It seems like there’s a trend to drip feed handheld released information over the span of a couple of weeks recently (it’s probably better for marketing reasons), and GoRetroid have finally announced release dates and pricing for their two upcoming models, the Pocket 5 and the Pocket 5.
Specs have already been revealed with both devices rocking a Snapdragon 865 CPU, enough to “handle PS2 games” according to GoRetroid’s X account. But only time will tell. We hope to get both units in for review once released and to prove this correct.
Retroid Pocket 5 & Retroid Pocket Mini Pricing
Prices are as expected, GoRetroid has always been good at pricing their handhelds competively, and this again follows that trend which I am delighted to see. It also looks like there’s only one variation of each device, without additional RAM or upgrades.
It was announced that both the 5 & the Mini will feature 6GB’s of RAM, but you can use 4GB of the internal memory to be allocated to virtual RAM, increasing the total to 10GB’s. This maybe why it can apparently handle PS2 games well (according to GoRetroid), it’s the first time we’ve seen this in a sub $200 retro handheld, so hopefully it turns out well.
The Retroid Pocket Mini will retail for $199, but those who get the early bird pre-orders can snag one for $189. There is typically a number of devices left for early-birds, maybe 100 or so, but if you miss out on that the pre-order price is $194, so only $5 more.
I am surprised to see that the Retroid Pocket 5 is only $20 more than the Retroid Pocket Mini, with it retailing for $219 after launch, or $199 for early birds, and $209 for pre-orders. I must give it to GoRetroid, it’s a well priced handheld and i think these will sell like hot cakes.
Retroid Pocket 5 & Retroid Pocket Mini Release Date
The Retroid Pocket Mini and Retroid Pocket 5 pre-orders go live at the same time:
- United States PDT = 18:00 on 9th September 2024
- United States EST = 21:00 on 9th September 2024
- United Kingdom GMT = 02:00 on 10th September 2024 (Set your alarms folks)
- China, Beijing CST = 09:00 on 10th September 2024
- Australia, Sydney AEST = 11:00 on 10th September 2024
It’s an odd time to release, but if you want it, it’s likely many (especially our European readers) will have to set alarms to catch those early bird prices. GoRetroid are usually pretty good with stock and have to “sell out” at launch, so i’m confident there will still be many to order a few days after the pre-orders go live.
There has been no information regarding release date, but I can imagine that will be later in the month, we’ll keep you posted, but it’s likely to inform you when you order from them! It’s also worth noting that both devices work with their recently revealed Retroid Dock, so you can stream it to a display and use bluetooth controllers as a home console.
You can pre-order the Retroid Pocket 5 here when listing goes live, or the Retroid Pocket 5 Mini here when the listing goes list.
