! I've been putting it through its paces this morning, and while it's smaller than the height of a business card and my little finger (can you tell I only had those two things to hand while writing this article?), it's still a fun way to keep boredom at bay while on the go.
- Price: £39.69/$41.31
- Size: 50 x 32 x 13 mm
- Screen Resolution: 160x144
- Charging: USB C
- Available From: AliExpress
Any handheld aficionado will immediately know that this tiny GB Micro is based on the iconic Nintendo Game Boy DMG and even has the same speaker grill, grip lines on the back, and removable cartridge like it's much, much larger brother. With a tiny screen resolution of 160 x 114, you're certainly going to be squinting to see the text on games like Link's Awakening or Pokémon Red.
Still, if you don't want to mess around putting ROMs on here and just fancy having a little keychain gaming device to mess around with instead of doom-scrolling, then this miniature marvel comes with 18 games preloaded for you to play including Snake. Still, is it worth spending almost £37 or $42 for?
How Small Is It?
At just 50mm high, it's one of the smallest handhelds I've ever used that can actually play .gb games via the included microSD card (and I'll get onto that in a second. Yes, it's larger than the Thumby and the Funkey S, but make no mistake - this thing is tiny. You can see the comparison to the Game Boy DMG above and it doesn't even come up to the top of the D-Pad!
The handheld itself feels cheap, as do the buttons, and I'm pretty sure I've got permanent arthritis in my hands from an hour of gaming. I understand that it's sometimes difficult to make things feel premium when you're making such a small device, but the Funkey team have managed it with the Funkey S and the price only comes in at around £20 more. The Funkey S also emulates up to PS1 too compared to just Game Boy games! CRKD have managed to make a sturdy micro-controller in The ATOM and that costs £16, so really the GB Micro should feel a little sturdier and certainly shouldn't rattle when I give it a little shake...
Still, as this is a cheap little handheld, it's one that I wouldn't mind getting scuffed up against my keys in my back pocket or while dangling from my trolley as I push it around the supermarket. And the most important thing is that it works well and is very responsive. It even makes the same startup noise that the DMG makes, though I don't want to shout too loud about that in case Nintendo come knocking!
To say it's so small and simple, the GB Micro does have a few tricks up its sleeve, all of which are printed on a label that comes on the front of the bag it ships in. With the absence of a volume wheel, you can increase or decrease the volume using the Select button and the D-pad. I can also switch between DMG-style visuals and GBC visuals by pressing Select + A/B and switch be
What Games Come With The GB Micro?
The GB Micro comes with 18 homebrew games for players to take advantage of with the option of adding Game Boy ROM files to play their own titles if required. By pressing Start on the game selection screen, you can choose from 5 Game Boy games, 5 Game Boy Color titles, and 8 NES games, all homebrew titles and available to play without incurring a lawsuit. I've been playing GBC title Mona and The Witch's Hat this morning, and admittedly while my eyes feel like they're being poked out by hot sticks, it's all very playable... just not for much longer than a couple of minutes.
In terms of visuals, it actually looks clearer than the original DMG because of the included backlight. I would say that simple DMG games are the easiest to see and play on the tiny screen as there's not a lot going on in them. Having said that, the opening scene of Klondike made me feel like I was in a fever dream!
Charging & Adding Games
The battery in the GB Micro gives you about 3 hours of playtime, and you can quickly charge it using a USB-C cable from either your plug, portable charger, or laptop (mine's charging in my Macbook as I write this article). And as for games, the microSD card sits inside a small removable cartridge on the back of the handheld - I've got to admit that's a nice touch! If you want to add your own legally acquired ROMs onto the handheld, then it's just simply a case of inserting your microSD card into a converter, sticking it into your computer or laptop, and dropping your ROMs into the designated folders on the card.
Final Thoughts
As a novelty piece, this is a fun little bit of kit. I've shown it to my friends today and they've all reacted with pleasant surprise initially and then got bored after a few minutes. I feel like this is a gadget you would pick up for a little bit every now and again and then swap in favour of something that you don't have to squint like a short-sighted mole looking into the sun to use.
Would I recommend buying it at £37? That depends on how much you want to have a tiny playable console hanging from your keys. Would I recommend pre-ordering a Funkey S instead? Yes, but I would be less bothered if I damaged or lost the Micro GB, making it a fun little peripheral I don't mind throwing in my backpack or pocket if the feeling for micro gaming takes me. Combined with the fact that you can add your own ROMs into the equation, it makes for a great gadget for budding game builders to carry around with them to allow people to try out their games as a promotional marketing tool.
I'll admit, it definitely put a smile on my face, but it's never going to revolutionise your gaming set-up. Still, it's impressive that I can play Pokémon Red on something so small, even if I have to get out my magnifying glass to do it!
