A modern game boy micro

While the SNES Home Console that makes my childhood best, the game boy is in advance hand that actually stops my gaming. This teenager was revolutionary to me, and I ended with two standard versions and one GBA SP when it was launched a few years later.

But final recurrence, game boy micro, just got my attention. By that time, I graduated in Nintendo DS (who played GBA cartridge), so it never understood for me.

So when Ayaneo sent pocket to micro classic for reviews, I did not have rose-tinted nostalgia glass, which I would have with Pocket DMG. But after using it for a few weeks, it quickly became my favorite way to play GBA games and more.

Before we also reach the details, I need to indicate that this is the second version of the Ayaneo Pocket Micro. The root had two small rods at the front, while the classic removes them. Otherwise, they are the same. Personally, I never thought that sticks on the first model make sense, especially for GBA simulation. This design is smooth, more plotable and less prone to casual input than the original.

Despite this, the device is clearly inspired by the game Boy Micro. It has a long, candy bar size with premium metal body and large shoulder buttons. However, the pocket is very large and heavy at the micro classic 227g. Personally, I think it is a good dizziness for it, and the larger size makes it more comfortable to hold it. It is still plotable, although I will definitely find a case to keep it safe.

Three colorways are available, and I was able to test two premium options, retro gray and retro gold. Both are absolutely grand. The metal body appears and seems incredible in the hand, with a full glass in front of which everything is originally mixed together. The back of the device is still a plastic panel, but the rest of the pure premium is good. For my taste, the pharmacom-style retro is the way to go to gold, and I love how the screen bezels mix in the front.

In terms of control, D-pads and buttons are quite soft, but give sufficient resistance to feel a good touch. Large shoulder buttons are a good touch, although L2 and R2 buttons are not used for console, this device is best suited. Nevertheless, they are perfect for rebinding hotkeys such as Save States or Fast Forwards. The left joystick has two more buttons for more hotkeys, with a pre-proportional shortcut to swap a de-pad input to the left joystick to imitrse the console like N64.

My only complaint about the design of the device is the placement of start and selection button. They are located in the gung under the D-Pad. On the other side there are two identical buttons, under the button, and more than once I hit them instead of starting. One of them opens the Aya window for quick adaptation, and the other takes you to the home screen. Unfortunately, the latter closed my emulator, which made me progress.

I have been a fan of Aya window on previous Ayeno equipment, and it is also very good here. You can accommodate not only the controller and performance settings, but also things like glitter and volume. This is much more convenient than pulling the Android notification shed down. The same cannot be said for the Ayaspace app, which acts as a kind of front-end for the emulator. I like to use the same setup in various devices, so I got stuck with ES-de.

But the main attraction of the device is to easily 3.5-inch IPS display. It may not be OLED, but 3: 2 panels are the perfect resolution for 4x upscled GBA game. I want to say, it looks absolutely beautiful. You will not find a screen or device that is better for GBA Education. If you are like me and you are on the platform where you use different devices for different systems, then this endgeam GBA is retro handheld.

Ayaneo has a dirty habit of packing its handheld, which is with more power than their requirement, and pocket micro classic is no exception. Helio G99 is a very capable SoC capable of simulating some PS2 titles. Of course, without rods, some PS2 games will be pleasant on this device.

This is the case with the newest console, unfortunately. Although the chipset comfortably simulates some N64 and gamecube, I will not recommend it. The same is true for PSP Games, but for a different reason: 3: 2 aspect ratio of the screen leads to large black bars in 16: 9 games. They are playable, but not optimal.

However, this power is used for other types of sports. Unlike most GBA-centric handheld, Ayaneo pocket runs on Android 13 instead of Micro Classic Linux. I tested a lot of controller-compatible Android game from Super Meat Boy from TmNT: Shredder’s Revenge, and it was a complete pleasure. Most of these sports are more flexible when it comes to adaptation to different display sizes, so the black bar is kept minimal.

I got five to six hours of game time on the balance mode on full brightness from the 2,600mAh battery, which is less than expected to me. This is not terrible, but the Ayaneo pocket could pack a large cell in the micro classic. This is about a small smartphone size, and we just launched the Pixel 9A with a large 5,100mAh cell. You can carry forward the battery with low power profiles or old retro console like snes, but this small battery can only be pushed.

I was also confused with the fan. No matter how much I pushed it, the fan kept quiet. A representative from Ayaneo told me that the fan kicks above 40 degrees, but if it was turning on, it was remarkably quiet. Thankfully, all the heat buildups are centered around the middle of the device under the screen, so the soft metal finish never felt hot in my hands.

This chip is unable to handle over -demanding games such as Gentin Impact, as it is more designed for gaming efficiency than raw performance. In other words, it is an overcome for GBA games, designed for it, but it does not match anything like Snapdragon 865 on retroid pocket 5, give Snapdragon chips alone recently on other Ayeno devices.

Small amounts of additional power are used for one thing, and that is shades. The shades are very CPU heavy, and they can bring most of the budget GBA-centric handheld to their knees. This device had no problem in running several heavy sherders on the MGBA core in retrocar, and it can actually change the experience for intelligent gamers looking for more authentic experience on modern hardware.

And it is actually rubbing: it is a device for intelligent gamers, not for the general public. It is not cheap, starting at $ 179 and topping at $ 239. For that money, you can get a more general-purpose device such as the Retroid Pocket 5 or Flip 2, which can simulate more systems in a form factor that is much more favorable for more modern console.

But if you already have more common-purpose gaming handheld and want more premium experience, then Ayneo Pocket Micro Classic is a great introduction. Once you understand the magic of pixel-perfect 4x GBA apuscling, it is applied with the right shades, it can be difficult to return.

Despite the price, it is still the cheapest device in the remake collection of Ayaneo’s retro-style handheld. I will not recommend it as your first Emulation device, but it can be very well your final, at least when it comes to GBA Emoration.

And for me, this is what I want to use for it. The GBA Games catalogs are incredible, many of my favorite childhood-defined games such as advancewan wars, Golden Sun, Pokemon Pinball, Metroid Zero Mission, and more. There is also a vibrant Rome hacking community, and I certainly removed a full afternoon playing super maromone on the pocket micro classic.

The novel Game Boy Micro Form Factor did not win me back in 2005, but after twenty years, I am fully on board.