How we rank and compare

Every number on this site comes from a named source or from a rule on this page. Nothing is a guess dressed up as a measurement. Where we have no data, the table shows a dash.

Data and dates

• Handhelds. 40 devices in devices.json, last checked 2026-11-05. Specs come from Retro Catalog, Held Games, Retro Handhelds, Notebookcheck, Retro Dodo and maker pages, listed on each device card. Weight, Hall-effect sticks and video out are often unknown and shown as a dash.
• Prices. In US dollars, each with the shop or article named and the check date. Where the maker sells direct (Anbernic, Powkiddy), the price is the one listed on its official store, including a running sale, with the regular price kept in the note. Otherwise it comes from a named third party (Held Games, Retro Catalog, Notebookcheck, Retro Dodo). TrimUI's official site does not sell or list prices, so TrimUI models only get a price from a named shop. When a handheld comes in several RAM or storage versions we keep each version and show the lowest as "from". Handhelds without a verified price are listed as such and never get a made-up figure. Prices exclude shipping, tax and duties, and rose through 2026 on reported memory costs.
• Currency. Everything is USD. No conversion is applied. The fx.json file (ECB rates of 2026-11-04) is shipped for future pages and is not used by the tools.
• Chips. 23 chips in chips.json. Each handheld is matched to a chip by its chip name after removing the vendor word; for example "Qualcomm Dragonwing Q8" and "Dragonwing Q8" match. Chips without an entry (for example Rockchip RK3568, RK3576 and RK3562) have no tier.
• Firmware. 18 entries in firmware.json with the status found on the date of checking, including archived projects.

Emulation ratings

The ten systems are GB/GBA/NES/SNES (one group), PS1, N64, Dreamcast, PSP, Nintendo DS, GameCube/Wii, PS2, Switch and 3DS. Ratings are great, good, playable or no, or unknown (null).

• Where a source gave 0 to 100 scores, the collector mapped them: 80 or more great, 50 to 79 good, 25 to 49 playable, under 25 no. Where a source gave only text, the rating follows the text. The source URL is stored on every device.
• These ratings are provisional. They were not taken from the Retro Handhelds spreadsheet, and Retro Game Corps pages did not load, so they are secondary-source mappings.
• Most Android handhelds have no ratings. Unknown is kept as unknown everywhere on the site. It is not "no", it is not "playable", and it is never filled in by guess.

Chip tiers

The tier of a chip (entry, low, mid, high, flagship) is an editorial grouping based on sourced relative performance, such as the Batocera wiki generation limits and Notebookcheck comparisons. It is shown as a hint next to unrated handhelds and is not an emulation rating. Tiers are ordered entry, low, mid, high, flagship when sorting.

Handheld finder

1. Filters, all must pass. Budget: the lowest known price is at or below your budget; handhelds with no price fail while a budget is set. Shape equals your choice. Software: the OS text contains "Linux" or "Android" (a dual-boot device matches both). OLED: the panel text contains "OLED" (this includes AMOLED). Wi-Fi: true. Two sticks: stick count at least 2. Video out: the field names HDMI, USB-C or DP. Pocketable: weight known and under 250 g. Unknown values fail a must-have. Systems: any system you ticked rated "no" removes the handheld; unknown does not.
2. Rank. Sort by (a) how many ticked systems have a rating of playable or better, then (b) the sum of points (great 3, good 2, playable 1), then (c) the lowest price (unknown last), then (d) the newest release. With no system ticked, (a) is zero for everyone and (b) sums all ten systems.
3. Top three are shown with reasons, the price with its shop and date, and the link to the rating source. Any ticked system with no rating is printed as "no rating yet, so we do not claim it runs". Filtered devices that have no rating at all for your systems are listed after the picks with their chip tier.

If nothing passes, the finder shows how many handhelds would pass if each group of choices were dropped.

Compare tool

For each row the tool compares displayed values. A row is marked as differing when at least two chosen handhelds show different values, and an unknown counts as a different value. The best value is highlighted for RAM, screen size, battery, stick count, chip tier and ratings (highest) and for weight and price (lowest), only when two or more handhelds have a number. Ratings use great 3, good 2, playable 1, no 0.

Corrections

Spot a wrong figure? Tell us, and the page gets a new date. See about and how we make money.