What handhelds are everyone using for RetroPie?

[chubsta]

I love GB/GBC and neogeo pocket games but really don't like playing them on a large screen so have been looking around for a suitable handheld, what are people using?

I am not interested in other systems as I have cabinets dedicated to them, but are there any handhelds that can accommodate a Pi3Bplus as all my images are setup already for this?

There seem to be a million different Chinese clone emulation machines out there that are of varying quality but would ideally like to have one that just slots a Pi in that I can use - is such a thing available?

[backstander]

@chubsta
I use a New 3DS XL which works for GB/GBC but some GBA games struggle. Haven't tried NeoGeo Pocket games. What NeoGeo Pocket games do you play?

BTW: there are a few GBA games on the Nintendo eShop that you can buy and they run without any issues on the 3DS.

One of my friends has an old PSP that the disc drive went out and it has more power and handles more retro systems.

Personally I've been saving up to get the Retroflag GPi Case with a Raspberry Pi Zero W. This might still have issues with slow downs on some GBA games but should do a little better than the 3DS.

[VictimRLSH]

This was the old controller mounted prototype, rebuilding this with the HORI wired controller, a smaller battery, and a slimmed down case. All wiring will be internal using 1mm pitch 4-pin ribbon cabling. Losing the homebrew sound board, the PCB takes up a lot of space and sounds like a drunk singing karaoke and stopping every few second to scratch his butt with the mic due to lack of RF shielding.

[celly]

@chubsta I have a few different handhelds that do all the same thing to some extent. If you’re into NGP/NGPC games along with GB/GBC and some GBA games, I highly recommend a BittBoy. A little custom firmware action and you’re set. Recently I got my hands on a GPi Case and I love it. However, NGP/NGPC and even Wonderswan games do not play very well at all on the Pi Zero W.

[corezon]

Retroflag GPi case is pretty much the perfect solution for Gameboy/Color/Advance/Game Gear in a handheld form factor. Plus it runs on AA batteries which is a plus IMO.

[VictimRLSH]

To clarify, it's the sound board that doesn't have any RF shielding. I don't think a drunk attempting to sing karaoke would sound any better even with RF shielding... :P

[djsedaw]

@chubsta hi have you had a look at GamePi43 Add-ons for Raspberry Pi from waveshare, just got one, slot a pi, sd card, batteries in and away you go

Bit chunky but working fine so far

[chubsta]

@djsedaw yes, I have looked at them, they certainly are a cheap option. I have decided to leave it to fate and have put a few different ones on my Christmas List and see which one the kids get me! (that will be the cheapest one of course...)

[AndersHP]

I can highly recommend a Kite Circuit Sword Gameboy build like my own.

It's basically a RPi3+, so has a lot more raw power than the Zero builds like RetroFlag, but still no need for active cooling, fits into an original Gameboy case, and there's lots of batteries to choose from. Mine runs a 5200 mAh, which is charged via USB-C and holds power for around 10 hours.

Costs a bit, and takes a bit of tweaking of the case, but everything is pretty much plug'n'play, apart from soldering the speaker and a mode-button onto the board, but really worth it!

I just completed Links Awakening DX on this machine, before playing the new game on Switch, really enjoyed it.