GBAtemp first impressions - Miyoo Mini

Today we have our first look at the latest in a long line of Chinese handheld emulation devices - the Miyoo Mini. Powered by an ARM Cortex-A7 dual-core 1.2G and 128MB RAM; the Mini touts being capable of emulating systems up to and including the original PlayStation.


miyoomini.jpg


PXL_20211223_150141592.jpg PXL_20211223_150257447.jpg PXL_20211223_151236911.jpg

The Miyoo Mini sports a 2.8 inch screen at 640x480 that manages to squeeze in 286 pixels per inch. It's an IPS panel with rich and vibrant colours and the minimal bezels definitely help accentuate it. The screen appears to be coated in glass but in our initial testing we can’t tell if this is actually glass or just a high quality plastic. The screen is definitely the highlight of this unit - response times seem good and ghosting is very minimal.

In fact, compared to previous consoles of this kind (Bittboy, Anbernic etc.); build quality as a whole is a huge step up. The plastic casing feels high quality and sturdy and the face buttons are well moulded. The d-pad in particular is surprisingly decent and finds that good balance between a clicky and a mushy response when pressed. The four face buttons also feel good but have a bit too much resistance for my liking but this may improve with use. The remaining buttons (L1, L2, R1, R2), start, select and the menu button are all simple microswitch buttons.

There is also a vibration motor inside the unit for compatible PS1 games though in our limited first time testing we didn’t get to test this so keep an eye out for our full GBAtemp review of the Miyoo Mini.

PXL_20211223_151441540.jpg


PXL_20211223_151408469.jpg PXL_20211223_151456994.jpg

For audio, a single mono speaker is placed under the action buttons and this is where the Mini doesn’t fare quite as well. While volume control is very granular thanks to the volume wheel on the left hand side of the unit and it gets very loud; audio quality is quite bad with frequent popping and crackling. The placement of the speaker means your thumb also regularly rests on the speaker grill, muffling the audio. Thankfully there is a headphone jack on the bottom of the unit, so whether the poor sound quality is the fault of the built-in emulators or the hardware itself will be covered in our upcoming full review.

The Miyoo Mini sizes up at just 65x94mm (2.5x3.7 inches) and weighs in at just 108 grams - making it by far one of the most compact devices of its type. For a console that can sit in the palm of your hand, you would be forgiven for thinking such a small device would be cramp inducing but with my average sized hands I actually found it fairly comfortable for short gaming sessions. The placement of the buttons and weight distribution are well done and the line-grooved grip on the back along with the angled rear buttons make the Miyoo Mini surprisingly playable.

The Miyoo Mini includes a 1900mAh rechargeable battery and is supplied with a USB-A to USB-C cable in the box for charging. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to support USB-C power delivery so it will only slow charge over a standard USB-A connection which is somewhat disappointing.

PXL_20211223_151508614.jpg PXL_20211223_151528101.jpg

The Miyoo Mini boots up in just 9-10 seconds and is powered by some form of minimal Linux distribution. The interface is surprisingly straightforward and user friendly. With options for recent games, game library, Retroarch and other apps and the device settings where screen brightness etc can be tweaked.

We’ve spent several hours with the Miyoo Mini at the time of this review and have tested several platforms from NES to PS1 using the default built-in emulators. Initial impressions of the performance are mixed, with the console beginning to struggle with the later generation Super Nintendo games such as Yoshi’s Island which begins to exhibit minor stuttering and audio issues.

Fortunately the Miyoo Mini also runs Retroarch alongside its default emulators so performance may improve with some minor tweaks to the Retroarch settings and core options. Stay tuned to our full review for further impressions.

There is also the potential for custom firmware which many other devices of this kind have received. In fact, the popular Triforce CFW already lists Miyoo Mini on the compatible list, though this is coming "soon".


Our initial impressions of the Miyoo Mini are somewhat positive. It's a huge step up in quality in many areas for these cheap handheld emulation devices. The 2.8” IPS display is definitely the stand out feature and the compact size is more practical than I expected. With a decent feel in the hands thanks to decent button placements and a high build quality the Miyoo Mini delivers an experience that pushes past its relatively low asking price of $60-$70. Unfortunately it's not perfect so look out for our full review which should arrive next month.

