The Analogue Pocket Experience: Two Years of Broken Promises

u have radicalized me against this company to a mighty degree but i honestly appreciate it bc i know if i had one of these things it would also just be sitting in a drawer.

Why would they make the cartridge slot so shallow? I've always thought this thing was a dud since release...

Interesting perspective and refreshing to hear a review that isn't just gushing praise. I own one, alongside two other Linux based handhelds, and indeed those are getting more use - save for one case: Amiga. I grew up with this machine and it's my most emulated system. The Amiga core on the pocket and the image on its display is close to flawless, thanks enthusiastic devs.

My other handhelds simply don't run a PAL signal well despite long hours in retroarch tweaking and fiddling. Fast scrolling games are stuttery and simply not enjoyable to play on other handhelds, where the pocket shines. On the pocket, they're perfect.

For almost everything except Amiga - and that includes Nintendo handhelds - I find I'm favouring the Miyoo Mini + and Powkiddy RGB30.

I have a MiSTer too and like yourself continue to enjoy it's evolution. I hope that the pocket goes the same way and that the flaws you mentioned are addressed. Analogue seem to have the right outlook, but are getting in their own way a bit with execution and a horrible customer service reputation.

the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you want to play games it’s good

You can boot right from the cart, it’s in the settings

That’s why I bought an Odin and have been very content with my decision.

Your original video is what convinced me to not get a pocket and just mod some of my gameboys instead. Best choice I ever made for handheld stuff. Analogue stuff is just way too overpriced and not worth it most of the time. Their best product is still the super nt, which really did get carriee by the community. Also got into more emulation handhelds and have been enjoying the miyoo mini+ and gonna pick up an rgb30 and odin 2 eventually for pico 8 and ps2/gamecube emulation respectively later on. What are some of your favorite emulation handhelds that you currently use by the way?

I really appreciate this review. I think it was fair and hit on many things dozens of other reviewers ignored in mostly positive reviews. All the little things you point out just keep adding up and go against how Analogue has positioned themselves as a premium brand. I view them as kind of a boutique brand that I'm curious about what they're doing but when it comes down to features offered for money, it doesn't take much to beat them if you' try.

"you can get systems... with enough power to get comparable accuracy" - define "comparable accuracy" then. I'd say this is false and it undersells the amount of work the developers have put inside the openFPGA cores. BTW the cores are open sources, even though openFPGA is not.

Too expensive and made purposely difficult to get. No thanks

I started my retro gaming journey with a RG35XX in translucent purple. I had an atomic GBC as a kid. I was lucky enough to order a Translucent Purple AP. I also got lucky to get a RG353M from Temu for $11. The best handheld out of the 3 is my RG353M. I can run android or Linux on it. It has a touch screen, hdmi out, aluminum body & Hall effect joysticks. I have tried to enjoy my pocket but it always fall short for me. I even bought the dock for it. To me its biggest selling point is the screen and being able to play original cartridges.

💪💪

I agree with a lot of your points as far as promised features that have yet to materialize, and i also dislike Analogue's marketing approach, but i do feel you undersell the main reason this product exists and that is to play cartridges. The only way to get a halfway comparable experience for a cart is to either buy a premodded gameboy or gba (maybe both), or to buy the systems and addons for some DIY work. And even then, a modded device will not hit the same high points for the screen and definitely not the audio. The tradeoff is as you mentioned, the Pocket is on the larger side and a bit clunky and not as pocketable as much of the gb/gba line...really just the dmg original is similar. So for people that just want a modernized game boy, the Pocket is a solid buy, albeit expensive and somewhat large.

I love all of the chinese emulation devices as much as the next hobbyist in this space, but they are not remotely as user-friendly. Just going by whats pictured on your desk, i think only the RP Flip is a good buy for someone fairly green to this, and even that will require quite a bit of setup. Even with CFW, something like the Rg351p (i think thats what i see) has battery issues and controls that can disconnect just from putting the device to sleep mid-game. And the Arc imo is borderline disappointing in regards to what it could have been. TTT is doing his best to salvage it with Retro Arena, and that is not a very user-friendly cfw for a beginner either (though extremely comprehensive).

