This news comes in as I write my full review of the Retroid Pocket Nova, which I have had for a few days now. I'll say now that it has very much impressed me, and will undoubtedly be one of the best retro handhelds of the year, all thanks to remarkable PS2 emulation on a stunning 4:3 display that can just about fit in your pocket.
Retroid shared on X that the Pocket Nova officially begins shipping tomorrow, and it's likely they'll clear all of their pre-orders within three weeks, which is good going considering the likely large quantity of orders they've had come through the doors since the announcement.
Shipment begins with those who ordered the Black version, and they'll rotate the shipment of orders every two days, depending on the colour ordering, ending with Watermelon. Accessories for the device will ship on August 1st, which means they might arrive separately. I am not quite sure.
Though, the depressing part of their announcement is that Qualcomm has came out to state that the prices of their chips are likely to rise in the future, meaning yet again we'll see industry wide increases, and Retroid has stated they'll try hard to keep the price of the Pocket Nova stable, but we've seen in the past that they've increased prices of most of their products.
So, if I had to bet, it's likely we'll see more price increases over the coming months, meaning the best time to buy the Pocket Nova, is today, starting at $229 for the 8GB version and up to $247 for the 12GB versions. They'll ship within a few weeks, too.
I'm not surprised, in all honesty, the industry is only getting more expensive. No doubt a lot of handheld manufacturers are trying to hold out on doing so, especially during this very competitive buying period. There's lots of competition right now, and every dollar helps make a buying decision, so I'll be interested to see how Retroid approaches this. There's only enough freebies someone can throw into the mix without it making a difference to someones decision.
You can buy the Retroid Pocket Nova today if you've been on the fence, or wait for our final review to come out, latest this week, for our deep opinions on the device over on our YouTube channel!
