Retroid has been hard at work getting their new line of Duo dual-screen handhelds ready to ship, after a successful pre-order campaign that went live a couple of weeks ago. The Duo Lite, which is the first to ship this month, is the slimmer, less powerful version of the line, with a slightly smaller 4.2" TFT secondary screen in comparison to the Duo's 4.5" AMOLED secondary screen.
Originally, the Duo Lite came in two variants, a Lite 4GB + 64GB model and a Lite 6GB + 128GB Model, models I thought the community were happy about, but apparently I was wrong because Retroid has now revealed the Duo Lite+, a more powerful version of the Duo Lite line with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage priced at $199 for those who pre-order on Retroid's official website and $219 at retail. And, although they've stated it was because of "your feedback" that they decided to make this version, it hasn't gone down well with many of their community, and for good reason.
Retroid have used this tactic in the past, numerous times: there was the rearrangement of DPADs, new models releasing just a couple of months after shipping begins, and now creating new models once customers have already pre-ordered other variants. People just want transparency and not to feel like they've been taken advantage of, and this does just that.
This Duo Lite+ version still features the Dragonwin Q-7790 processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage and the same Duo Lite design that features more compact shoulder buttons, yet is somehow a little heavier than the more powerful Duo. It will begin shipping in Mid-November, so later than the previous Duo and Duo Lite models.
I personally don't mind that Retroid has released a new variant to their portfolio; it offers customers more choice and a small power bump if they really like the Lite's slightly more minimal design, though at retail it's only $50 behind the Duo, which has dual AMOLED displays and flared shoulder buttons. So it will be interesting to see how many pick this new model up.
The only concern I have is that Retroid aren't learning their lesson from previous marketing mishaps. This is a common occurrence, and from what I can tell on social media, nobody is surprised that Retroid pulled this stunt. It's not the end of the world because, luckily, they announced this before they started shipping, I believe, although some on X are claiming their Lite has already shipped. But how hard is it to know what models you want to launch before announcing your new device? It also builds mistrust, in the sense that customers now don't know if they're going to release a "Duo+" down the line.
