K1 GBA SP - First Hands-on Impressions

[Another World]

I'm still concerned about the higher resolution. I just fired up Metroid Fusion on my CAANOO to compare it at 240 x 160 to scaled up to 320 x 240, and it made things noticeably more blurry. Hopefully the new firmware will let it run native, but at that point the screen size might just be comparable to a Micro.

i honestly don't see blurry graphics. at first i noticed the lack of hard edges but after playing with it i don't see that stuff any longer. the lcd that k1gba.com is using looks much better than previous units produced by Maxzhou.

-another world

 

[jimmyemunoz]

I honestly don't see blurry graphics. At first, I noticed the lack of hard edges, but after playing with it i don't see that stuff any longer. The LCD that k1gba.com is using looks much better than previous units produced by Maxzhou.

-another world

Another World, what are you basing this on? You just have the review unit from k1gba.com right? Did someone send the taobao unit to you for comparison?

 

[Another World]

from what i was told by those involved the k1gba.com units use a different lcd screen. some users i've talked to have reported them as being better in quality. also, from some photos i have seen. i do not physically have one of Maxzhou's early units.

-another world

 

[pixelelated]

I'm still concerned about the higher resolution. I just fired up Metroid Fusion on my CAANOO to compare it at 240 x 160 to scaled up to 320 x 240, and it made things noticeably more blurry. Hopefully the new firmware will let it run native, but at that point the screen size might just be comparable to a Micro.

i honestly don't see blurry graphics. at first i noticed the lack of hard edges but after playing with it i don't see that stuff any longer. the lcd that k1gba.com is using looks much better than previous units produced by Maxzhou.

-another world

I haven't used the K1, so perhaps it is better on this device, but I've noticed blurriness in other handhelds when they stretch the screen to higher resolution. For example, the picture on my GBA Micro looks better than when it is scaled on my CAANOO.

 

[Another World]

i know what you are talking about but i would describe the graphics as being less-sharp and not blurry. those old screens produced graphics that had hard edges. they were pixel based screens. it seems that these modern handheld screens are more geared towards movie watching. they tend to smooth out the edges and the graphics look less-sharp than we remember them. i experienced these issues on the gemei a330. it was so drastic that it got me to notice it on some of my other chinese handhelds. if you are looking for that 1:1 experience then i would suggest that this device might not be for you. its very close to the actual thing but it isn't perfect, and i don't think any of these clone systems ever will be.

-another world

 

[ruilong]

The LCD that K1gba.com is used is from "Sharp" which is different from those version sold on taobao. This LCD is much better than the old version. Thus, the screen resolution is better, which is confirmed by the manufacture.

The reason why the LCD on K1 from k1gba.com is better is that this batch is for professional GBA gamer. You guys got a higher demand.

At the same time, I do not find the blurry while I play games on K1 GBA. I do not know why you guys said that. I think guys who buy from K1gba.com can follow on this thread and show how is your device's screen working. Showing the pictures are the best way.

Also, we had confirmed with the manufacture. They had tried the 240 x 160 on K1. But the result is not very good as what you though. Thus, they use the current resolution which K1 currently used.

For the battery, K1 used the best one which is different from other Chinese lone handhelds.

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[michizcool]

Hi guys I have a question about the K1 that I havent seen answered or shown anywhere. Can you activate cheats when using retail carts ? Another question I was wondering was can the K1 do gbc multiplayer ? Or is it just gba multiplayer caperble ?

 

[Another World]

retail game carts boot directly into the cart, not the k1 gba sp dram, so there is no way to get back to the in-game menu to turn on/off cheats.

some of the emus (like pocketnes, a custom build of which is being used as an embedded emu) have link transfer capability for smaller roms. the included gb/gbc emu (which seems to be a mix between goomba color and goomba paletted) does have the link transfer option. i've yet to test it.

By the way, I got the "cheat" files from the manufacture today. Is there any body need it? I will translate the whole user manual in to English if you want. Just PM and leave me your email address so that I can send to you. Thanks.

send me whatever you have. =)

-another world

 

[michizcool]

Thanks for the fast responce, is link transfer just game sharing ? Or does that mean I could trade pokemon from red to blue for example ?

 

[Another World]

here is some info for you:
http://www.pocketnes.org/faq.html#link
http://www.pocketnes.org/howto.html#linking

here is a list of files that work:
http://www.pocketnes.org/tools/nes2playersimultaneousunder190k.txt

i just transferred contra from the k1 gba sp to an official gba sp using the generic link cable that k1gba.com sells. i am happy to report that it works! =)

after reading for a bit it seems that multi-player link transfer play wasn't implemented into goomba or goomba color. i was told that Maxzhou is now responsible for the emulators, so perhaps he has got it working. i'll be sure to test it out for the sake of the review. just need to find a 128k 2-player game.

