Analogue Pocket Review: Is it worth the price?

[@theseriousaccount]

PSA: Today, 2024-09-10, Analogue released OS 2.3 that specifically address the Sleep/Wake issue on Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. I haven’t confirmed the fix myself but it’s good news nonetheless.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

Who ever sees this, ensure you download the update and put it on your pocket! www.analogue.co/support/resource/updating-firmware#pocket www.analogue.co/support/pocket/firmware/2.3

[@griffincash661]

Heck yeah. Hopefully ordering mine in 2 hours!

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

6/30/2024 I made an error in this video. I was able to trade between my Fire Red and Emerald game using a pocket and GBA SP with a link cable. I am unsure why it would not let me do it before I made this video.

[@IAmACottager]

bought your membership just to watch this video. Im here for the pokemon content bro keep running it up. Been loving it, you got me so hyped to restart my soulsilver game on the ds that I haven't touched in over a decade. Working on getting a Shiny lugia as we speak and your vids are great while im soft resetting. The shiny rayquaza is keeping me motivated for Lugia! Thanks again bro, love your content.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

really appreciate you for becoming a member! Good luck with your SS game. I love that one so much too. Got so many hours on my old save file! I am debating restarting soon and making videos of that whole adventure. I am not sure yet tho, its a lot of work. But I havent gotten to experience that game from the beginning in so long! Hope you find the Shiny Lugia soon! Keep me posted on when it shines

[@ItsNep]

The screen alone is what makes this device so tempting for me to get when they restock. I've got an AGS-101 that I've customized with different buttons and a new shell as my main device, but man. This things screen is so crisp and clear. It's enticing me like a siren lmao.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

screen is amazing! Agreed the modded screens you can get are great too dont get me wrong, but the screen on this pocket is something else. The settings to customize the screen too make it even better

[@clearelement1051]

The best part is that Etsy sellers jumped on the button issue by making better buttons and even grips that make a more comfortable experience. I recommend these custom upgrades to make a nice quality console even better.

[@michalalica8056]

I bought my pocket around the beginning of the year and I love it it’s my everyday carry so if your worried about the durability, mine goes everywhere in my pocket it’s taken bumps and bruises and with no real problems. I hyper fixate through the power warning all the time I’ve lost tons of progress on cartridges and roms but never a save. And emulating on it is about as good as humanly possible. There are forsure cheaper ways to play this stuff but if you love handheld gaming I think it’s pretty close to perfect

[@stevenstone307]

For $220 I'd want the buttons to feel like the best buttons I've ever pressed. I want every click to be satisfying. I want to feel like I'm holding the Rolex of portable game consoles. Doesn't look like it to me, I'll stick to my SP. Nice video!

[@Clooger-]

I wouldn't get one because I have a modded SP, but it would be an enticing option if I had nothing to play on. Cool device

[@joelvandam]

the battery time on an ips modded SP makes me look at the Analogue Pocket. I even replaced my battery.

[@skylord_elyas6023]

I ended up getting one because my SP bricked itself. It is an excellent upgrade

[@dragonspin-gs8rf]

Been watching videos from both your channels love your content keep it up!

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

i appreciate the support! Happy you like videos.

[@joshtobin7795]

I've just been playing on a DS lite and its been great. Changing the shells and rebuilding it has been a very rewarding experience, throw in wireless trading and exploring the SD option with r4 cards, long battery life, LCD screens and the price point. Its been my overall choice.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

nice! I agree, being able to customize a GBA or DS is great!

[@DavyDave1313]

With so many handhelds out now and some with 1080p oled screens, this item is really starting to lose it's appeal. Still cool as hell

[@wodensthrone5215]

This has a 1440p screen

[@Gingerlion777]

True, but for people like me, the fpga makes a huge difference vs. emulating. But for most people, it won't matter! I have to agree to that.

[@Gingerlion777]

Sucks that you still cant see what volume the device is on 😅 they should really do something about that

[@babaawawu3156]

Your video is like ASMR. It's probably the background music. Lol. I like it

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

background music carries the atmosphere!

[@Liuzhounese]

This might be crazy, but his video style and hand movements reminds me of Silent Sounds (another Pokemon KZbin channel). Their mannerisms weirdly coincide.

[@flam3z997]

Does the sleep save problem happen on cart only? Is playing rom safe with sleep?

[@1496blake]

I've been trying to get this for so long the restocks are atrocious man........

