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The upcoming Retroid Pocket 4 is a handheld game system with a 4.7 inch HD display, 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage, a microSD card reader, support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, and a 5,000 mAh battery.
Designed for retro gaming, the handheld also features hall sensor joysticks and analog triggers. First announced earlier this month, it’s now available in two configurations, with the base Retroid Pocket 4 selling for $150 and a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro going for $200. Both models come with several different color options.
Both models measure 185 x 83 x 16mm and weigh 261 grams. Both have a fan for active cooling, a USB-C port for charging and data, and an HDMI port with support for 720p video output.
And both have the same 1344 x 750 pixel, 450 nit touchscreen display as the Retroid Pocket 3+. In fact, the physical design hasn’t changed much.
What’s new is that the Retroid Pocket 4 series handhelds feature faster processors, better graphics, and support for up to twice as much memory, and speedier storage and wireless capabilities.
So what’s the difference between the standard and pro models?
The $150 Retroid Pocket 4 has a MediaTek Dimensity 900 chip and 4GB of LPDDR4x memory, while the $200 Retroid Pocket 4 Pro has a Dimensity 1100 chip and 8GB of RAM.
| Dimensity 900 | Dimensity 1100 | |
| Performance CPU cores | 2 x Cortex-A78 @ 2.4 GHz | 4 x Cortex-A78 @ 2.6 GHz |
| Efficiency CPU cores | 6 x Cortex-A55 @ 2 GHz | 4 x Cortex-A76 @ 2 GHz |
| Graphics | Mali-G68 MC4 | Mali-G77 MC9 |
One other difference is that the Pro model supports 1080p video output over the USB-C port, thanks to support for DisplayPort Alt Mode, but this functionality isn’t available on the entry-level model.
According to Retrododo, either handheld should be able to handle emulation of old-school game consoles up to the Nintendo Game Cube and PlayStation 2, but the $50 premium for the Pro could be a small price to pay for a pretty significant performance boost.
via @carygolomb
This article was first published December 11, 2023 and most recently updated December 21, 2023.
I soured on the Retroid Pocket handhelds when my 18 month old Retroid Pocket 3 abruptly lost the ability to use the GeForce Now app. I had been enjoying the handheld as a smaller, cheaper, more aesthetically pleasing alternative to the Logitech GCloud handheld. Losing access to this one, critical app kinda killed it for me. 18 months wasn’t nearly long enough. Even cheap Android phones get support for at least a couple years.
we waiting about native , optymalise games
At some point Retroid is going to need to upgrade that screen to something with a better resolution. 1334×750 is an odd resolution for a retro gaming handheld, considering it doesn’t evenly scale any resolutions that any retro gaming systems used, and it doesn’t have enough pixels to hide the effects of uneven scaling.
1334×750 scales 640×480 very poorly, and that’s the resolution I would play most consoles at.
It could probably be the leftover screen from old iPhones (or newer SE series). I can understand why they go that route, albeit with the risk possibly making the user experience subpar.
They are indeed using the 4.7″ display panel from various iPhone generations.
At the moment, the Pimax Portal Retro is looking like a significantly better buy. It’s on sale right now for $150, it has a 2560×1440 display, and a Snapdragon XR2 (Snapdragon 865).
It should have similar performance to the Retroid Pocket 4, but with a screen resolution that will scale anything smoothly. Although one downside is the odd D-Pad design.
That resolution is overkill for a portable device, totally useless and resource hungry. A portable device of 5-7″ should have 1080p screen max. In addition, regardless of the CPU, it isn’t going to render ps2 at that resolution, so you will end running it at 2x maximum.