# Best Retro Handhelds: the stierproducts tier list - Source: https://stierproducts.com/categories/retro-handhelds - Last researched: 2026-09-23T17:38:15.143Z - Evidence base: 18 products ranked across 115 cited reviews, videos and discussions - Method: https://stierproducts.com/methodology - Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22062813 - every board at once, one dated snapshot per release, same licence, prices and photographs left out - Reuse: Text, rankings, tier assignments, LP values and verdicts are free to quote and reuse with attribution to stierproducts and a link to the source URL (CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Product photographs are not covered: they belong to their respective owners and are reproduced to illustrate the product being reviewed. Do not redistribute them under this licence. Handheld emulation devices built for retro games, Linux and Android based; Windows and SteamOS handheld PCs belong to Handheld Gaming PCs, and current consoles such as the Nintendo Switch belong to Gaming Consoles. ## Summary On the stierproducts retro handhelds board, Retroid Pocket 5 ranks #1 in S tier, ahead of Retroid Pocket 6 (#2, A tier) and AYN Odin 2 Portal (#3, A tier). The board ranks 18 retro handhelds from S (best) to F (avoid), last researched 23 Sept 2026, drawing on 115 cited reviews, videos and discussions. Placed in the bottom tiers as ones to avoid: Miyoo Mini Plus, Trimui Smart Pro S, Miyoo Mini Flip, and 3 others. ## Ranking | Rank | Product | Brand | Tier | LP | Outlets | Verdict | Page | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Retroid Pocket 5 | Retroid | S | 997 | 23 | The retro-first recommendation from Engadget with Retroid's best-in-class firmware longevity behind it. The safest all-round ownership in the category. | https://stierproducts.com/products/retroid-pocket-5 | | 2 | Retroid Pocket 6 | Retroid | A | 776 | 22 | Newest Retroid with the brand's support reputation, ranked here only because long-term field data does not exist yet. | https://stierproducts.com/products/retroid-pocket-6 | | 3 | AYN Odin 2 Portal | AYN | A | 755 | 15 | The current best Android handheld with active firmware development behind it. Nothing better to own long term. | https://stierproducts.com/products/ayn-odin-2-portal | | 4 | Analogue Pocket | Analogue | A | 696 | 2 | Flagship build quality and a vendor with a proven multi-year support record. The only device here that feels like it will outlive the hobby. | https://stierproducts.com/products/analogue-pocket | | 5 | Anbernic RG28XX | Anbernic | B | 611 | 3 | GamesRadar's best budget pick with excellent build quality, but its tiny screen limits it against the Miyoo Mini Plus for usability. | https://stierproducts.com/products/anbernic-rg28xx | | 6 | Anbernic RG Cube | Anbernic | B | 507 | 1 | GamesRadar's best retro handheld with the best controls in the business. Android support is good but Anbernic's software record trails Retroid's. | https://stierproducts.com/products/anbernic-rg-cube | | 7 | Retroid Pocket Flip 2 | Retroid | C | 495 | 4 | Shares Android Authority's best-value verdict with the Pocket 5 and adds a genuinely well-executed folding design. | https://stierproducts.com/products/retroid-pocket-flip-2 | | 8 | Retroid Pocket Classic | Retroid | C | 471 | 3 | Nothing in the retrieved source set covers it at all, and that tracks with the wider consensus: it was Retroid's most heavily marketed 2025 release and drew sustained criticism as an expensive niche device, a premium-built vertical Game Boy form factor that plays only the simplest retro systems and costs close to Retroid's full-size Android handhelds. Buyers cross-shop it because of the marketing push. Buy the Retroid Pocket 5 instead. | https://stierproducts.com/products/retroid-pocket-classic | | 9 | AYN Thor | AYN | C | 451 | 3 | Best dual-screen device available and well built, but hinge and lid-closed quirks keep it out of the top three under a reliability lens. | https://stierproducts.com/products/ayn-thor | | 10 | R36S | R36S | C | 441 | 5 | Buggy OS and stock SD cards that owners report fail readily, plus a counterfeit epidemic. The definition of a device that reviews well and dies in eighteen months. Buy the Miyoo Mini Plus instead. | https://stierproducts.com/products/r36s | | 11 | Anbernic RG476H | Anbernic | C | 423 | 4 | Excellent Anbernic hardware quality, but the reviewer's own "same problems" verdict on the software side holds it back. | https://stierproducts.com/products/anbernic-rg476h | | 12 | Anbernic RG Cube XX | Anbernic | C | 421 | 1 | A solid, simple budget device with Anbernic build quality. Ranked below the pricier picks because its support ecosystem is thinner. | https://stierproducts.com/products/anbernic-rg-cube-xx | | 13 | Miyoo Mini Plus | Miyoo | D | 351 | 3 | Simple, proven, and carried by a huge custom-firmware community. Little to break and easy to keep alive for a decade. | https://stierproducts.com/products/miyoo-mini-plus | | 14 | Trimui Smart Pro S | Trimui | D | 349 | 3 | The best widescreen Linux pick for the money, with controls reviewers describe as class-leading. Stock firmware is serviceable, and the huge community firmware scene around the Trimui line means the device will keep improving long after the vendor loses interest. | https://stierproducts.com/products/trimui-smart-pro-s | | 15 | Miyoo Mini Flip | Miyoo | D | 324 | 5 | Nothing in the retrieved set covers it directly, which is itself telling: RetroCatalog names the Miyoo Mini Plus, not the Flip, as its beginner pick. The Flip's widely documented hinge and quality-control problems made it the cautionary tale of its release window. Buy the Miyoo Mini Plus instead. | https://stierproducts.com/products/miyoo-mini-flip | | 16 | TRIMUI Brick | TRIMUI | D | 244 | 1 | RetroCatalog's best-overall budget device and the community's answer to the hyped cheap handhelds. Excellent for its class, outclassed by everything above it. | https://stierproducts.com/products/trimui-brick | | 17 | Retroid Pocket 4 Pro | Retroid | F | 122 | 2 | Still decent and still supported, but twice superseded. Buying it now means buying old hardware when the Retroid Pocket 5 exists. | https://stierproducts.com/products/retroid-pocket-4-pro | | 18 | AYN Odin 2 (original) | AYN | F | 0 | 3 | Genuinely well built, which is why it beats the other traps, but it is superseded by the Portal and one generation from firmware sunset. Buy the AYN Odin 2 Portal instead. | https://stierproducts.com/products/ayn-odin-2-original | ## Flagged as ones to avoid These entered one or more research runs as a product buyers cross-shop but should not buy, rather than as a pick. - AYN Odin 2 Portal (#3, A tier): flagged by 1 of 12 runs. - Analogue Pocket (#4, A tier): flagged by 4 of 12 runs. - Retroid Pocket Flip 2 (#7, C tier): flagged by 1 of 6 runs. - Retroid Pocket Classic (#8, C tier): flagged by 1 of 5 runs. - R36S (#10, C tier): flagged by 4 of 12 runs. - Anbernic RG476H (#11, C tier): flagged by 1 of 4 runs. - Miyoo Mini Plus (#13, D tier): flagged by 1 of 11 runs. - Trimui Smart Pro S (#14, D tier): flagged by 1 of 5 runs. - Miyoo Mini Flip (#15, D tier): flagged by 1 of 3 runs. - Retroid Pocket 4 Pro (#17, F tier): flagged by 7 of 11 runs. - AYN Odin 2 (original) (#18, F tier): flagged by 9 of 10 runs. ## Tier meanings - S: Exceptional. Finishes top run after run; capped at 3 slots per category. - A: Excellent. Strongly recommended, beaten only by the very best. - B: Good. A solid choice with real caveats worth knowing. - C: Fair. Acceptable in the right situation, outclassed at its price. - D: Weak. Hard to recommend when better options cost similar money. - F: Avoid. The evidence points you elsewhere. ## How to read this - Each category is researched in four independent runs, one per lens (expert consensus, value, reliability, community pulse). Every run ranks a board of candidates that deliberately includes products buyers cross-shop but should avoid. Placements score on a ranked ladder (LP), and tiers are derived from LP, so no tier is ever assigned by hand. - LP is the product's points on this category's ladder. It is comparable within a category and not across categories. - Outlets is how many distinct outlets are cited for that placement. The per-product page lists each citation, and shows which of their links were fetched and confirmed before publishing. - Nothing is hidden: every product the research placed is on this board. ## Limitations - We do not test products ourselves. Every placement is consolidated from published reviews, owner reports and community discussion, so a board is only as good as the sources behind it. - LP is points on this category ladder. It is comparable within a category and never across categories. - A board is a snapshot with a research date. Anything released or changed after that date is not in it yet. - Evidence is uneven across this board: products carry between 1 and 29 cited sources. The count for each is in the table above.