[@kennyfrommar]

Sad they do it on purpose to keep the price high

[@MishaLUL]

bro they instock rn i just ordered

[@1496blake]

@@MishaLUL oh shit, gud looking out bro😭

[@AlexsaurusRex]

Randomly checked their website last night and got the berry color. Missed the teal one by so little I'm assuming

[@Jahjaga]

What an honest and straightforward review. Thank you!

[@unbrokenhaunter]

Hoping these are back in stock soon. Bought an Epilogue GBOperator to play my games on my computer in the meantime

[@MemeJuiceVids]

I play gba games with a ds lite and I like it. Anyway I got an adamant ditto with max attack iv and modest ditto with max special attack iv. There other stat ivs are real good too. Took me like 10 hours of catching for both of these

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

nice those are great dittos to have!

[@sogieazul]

After listening to your review. I'd honestly say the Analog Pocket isn't worth it. I think modding a GB Advance is the best option. And is a lot cheaper depending on how much you mod. With more customization options than the AP. And you can mod a hdmi out on the advance to capture gameplay. Or record from you camera with a more comfortable feel than both the AP or SP.

[@AlexanderShelestov]

Considering time, money and effort - it will be worse result and much more money.

[@sogieazul]

@@AlexanderShelestov Eh like I said before it depends on how much the buyer wants to mod. Buying a gba, hdmi screen capture, rechargeable battery, and new screen. Would cost less than a analog pocket. And the gba has an official Nintendo motherboard so you don't have to worry about your games progress being deleted. Not to mention you don't have to buy all the items at once, you can upgrade at times most convenient for you. And nighthawk already has modding equipment as well.

[@JayyFromJupiter]

New to the channel just wanted to say love the vids and I’m definitely keeping up w the battle frontier progress. Quick question, if I wanted to get back into playing Pokémon emerald & fire red, where is my best bet to get the games? Or w this analog pocket can you just download the games onto it?

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

there are ways to emulate it and then download it to a cart however if you want to get the legit game then i would shop around on eBay. Just ensure the game is real! There are indicators of a fake one. I prefer to play the real games

[@JayyFromJupiter]

@@nostalgicnighthawk alright thanks man. Got my copy of fire red on the way 👌

[@backoftheclass1550]

I’ve had my analog pocket for about a year now and absolutely love it. The only thing I despise about it is the D-pad. Pushing right for some reason has a weird dead zone and I know not all analog pockets suffer from this. But unfortunately, mine does. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it is still really annoying.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

mine sort of does too, the dpad and buttons could be higher quality!

[@WAFFAHOUSE]

Only beef I have with the AP is the crazy thick black bezel around the screen. They could have given us so much more screen real estate and would have made it a 10/10… instead the price and screen bezel leave much to be desired.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

i never noticed this until i started editing my videos and was confused on why there the border is so thicc!

[@elunico13lu]

I have the same feelings about the dpad, they should have gone with something like the Vita dpad

[@plumb3311]

You can fix the dpad issue by using the membrane from a nes controller.

[@Hdsbmxsgjrd]

Are you going to make more gameplay videos? Would love to see a chill walkthrough from you

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

absolutely, i have been playin through emerald too again. Will post a video soon on that! But I am not rushing. Just enjoying the game and taking notes for a vid soon

[@Hdsbmxsgjrd]

Oh yesss. Looking forward. Keep up the amazing content

[@RolandKoller90]

I have an og SP101, a dsiXL and an analogue pocket. The analogue pocket is definitely worth it. One thing I wish was that the buttons have less travel. That’s all. I got a glow in the dark cartridge cover also.

[@Mikehero69_]

I have an Anbernic, which I love, but I can see a Pocket being a great way to play physical carts on a modern device (especially with link cable support). Shame about it randomly deleting saves..

[@_brutalista]

It's been a while since I last checked on your channel, glad that you're still making content. The Analogue Pocket is definitely an expensive kit. I agree that at that price point, if you're only looking to play GB, GBC, and GBA games it's better and cheaper to just mod a GBA. You also have the added bonus of actually playing on the real hardware, not hardware emulation (if you're particular about that kind of thing). That said, the Analogue Pocket also has its use. The first thing that came to my mind is for capturing game footage. I believe you can get a dock for that device that has a video out, which makes it really easy to capture game footage straight from a cart. Though of course, you can always run an emulator on a PC for that, but personally there's just something satisfying with using a legit cart. There's probably other uses for it too. I think you can also use it for music production, but eh. Maybe someone else can elucidate us on that. 😂

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

you dont check it everyday?!? haha jk I should look into how to record footage with it. I still like the style for my vids but for getting like thumbnails and screen grabs, that be crispy! Maybe be better for streaming too. I forget this thing is more than just an expensive GBA !

