For retro gaming enthusiasts, few platforms have embraced nostalgia with the same dedication as the Evercade lineup. Developed by Blaze Entertainment, the Evercade ecosystem has steadily carved out a niche by doing something many modern gaming platforms have abandoned, delivering classic games through collectible physical cartridges.

Since the original Evercade gaming handheld console arrived in 2020, the brand has built a reputation for preserving classic titles while presenting them in a curated, officially licensed format. Now the company is taking a more ambitious step forward with the Evercade Nexus, a device designed to modernize the handheld experience without losing the retro soul that defines the platform.

Designer: Evercade

The Nexus is a significant leap in hardware compared to earlier Evercade devices. One of the most noticeable changes is the 5.89-inch IPS screen (with 840×512 resolution) having a wider 16:9 aspect ratio. Previous Evercade systems focused primarily on the classic 4:3 format used by older consoles, but the wider screen allows the Nexus to better support enhanced versions of classic games as well as titles that benefit from a broader viewing area. The larger display also improves overall comfort for handheld play, giving retro games more space while maintaining the pixel clarity enthusiasts expect.

Controls have also received a major update. For the first time in the Evercade lineup, the Nexus includes dual analog sticks alongside the traditional D-pad and face buttons. While retro gaming is often associated with simpler control layouts, the addition of analog sticks expands the handheld’s compatibility with early 3D titles and games that demand more precise movement. The system also introduces TATE mode, allowing the console to be rotated vertically. This feature is particularly useful for classic arcade shooters originally designed for upright cabinets, recreating their intended orientation on a handheld device.

Under the hood, the Evercade Nexus runs on a quad-core processor clocked at around 1.5GHz. Power comes from a 5,000mAh battery that provides roughly five hours of gameplay on a single charge, while modern conveniences such as wireless headphone support bring the device closer to contemporary handheld expectations without sacrificing portability. Another notable addition is EverSync, a wireless multiplayer feature that allows two Nexus systems to connect locally. With EverSync, players can temporarily share a game from a single cartridge so both devices can participate, offering a simple way to enjoy multiplayer titles without requiring multiple copies.

Like every Evercade device, the Nexus remains fully compatible with the platform’s growing library of physical cartridges. The ecosystem now includes more than 700 officially licensed retro games spread across dozens of curated collections from classic publishers and arcade developers. Instead of relying on digital downloads, the Evercade philosophy continues to center on physical ownership and preservation. At launch, the Evercade Nexus will include a special cartridge featuring enhanced versions of classic titles such as Banjo‑Kazooie and Banjo‑Tooie, optimized for the handheld’s widescreen display.

Evercade Nexus handheld is up for preorder at $199.99 with release set for October 2026, which is a long time away if you are already curious. You can also go for the $229.99 Nexus 64 Edition, which boasts an exclusive Hard Shell EVA Case themed with the Evercade Nexus 64 Edition style, screen protectors, and of course, the certificate of authenticity. It is going to be limited to 2,000 units with pre-order availability on Funstock.

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Nintendo had a choice when designing the Switch 2. They could iterate on the formula that made the original a cultural phenomenon, refining the single-screen hybrid into a faster, sharper, better version of itself. Or they could reach back into their own history, pull out the design philosophy that once made the DS family the best-selling handheld hardware line of all time, and merge two eras of thinking into something genuinely new. They picked the first path. Designer Juan Manuel Guerrero just sketched out the second.

The concept arrives as a series of beautifully lit 3D renders: a folding Nintendo Switch with dual screens, a hinge running through the center of the body, and Joy-Cons in the familiar blue-red split attached to either end. The renders carry the finish of product photography, which makes it genuinely easy to forget this never shipped. Closed, it looks like a sleek, pocket-ready device with a tighter footprint than the original Switch. Open, it recalls something older and warmer, the quiet satisfaction of flipping a DS open on a long car ride, except now the screens are large, the controllers are proper, and the whole thing feels built for today. The proportions are deliberate, the design choices are considered, and the whole thing wears its Nintendo identity without apology.

