The best retro handheld in 2026, picked by what you want to play

How to choose in one minute

The oldest console you care about decides the chip, and the chip decides the price. Our data splits the market into three groups:

• Under about $100: Allwinner H700 and similar Linux handhelds. Rated great for GB, GBA, NES, SNES and PS1, mostly great for N64, Dreamcast and DS, good for PSP, and no for GameCube and PS2. See best under $100.
• About $100 to $200: Android handhelds with 3 to 8 GB of RAM. Here you get Android apps, bigger screens and, on the Snapdragon 865 models, a chip that Batocera describes as able to emulate up to 6th-generation consoles (PS2, GameCube, Dreamcast). Most of them have no emulation rating yet. See best under $200.
• About $230 and up: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Dimensity 8300 and newer. These are the handhelds sold for PS2, GameCube and some Switch games. See best for PS2 and best for GameCube.

"No rating" in this guide means nobody in our sources has published a score we can map. It does not mean the handheld cannot run the system. We say so wherever it matters, and the chip tier from the chip guide is shown as context, labelled as an editorial hint.

Picks by job

The budget pick: Anbernic RG35XX Pro

The RG35XX Pro is on the list because it is the lowest-priced handheld with two analog sticks among those that have a price in our data, at $50 (third-party aggregator (heldgames.com street price), Nov 5, 2026). It has a 3.5 inch 4:3 IPS screen at 640x480, Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth, and mini HDMI. The cons are the usual H700 limits: 1 GB of RAM and no GameCube or PS2. Held Games lists it with a 64 GB card in the box, but check the listing you buy from, because the card is not part of the handheld you are paying for. Read the legal note on preloaded cards before you rely on it.

The Game Boy style pick: Anbernic RG SP (2026)

If your library is GBA, SNES and NES, the form matters more than the chip. The RG SP (2026) is a 168 g clamshell with a 3:2 laminated screen, sleep on close and TV out, at $64.99 (third-party aggregator (heldgames.com street price), Nov 5, 2026). It has no analog sticks and about 6 hours of battery per Held Games, and its ratings stop at great for GB to SNES, playable for PS1, and no for N64 and Dreamcast. Support for muOS and Knulli was only expected at launch, so check the current state on the firmware pages. More clamshells and shapes are on the GBA page.

The PS2 and GameCube picks: RG557 and Retroid Pocket 6

Both are Android handhelds with fans and Hall-effect sticks. The numbers below come from the data files, and the ratings are provisional:

The RG557 is rated great for PS2 and GameCube and good for Switch; Held Games notes that Switch 2 emulation is not viable. The Retroid Pocket 6 is rated good for both, and its rating comes from one line of text on Held Games, not from a score. Treat the gap between "great" and "good" as unproven: the two ratings come from different sources and different methods. The practical differences are the screen (5.48 inch 1080p AMOLED against 5.5 inch 120 Hz AMOLED), battery (5500 against 6000 mAh) and the price history, since the Retroid Pocket 6 launched at $229 and moved to about $249 on reported memory costs. Details for all PS2 candidates are on the PS2 page.

The clamshell pick: AYN Thor

The Thor is the only clamshell with an AMOLED screen in our data. It has a 6 inch main screen and a 3.92 inch lower screen, Hall sticks and Wi-Fi 7. It has no emulation rating, so the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip tier (high) is the only guide we have; Batocera lists that chip as handling 6th-generation consoles and some lower 7th-generation ones. The Thor weighs 380 g and its prices rose $10 to $30 in 2026. The Lite version uses a Snapdragon 865.

Vertical and PSP picks

The RG40XX V has a 4 inch 4:3 screen, HDMI out and the same H700 ratings as the cheaper models; sources disagree on its RAM, weight and stick count. The RG Vita Pro is the PSP pick: PSP is rated great, and the Held Games page cites PPSSPP at 3x to 4x. Reviewers cited by Retro Handhelds called its Linux build poor at launch, so the Android side is the one to count on. For more shapes see the vertical and clamshell lists.

All handhelds up to $300

Sorted by the lowest dated price in our data. Handhelds without a price are not shown.

Prices, tariffs and where to buy in the US

Every price in this guide shows its source and date. Anbernic and Powkiddy prices are from their official stores (China warehouse version for Anbernic); Retroid and AYN prices are from named third parties, not from their own stores. Prices have moved up during 2026. The data records the Retroid Pocket 6 going from $229 to about $249, and AYN raising prices by $10 on 2026-07-03. Before you buy, check the seller's current price and what it adds for shipping and duty.

US buyers also face import rules that changed repeatedly in the last year:

• US: De minimis ($800) duty-free treatment ended for China/Hong Kong goods on 2025-05-02 (E.O. 14256) and was suspended for all countries from 2025-08-29 (E.O. 14324, continued by E.O. 14388 of 2026-02-20). (source, checked Nov 5, 2026)
• US: CBP interim final rule published 2026-06-24 (CBP Dec. 26-12) suspends the de minimis exemption indefinitely for non-postal shipments of $800 or less; they need formal or informal entry. Comments were due 2026-07-24. Statutory repeal of de minimis takes effect 2027-07-01. Postal shipments are handled in a separate concurrent CBP rule. (source, checked Nov 5, 2026)
• US: Supreme Court (Learning Resources v. Trump, 2026-02-20, 6-3) held IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. Refund mechanics were left to the Court of International Trade and CBP; the CIT issued a refund-related order on 2026-03-04 (Atmus Filtration v. United States). (source, checked Nov 5, 2026)
• US: After the ruling the administration imposed a 10% global tariff under Section 122 (2026-02-24 to 2026-07-24). On 2026-07-24 a new Section 301 tariff of 10-12.5% replaced it; China is reported in the ~12.5% band, stacking on 2018 China tariffs. Source is a trade-compliance blog dated 2026-07-28 and the regime is under litigation; confirm against USTR/CBP notices. (source, checked Nov 5, 2026)

The Section 301 figure comes from a trade-compliance blog and the regime is under litigation, so confirm it against USTR and CBP notices. For where to buy and what to check on an AliExpress listing, read the AliExpress and tariffs guide.