Retroid Pocket Classic Review: The Greatest Vertical Android Handheld?

GoRetroid has now crafted three great handhelds in a row, the Retroid Pocket 5, the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 and now this, the Retroid Pocket Classic, a vertical Android handheld that's perfect for your average retro gamer.

There's no denying they are on a roll, and I feel as if they now have a portfolio of products that will intrigue retro gamers looking for a handheld that fits their needs.

The Pocket Classic is the cheapest device they have released this year, starting at $119 - $129. It's not cheap, but it's certainly not expensive, and I want to share with you my opinions on this lovely, friendly device that has seemed to have become my go to travel handheld.

• Release Date: Early 2025
• Pricing: $119 - $129
• Where To Buy: GoRetroid.com

It feels like a modern day GAME BOY

The unit I have is the "Classic 6" variant, the only variant with a 6 "SEGA" like button layout. The rest of Retroid's Classic choices have the standard 4 action button layout.

That is the only difference here, and is a great addition to their selection for those that really want this layout instead, the choice is yours. These buttons are sturdy, have a medium length of travel and are not loud in anyway, the press is soft, not clicky.

That said, the DPAD is the opposite, featuring a clicky noise and reminds me a lot of the PS Vita DPAD. It's small, yet flexible, and reactive to fast presses should those of you that like action/fighting games.

As you noticed, no analogue stick which certainly limits what we can do, but we'll get onto that further in this review. Between the buttons mentioned you will find, start (coloured slightly different) and select, alongside the menu button up top.

Above, a 3.92" AMOLED display with a resolution of 1240 x 1080. It's beautiful, and although not perfectly square is a pleasure to use on a daily basis. AMOLED displays are the new in for GoRetroid and I am all for it as they make retro games pop and easily visible outside.

My only small negative with the display is that it has a large border, which makes it looks a little outdate in my opinion. I'm a big fan of bezel-less displays, like AYANEO have been using recently, albeit it's not AMOLED, but the bezel-less makes it look far more modern.

Some of you may bite back and say that it looks "retro" and that I will agree with, this is just a personal preference of mine when it comes to the screen!

Around the edges you will find a headphone jack (I have no idea why they positioned it on top, instead of at the bottom), a micro SD card slot, on/off, volume buttons and a USB-C port for charging. This does not do video-out, so you cannot hook it up to an external display.

The back of the device features the four shoulder buttons which are slim-lined to keep inline with the back's "GBC" curved aesthetics making it comfortable in the hands. You'll also find some ventilation too.

Retroid Pocket Classic Specifications

• G1 Gen2 8-Core Kryo CPU
• 4GB/6GB RAM (LPDDR4x @ 2133MHz)
• 3.92" AMOLED Display - 1240 x 1080 - 60fps
• 64GB/128GB Internal Storage
• 5000MAH Battery
• Android 13
• Wi-FI 5 & BT 5.1
• OTA Updates

Deceivingly Big, But That's Okay

With all of that wrapped into a handheld, it's not going to be small. This is a device that can just about fit into your Pocket...

It's the same size as a typical smartphone, but far thicker, wider and slightly heavier so it's certainly one that will give you funny looks if you do choose to have it in your pocket.

For me, this is best suited in a travel sling, or a backpack. When I travel, I tend to use a travel sling if I am near my hotel, or a larger backpack if I am out for the entire day, and that's where this device shined.

That's because it is deceivingly big and weighty, which isn't a problem, but i wanted to make you aware as the "Pocket" title could mislead newcomers. Its similar weight and size to an original GAME BOY DMG, not one any of us would carry in our pockets I am sure.

That said, the sling/backpack combo works great, and due to the large screen its a superb "outdoor" handheld that's easy to see and lasts a full day on a single charge (depending on what you are playing).

The OS/UX

At its core the Retroid Pocket Classic uses Android 13 as its OS, which is great, allows for a multitude of customisations and opens up the opporuntity for gamers to use Android apps and Cloud Streaming.

That said, the screen certainly restricts what is possible on here, especially Android games and Cloud Streaming, so this is a device designed specifically for retro games, rather than its horizontal older brothers.

I found myself only using this for retro emulation, as it should, but the option is there for any of you crazy enough to go down that route!

Over the past couple of years GoRetroid has excelled in crafting a fluid, easy to understand user experience from the get go, introducing users to a setup guide that installs of the popular emulators for you with the press of a button.

Once done you are greeted with their launcher and frontend that is nostalgic, and organises all of your ROM's carefully into an easy to consume experience. It will guide you through all of the features at first boot, which is a little overwhelming but is mandatory to get full use out of your device.

One of my favourite features is the ability to download missing box art from the menu. GoRetroid setup a simple way of sourcing images from Google, to then download and automatically assign to that ROM. This stops your library from looking like it has a bunch of missing box art.

I say this because some of GoRetroid's rivals such as ANBERNIC and AYANEO still have yet to add something like this, showing that GoRetroid are assisting their customers wherever they can.

You can also change theme types, colours, titles, ROM description and more within the settings, its a truly wonderful place to explore which is odd to say because typically handheld settings are boring.

What can it emulate?

There's a lot that this can emulate due to its internals, but there's a lot you wouldn't want to emulate on here, again due to the screen size and lack of analogue stick.

For example Nintendo 64 games can be emulated on here, but the missing analogue stick makes it an annoying experience. The same goes for SEGA Dreamcast games, which is slightly annoying as its one of my favourite consoles ever.

Your favourite PSP games can also be emulated but you lose a bunch of screen real estate due to the screen ratio not being a good fit.

Do you see what I mean? But GoRetroid knows that and is building a device that wants to be the best at vertical handheld gaming, and I will admit, its one of the best on the market for that at $129.

Consoles such as GAME BOY, GAME BOY Color, GAME BOY Advance, SEGA Game Gear, SEGA Mega Drive, Playstation 1, NeoGeo Pocket, ATARI games, Arcade games, NES, PC Engine, SNES and Wonderswan all work perfectly as they should and are a pleasure to use on a display and design like this.

So if those are the consoles you care most about, and don't want to explore anything more than that then this is a handheld that will take you as far as you need to go without the need to buy another vertical handheld without sticks again.

Performance across those devices are flawless, can be pushed to a multitude of upscaled native resolutions and come with the ability to map all the additional buttons to your pleasure, including fast forward.

The additional consoles that are available to emulate will be there every single day to tease you, and you'll sometimes dabble on them but will be quickly welcomed with an uncomfortable experience, but anyone purchasing this for PS2, GC, DC, or PSP emulation should have known that it was going to be an issue before they bought it.

Drop it like it's hot.

I have reviewed hundreds of devices over the years, and this is the first time that I have felt somewhat uncomfortable about the heat of the device when charging.

It's not an issue for some, but i was made very aware that this device gets very hot when charging, so much so that i felt the need to remove it from my carpet and place it on something that isn't reluctant to burning.

This is a little overkill for sure but this is unusually warm for a retro handheld, and because the battery sits on the top half of the back shell you'll certainly feel it if you are gaming and charging at the same time.

My final thoughts

This is a device that excels in a portion of consoles designed explicitly for a vertical layout with a DPAD, up to 6 acton buttons and two shoulder buttons. That is where it will blow you away, alongside the beautiful and seamless user experience.

It's a magical device and if you do end up snagging one you'll likely not need to upgrade it for many years if you're specifically using the mentioned consoles.

However, there is no denying that it is missing an analogue stick to push it to its full potential alongside a restrictive display size.

If you can push that to the side and only focus on the "older" consoles then its one of the best on the market, priced reasonably too.

It's niche and it's superb.