Designer: Juan Manuel Guerrero

The Nintendo DS sat at 154.02 million lifetime units for years, the gold standard for Nintendo hardware, until the Switch finally crept past it in early 2026 with 155.37 million. Two hardware generations, both cultural touchstones, separated by fewer than two million units across a combined history of roughly three decades. The closeness of that race matters. The DS built those numbers on a genuine design idea, a spatial logic where two screens gave developers room for two distinct kinds of information at once, and players responded to that for fifteen years. Guerrero’s concept asks whether the Switch era ever had to leave that behind.

Phantom Hourglass let you draw on the bottom screen to annotate your own maps and solve puzzles, an idea original enough to win awards at the time. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl split the party menu from the battlefield, giving battles a spatial clarity the GBA never had room for. GTA: Chinatown Wars ran the full city map on the lower display and handed the top panel entirely to the action. These were designs built entirely around the format, dependent on the split in a way that made them fall apart on a single screen. That vocabulary has been sitting idle for the better part of a decade.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 runs a 7.6-inch interior display and represents the sixth generation of the company working foldable hardware into something genuinely reliable. Motorola, OnePlus, Google, and Huawei all have competitive entries in the space. Display durability and hinge reliability have been largely solved through successive product generations and real commercial pressure. A dual-screen Switch in 2025 wouldn’t be asking anyone to invent something new; the foldable category has already done the hard engineering work. Guerrero’s concept asks someone to point that already-mature technology at a gaming audience.

The DS touchscreen read as a toy gimmick in 2004. The Wii’s motion controls got laughed at before that console sold 101 million units. The Switch itself looked like a confused category play until it climbed past 155 million units and became Nintendo’s best-selling platform ever. That history of moves that look sideways before they land is the context Guerrero’s concept actually lives in. The foldable technology exists, the Joy-Con design language holds across both halves of the fold, and the IP is coherent. Someone drew it. Now it’s genuinely difficult to look at the Switch 2 without wondering what the other path could have looked like.

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At some point in the last couple of years, something quietly shifted in the gaming world. Not in the blockbuster, billion-dollar-franchise sense, but in the more personal, “why am I actually having more fun with this tiny device than my main console” sense. Search interest in retro gaming handhelds jumped 400% year-over-year, hitting 90,500 monthly searches in January 2026 alone. That’s not a blip. That’s people rediscovering something they forgot they wanted, and then telling everyone they know about it.

What’s driving it isn’t hard to understand. Modern gaming has gotten heavy, with big installs, long tutorials, and games that feel like part-time jobs. A retro handheld sidesteps all of that. You pick it up, you’re playing something in thirty seconds, and it fits in your jacket pocket. The designs themselves have become worth caring about, too, from machined aluminum bodies to translucent clamshells to square screens that look like props from a ’90s anime. These aren’t budget toys. Some of them are genuinely beautiful objects that happen to play games. Here are seven that are worth your attention.

Anbernic RG Cube: The one with the square screen that somehow works

The first thing you notice about the RG Cube is the screen shape, a perfect square, and your brain immediately goes: that can’t be right. Gaming moved to widescreen fifteen years ago. A 1:1 display in 2024 looks like a design mistake, or at best a gimmick. It is neither. The 3.95-inch IPS panel at 720×720 turns out to be native to more retro games than you’d expect, with Game Boy, arcade titles, and Nintendo DS with dual-screen stacking all living here without compromise.

Designer: Anbernic

The broader package is hard to argue with. An octa-core Unisoc T820 processor and 8GB of RAM run Android 13, with emulator support up through PS2 and GameCube, though more demanding titles on those systems will push its limits. The asymmetric thumbstick layout borrows from the Steam Deck playbook, and the Saturn-inspired D-pad is precise without drama. At around $170, it comes in Beige White, Radiant Purple, Black, Grey, and the radiant purple has no right looking as good as it does.

