Anbernic’s RG SP Puts a Familiar Fold Back in Your Pocket

Anbernic just pulled the cover off its newest handheld, and the shape alone will stop anyone who grew up with a Game Boy Advance SP. The RG SP closes flat into a compact clamshell that sits almost exactly where the original did in a backpack or jacket pocket. Closed dimensions come in at 83 by 82 by 24 millimeters and the whole unit weighs about 168 grams. That is roughly ten percent thinner than Anbernic’s earlier clamshells and noticeably more pocket-friendly than most modern Linux handhelds.

Four metallic finishes are available: platinum, graphite, pearl pink, and pearl blue. The lid of each shell proudly displays a clean acrylic Anbernic insignia. With more than 90% of the internal components being brand new molds, the overall package seems tighter and more intentional than Anbernic’s prior SP-style machines. Dual metal hinges hold the 3.4″ screen in place at a variety of angles, and they remain strong even when you open and close the lid repeatedly. To ensure that the lid never hits the screen, soft small rubber pads sit at the corners of the display frame, and when you close it, a Hall-effect sensor in the lid automatically puts the machine to sleep.

The screen is a laminated 3.4″ IPS display with 720 by 480 resolution and a 3:2 aspect ratio that naturally matches the Game Boy Advance, so pixels remain sharp and do not become fuzzy or stretched out regardless of the game software being used. Furthermore, with narrower bezels than on previous clamshells, the active area of the screen feels far larger and more spacious than the overall size of the device. It works nicely with the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and a variety of other 2D devices.


The controls are purposefully simple, so no fussing with analog sticks here. You get a full D-pad and four well-spaced face buttons, each with dome switches that feel smooth and crisp to hit. The shoulder buttons are micro switches, and the volume, power, and reset controls are all where you’d expect them to be, so muscle memory won’t get in the way. A little power light sits above the face buttons, straightforward and simple.


The handheld features an Allwinner H700 quad-core processor and a full gigabyte of RAM. Anbernic’s own 64-bit Linux build does the hard lifting, and it supports a wide range of emulators and ports, over thirty in total. Game Boy Advance titles come to life effortlessly. This same hardware can also run PlayStation 1, PSP, Dreamcast, Nintendo DS, and some newer games like Stardew Valley and Cuphead. There are two microSD card slots, allowing you to add as much storage as you wish, and a USB-C and small HDMI port are located between the shoulder buttons. There’s also a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a lanyard hole on the bottom. Wi-Fi 5 allows you to stream games from a PC to your RG SP via Moonlight, and Bluetooth 4.2 supports whatever external controller you want, as long as you dock it to a larger screen first.


The battery life is also decent, with roughly six hours of continuous gaming on a 3300mah battery that recharges swiftly, up to 7.5 watts at a time. The retail package includes a glass screen protector and a convenient short USB-C cable to get you started. What about price and release date? That remains a mystery, but prior versions of the same item sold for between $60 to $80. Given the streamlined appearance and Anbernic’s purposeful concentration on 2D play, it appears that the RG SP will be the daily clamshell that many people have been waiting for.