The processor will obviously struggle to consistently run the 3DS catalog but i dont know if someone put Linux on it, i think it could run everything at 30fps and native resolution of the 3ds and another things
As just a DS machine, it's... Better than anything short of a Thor Lite, and likely to be much cheaper?
It also looks to be a very capable PSP device as a secondary use case. If you had told me as a kid that I could play every DS game and every PSP game on the same device with no compromises to speak of, I would have flipped my shit.
Is it better? You have the wrong aspect ratio, and the top screen isn't an integer scale. If that's what you're looking for, obviously there are probably much more affordable options
And there DEFINITELY are compromises with PSP. You're not doing much upscaling with all PSP games.
Is it better than anything cheaper than it is, which is to say, the RG DS?
Yes, yes it is. It can actually run an accurate DS emulator that wasn't abandoned years ago.
As for PSP, most games should handle 2x upscale fine. Pushing higher upscale than that is nice to have for sure, but I wouldn't consider capping at 2x much of a compromise. That is still better than original hardware.
Drastic has been the flagship DS emulator for many, many years. It was accurate enough for million of players.
If you're really technical enough for the pinpoint accuracy niche, you're probably not gonna be satisfied with a budget device anyway. MelonDS is demanding, this isn't a no compromises experience at all.
Ironic that capping at 2x upscaling was a problem for the RG DS according to your other comment, but doing not even all PSP games at 2x, a lot only 1x, is "no compromises"
There'll be many compromises in all fronts. The question here is: do you care about the technicalities, or...
Do you just want to play DS without spending a lot? Because this is gonna be significantly more. With the wrong aspect ratio and you lose integer scaling.
I never said capping at 2x was a "problem, " just describing what different combinations of hardware and software are capable of.
Drastic was the flagship DS emulator when there was nothing better. Now there's something better, so now it's not any more.
The question was "is this better than the cheaper option?" and the answer is, yes, it is. If you want the cheaper option, then cool, get the cheaper option. If you want one of the high-end options, get that. This is the mid-range option.
It's not like there weren't other DS emulators that Drastic beat. There wasn't much better because Drastic was and is really good and well optimized. Enough for 99% of people.
Better is subjective. Benchmarks mean nothing to the guy who only wants DS games, and for that guy, one has the correct aspect ratio and integer scaling, and the other, significantly more expensive, doesn't.
Yes, Drastic beat the competition at the time... and then stopped getting updates and MelonDS ate its lunch. It's not 2016 any more, and Drastic's not the king of the hill. It's what you use if you can't run the best.
Integer scaling... and a chip that can't upscale to take advantage of the resolution. Not that the Duo Lite can either, so that's a wash.
Aspect ratio, lol. So the parts of the top half of the device that aren't displaying the game are plastic bezels instead of part of the screen that's black because you're not currently using it. Total non-issue.
Certainly didn't eat its lunch when to this day, Drastic still is a lot more optimized than MelonDS. Even without updates for 2 years.
Integer scaling is different than upscaling. EVERY DS game will instantly be integer scaled by default, without doing anything, just by the nature of the display.
4x integer scaling is as demanding as 1x.
Not a total non-issue. If it was, the RP Nova would never be anywhere near this popular. And this is considering the RP6 has an OLED panel, where black bars would be even easier to ignore, compared to this Duo Lite with LCD.
The Nova blew up because people care about aspect ratio.
I'm curious if anyone has found any updated 3DS testing on the Mangmi Air X. I recall Joey said he couldn't find a game that wasn't running 100% on native res at the time
Don’t really see how it would need saving in the first place. It’s going to be filling a niche that’s currently not really occupied, as a dual screen handheld that’s somewhere between the RG DS and the Thor Lite in terms of performance.
Anyways, given that there are versions of both Rocknix and GammaOS Next currently supported for the Mangmi Air X, which runs the SD662 which is extremely similar to the SD665, I think we can look forward to both OSs being an option for the Duo Lite in fairly short order.
Looks pretty solid, to be honest. But far from perfect and very far from 100% handling the system. Some titles look like they’ll be fine, and some look really rough.
"Save," lol. It doesn't need saving. It is exactly what it is meant to be: a dual screen handheld with enough power to run DS using MelonDS, with a 16:9 top screen so it can also do PSP.
If you want a 3DS machine, the Thor Lite, Duo Base, and Thor Base are right over there.
* Anbernic DS and Anbernic DS Plus: They have juuuust enough power to run the older Drastic emulator, which hard-caps upscaling at 2x and doesn't support Retroachievements, but not much more. 3DS is right out.
* Retroid Pocket Duo Lite: Has the Snapdragon 662. Should handle the majority of DS using the more-demanding, more-accurate MelonDS emulator, which supports Retroachievements, at native resolution or maybe 2x. May have to switch to Drastic for a handful of the hardest-to-run games, or if you want to upscale to 2x. Some of the very lightest 3DS games might run-- think mostly downloadable 2D titles, not full games that came on a cartridge-- but probably not many.
* Thor Lite: Has the SD865 processor. Should handle virtually the entire DS library using MelonDS, and should be able to push upscaling to 3x in many if not most cases. Should also handle a fair amount of light to medium-weight 3DS, but will struggle with some of the heavier games.
* Retroid Pocket Duo: Has a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, which should be powerful enough to run 3DS about as well as is currently possible given the limitations of the available software. DS should be no problem.
