# Anbernic RG Cube

- Source: https://stierproducts.com/products/anbernic-rg-cube
- Category board: https://stierproducts.com/categories/retro-handhelds
- Placement: #6 of 18 in Retro Handhelds, B tier
- Brand: Anbernic
- LP on this board: 507
- Last researched: 2026-09-23T13:11:24.172Z
- 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.

## Verdict

GamesRadar's best retro handheld with the best controls in the business. Android support is good but Anbernic's software record trails Retroid's.

## For

- Awarded best retro gaming handheld by GamesRadar
- Excellent controls, repeatedly singled out as the best in the affordable tier
- Square 1:1 screen is the correct shape for the consoles it targets
- Runs full Android
- Named the best retro handheld overall by GamesRadar

## Against

- Anbernic's software support record trails Retroid's
- Premium positioning hard to justify for retro-only buyers
- The RG Cube XX delivers the same square-screen idea for a fraction of the money
- Costs more than its nearly identical XX sibling
- Premium price for the 1:1 screen niche

## Evidence

Consolidated from 2 cited sources at one outlet

Limited coverage: fewer than two distinct outlets are cited for this placement. Read it as a weaker reading than a product with broad coverage.

| Outlet | Said by | Stance | Link | Link status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GamesRadar | - | - | https://www.gamesradar.com/best-gaming-handheld/ | fetched and confirmed |
| GamesRadar | - | - | https://www.gamesradar.com/hardware/retro/best-retro-handheld/ | fetched and confirmed |

## Nearest alternatives on this board

| Rank | Product | Tier | Page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Retroid Pocket 5 | S | https://stierproducts.com/products/retroid-pocket-5 |
| 2 | Retroid Pocket 6 | A | https://stierproducts.com/products/retroid-pocket-6 |
| 3 | AYN Odin 2 Portal | A | https://stierproducts.com/products/ayn-odin-2-portal |
| 4 | Analogue Pocket | A | https://stierproducts.com/products/analogue-pocket |
| 5 | Anbernic RG28XX | B | https://stierproducts.com/products/anbernic-rg28xx |
| 7 | Retroid Pocket Flip 2 | C | https://stierproducts.com/products/retroid-pocket-flip-2 |
| 8 | Retroid Pocket Classic | C | https://stierproducts.com/products/retroid-pocket-classic |
| 9 | AYN Thor | C | https://stierproducts.com/products/ayn-thor |
| 10 | R36S | C | https://stierproducts.com/products/r36s |
| 11 | Anbernic RG476H | C | https://stierproducts.com/products/anbernic-rg476h |

The full board is at https://stierproducts.com/categories/retro-handhelds.

## What this tier means

- B: Good. A solid choice with real caveats worth knowing.

## 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 this product's points on its own category ladder. It is comparable within a category and not across categories.
- Link status reports what our pre-publication link check found when it fetched the cited URL. It says nothing about the quality of the review.
- A citation with no usable link is listed rather than dropped, and is excluded from the counted total above.

## Image

https://stspimgdevmfyk46r5vwkay.blob.core.windows.net/images/products/anbernic-rg-cube.webp

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.