Unboxing and Impressions

There was a time when handheld consoles were synonymous with pocketable consoles. These devices would let you play games on the go with the convenience of literally fitting completely in your pocket. As recently as the Nintendo 3DS, this was possible. But it’s a time long gone and I didn’t realise how much I missed this pocketable aspect of handhelds until I got the New PocketGo V2 to test.

Coming from BittBoy, the New PocketGo V2 might be a bit of a confusing name. Was there an “old” PocketGo V2? Well, the company released another handheld last year that looked very similar, packed similar specs, and even used the same JZ4770 Dual-Core 64Bit – 1.00Ghz processor. That one was named the Bittboy PocketGo V2 (or New PocketGo? ... it's confusing...). The new one however comes with some updates, most noticeably a “reset” hardware and pre-loaded RG350 firmware, which we’ll get into later. Thankfully, it seems like the company discontinued their previous PocketGo V2 in favour of the New one. They should probably discontinue their naming convention as well and go for something like "PocketGo V2/V3/V4", but I digress. As far as the “pocketgo” naming goes, it doesn’t disappoint with its on-the-go portability and pocketable aspects.

This 13.8 x 7.5 x 1.5 cm handheld fits right in my palm and doesn’t feel too tiny to be irritating nor too large to not fit in my pocket. Its 3.5" IPS screen also makes for comfortable gaming on a handheld without having to squint to see what’s going on in the game and outputs vivid colours. It's not going to emulate a CRT feeling for the full retro vibe, but I'm not one to complain given the visual quality the V2's screen offers.

Out of its colourful box, you find the following:

• New PocketGo V2 console
• USB Cable
• User Manual
• Analogue cap
• Spare buttons
• microSD card reader
• 32GB microSD card with firmware installed

Of note, the 32GB microSD included is pre-formatted to contain the firmware and some ROMs but for your own ROMs, you will need another microSD (there are two slots at the bottom of the device). It’s a bit of an odd choice to have a microSD dedicated to the firmware rather than have an internal memory for the device for that purpose, but I didn't come across any issues with running the pre-loaded software, so no harm done with this choice.

Also at the bottom is the new addition to this New PocketGo V2. It’s a handy reset button that lets you reboot the device should a game freeze on you. This way, you don’t have to power off and power on manually or even remove the battery should the device become unresponsive.

While this version sports the new reset hardware, it also has a vestigial unmarked button which served as the menu button in the previous version. Somehow they left it there, clickable but doing nothing. I would personally prefer if the button was still functional or removed altogether rather than sit there without any purpose.

Flipping the device, we find a battery cover that hides a 2000mAh removable battery underneath. This is a welcome feature that can prolong the lifetime of the device, unlike the current devices which come with built-in batteries often a pain to replace should they die.

Priced at $66 at the time of writing, the build quality isn’t too bad for what it costs. Its hard, plastic casing has a glossy, pearly white finish, which coupled with the colored buttons do give it a nice, nostalgic retro aesthetic. It doesn’t look or feel too cheap, nor too premium either. There's a pricier aluminium body version that packs quite the look, but does't offer much beside this.

From what I read, the previous New PocketGo had a stiff analogue stick that was barely usable. BittBoy revisited the internals of the V2 and updated its analogue stick. However, there’s a noticeable grinding noise whenever I use the one in my unit. It's definitely usable but the noise is there and you'll definitely want to use the included cap as it's quite slippery otherwise. The stick is also noticeably small and I would personally prefer if its location was swapped with the D-pad as modern gaming has gotten me used to relying on analogue sticks. But then again, we're dealing with retro games here and the D-pad is the main input method (although the device does recognise the analogue stick input as D-pad input).

Regarding the D-pad, I also had some issues with it as the one in my unit wasn’t recording all of my input (even in the built-in hardware input test app). Well, you probably aren’t going to be playing competitive games on this device but it still gets annoying at times. This D-pad input issue was a known issue in the previous version and was supposed to be addressed in this new edition. Maybe it’s just my unit though as I asked BittBoy and they said that could be the case.

While the inclusion of four shoulder buttons is a welcome feature, especially for PS1 games, both of the R1 and L1 shoulder buttons need quite the effort to reach due to their positioning and size of the device. I have to bend my fingers all the way to reach them. Otherwise, I'm quite satisfied with how the buttons feel. There's a nice press to them and they offer decent feedback. For sure they're not of the quality of say, a GBA, but also don't feel too cheap altogether.

Specs and Performance

Now on to the juicy part: the performance. Before getting into it, for those who aren't too familiar with these retro handhelds, you should know that there's a whole market out there, mostly filled with devices from Chinese companies. They come in different quality, shapes, sizes and specs. Speaking of specs, below are the official New PocketGo V2’s specs:

• Processor: JZ4770 Dual-Core 64Bit - 1.00Ghz
• Software Functions: Retro Gaming Emulation, Audio/Video Playback, Audio Recorder, E-Book
• Display: 3.5" IPS Tempered Glass Panel ; 320x240
• Video Playback: Supports the following formats: RM, RMVB, AVI, MKV, WMV, VOB, MOV, FLV, ASF, DAT, MP4, 3GP, MPG, MPEG
• RAM: 512MB DDR2
• Storage: 32GB Fast-Accessing Storage
• Storage Expansion: Micro SD Card Slot (For up-to 128GB)
• Speakers: High Quality - Built IN
• Audio Playback: Supports the following formats: APE, MP3, WMA, DRM WMA, OGG, APE, FLAC, WAV, AAC (Including AAC-LC/AAC-HE/AAC+V1/V2)
• Audio Recording: Supports Audio Recording in.WAV (High Quality)
• I/O: 2x MicroSD/TF Slot ; 1x USB Type-C
• Battery: Li-Ion BM20 2000mAh Built-in
• Product Dimensions: (L x W x H): 13.8 x 7.5 x 1.5 cm
• Product Weight: 160gr / 5.64oz