Do you have any questions about the Miyoo Mini? Let us know below and we will do our best to answer.

Thank you to the folks at KeepRetro who sent us a review unit to test out. You can find the Miyoo Mini at their store via the link below:

:arrow: KeepRetro Miyoo Mini (pre-order)
 

XDel

Author of Alien Breed: Projekt Odamex
Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Messages
2,714
Trophies
2
Age
49
Location
Another Huxleyian Dystopia
XP
3,549
Country
United States
Yep, speakers need swapped out, and I need more emulation examples, but other than that, it almost looks good for the price... almost. I do like the fact that there are 4 trigger buttons, but alas, where's all the Playstation?

That said, I would like to see American factories producing goods like this as well... someone with no ties to the CCP what so ever.
 

The Real Jdbye

*is birb*
Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Messages
23,207
Trophies
4
Location
Space
XP
13,733
Country
Norway
It looks nice. I like the size of it, it's about as small as you'd really want to go with something like this, if you go any smaller it will just be painful to use. Shame the audio is so bad or it could be a nice little emulation device.

Yep, speakers need swapped out, and I need more emulation examples, but other than that, it almost looks good for the price... almost. I do like the fact that there are 4 trigger buttons, but alas, where's all the Playstation?

That said, I would like to see American factories producing goods like this as well... someone with no ties to the CCP what so ever.
Maybe put a Switch speaker in there, they are decent quality and compact. Hopefully it's just a speaker issue and not an emulation or amp issue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shaunj66 and XDel

XDel

Author of Alien Breed: Projekt Odamex
Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Messages
2,714
Trophies
2
Age
49
Location
Another Huxleyian Dystopia
XP
3,549
Country
United States
It looks nice. I like the size of it, it's about as small as you'd really want to go with something like this, if you go any smaller it will just be painful to use. Shame the audio is so bad or it could be a nice little emulation device.


Maybe put a Switch speaker in there, they are decent quality and compact. Hopefully it's just a speaker issue and not an emulation or amp issue.

I had the same thought, but I'm not sure if they would fit or not. If they do, it's a novel idea! I've a spare set waiting for me in my mail box in fact! :)
 

Marc_LFD

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
5,382
Trophies
1
Age
34
XP
8,644
Country
United States
Looks super cute, but too small for my hands and I don't like handheld gaming too much.

Already have a 3DS XL, DS Lite, PSP, and Vita and none get much use these days.
 

shaunj66

GBAtemp Administrator
OP
Administrator
Joined
Oct 24, 2002
Messages
11,942
Trophies
4
Age
39
Location
South England
Website
www.gbatemp.net
XP
24,928
Country
United Kingdom
I had the same thought, but I'm not sure if they would fit or not. If they do, it's a novel idea! I've a spare set waiting for me in my mail box in fact! :)
Seems to be a standard smartphone loudspeaker part. Approx 15x8mm in size. Here's some pics in case of use to anyone:

PXL_20211223_194101866.jpgPXL_20211223_194143961.jpgPXL_20211223_194224636.jpg
 

tech3475

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2009
Messages
3,618
Trophies
2
XP
5,981
Country
Why waste your time?
Get a used Vita. You'll get the same systems emulated, with native PSP and Vita.

Get. A. Vita.

The main advantage I can see to this compared to a Vita may be it's size and/or it's price depending on the use case.

Subject to taxes, this works out about half the price of a Vita where I live.

Get a switch with Switchroot and have Wii and Dreamcast support.

Get a Steamdeck and then you have a full PC.

Get. A. Steamdeck.

(Sits back and waits to see how I'll be one upped).
 

eyeliner

Has an itch needing to be scratched.
Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2006
Messages
2,879
Trophies
2
Age
44
XP
5,468
Country
Portugal
My point is that PS Vitas are very pricey these days, and you could probably get a Switch for a similar price.
I can only find in my area that switch lites can be moderately comparable to a vita, not the normal sizes switches.

But I wouldn't be surprised that vitas increased in price. For whatever reason.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2: "Now I know why he took his own life"