Anbernic sent over their latest handheld, the RG Vita Pro. And yes, it’s clearly inspired (or “inspired”) by Sony’s beloved, if not massively successful, PS Vita.
The hardware definitely takes cues from the original design, but it’s important to address the obvious caveat upfront: this will not emulate the full PS Vita library. That isn’t a fault of the device itself, no hardware can. The limitation lies with the emulator, which is still far from a finished state. Right now, nothing is capable of running the entire Vita library reliably.
Over the past few weeks of testing, I’ve seen plenty of criticism online (especially across places like Reddit and Discord) accusing the device of being misleading or even falsely advertised. Personally, I think that’s missing the bigger picture. Expectations around Vita emulation are often unrealistic, and this handheld is simply working within the same limitations as everything else on the market.
The other major talking point is the price. At $149.99 USD, it’s sparked a fair bit of backlash. What’s interesting, though, is that this isn’t an isolated case, it just reflects a broader shift happening across the industry. Prices are rising, and many comparisons are still being made against pre–RAM crisis devices and prices, which isn’t really a fair benchmark anymore. At least, this is what I think and feel.
From my own chats with the reps and teams behind the retro handheld manufacturers, this trend is only going one way. Prices are going up, and in most cases, specs are being scaled back to compensate. It’s the reality the entire space is dealing with right now, and the RG Vita Pro feels like one of the first devices to really reflect this crappiness.
Anyway, on to the device. I love how it is dual boot (Android and Linux), on a new chip to the scene. I love how it plays and upscales PSP games, they upscale cleanly and look SO good on there.
Some Vita games play beautifully, Gravity Rush has been my obsession lately. I never played it before now and I just love how it performs. They created such a nice atmosphere in that game!
PS2/Game Cube and Switch are a stretch. Some games run okay, some won’t run well, and some won’t play at all.
If you’re curious about my review, I also interviewed some developers. Gamma who makes GammaOS, acmeplus who is behind KNULLI. This is a very detailed and long review, so if you do have interest, you can follow my usual link:
It is amazing to me that these prices keep going up and the companies making them are not going out of business. You and I both know that not enough people are buying these for them to survive if they aren’t at profit margins over 100%.
Being unable to emulate PS2/GameCube/Switch in this day and age at $150 USD is a deal breaker. I understand not doing Original Xbox, but the other three are very well developed on Android and Linux. There isn’t a reason that shouldn’t be possible other than “profit margins are too small if we make that possible at $150 USD.”
I mean, the little R36S can run up to N64/PS1/Dreamcast for $30 USD. The next generation up does not warrant a $120 USD price increase.