This really feels like what the RP3 should have been at launch. Do love me some Atomic Purple, though!
I followed the build up and release- long story short, the tech in the 3 was redone for the 2+ due to quality issues iirc, so by the time the 3 came out it was barely noticeable if at all better than the 2+. Even as someone who loves the heck out of retroid pockets, it was a very lame way of handling it and should have had greater transparency.
The 3+ I'm excited for- being able to emulate more intensive PSP games as well as starting to be able to emulate some PS2 and GC games is right up my power budget. 180~ ish including delivery is a bit outside of my price range, but I'm going to be putting one together for a friend so I'll have a better idea of some stress tests for my faves.
That being said, I've been using a 2+ since release! I have put this poor thing through a lot so far and it's still kicking amazingly well. If anyone's thinking about getting one...
-The battery is vastly improved from the 2, obviously differing between intensity. About an hour or so of PS1/PSP emulation at max brightness drains roughly 30% battery, and I've been able to play about 8 hours or so of GBA games before it needing a charge. Your mileage may vary, however.
-The buttons have an extremely nice feel and feedback to them. It really does feel like something official and that's something I can't properly state in just words. The downside is that the right stick cap has a knack of coming off. I've full on lost mine and it really sucks. It is partially my fault and a better owner may not encounter this issue- but even in a suitable case, if that stick hits something too hard or gets jostled, it'll probably pop off and that's just really lame on something that's otherwise surprisingly well done.
-The buttons eventually do experience wear and tear. My A and B buttons have been pressed hundreds of thousands of times- mostly for a dumb mini game in Work Time Fun, but with that game as a tracker, those poor buttons have received tens of thousands more inputs than the X and Y buttons, and they have less physical resistance to them as a result. It's not major, and the wear and tear has made them feel a little closer to the game controllers of my youth, but I'm not exactly sure that's a good thing. Still, the input itself still is responsive so, it's not an issue that comes up.
-The amount of android emulation know-how varies depending on what you're up to. You can install things like retroarch or another front end to make it easier, but I'm a weirdo who likes things being as close to windows as possible, and so I like the emulators being individual. Any issues specific to a game may take knowledge on how to fix, increasing in likelihood the later on you plan on going. There's guides out there that I've had to rely on, but getting something like Panzer Dragoon Saga working felt like the heavens above needed to personally look out for my retroid.
-It's forced landscape and small screen make it kinda weird when it comes to actual mobile gaming. It didn't really have the specs to handle something like League of Legends Wild Rift, which I didn't really imagine would be great to play, but the aspects it was forced to display in made it jagged and honestly, gave me a headache just to look at. And even when I did, it was
League of Legends!
It played Planescape Torment pretty well though, so it's not like it'll do it to all Android titles. Just know that it has some uhh. Acquired tastes.
It has its problems, but for a lower cost handheld, it's honestly one of my favorite devices.