Powkiddy never fail to amuse us, and this time their new upcoming handheld called the Powkiddy A20 is here to do what the Analogue Pocket couldn’t… become a reality.
Powkiddy have been renowned for releasing more handhelds than I’ve had hot dinners, and the Powkiddy A20 seems to moving away from the typical 1GB of RAM and slowish processors, but they’re not moving away from looking like other handhelds.
Powkiddy are soon to be releasing the Powkiddy X18S and their previous Powkiddy RGB10 was actually surprisingly good for the price, so hearing that they’re launching a handheld that plays PSP and the best Dreamcast games smoothly comes as a nice piece of retro news.
Powkiddy A20 Specifications
- 3.5″ IPS Display (640 x 480)
- 1.9Ghz S905D3 Quad-core A55 Processor
- 2GB RAM
- 3000MAH Battery (3.5 Hours)
- USB-C Charging
- Wifi/Bluetooth
- Android 9
- 3.5mm Headphone Jack
How Does The Powkiddy A20 Look?
Immediately you know it looks like the original Retroid Pocket, and it probably won’t be long before Soulja Boy’s TRDR Pocket takes the design for itself and claims it as “new”.
But that aside, it’s evolved from the old shell and now has a much sleeker, larger design with (finally), the addition of shoulder buttons.
It features a 3.5″ display on the front, and below that you have the signature N64 button layout that will surely captivate many retro gamers, alongside a Nintendo Switch analogue stick. This could make it a go to handheld for those of you that want to play the best N64 games on the go.
It’s a very boxy handheld, and although it doesn’t look like Powkiddy have been too innovative with it, the design will be quite comfortable. Just like in our Retroid Pocket review we mentioned we love the look of it, and how our fingers rested nicely on the back, the same will go for the Powkiddy A20.
It looks to have USB-C charging, a headphone jack, bluetooth, Wifi, mini HDMI-out, TF-Card Slot and some very odd looking volume buttons on the sie.
The shoulder buttons are a great addition, but they don’t look flared, they look similar to that of the Miyoo P60 which are flat, light and maybe a bit flimsy, but we’ll let you know once we get our hands on it.
Overall it looks sleek, the matte black shell gives it that modern look and because it has a 3.5″ display, it’s most likely going to be similar size to the Powkiddy A19 which is nicely portable if you like chucking these in your backpacks or pockets.
How Does The Powkiddy A20 Perform?
Our fellow retro handheld reviewer Sonic Love uploaded a video of it showcasing some impressive gameplay with comments suggesting this can play Dreamcast and PSP games fluidly, which is a change compared to RK3326 handhelds like the RG351P and Retroid Pocket 2.
At this moment in time, we advise taking this information with a grain of salt as this will be Powkiddy’s first attempt at this performance in such a small, compact handheld.
It’s about time someone launched an affordable handheld that can emulate those consoles well with a 6 action button layout! This may be the go too for those of you love playing the best fighting games on the go.
It’s a step in the right direction for sure, and even though Powkiddy are moving forward with product quality, at times it just doesn’t compare to its competitors.
Powkiddy A20 Release Date & Pricing
We have word from Powkiddy themselves that the Powkiddy A20 will launch on October 15th 2021 and will ship the week after, it looks like they want this out the door before Christmas, which is great.
Powkiddy have mentioned the following: “It will be mass-produced at the end of September, and a small-scale trial production will be conducted at the beginning of September”.
In terms of pricing, and taking the specs into consideration alongside previous handheld prices, we can imagine this will be priced between $80 and $120.
[Sources: Powkiddy]
