Today, GoRetroid announced that the metal shell edition of the Retroid Pocket 3+ is finally coming for sale to the public.
This is not the first time we’ve seen the metal shell version of the Retroid Pocket 3+.
But when it was shown on the GoRetroid Youtube account two months ago, they said that this was simply a concept they were exploring.
Well it sounds like the fan response was enough to encourage them to move forward.
Retroid Pocket 3+ Metal Edition
As we can see from GoRetroid’s new promo video, they are really leaning into the “metal” theme. As in heavy metal music.
But we are not here to judge their thematic selection, we’re here for the handhelds. So what exactly are we seeing today?
From what we can see in the one promo image available, this appears to be an identical form to the plastic version of the Retroid Pocket 3+. Except, of course, it is now made of glorious aluminum.
The new metal shell version of the RP3+ will fit in the GoRetroid official line of grips and should pair well with any custom buttons or skins you may want to use, as well.
The one and only thing I am noticing is that the joysticks do look different. This could just be the render, but they do look smaller and more recessed into the shell on the new metal version.
GoRetroid has also made no mention of any changes made to the Retroid Pocket 3+ we already know. Safe to bet that it’s going to be 100% the same on the inside.
The color scheme that they chose to show us first isn’t my favorite. It certainly reminds me of the Anbernic RG280M gradient metal shell.
Ideally, GoRetroid offers us a handful of colors to choose from on launch day. Black is always an easy sell for me and also should appeal to most consumers.
But the Retroid Pocket 2 and 3 both had some fun colorways. Fingers crossed they planned much more than just this green and blue gradient. Cause I kinda hate it.
But metal shell – yes please. Sign me up.
Purchasing Information
The new Retroid Pocket 3+ Metal Edition is going to be available for purchase on June 17th at 10am Beijing time here.
GoRetroid has not yet announced the price of the new metal shell version of their popular handheld.
The Retroid Pocket 3+ sells for $149usd from most retailers. The metal shell upgrade will likely add around $30 to that price. So we should anticipate a pricetag of right around $179usd.
Update June 15th: The Metal Edition is actually already on the GoRetroid website as a color option on the Retroid Pocket 3+ sale page. So it is confirmed that the new model will sell for $179. Sadly, this might indicate that there will only be one color option offered for the metal edition. That page currently reads "Sold Out", but that is simply because they have yet to go live. Keep an eye on that page for the official launch.
The release of this new metal shell version could also push the price of the original plastic version down a tiny bit.
We are quite pleased with GoRetroid as of late, and this new metal shell version of the Retroid Pocket 3+ is certainly a good thing in our book.
And I’ve got zero doubts that many of our followers will eat this thing up.
