GoRetroid has shocked the handheld community with a surprise launch of the highly anticipated Retroid Pocket 4 and 4 Pro, just before the holidays.
It should go without saying that longtime fans of the GoRetroid Pocket handheld line have been dying for a new iteration with more power and a sleek design.
And it would seem that they got their wish, just in time for Christmas.
Update December 18, 2023: Today, GoRetroid confirmed that orders for the RP4 and RP4Pro will go live on December 20th at 8pm Eastern. They added the additional detail that shipping is expected to begin on January 15th, 2024 for RP4 Pro and January 25th, 2024 for the RP4.
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How Is It Looking?
There could be two contrasting responses to the newly revealed RP4:
“I’m glad they kept that awesome design from the Retroid Pocket 3” or “Did they really just recycle the design from the Retroid Pocket 3?!”
I’m actually on the team that wishes they hadn’t have just given us the same design yet again.
I wanted to see something creative with their next flagship device. This just feels like a Retroid Pocket 3++.
But, if you were a fan of that device, then you’re essentially getting the same overall vibe but with a much stronger chipset.
To spot the differences, you’d need to have a lot of experience with the RP3. Or just compare the two side by side like we did below.
As you can see, the new Retroid Pocket 4 leverages the really incredible hall joysticks that were featured on the latest from GoRetroid – the Retroid Pocket 2S.
These were some of the nicest joysticks on any handheld, so we’re glad to see them returning.
And we can also see that they have moved the Android Home/Back buttons and Start/Select to the face of the device. That’s something that we would class as a must-have-feature, and we were not too happy with in the RP3 design.
So yet again, Retro Dodo is classing this as a win.
I have also spotted some well designed trigger buttons, which look a bit more premium and ergonomic.
So overall, it appears that a lot of thought was put into this revisited design. It might not be wildly different from the RP3 on first glance, but it included all of the necessary improvements.
The initial colorway offerings appear to be an opaque black, their two SNES 16-bit retro colors, transparent red, transparent blue, and a new clear model.
Sadly, no fan-favorite transparent green like the new Retroid Pocket 2S. But we wouldn’t be surprised to see more colors and a metal shell offered next year.
What About Performance?
Obviously the biggest change we will see in the new Retroid Pocket 4 will be in its game play performance.
GoRetroid has opted to make two distinct models at launch, giving the players the choice of desired performance.
The two chipsets offered are the MediaTek Dimensity 990 and MediaTek Dimensity 1100. Obviously the 1100 will offer a substantial boost in capability.
But essentially, we’re looking at two new CPU options that very comfortably put the Retroid Pocket 4 into Game Cube, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 3DS, and Playstation 2 ability.
We can’t promise they will all be 100%, but since the previous RP3+ could do a lot of them, we expect it to hit high percentages.
We will also have zero concern with our Dreamcast, N64, PSP, PS1, Nintendo DS, and all retro console performance, all of which should easily be at 100%.
Surely, those asking for more power in the GoRetroid handhelds got their wish for the holidays.
Retroid Pocket 4 / 4 Pro Specifications
- Processor: MTK D900 / MTK D1100
- CPU: [email protected] [email protected] / [email protected] 4xA78@ 2.6GHz
- GPU: G68 MC4@900MHz / G77 MC9@836MHz
- RAM: 4GB LPDDR4X / 8GB LPDDR4X
- Storage: 128 GB UFS 3.1+TF Card Slot
- Display: 4.7-inch touchscreen
- Operating System: Android
- Display Port: NA / 1080P Over Type-C
- HDMI: 720P
- Connectivity: WiFi6 and Bluetooth: 5.2
- Battery: 5000mAh Fast Charging
- Heat Dissipation: Active-Cooling
- Size: 184.8mm*82.6mm*15.8mm / Weight: 261g
Impressions
Overall, it is hard to hate on the new Retroid Pocket 4, despite the reused outer design.
We do wish that they had put a little more effort into creating something that stands apart from the previous Retroid Pocket 3 and 3+.
But we know that long time GoRetroid fans have been asking and begging for the new RP4 with a stronger chipset that pushes it firmly into PS2 and GameCube territory.
So did you guys get what you wanted? We think there will be plenty of happy customers this Christmas holiday, us included!
The Retroid Pocket 4 has yet to hit the GoRetroid website, so we do not know when it will be up for sale. So we might have a few weeks before we can get our hands on one.
But for the last minute drop in 2023, we think GoRetroid did a good job for the fans!
