Welcome to the latest edition of Retro Handhelds Weekly. This week, we saw a bunch of news in the world of hardware and software. Our writing team continues to be on an absolute tear, and there’s even a surprise or two sprinkled in! So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and catch up on what’s happened this week in the world of Retro Handhelds.
Hardware
- AYANEO Promises To Do Better: On a Reddit post over on r/ayaneo, Arthur Zhang, the CEO of AYANEO, has responded to the recent concerns expressed by the retro handheld community with promises and detailed plans for the company to improve in 2026.
- AYN Sending Bag to Thor and Odin 3 Backers: Some members of the retro handheld community have been receiving an unexpected package from AYN. Turns out, those who bought both the AYN Thor and AYN Odin 3 from AYN have been sent branded sling bags from AYN, something that was teased during the Odin 3 IndieGoGo campaign and seems to have been mostly forgotten about by the community.
- AYANEO Reveals Pocket DMG Aura Yellow: AYANEO sure does like the Pocket DMG. Following their recent reveal and release of the Limited Edition Bright Silver edition of the Pocket DMG, AYANEO is back at it again with the reveal and release of the Aura Yellow edition of the Pocket DMG.
- MiniLoong Pocket 1 Is Competing For Best Handheld Of 2023: The MiniLoong Pocket 1 is yet another Rockchip RK3566-based handheld, straight out of 2023, and appears to be an attractive but underpowered first outing for the newest contender in the Chinese emulation console wars. Details first surfaced on the SBCGaming subreddit from user Qinki001, and now we have an in-depth unboxing video from NITTRX showing it off in the mortal plane.
- More Hardware
Apps and Software
- Tinkerer’s Treasure: dArkOS Brings Debian Linux to RK3326/3566 Devices: Sure, CES is happening in Vegas this week and all the latest and greatest in coming-soon tech is on display, but one of the most interesting software developments in the world of handheld emulation has quietly arrived. dArkOS is here to get the most out of the devices you may already own.
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 4K Just Got Better!: I do not think there is a harder working person in the texture pack space than Henriko Magnifico, and for a swell New Years treat, he dropped a large update to arguably his best work: The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess for GameCube 4K project.
- Lenovo Reveal SteamOS on the Legion Go 2: Lenovo are back with a new iteration of their Switch-style handheld PC; the Legion Go 2. Debuting as a Windows handheld back in October of last year, the Legion Go 2 will see something of a relaunch in June of 2026. This is when the company will open preorders on a SteamOS version of the handheld.
From the Writers
MagicX One 35 First Impressions - Retro Handhelds
MagicX hits the scene again with the One 35. A sub $100 Android handheld with a good experience AND TATE mode? This could be the one for a lot of people.
Ban
AceMagic M1 Review: CPU Power Isn’t Everything - Retro Handhelds
AceMagic is back again with an update to their Matrix M1. With an upgraded CPU, and GPU, is this going to come out ahead? Or is it still behind in the long run.
Ban
CES 2026 Recap: 8BitDo, MSI, OneXPlayer, ASUS, Genki, and Everything Else We Could Find - Retro Handhelds
It’s been a long week but CES is finally over. With a lot of announcements, here’s what stands out as some of the most interesting to the Retro Handhelds team.
andrew
On the YouTubes
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