What we liked

• Square 1:1 screen is genuinely ideal for Game Boy, arcade, and DS emulation
• RGB lighting and color options make it a genuinely attractive object

What we disliked

• Widescreen games require letterboxing or aspect-ratio compromise
• Demanding PS2 and GameCube titles push the processor to its limits

ModRetro Chromatic: The Game Boy Color that Nintendo never made

There’s a version of this product that could have been embarrassing: a magnesium alloy Game Boy Color clone bundled with a new Tetris cartridge, sold at $199. On paper, it sounds like a premium nostalgia trap. In practice, it’s one of the most carefully considered handheld devices released in years. It’s FPGA-based, meaning it reconstructs the Game Boy hardware at the circuit level rather than emulating it in software, which produces zero input latency and a millisecond-accurate match to original hardware behavior.

Designer: ModRetro

The physical design earns its price in ways spec sheets can’t capture. The curved battery compartment gives your hands something to grip. A physical volume wheel, a detail so obvious it’s shocking how rarely it appears on modern devices, lets you kill the sound without touching a menu. Colors run from Inferno and Bubblegum to a very wearable Wave blue, with English or Japanese button labeling as an option. It plays physical Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges only, which is either a dealbreaker or a feature, depending on how you think about focus.

What we liked

• FPGA hardware delivers true zero input lag, not a software approximation
• Magnesium alloy shell feels premium and genuinely durable
• Comes bundled with a new Tetris cartridge

What we disliked

• Plays only Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, no ROMs or other systems
• AA battery requirement adds ongoing cost; rechargeable Power Core is sold separately

Analogue Pocket: The one photographers keep picking up

The Analogue Pocket is the device that made the retro handheld conversation respectable. It uses an FPGA rather than software emulation and plays Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and GBA cartridges out of the box. Via cartridge adapters, it adds Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Atari Lynx, TurboGrafx-16, PC Engine, and SuperGrafx. Via its microSD slot and the OpenFPGA community platform, it loads cores for nearly every retro system that ever existed. The 3.5-inch LCD at 1600×1440 and 615 ppi is, simply, one of the sharpest displays ever put in a handheld.

Designer: Analogue

At $239, it sits at the premium end of this list, and it’s also frequently out of stock. Firmware updates require a microSD card reader, which feels like friction that shouldn’t exist on a $239 device. TV output needs the separately sold $99 Dock. These aren’t dealbreakers so much as signals that Analogue built this for the dedicated enthusiast first. If you want one device to handle everything in your retro library for the next decade, this is probably it.

What we liked

• OpenFPGA community support covers an enormous range of retro systems
• Plays GBA in addition to GB and GBC, plus many more with adapters
• MicroSD slot enables ROM loading
• Premium aluminum build with a distinctly modern design language

What we disliked

• Frequently out of stock; restocks sell out within minutes
• Firmware updates require an external microSD card reader
• TV output requires a separately purchased $99 Dock

Retroid Pocket Flip 2: The clamshell that brought the GBA SP back with PS2 power

The GBA SP was the handheld that arguably peaked the clamshell form factor: it folded, it protected its own screen, and it had a backlit display before that was standard. The Retroid Pocket Flip 2 arrives in 2025 with that same closing-hinge energy, but with a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon 865 processor, and enough emulation horsepower to run PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Wii. When closed, it has roughly the same desk footprint as a modern smartphone. Closing the lid puts it to sleep; opening it wakes it up.

Designer: Retroid

Color options include a translucent Ice Blue, GameCube Purple, a two-tone 16-bit US, and Black. Retroid clearly understands its audience. The AMOLED panel brings deep blacks and accurate color to games designed for CRTs, and the results are often striking for titles you’ve played a hundred times. At $229 for the Snapdragon variant, there is no meaningful clamshell competitor at this performance level. One persistent note from extended use: the form factor rewards shorter sessions more than marathon ones, which is maybe appropriate for a device meant to live in a bag pocket.

