The Retroid Pocket Nova might be an end-game retro-gaming handheld – and it’s available to order right now
Thought the Retroid Pocket 6 was a bit too modern? Then this latest handheld might be more up your retro alley
I own an embarrassing number of retro-gaming handhelds. I maintain this is not my fault. When companies keep churning out brilliant new retro-gaming devices, what am I supposed to do? Show restraint? Ha. And so it’s with a combination of excitement and dread that I bring you news of Retroid’s latest temptation, the Retroid Pocket Nova.
The company has been drip-feeding details about this Android-powered handheld for the past week, apparently trying to recreate another cherished retro experience: waiting for information to load over a 33.6k modem. Mercifully, though, we now know all the bits that matter.
The Retroid Pocket Nova packs in a 4.5in 960p 120Hz OLED display. Inside the device sits Qualcomm’s QCS8550 chip, which will chew through pretty much any retro game you throw at it, including upscaled GameCube and PS2 titles. And there’s active cooling for those moments you decide an 8-bit favourite needs a dozen GPU-melting shaders slathered on top.
And the cost of this shiny (well, plastic) new delight? From $229 if you preorder right now from the Retroid website. Shipping will begin next month.
Retro saming
If the specs sound familiar, there’s a good reason. From what I can tell, the Nova is essentially a Retroid Pocket 6 optimised for 4:3 systems. Same horsepower. Same excellent controls. Same ability to emulate countless gaming classics that’ll hand you your ego because you no longer have the reactions of a child. There’s even the same 12GB RAM option, but skip that unless you’re planning to wrestle with Switch and Windows games on a display that’s very clearly staging a protest against widescreen.
The Nova also has a few tricks of its own. The plastic shell, rather than an all-glass front, should make it feel more authentically retro – and less terrifying to drop. The flat back makes it more pocket-friendly than the Pocket 6 and should silence everyone who’s spent the past couple of years griping that Retroid peaked with the Pocket 4’s slab-like design. There are loads of colour options too, including some snazzy transparent numbers.
Right now, the Retroid Pocket 6 is my most-played gaming device. But the Nova might be the one to go for if you believe gaming died when screens got wider. However, what if that’s you but you like ergonomic grips? Good news! Retroid will throw in a DIY replacement one for free with your preorder. And a tempered glass screen protector. And a pony.
OK, maybe not a pony. But when you’ve five decades of gaming in your pocket, you won’t have time for Mister Ed anyway.
- Now read: Remembering Nintendo’s N64 at 30 – and six of the best N64 games still worth playing today
Craig Grannell
Contributor 
