I’ve spent the last little while properly getting to know the Retroid Pocket Duo Lite, and my review is probably a little more focused on the feel of the thing, the two-screen experience and what it’s actually like to live with than on endless performance charts. I do cover some of the usual emulation stuff, but I was especially interested in what Retroid has managed to do with the form factor at this price, and whether it still has a bit of that dual-screen magic once the novelty wears off and the limitations of the processor kick in.
I also had quite a few people kindly chime in along the way. SapphireRhodonite, the developer of SeedlessDS, talks about building a modern DS emulator around lower-powered dual-screen hardware; the Cocoon and iiSU teams share what this new wave of cheaper dual-screen devices means for their own development; Chris Covers from Retroid talks about coming back to two screens for the first time since Nintendo’s original hardware; and Mr Stephen’s Retro Corner helped with some proper display testing. There are a few other voices in there too, so hopefully it feels a little broader than just me saying whether I liked the thing or not :)
Always appreciate your reviews. Don't know if I missed it in your article or not, but does the top screen function like the Retroid dual screen add-on? Where you can pick what screen to launch apps on by long-pressing the icon?
I wish they had gone with recessed sticks like that on the Nova, it would make it so much more pocketable. It's about PS Vita sized, that fits easily in my pocket. The R36S has recessed JoyCon style sticks, and I Iove that thing. I am not putting the Nova in my pocket with those sticks, so I put the bump back on it, and got a TPU shell for it with even bigger bumps. Might as well make it comfy if it's not portable.
Yes! You can pick which screen to use where, and disable either screen easily also. It leaves it all up to you!
I do know one accessory creator who sells on Etsy who is making recessed sticks, and I think there's other options already out there, but that one is being addressed!