[@_brutalista]

@@nostalgicnighthawk Yeah. If you ask me, I prefer your current style of shooting game footage. It's just unique and makes it stand out from the rest.

[@HCExplora]

But the real question is: Can you trade your pokemon from that Analogue pocket to another Analogue pocket? I want to play all the pokemon games from gen 1 and work my way through gen 3.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

i learned you can trade pocket to a normal SP. Using a link cable it works. Not sure pocket to pocket but i would assume so

[@alfredtorres1252]

My main console is a modded GBA Just picked up a gba sp AGS 101 for trading purposes And then I picked up an analogue pocket but it’s hard to justify it since I have the other stuff and I love playing on the GBA.

[@gandalfdengra5580]

For the price, especially outside of the US (paid about double the price to get it shipped to the EU), it isn't worth it. Got both a modded SP and pocket, only thing which is only slightly superior is the screen. If we get an OLED screen mod for the SP anytime soon, as it is now available for GBC, there really isn't a reason to get a pocket.

[@timstrutz7578]

How much did you pay for the modded sp? I’m tempted to go for one that is about 200$ but I’m not too sure if I should pull the trigger

[@gandalfdengra5580]

@@timstrutz7578 Got one for about 250, but mine was fully customized. All depends really.

[@Metalex_Delarocha]

Great screen on the anolog Pocket but i prefer the sp pocket closing side.

[@olate7485]

I bought mine a few weeks ago and I have the same opinion as you, great screen but harsh buttons and it feels heavier than it looks. I am considering getting the GB Operator in the future for the computer. By the way have you considered streaming?

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

Interesting you have similar thoughts! And yes actually planning on doing on this week. Streaming is tough to find dedicated time but I want to do a few streams here and there

[@DSB542]

I wished they'd had it in a gameboy advance shell since its more ergonomic then this design

[@joelgrebinsilvestri]

you have the SP version as well of the rg35xx family

[@GauBan2501]

So you play Pokémon on GameBoy and don't know what the link lead port is for?

[@BarakGage]

Love your videos

[@jackdongles2944]

Have you thought of buying a modded gameboy with hdmi output built in to play on tv?

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

i thought about it. Would be a nice feature to have!

[@scho47]

Does this come with games pre-installed?

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

no games pre installed. Also I am using GBA cartridges

[@Raphtor13]

I'm loving my Funny Playing FPGBC for like 1/3 the price and playing the heck out of Pokemon GB and GBC games including a good mix of Pokemon ROM hacks. It may not play GBA but I still love it. I hope Funny Playing releases on that plays GB, GBC and GBA at some point.

[@hotdognobun]

Just got the latest release and have say that I will not buy another until another aluminum edition is released. The plastic material is extremely low quality which is not worth the price tag.

[@enema_myanemones598]

I havent bought it because the cartridge slot is extremely loose and lightly touching it will make it crash. I love the screen but I'll stick to my ds lite.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

really? I havent had that issue but that is concerning!

[@nelsikegaming]

@@nostalgicnighthawkhaven't had that issue either and I've had it since 08/22

[@theseriousaccount]

No this isn’t an issue. I primarily play Pokemon Crystal and never had that problem, it’s pretty solid. Of course don’t push on the cartridge.

[@Atomic-Purple-Guy]

Im loving the buttons snes style is the best style.

[@businessk3014]

I got mine at retail for $250 specifically to play Pokémon rom hacks and for the emulator functions. It’s worth it at that price but if you can’t get it at retail price and don’t care about modding it then it’s definitely not worth it.

[@cloudwalker9572]

At 250 you can get a console that emulates up to PS1 and almost every PS2/GameCube/Wii, definitely not worth it except if you want a really expensive GBA. Even crap phones can emulate GBA games. :S

[@James_Colvin]

Can you play pokemon games on cartridge at 2x?

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

i have heard you cannot do that

[@RizzyPanda6]

I think the price that Analogue is selling it for is fair, $220 in 2024 for what the Pocket is capable of seems right but the resale prices are just egregious. Seeing yours definitely makes me jealous as I currently play any Gameboy games I have on a Ds Lite so the Pocket would be a huge upgrade!

