Anbernic RG Cube GBAtemp review
Hardware
Product Information:
- Official Store: https://anbernic.com/products/rg-cube
It should come as no surprise to regular readers of our lovely community to see another Anbernic device on the review docket today. They manufacture some definitely excellent dedicated emulation devices; and I’ve found myself enamored by the company and their products since my first review of one a couple years back. Today we’ll be looking at one of the latest toys from the company, Anbernic’s RG Cube! A powerful little device that promises high performance in its sleek, small packaging. How does it handle these promises? Let’s read on, and take a look!
Tech Specs
First Looks
Cracking open the box, I was thrilled to see all of the “usual suspects” I’ve come to expect when reviewing Anbernic’s devices. The box comes equipped with everything you need to get started; the RG Cube itself, a USB-A to USB-C cable, the typical screen protector, and an instruction manual. No frills, no unnecessary packaging, just what you need to get started. Included by Anbernic for this review was the carrying case specifically designed for the RG Cube, and a second unit, in their purple color scheme. While I primarily tested everything on the Black unit, I loved getting an in person look at the Purple unit just to see the difference in aesthetics between the two units.
When it comes to the actual device itself, I’m receiving the quality I’ve come to expect from Anbernic: lightweight but durable material, clicky buttons, and a crystal clear display. The display on this unit, in order to perfectly match the size of the device, is a unique 720*720, or 1:1 aspect ratio, which is an interesting choice to be sure… we’ll touch more on that later when talking about game performance.
From a size perspective, I found the Cube a bit too small, but not small enough that it was annoying to use with my adult sized hands. The Cube also sports RGB lights surrounding both analog sticks, and 128 gigs of on-board storage, which I particularly enjoy as it doesn’t necessitate a MicroSD card to get going, though it is compatible if you want more storage. If I have one design complaint about the build, it would be the location of the USB-C charging port; stuck at the top of the device, I can’t help but feel how non-optimal this is, as it limits the comfort of playing while charging, with the chord getting in the way of my hands in ways it simply wouldn't had if this port been on the bottom of the device. When it comes to the different units I was sent, I found both held the same level of quality, and no noticeable difference in one getting more smudged or worn than the other, the only real difference being how much the screen blends into the system. Overall, not a bad first impression from the Cube!
The RG Cube runs Android 13 natively, operating more like an Android phone than most of the Anbernic device siblings that I’ve used in the past. This started my time with the Cube off strong by giving me an OS and UI that I had familiarity with, making getting it set up to my liking incredibly simple. As a bonus, this also means that all of your favorite Android-compatible emulators are available on the device, such as RetroArch, Dolphin, and AetherSX2.
This gives the Cube a boost, in my opinion. It offers the opportunity to pick and choose which emulator you want depending on the system, with the Google Play store available to download your choice of emulator. In addition, Android makes this system a great bridge for someone looking to try out the Anbernic suite of emulation hardware, but wants to utilize the familiarity and power of the Android OS.
Playing the Games
Let’s talk performance. The RG Cube can emulate up to Wii, GameCube and PS2 games, as well as pretty easily handling everything preceding that with little to no issue. Systems such as the GameBoys, NES and SNES, Sega Genesis, and essentially anything 2D ran flawlessly, and look pretty pretty good on the Cube. All tested games played at consistent high frame rates, and offered the same level of quality emulation I've come to expect from Anbernic.
One interesting note comes in the form of the DS and 3DS emulation. With these systems, the Cube’s touch screen works on the bottom screen to give you the full range of options on the console in one of the most innovative ways to emulate the system that I’ve seen, and made me feel like I was playing on the proper systems again. Thanks to a recent update, the built-in gyroscopes even work to add yet another layer to the 3DS emulation.
