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Awesome Handhelds

Making a DIY Handheld Gaming PC

Making a DIY Handheld Gaming PC

The Steam Deck is a slick handheld gaming device, but the cheapest one you can get is about $400. Marcin Plaza thought it would be a better idea to build his own handheld gaming PC using the guts of a broken laptop that cost $40. It took him considerable time to find a compatible ultrawide display and engineer its custom controller system.

Ayaneo Pocket DMG Retro Console

Ayaneo Pocket DMG Retro Console

The Ayaneo Pocket DMG is a top-of-the-line Android-based retro handheld gaming device that borrows the shape and layout of the original Game Boy. It has a clever touchpad that doubles as the right joystick, complete with a virtual joystick button. It has a 4″ 1240×1080 OLED screen, a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 chip, and a 6,000 mAh battery.

Onexplayer X1 Mini

Onexplayer X1 Mini

The Onexplayer X1 Mini is a versatile and powerful handheld gaming PC. It comes with detachable controllers and a keyboard and can even be connected to an external GPU. It also has an 8.8″ 2560×1600 144Hz LCD screen, an easily replaceable M.2 NVME SSD, Hall Effect joysticks, two USB-C 4.0 ports, a microSD slot, and an Oculink port for connecting PCIe peripherals.

From Coin-Ops to Table-Tops

From Coin-Ops to Table-Tops

This coffee table book from author and video game expert Mike Diver and Numskull delves into the brief but wonderful history of electronic table-top games. The book features pristine photography and information about sixty such games from the 1970s and 1980s, each designed to bring the video arcade experience to your home. Ships 7.2024.

MSI Claw Handheld Gaming PC

MSI Claw Handheld Gaming PC
Buy

MSI joins the growing handheld gaming PC market that Valve’s Steam Deck blew wide open. The Claw A1M is powered by an Intel Core Ultra laptop chip. It has a 7″ 120Hz 1080p IPS touchscreen, Hall Effect joysticks and triggers, and a Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port that supports up to 65W charging. It runs Windows 11, but it also lets you install Android apps.

MyArcade Atari Gamestation Portable

MyArcade Atari Gamestation Portable

After releasing its Atari Gamestation Pro retro console, My Arcade is now working on a handheld version of the 8-bit gaming system. In addition to coming with more than 200 classic Atari 2600 games, the Gamestation Portable will have a 7″ display, joystick, paddle, numeric, and mini-trackball controllers built right in. Drops Q4 2024 for $149.

uConsole Programmable Gaming Handheld

uConsole Programmable Gaming Handheld

Clockwork’s compact uConsole computer was created for indie game developers and programmers. Its mainboard has swappable cores, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-A, USB-C, Micro-HDMI, headphone, and MicroSD connectors, and the kit includes a 720p 5.0-inch IPS screen and a backlit QWERTY keyboard with game controls.

Tiny Circuits Pocket Arcade

Tiny Circuits Pocket Arcade
Buy

This arcade game is as small as they come. It runs on an Arduino-compatible 32-bit processor and has a tiny full-color OLED screen, a D-Pad, two pushbuttons, plus a built-in speaker. It comes pre-loaded with three homebrew games, and can be expanded with more games via a MicroSD card. Takes about 10 minutes to assemble.

GPD XP Plus Modular Gaming Handheld

GPD XP Plus Modular Gaming Handheld

This powerful Android gaming system is perfect for emulator fanatics. Its 8-core Dimensity 1200 chip is fast enough to run upscaled PS2 games at 60 fps. What really sets it apart is its magnetic controller modules, which provide separate FPS, MOBA, and Xbox-style layouts. ETA Prime has a great hands-on review.

Cardboard GameBoy Advance SP

Cardboard GameBoy Advance SP

We always figured if you were going to upgrade the plastic case on a handheld game system, you’d want to go for aluminum or maybe carbon fiber. But Peter Knetter is a bit of a contrarian, so he downgraded his GameBoy Advance SP by building it a case, buttons, and D-pad out of cardboard.

Nintendo Switch OLED Model

Nintendo Switch OLED Model

This new model of the Nintendo Switch offers the inky blacks, high contrast, and rich colors that OLED displays are known for. It has a slightly larger 7″ OLED screen, a wide adjustable stand, enhanced audio, and a dock with a wired Ethernet port and 64GB of storage. The $349 system drops 10.8.2021 just in time for the holidays.

MacOS Handheld

MacOS Handheld

That iPhone in your pocket is as powerful as many earlier Macintosh computers, but iOS still doesn’t have all of the capabilities of MacOS. Ike T. Sanglay Jr. built this custom Hackintosh portable that’s capable of running MacOS Big Sur. It was built using a Latte Panda Alpha single-board computer, and has 8GB RAM, and a 240GB M.2 SSD.

Restoring a 1980s Handheld Pinball Game

Restoring a 1980s Handheld Pinball Game

What you’re looking at here is an old digital pinball game that dates back nearly four decades. TysyTube found the yellowed and badly-scratched handheld system on an auction site, and painstakingly restored it to like-new condition. Using that ice cube tray as a screw sorter is a brilliant lifehack.

Evercade Handheld Arcade

Evercade Handheld Arcade
Buy

Unlike many other handheld retro systems, the Evercade plays licensed games, rather than pirated ROMs. Games play smoothly on its crisp 4.3″ widescreen, and come in collections on cartridges, another nice retro touch. The Premium Pack includes Atari, Data East, and Interplay carts packed with 8-bit and 16-bit games.

8BitCADE XL

8BitCADE XL

This DIY handheld gaming system offers gamers an opportunity to learn about electronics. The system features a 2.42″ monochrome widescreen and comes with 200 Arduboy games pre-loaded into its memory. Advanced users can even program their own games for it. Available with or without a tool kit.

My Arcade Pocket Player Handhelds

My Arcade Pocket Player Handhelds
Buy

My Arcade makes pocket-sized gaming systems that each play three classic arcade games. They feature accurate 8-bit graphics, arcade-inspired case designs, and a crisp 2.75″ color display. Available games include Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Dig Dug, Galaga, Galaxian, Xevious, Ms. Pac-Man, Sky Kid, Mappy, and more.

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