The King of Niche Retro Handhelds - RG Cube Review

Anbernic is back at it again with a new handheld release. In this video, we take an in-depth look at the new RG Cube.

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Timestamps
00:00 - Intro, Specs. & Pricing
00:52 - RG Cube, RGB30, & AYANEO Air
02:10 - Controls & Input Testing
05:14 - Screen Issues
07:20 - Software
09:12 - Console Mode, PD Charging, & Thermals
10:59 - Teardown & Fix
12:45 - Benchmarks & What this does well
13:29 - In-depth Emulation Testing
21:06 - Pros & Cons / Battery Life
23:04 - Recommendations

Disclosure:
The manufacturer sent this device to me for review. They did not see this video before it was posted, and no monetary compensation was provided. All opinions are my own.

Affiliate Disclaimer: This review includes affiliate links. Anything you purchase from those links helps support the channel.

#rgcube #androidgaming #emulation

[TakiUdon]

Sorry for the delay, the battery life tests took way longer than I expected.

Note: I used the Retro-8 core to play the Pico 8 games featured in the "What this does well" section.

[MrMegaManFan]

"It's been less than a month since their last release..." never have more accurate words about Anbernic been spoke aloud.

[UkeofCarl]

I love the way it looks. Like some kind of pre-school toy.

[YourWishes]

Thanks again for subtitles, it's still surprisingly not standard in even medium sized youtubers.

[wrtucey]

The light bleed is a deal breaker for me. Thanks for calling it out.

[StevoBortzLevel]

Damn, I had my money on your RG Cube review being titled "It's (Even More) Hip to be Square".

[psychodad]

I JUST ordered one of these today. Was agonizing between this and the new clamshell SP, but flipped a coin and ordered this one. Excited to see what we can improve on ir over time from the user end. Edit: I should clarify. My handhelds are my Switch, Steam Deck and Miyoo Mini atm. I can't take the switch or Steam Deck to work because they're either the family console or too valuable to toss in and out of a backpack daily. The Mini is amazing for what it is, but trying to game on it too long with aging hands is truly painful. This device seemed like a nice toss in the backpack, work friendly device that can also support being played for an hour or two at a time on the couch.

[TeamCGS]

The circle d-pad looks like that on the Sega Saturn. Fantastic!

[andino]

I was waiting to hear from you before pulling the trigger on this! Excited to hear what you have to say. Thanks for all your work Taki! 🙏🏽💪🏽

[SwedePotato]

I’ve not bought a handheld since the retroid pocket 2 and I’m DEFINITELY getting this

[Opebin]

I'm a sicko who loves how goofy games look when stretched to fullscreen, so I'm definitely gonna get a kick out of this thing

[CrowScareify]

This is a super niche comment for a super niche device…. But the Rgb30 can handle Caves bullet hell library up to about Ketsui and Dodonpachi DOJ (2003 ish) with little issues…. And the rg cube can handle their entire library including up to Dodonpachi Saidaiojou which I believe was released in 2012 and was their last bullet hell…. That is so cool and exciting to me

[RetroGamerReviews]

This has been rhe best review so far. All the other first few day reviews haven't cover alot of what he coverd and it was all the stuff i was looking for

[TheSilencer]

What a perfect review my man! I'm slowly getting to see all of the recent Anbernic releases. This might be the most thorough review on YouTube. Subscribed for sure.

[julianthemighty]

Taki, thanks for this review, the PASS/FAIL review format is really useful for me as a potential buyer!

[uprnva]

These releases never stop do they 😅 Great vids as always!

[brokensprites]

From transferring the ROMs and setting up the software, testing settings and tons of games, a tear down with a partial fix.. comes a brutally honest review!

Seriously that's a lot of work that went into this video and I enjoyed it. Hopefully this helps the community make a better purchase... Or influence the companies to make a better device. 👍😎

[BranoMacko]

Man, this is the first video of yours i've seen and you earned a subscriber. Such a thorough review is a rare sight. Great work!

[mitchthepreacher]

Another extremely thorough and candid review. Thank you for what you do for this community.

[shilze]

A note about Wii, there's a setting that's unfortunately a little "buried" in Dolphin that allows you to set Wii games to a native 4:3 aspect ratio mode with no stretching if that will be more desirable for you - in config > Wii, toggle OFF widescreen. That's it. The easier to find solution is unfortunately "Aspect Ratio" in Graphics Settings with a forced 4:3 that will stretch. I can't exactly tell what Taki did, but since I didn't hear him mention it, I figured I would.
I believe a majority of games you might want to play on the device have this, the Galaxy games, Sonic games like Unleashed, Colors, and All Stars Racing, but certain games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii will still be in a forced letterboxed 16:9. Still a worthwhile option to consider if you're going to play Wii at all, and it'd be kind of cool if we had an option that did the inverse of a Widescreen hack in order to get a full 1:1.