There isn’t really much difference in specs from the New PocketGo V2's predecessor, except for the fact that it comes pre-loaded with the RG350’s firmware which is itself a multi-system emulator. The latter has quite the support from its community and the New PocketGo V2 piggybacking on this works in its favour. Sure, it’s an unashamed clone with same RAM and same chipset as the RG350 (even the boot screen looks like a poorly photoshopped image) but since we’re talking about the grey zone that is emulation, who’s to be pointed at is a debatable issue. As such, the New PocketGo V2 presents itself as a budget alternative to the RG350 line of retro handhelds ($65 vs $75, priced on the RetroMini shop at the time of writing). But does it perform as well?

Recently, these retro handhelds have featured powerful enough specs to emulate PS1 games, and some even PSP. Their firmware is based on Dingux and comes pre-loaded with open-source media players, emulators, and even some homebrew like FreeDoom and Cave Story. While these play just fine with the New PocketGo V2's specs, you're more likely to be interested in the emulation side of things.

While I haven’t tested any of the RG350 devices myself, the New PocketGo V2 is not so bad on the emulation front itself, especially given BittBoy's rocky past in this scene. It runs all of the older systems such as NES, MAME, and GBA with no issues at 60 fps, even for Yoshi's Island that requires the SNES' Super FX chip.

Where it has issues is with PS1 emulations where some demanding games like Tekken 3 run sluggishly at around 35 fps even at 100% CPU usage. For other classic games like Crash Bandicoot, the emulation runs at a smooth 60 fps. But thankfully the emulators themselves offer welcome options such as scaling, fps indicator and frame skip. By adjusting the frame skip to 1, I can get Tekken 3 to play at 60 fps, albeit a choppy 60 fps. The specs aren't powerful enough to run N64 games well, and the device unfortunately does not even come with an N64 emulator for me to give you more information than that.

Tekken 3 before and after adjusting frame skip settings

While the software runs mostly fine with the advertised emulation, it could still do with some adjustments on other aspects. Firstly, adjusting the brightness is very finicky. According to the included manual, I should press 'Select + Volume+/-' but that didn’t work, and the BittBoy team shared some possible hardware combo (yes, more than one) for me to try and I eventually found one that worked on my unit: 'Power + VOL+/-'. There could have been a menu option to adjust the brightness and see a scale while you adjust it but in the case of the New PocketGo V2, you'll have to visually gauge it.

It's same with the volume as the device doesn’t show any visual indication of the level you're at. Just before going mute, you would’t realise it would based on the intensity of the audio heard. Additionally, the speakers (which aren't the best ones out there) are located at the lower right corner and offsets the audio output to one direction. Using dual speakers would remedy this but thankfully, the devices packs a headphone jack for better audio output. Speaking of sound, I'd like to mention that whenever my unit is powered on, there's a faint, but noticeable buzzing sound that goes on non-stop until I switch the device off. But in-game audio easily mask it, thankfully.

I get that it's a clone of another device but the BittBoy team could have improved on these noticeable features to make for a more compelling experience.

Compatibility List

As mentioned before, the New PocketGo V2 is a multi-system emulator. I will list the emulators you get out of the box and how they perform, rather than individual games. If there is any game in particular you're interested in, type it in the comments section and I will test it. A PASS! mention refers to the emulation running at 60 fps without any noticeable flaw, unless stated otherwise.

MAME - PASS!

DOS - PASS!

FBA Arcade Machine Emulator - PASS!

NES - PASS!

GameBoy - PASS!

GameBoy Color - PASS!

SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive - PASS!

OpenBOR Engine - PASS!

Wonderswan - PASS!

SNES - PASS! (Including games requiring Super FX chip)

PS1 - PASS (demanding games like Tekken 3 face framerate issues and need adjustments like frame skip)

NeoGeo Pocket - PASS!

GameBoy Advance - PASS!

PC-Engine - PASS!

NeoGeo - PASS!

Final Thoughts

Coming from BittBoy, I thought that the New PocketGo V2 wouldn't perform particularly well, given the impression that their previous devices gave. But with the New PocketGo V2, despite being a clone and piggybacking on the RG350's firmware and community support, the device does run emulation fairly well for most of the older consoles with added features such as save states and display adjustments. The main issue is with PS1 emulation but even that can be circumvented with frame skipping. Then again it doesn't offer a genuine experience as the gameplay is still choppy despite hitting respectable fps. Nevertheless, there's still room for improvement on the software for audio and brightness controls which would benefit from more fine-tuning options and visual feedback.

I did have some issues with the hardware itself such as some missing D-pad inputs, a badly located single speaker, the L/R buttons locations, and a persistent grinding noise with the analogue stick.

But if you're on a budget and are looking for a handheld which you can take wherever you go, it's worth considering the New PocketGo V2 despite its downsides. The IPS screen really offers sights to behold and the detachable 2000 mAh battery offers hours of play on a single charge.