Not trying to discredit anything about your own experience since it's valid, but i feel like you are more of what i consider a power user that is willing to do some work to max out what you get from certain devices, and the Pocket leaves you wanting a bit more. But for the average person, i think the Pocket is still pretty much a top tier choice even with its most basic feature set from Day 1, whereas the software emulation devices are almost reliant on the community to make it convenient to use, and will always require some research from the consumer. The subreddits would be much less active if they actually were user friendly and not problematic in function...tons of the posts are pleas for assistance or mild complaints from newcomers, lol. I did like the video for your personal takes.

I appreciate your frank look at the Pocket and it's current features. Haven't seen a video taking Analogue to task on the Pocket in awhile.

Naw I need to know where you got that mf shark bruh

All said, it’s just not comfortable to use and I truly hate the controls. Terrible D-pad and buttons. Anyway, great honest review.

Nice video!

Curious what kind of portable monitor you've used for your Super NT showoff?

The Analogue Pocket price is the biggest scam on the market. The fact people pay 220$-300$ for this is absolutely insane. I just bought a Steam Deck for 250$ used and it can emulate everything up to Switch.
While playing AAA PC games. This is a joke.
You can play GB,GBC, and GBA upscaled to
4K on a 7' screen for the same price. The fact the company got away with selling this for so much is shocking.

Im in a similar place for the Analogue. I appreciate the novelty and abilities of the community cores, but rarely use it to play games. Heck I recently exported game boy camera photos from it usinf the commuity made Pocket Sync, because analogue still has not added the ability to dump photos to the SD card even though the promised it qith the official firmware 1.1 release back in 2021

Its already the ultimate handheld. Its like the ultimate portable mister/retro Switch. Way better than all the crappy software emulation handheld out there by far.

Bad review you are not compel to buy analogue products. You do it becase its the same as having the arcade machine or console. I wont buy mister becase marsfpga is on horizon

The one advantage FPGA/Hardware emulation has over the software approach is removing input lag altogether. It's only added depending on which controller and display you use, and Analogue Pocket eliminates all these factors if you play solely on the handheld.

But really, you only need 8ms (in 60fps) of input lag in total or less for it to be humanely imperceptible, as in to not making controlling a character feel heavy or delayed. That's easily achievable with MiSTer FPGA, original handhelds and original consoles outputting through a CRT or a good upscaling devices like the RetroTINK products. Although I'm not sure if the software emulators can reliably pull that feat.

2 years promoting this unnecessary expensive thing

Great informative video. Thank you. I just liked and subscribed. Can you please tell me where you got your hitbox like controller?

fr

I think you're a bit off with the "still have to prove" that their solution's better than software emulation. Most software emulation has (much more) input lag and some audio lag, too. That's why playing even the simplest GB game just feels "better" on an Analogue Pocket and real hardware. That was proven when the first ones came out.

Good video but I think you're overdramatizing the loading screen, sure it doesn't boot the SNES ROM immediately but waiting a few seconds isn't really that bad, what you give up in convenience you gain in lag free audio and amazing screenfilters oh and the amazing screen itself that makes them possible in the first place. Not having save states for the SNES core sure sounds offputting but most SNES games have save files as a feature.

I just received my pocket after ordering in december. Not sure what to think as I've been occupied with my recently ips modded gbc, gba and rg35xx plus devices. I heard amazing things about the display, but i don't really notice much of a difference side by side, at least in gba games due to the aspect ratio. I appreciate the larger screen more on gbc and gb games as it uses the full real estate

Hi, thanks for this interesting review of the Analogue Pocket. I would like to know: what is your screen for your Mister FPGA on this video? It seems great.