What we liked

• 5.5-inch AMOLED at 1080p is impressive for the price
• Handles PS2, GameCube, Wii, and Dreamcast emulation
• Translucent Ice Blue colorway is a design highlight

What we disliked

• Thicker than it looks in product photos
• Extended sessions can feel less comfortable than flat handhelds

AYANEO Pocket Micro Classic: The one that fits in an actual pocket

The Game Boy Micro launched in 2005 as Nintendo’s most polarizing hardware decision. It was tiny, it was beautiful, it only played GBA games, and it was discontinued within a year. Design historians were kinder to it than the market was. The AYANEO Pocket Micro Classic is clearly in conversation with that history. It removes the analog joysticks, uses a CNC-machined aluminum alloy frame with a seamless all-glass front, and produces something that slides into a front jeans pocket without catching on anything.

Designer: AYANEO

The 3.5-inch borderless IPS display at 960×640 in a 3:2 ratio is built for GBA emulation, with 4x pixel-perfect upscaling. Available in Obsidian Black, Charm Red, Vintage Grey, and Gold, each colorway has a different character. The Gold skips “gaming device” and lands somewhere closer to “considered object.” The MediaTek Helio G99 handles everything up through PS1 confidently. If your retro library is 8-bit and 16-bit with a strong GBA presence, the Pocket Micro Classic is probably the most beautiful way to play it.

What we liked

• CNC aluminum and all-glass build is genuinely premium for the category
• No joysticks make it notably slimmer and more pocketable
• Android 13 with Play Store access expands utility beyond emulation

What we disliked

• No joysticks limit N64, Dreamcast, and PSP playability

TrimUI Brick Hammer: Budget price, luxury aluminum shell

The original TrimUI Brick arrived in 2024 with an unusually sharp 3.2-inch IPS screen at 1024×768, giving it a pixel density of 405 PPI, a number that belongs on a premium smartphone, not a $55 device. The Brick Hammer edition, launched in 2025, replaces the plastic shell with a full CNC-machined aluminum alloy in Gunmetal Gray, Rose Gold, and Fluorescent Green. The metal shell doubles as a heatsink, dropping operating temperatures noticeably. Three interchangeable shoulder button sets ship in the box.

Designer: TRIMUI

The software runs CrossMix OS on a Linux base: clean, fast, minimal overhead. Load your ROMs, pick a game, and play. Battery life lands around four to six hours. The processor handles Game Boy through PS1 without complaint; N64 gets through most titles; Dreamcast is inconsistent. The CNC backplate can be engraved, which no other device at this price point offers. The Rose Gold aluminum version sitting next to a MacBook on a desk looks less out of place than it has any right to, and that’s a strange and interesting thing to say about a $99 handheld.

What we liked

• CNC aluminum Hammer shell runs noticeably cooler than the original plastic
• Swappable shoulder buttons and engravable backplate are genuinely rare customization options
• Rose Gold and Gunmetal colorways punch well above the budget tier

What we disliked

• No analog joysticks, which limits 3D game compatibility
• Dreamcast and demanding N64 titles run inconsistently

Miyoo Mini Plus (and Mini Flip): The one that started the whole obsession

If there’s a single device responsible for bringing this category to mainstream attention, the Miyoo Mini Plus is probably it. It weighs 200 grams, fits in a jeans pocket, has a 3.5-inch IPS screen at 640×480, and runs OnionOS, a community-built firmware that turns a modest Cortex-A7 processor into a near-perfect front end for everything from the NES to the original PlayStation. The interface is clean, the emulator library covers over a hundred platforms, and save states work the way save states should.

Designer: Miyoo

The Miyoo Mini Flip takes the same hardware and wraps it in a GBA SP-style clamshell, adding screen protection and an extra wave of nostalgia. Early production runs had hinge concerns, though those appear to have been addressed in more recent batches. At $69-99, this is the gateway to the category that doesn’t feel like a compromise. The honest question isn’t whether this device is worth the money, since it clearly is. It’s whether starting here will satisfy the itch, or simply make you want to own the other six devices on this list as well.

What we liked

• Genuinely pocketable at 200g, fits in a jeans pocket without bulk
• Covers NES through PS1 with confident performance
• Mini Flip clamshell adds nostalgic GBA SP energy and screen protection

What we disliked

• Not powerful enough for N64, Dreamcast, or PS2
• 640×480 screen resolution shows its age

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