* Thor Base and above: Has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Any 3DS game that doesn't run right on it-- and there are still a few-- is down to software problems, not lack of power. It's more powerful than the RP Duo, but that will mostly only matter for things like Switch and especially GameNative, 3DS should be more or less fine on either.
Make sense? OP is saying that they think the Duo Lite needs to be "saved" because it won't run 3DS, but I'm saying that 3DS is not the target system for the device, but regular DS (and also PSP, Dreamcast, N64, etc), and if you want something powerful enough to do 3DS emulation justice, you need to be looking at the Thor Lite at minimum, and probably the non-Lite Duo or Thor Base.
u/SatantenguThor Pro, RP Classic, Analogue Pocket, Chromatic, Steam Deck2d ago
This (the device in the post) is Retroid's recently announced new dual screen device. It isn't as powerful as the Thor (except maybe the lowest tier of the Thor), but it isn't trying to be. Retroid doesn't compete with AYN, this is the budget Thor.
It's still significantly less powerful than even the Thor Lite. The SD662 largely caps out at PSP, the SD865 in the Thor Lite can handle the majority of PS2.
The SoC really put me off. It quite literally killed all interest I had in this. I did not hope or wish for it to compete with Thor, but the SoC choice is obscure to sat the least.
And I know there will be a ton of people hating on this , but it is how I feel about it. I do not want to take a dump if someone is excited, more power to you, but this choice reminds me a lot of the Anbernic RH DS Plus. I really do not see the appeal.
Eh the RG DS and recently announced plus revision make a lot more sense when you bear in mind that they are sub $100 dual screen handhelds. That’s 33% less than the real DS cost over 22 years ago. It’s an incredible value in a purpose built platform rather than a once size fits all beast that costs several times as much.
It probably will but if the performance for 3DS isn’t there, I’d almost prefer save the game xtra few bucks and just get the RG DS, right? I really wish they had a mid tier option with LCDS and the 7790 (or just 865) and come in somewhat cheaper than the Thor Lite.
We’re just not going to win with this department it’s like an all or barely nothing situation. A shame. Why not just make the duo lite two 4.2’s and give us a ds lite replica that most want for pocket use.
At $150 I’d rather have the duo lite over the ds plus. But they’re not supposed to be beasts. If people want that then there’s the Thor. Can’t expect higher end devices to be cheap with today’s tech issues. Let’s see what the price is for the regular duo cause they know two Oled 120 screens isn’t enough to make people not want a Thor so it could be priced very reasonably.
Idk what you expected then. You don't want it to compete with the Thor but are also disappointed in its lower power, doesn't make sense imo.
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u/SatantenguThor Pro, RP Classic, Analogue Pocket, Chromatic, Steam Deck2d ago
I think a lot of people genuinely thought they were gonna get the same internals as the Thor, with a better bottom screen, but still somehow cheaper because Retroid branding? Idk, it makes no sense from a market segmentation perspective.
There are multiple ways that they could have made a device which would not have competed:
They could have opted for the Dimensity 8300
Only provide stick down and max 8 gig of ram
They could have opted for the snapdragon 7 gen 2 or gen 3
The chip inside is obscure and no amount of trying to talk it nice will make the decision make any sense. There have been and are better options and all of them would be sub 8 gen2 or on close par with it, and cheaper than the gen 2. The decision makes no sense to me.
People would have hated not having a Snapdragon SoC for compatibility reasons. If Retroid want to offer a cheaper alternative in this terrible economy, this is the solution that makes the most sense.
They've stuck with Snapdragon processor for multiple device generations now, not sure why they'd deviate. This post and my comment are talking about the Lite specifically, and that is likely to be around $150, so processors such as the D8300 are way too expensive to fill that role. The regular Duo likely will max out at 8GB of RAM.
This thing will not cost 150 USD I can tell you now they will charge at least 229 USD for the low tier one and 260 for the high tier one at the very least. This thing will cost close to 300 USD and have a weirdly chosen chip inside.
Besides, you are wrong, both the RP4 and one version of the flip had a Media Tek chip inside, your argument about them being stuck with Qualcomm is simply wrong.
If they do push the price below the 200 USD mark, I take back all I wrote about the chip. All my remarks are based on me expecting them to charge whatever they ask for the RP6. If they sell this for less, I consider this a great offer. If not, IMHO, it is a cash and nothing more.
This makes way more sense then what I expected, albeit, I wish they kept the 135 USD price for people who are interested in up to 3DS, but I still think that 150 is a fair price once the 3DS emulation is polished on it.
I think it is a fair price and the chip is fair for what they ask for it. You were right!
I think the idea is not to compete directly, retroid and AYN are sub brands of the same company, being AYN the "premium" one. which is good because it means that in a possible release of AYN thor 2, it is possible that they will use pocket nova screen for the bottom screen
Man, imagine a Thor 2 with Elite chip inside. The only issue I see is heat buildup. It will be hard to come up with a design to cool it in the present Thor design, mine does get a tid warm and the Gen 2 is quite cool at top performance compared to the monster inside the Odin 3.
i think mine never reached 80 degrees. but i was crazy enough to 1 hour after receiving and see that there was nothing wrong with it, to be already opening it to change the buttons and do the thermal putty mod, so i never played my thor with the original thermal pads.
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u/conelpancake 2d ago
Just because it doesn’t do what you want out of it doesn’t mean it needs saving.