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

I think 200-250 is a fair price but 350 pushin it on the secondary market. Playing on the DS lite is nostalgic tho!

[@joelgrebinsilvestri]

I bought an ANBERNIC RG 35XX PLUS and I totally recommend it !! you can play up to n64 and PSP games Also the H model has analog sticks! very handy I love mine and I use to play all my pokemon games in this device. Please look them on youtube, cheers ♥

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

havent heard of that before but i will look it up!

[@cloudwalker9572]

I have a RG405V and that thing is an absolute beast I can play up to PS2/GameCube and it runs on android meaning I can play demanding mobile games like genshin impact or wuthering waves. I can do everything a phone can do except calls, sms and pictures plus that crazy game library all for the size of a small dmg-01 in my pocket.

[@augustusvonwatts555]

Yes it is I love mine

[@attaboytom]

My game memory got completely wiped. I both love it and hate it still.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

did you find that it occurred when you used sleep mode?

[@attaboytom]

@@nostalgicnighthawk Yes. If its in sleep, you wake it up and shut it off it resets the game. Theres a white screen that will also appear.

[@gallagherk11]

I had this issue as well with the sleep mode functionality on my Leaf Green save file - it deleted the save file and I had to start over. I didn’t know about the recommendation to quit the game first - thanks for letting me know! I also intend to get a GB Operator at some point soon as well to back up my saves here and there

[@kiyaleelevyrunaya9495]

A very expensive gameboy? ... gameboys were actually quite expensive, and now even more so, being collectors' items. + isn't this cheaper than a new gameboy, back in the day? 🤔

[@adrian_veidt]

What a beautiful device ruined by overpricing and anti consumer practices by Analogue.

[@asacloutier7530]

Get the dock and its well worth it.

[@fastrack2170]

Yes it is! I got the Transparent Red edition. Worth every penny. I'm currently playing Pokemon Crystal Romhacks and love it.

[@fastrack2170]

Also good to know about the sleep function. Glad I never use it I always turn it off by using the Analogue Button.

[@luisrocha6816]

So basically, dont buy it lol

[@ARCSYS4049]

Short answer, hell yes! Skip this video.

[@niplob]

hell nah, give this man the ad revenue he deserves

[@sigmamale6128]

@@niplobnah

[@RNG-Hater-456-ju8bj]

Why would I pay 250 dollars for something that can delete my save file on a whim? 🤦 For that same price point you could buy two GBA SPs which are a more authentic experience and will never have these random issues 😂😂

[@niplob]

@@RNG-Hater-456-ju8bj Tf u talking about "delete my save file on a whim"💀

[@RNG-Hater-456-ju8bj]

@@niplob It's the main issue he talks about in the video lol

[@inclinerd]

I’ll go against the grain and say no, it isn’t worth it. Not when you can build a custom SP Slate for about the same price, using real GBA hardware. And especially not now, when third-party manufacturers are looking into adding an OLED screen as the replacement display for both the AGB and Slate. Also, the software of the Pocket is extremely buggy and has barely been updated (still waiting for the GBA compatibility update), plus Analogue as a company is extremely shady - look up what they did to Endrift, the developer of the mGBA emulator. Combine that with all the scalpers reselling at inflated prices, and it ends up a modded GBA with a flashcart does the exact same thing for far less money. Plus you can buy yourself a copy of Emerald with the money you saved not buying a Pocket 😂

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

The mister is the only fpga solution that’s worth the dough

[@cousinslim]

So many things do this and more for the price. Analog pocket is garbage

[@cousinslim]

@@GODot974 there are so many different consoles that are copy paste GBA that can run up to dreamcast or for a little more money can run n64 ps1, and selective ps2 and gamecube games. I have an anbernic rg353p and an ayn odin. This company works off of form factor but even more companies have devices that look just like a GBC with shoulder buttons at a cheaper price

[@KennethKMccormick6]

Spends hundreds on product, can’t spell product name correctly😂

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

thanks for pointing that out...surprised no one did yet. Pretty dumb of me

[@nerdsonysta1945]

Just to play this trash?

[@Toomsie]

Can you even trade with others and stuff with an analogue pocket or is it strictly single player? I don't see why I would want to buy this when I can buy a modded GBA SP like you said.

[@nostalgicnighthawk]

you can trade using a link cable! I was able

[@XxDutchysPackinxX]

still waiting for mine cant wait :P