Great video and liking the production values!! I share many of your sentiments about the Pocket... I find myself playing cheaper Anbernic devices more than the Pocket as they're more convenient with save states and instant resumes. Which is a shame as they are less than half the price!

I can't believe this has to be explained... You don't have a right to access all of these games you didn't pay for. You simply are just very privileged in the fact you are essentially unreachable to all of the IP rights holders.

90% of what you said completely disregards any IP or agreements that may exist behind the scenes etc and typical entitled pirate spiel.

However, some actual good points you made are:

No remappable controls (seriously wtf analogue, maybe by year 4????)

Display modes and pallets being locked out of either side (no CRT Trinitron if you're playing your official carts and no custom pallets on openFPGA. Pretty disgusting that there's arbitrary feature disparity like this)

You mention at least ten different considerations of real significance here that NO OTHER REVIEWER mentioned. Most "journalists" just offer uncritical hype for each new product within five minutes of getting it out of the box.

Just got mine for $450, not including the dock, screen protector and hard case. More like $700 after all that

I feel like this is perfect if you want emulation plus preserve playing on carts. I feel you are more of a hater lol but everyone has an opinion

You own a lot of cool stuff my dude.

I have a Transparent Blue (really purple/grape) Pocket and I have a hard time picking it up to play. Don't get me wrong, I love the screen and plethora of games I can play on it with lag-free controls, but I don't want to take it out of the house because of how fragile it feels.

there is people essentially unsatisfied with life, who always will decide to choose a view regarding the lack over the how many things you can get from something. the analogue is a piece of hardware with lots of virtues, a dream come true for the kids who grew up in the late 70s-80s. the system has objeticvely grown up and has been updated with cores and features. That´s a fact. And it will be growing for sure. It´s not enough for some people, it´s a pity.

I agree with your statement. I rarely use my analogue pocket. It feels not fun. My modded DMG feels way more fun, I can set custom palette on it. I tried to love my pocket, but it's simply not fun.

I knew I recognised those 3 beds from that one game respect to you including trials of mana in this 🔥

I get what you’re saying, but they didn’t promise all of these features. FPGA is getting better every few weeks or so. I love mine for the in and out of the dock experience. If I had a Mister (like yours) I might feel differently

Loading time is not the big deal except for the largest NEOGEO games for exemple...
but that's make me stay on that game like if i plug the big cardridge on the Neo !!

Price for what you get, ok it's a bit expensive due to shiping cost and taxe, a choice to make for RetroGamers like me.
But for my personal experience return, it's by far the best way to play 24 bits console and lower !

You need to realize that this company is making bootlegs of console of which they have no IP nor copyright for it; so they cannot make a 1:1 copy for obvious legal reasons.

That would cover why most of their devices are not like the real thing. As far as preserving gaming; they are obviously trying to cater to everyone; as they want the collectors that have cartridges, and also the people that buy devices to just play roms... Otherwise why do you think that their "openFPGA" cores miraculously were released under an alias and not officially? Again, they are covering their back, especially because if Nintendo get up in a bad mood, they mostly get sued for reproducing the gameboy or even supporting roms running on their devices.

This device is not for people that want to preserve gaming, and is not for people that want to use real hardware; this device exist in that weird space in between. If I have original hardware I use that; I have original hardware because I like the old resolution with all its cons; not because I want a modern version of it; otherwise I play an emulator on my 4K tv. Aging hardware is harder to find, that is true, but that is what software emulators are for.
So your message is mostly falling into deaf ears... Collectors don't care much about this device or any other Analogue devices; as they use real hardware; people using roms may not care either as there are better alternatives, including MiSTer if you want FPGA at all costs; and what is left is the niche that this device fan base is made of, which clearly will tell you that you are wrong.

Tbh, if you need to be this nitpicky to be that disappointed about the AP, im quite getting conforted in my choice of going for it

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GG Aleste 3
Progear
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Gradius the Interstellar Assault
Mega Man the Power Battle
Cosmo Gang the Video
Tanzer
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Smash Remix
GS Mikami
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