When it comes to the 3D consoles, there’s some areas where the Cube shines, and some where it… well, doesn’t. For Sega Saturn, DreamCast, PlayStation, and N64, the Cube not only plays pretty much every game flawlessly and consistently, but it does so in what might be my favorite non-phone emulation option for the systems. Each game I played stayed at a steady 30-60 FPS, and had plenty of room within the performance for me to upscale them to my liking. The only game I had any issues at all with was Virtual Hydlide on the Saturn, which would generate a world code and then seem to crash as it tried to generate the world. These systems also managed to fit the quite abnormal screen of the Cube pretty nicely, which we’ll get more into later.
Where I found the device was a bit more hit-or-miss was when it came to PS2, GameCube, and Wii emulation. For GameCube, some games like Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, and Pokemon Colosseum played great! Some like Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, and F-Zero GX ran well enough, but pretty inconsistently. Especially in high-spawn areas for enemies and NPCs, in the case of Mario and Metroid. Both games would see significant drops in these cases, but not to the point of completely stalling. Outside of these areas, they performed as expected.
On the PS2 front, games like God of War and Dragon Age 2 were definitely playable, but not optimal. Both would hover around the 60 and 30 for FPS mark respectively at native settings, leaving no room for upscaling. Games like Kingdom Hearts and GTA San Andreas, meanwhile, performed just fine at a consistent 30 FPS with as much as 3x upscaling.
I even got a few Wii games to work, with Super Smash Bros. Brawl performing shockingly well, though Super Mario Galaxy barely wanted to run. Despite these shortcomings in terms of “newer” console emulation, I found myself still impressed by what the Cube did manage to emulate, and the presentation of such.
One area of compatibility that interested me immediately was the support for native Android games. I had high hopes for this console, thinking that the Android 13 support would add on that extra layer of value through being able to play those games.
Unfortunately, I was left mostly disappointed. A wide majority of the mobile games I tried would only display the left side of the screen. This means that most games were functionally unplayable… with one pretty major exception to this rule being the Android port of Stardew Valley. That game plays great, with your toolbar available on the side, and the game’s natural feature of letting you zoom in or out on the map comes into full value here. It even looks great on the 1:1 screen. Overall the lack of functional Android gaming support does annoy me, as including it would only add value to the device. But some standout exceptions do indeed apply.
The Eye (Screen) of the Beholder
Moving on now to that 1:1 screen, it’s an interesting choice to say the least, because no gaming system utilizes this aspect ratio naturally. This means that if you want to play your games in their native aspect ratios, you’ll deal with some pretty significant cropping and letterboxing.
That said, there’s a few options that look far from terrible in the 1:1 aspect ratio. Notably any games from the NES, SNES, GameBoy Color or Advance, and essentially any 2D games all look completely fine in the aspect ratio, with minimal distortion from stretching.
SNES titles looked particularly good on the console, owing mostly due to the SNES' native resolution of 8:7 being not that far off from the 1:1 screen offered here.
In the 3D realm, I found that most N64 and PS1 games, particularly the full-3D and isometric options, looked best. GameCube, Dreamcast and PS2 are where things get tricky, with some games looking fine when stretched, and others look far too unnatural. Really the PSP is the only system that I can’t recommend playing in the matched aspect ratio, as those games are just too wide natively to work when that aggressively cropped.
My best experience definitely came from playing the Android version of Stardew Valley on the console. The game fits a 1:1 aspect ratio so naturally, and was definitely the highlight of my using of the native screen. If you’re vehemently against that gimmick screen size, the good news is most consoles still look great in their native aspect ratios, as long as you’re okay with a bit of letterboxing to make it work; which I personally am.
Overall, I find it hard to not be impressed with the RG Cube. While it isn’t the perfect, be-all end-all system for emulation, it offers a ton of variety, power, and versatility to be nearly anything you want. Add that with the familiarity and freedom of choice that comes from the built-in Android 13 OS, and you have a device that I’m happy to recommend to anyone looking for a dedicated emulation device that can handle a huge variety of systems.
Verdict
- Emulation up to certain PS2 and GameCube titles
- 90% of emulation on device runs with minimal issues
- Sleek design
- 1:1 display an odd choice
- Placement of charging port