-another world

 

[mrfatso]

Guys, just to ask, are there any other colors other than the silver color?

If so, any rough ideas when they will be out?

 

[Hadrian]

Guys, just to ask, are there any other colors other than the silver color?

If so, any rough ideas when they will be out?

There's blue and black.

 

[pixelelated]

For those interested, I have created this graphic to show how playing a GBA game in native resolution would look on the screen size of the K1GBA (2.9 in). Of note is that the screen would actually be slightly larger than the Game Boy Micro, which was 2 in.

When the new firmware comes out, I'm hoping that someone will do a side-by-side-by-side showing the same game:
1) on the K1 scaled
2) on the K1 at native
3) on an AGS-101

Once I see that I'll be able to make a decision as to whether this is a better option than refurbishing an old GBA SP.

 

[gibberish]

I'm still concerned about the higher resolution. I just fired up Metroid Fusion on my CAANOO to compare it at 240 x 160 to scaled up to 320 x 240, and it made things noticeably more blurry. Hopefully the new firmware will let it run native, but at that point the screen size might just be comparable to a Micro.

K-Team implemented a rather nice scaling engine that improves the upscaled image significantly compared to emulators like those found on the caanoo and dingoo.

 

[pixelelated]

That

I'm still concerned about the higher resolution. I just fired up Metroid Fusion on my CAANOO to compare it at 240 x 160 to scaled up to 320 x 240, and it made things noticeably more blurry. Hopefully the new firmware will let it run native, but at that point the screen size might just be comparable to a Micro.

K-Team implemented a rather nice scaling engine that improves the upscaled image significantly compared to emulators like those found on the caanoo and dingoo.

That's good to hear. At this point, I'm waiting for Another World's review, since it seems like the button issues may be a bit of a bummer. Beyond that, I'd like a black model which doesn't seem to be in stock. Also, on the Obscure Handhelds thread, the K1 team said they'll be getting a K101 prototype soon, so if that has the RTC and stereo headphone jack, it may be worth waiting for. My ideal situation would be an updated SP form factor with a real headphone jack and hardware-based RTC, but I doubt we'll see it.

 

[WiiUBricker]

Where are the saves stored? On a battery powered SRAM or in flash memory?

 

[ruilong]

Guys, just to ask, are there any other colors other than the silver color?

If so, any rough ideas when they will be out?

There are three colors for K1. Silver, Black, Blue. We bring you good news. For the black and blue colors, we have restocked 10pcs for each of them. You guys can consider about these two colors. Because the firmware for the black and blue colors are still being adjusted, we have limited stocks for these two colors. We update the real stocks for these colors and will remind you every day. Just keep paying your attention on it. Thanks.

 

[ruilong]

That

I'm still concerned about the higher resolution. I just fired up Metroid Fusion on my CAANOO to compare it at 240 x 160 to scaled up to 320 x 240, and it made things noticeably more blurry. Hopefully the new firmware will let it run native, but at that point the screen size might just be comparable to a Micro.

K-Team implemented a rather nice scaling engine that improves the upscaled image significantly compared to emulators like those found on the caanoo and dingoo.

That's good to hear. At this point, I'm waiting for Another World's review, since it seems like the button issues may be a bit of a bummer. Beyond that, I'd like a black model which doesn't seem to be in stock. Also, on the Obscure Handhelds thread, the K1 team said they'll be getting a K101 prototype soon, so if that has the RTC and stereo headphone jack, it may be worth waiting for. My ideal situation would be an updated SP form factor with a real headphone jack and hardware-based RTC, but I doubt we'll see it.

Yes, the K101 is a worthwhile product you guys can expect it. But we still do not have the exact day when it will be released. Like the first version of K1, the manufacture need to test test and test again to make everything run better then they will let out of the products. That is the big difference from other emulator handhelds in the market. We are now asking the manufacture to donate one K1O1 to us. K1gba.com will test it and release the result after that.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

I'll be getting one of these. Maybe not this iteration, but probably the one that gets RTC.

 

[pixelelated]

Guys, just to ask, are there any other colors other than the silver color?

If so, any rough ideas when they will be out?

There are three colors for K1. Silver, Black, Blue. We bring you good news. For the black and blue colors, we have restocked 10pcs for each of them. You guys can consider about these two colors. Because the firmware for the black and blue colors are still being adjusted, we have limited stocks for these two colors. We update the real stocks for these colors and will remind you every day. Just keep paying your attention on it. Thanks.

Why is the firmware for the Black and Blue colors different from the firmware on the Silver one?