Battle of the 1:1 Devices! (ZPG A1 Unicorn Review)

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Note: Seems they decided against including the case and TPU shell, where it was previously communicated they were included. Apologies for that mistake in the video.

[@Ag45727]

Honestly buttons being quiet enough to play in bed at night w/out disturbing s/o is one of the most important factors to me at the moment.

[@MrDannyell90]

One of the reason why i purchased rg cube.

[@STR82DVD]

I've been waiting for this comparison video Joey! My Saturday just got better man. Thank you young lad.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@STR82DVD]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds great stuff - the only thing I don't like about the unicorn is the shoulder buttons and the clicky face buttons. You're right, $100 or less for pricing and it's a win.

[@turnbasedtoddy7664]

One thing Ambernic does that I absolutely love and no other company seems to do is color in the bezels to match the device color. It makes it look almost bezel-less and just all around looks great.

[@samh5886]

Ayn did it for the Odin 2 mini white, and there were people complaining and even requesting to have it changed to black 😂. Just different preferences.

[@turnbasedtoddy7664]

@@samh5886 That’s crazy to me, who wants big black borders? 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@GacMan47]

​​@@turnbasedtoddy7664Because it's actually very distracting if it's another color.

[@deadox]

The whole story arc as I understand it: LG made Wing smartphone which was lovely but destined to fail, resulting in a bargain LCD for Chinese modder to fiddle with -> Lao Zhang (dude behind ZPG) made a handheld around the bottom screen (and guts I think) of the Wing -> Powkiddy copied it in the form of RGB30 -> ZPG announced Unicorn -> RG Cube came out just ahead of time.

[@pspsmallz]

Thanks for the history lesson. No wonder these screens are good, although light bleed is unfortunate on the cube with how they built it. The screen looks great on the rgb30 and unicorn at least.

[@deadox]

@@pspsmallz Thanks for coming over to my ted talk. I probably wasn't clear enough but Wing's screens are long gone I believe. I've read somewhere that RGB30 used old Blackberry LCD for instance.

[@PsoBloke]

Perfect pricing summary at the end - amazing video as always Joey!

[@RetroGamingWithDeadfred]

Glad to see you reviewing this

[@cho-v4n]

Thanks buddy. I've been waiting for your review on this. I wish they didn't cancel the transparent color options for this though. That's purple looked so good

[@Tacquito]

Clicky buttons when announced on their discord was heartbreaking for the unicorn and my hope to have a bedtime handheld lol.

[@GlitteredUp4Easter]

Pretty odd choice. Membranes are perfectly fine for face buttons, because there is not accuracy issues. Each button is separate, and just goes up and down. Dpad is the only place that switches actually help, because all 4 buttons are controlled by the same hunk of cross shaped plastic. And microswitches mean that you can feel and hear exactly when diagonals actuate. Membrane is certainly more comfortable and quieter on a dpad, but objectively worse for performance.

[@CrowScareify]

I agree so much in the pricing end. I was really excited for the cube, but it being basically the price of the rg556 kinda killed it for me

[@luiscampos2789]

I was looking at this as well... the pricing is the main point, once this drops to the RP2s level pricing then there will be no need to debate. Better battery, more ergonomic, bigger screen and ram for android. However... thats only because we are discarding the RP3plus that is so close to the base RP4 that you forget about it. So, I would only buy this if it´s in the 100 range.

[@lordgeyik]

Great comparison, thanks! A1 is the winner for me, but I just wish these both run Linux, so we could do true Pico8 on them.

[@lunchbreak1792]

is it possible to dictate how much to stretch the screen? if the gamecube, n64 and 4:3 content can be stretched to reduce the black bars by half, it might be the perfect compromise. I am looking to get my first handheld and these are something I am drawn to

[@eurosoe]

Has anyone else noticed that Ali Express pretty much cancelled Free Returns over night? Joey’s screen captures showed the same thing on the seller pages he featured but he’s a fellow Canadian like me. Is that a Canada thing or can some other non Canadian viewers share their experiences?

[@MatthewJefferis808]

Right on Joey! Didn't pass the wifey 😅test . Thanks for your awesomeness!

[@benhopkins5950]

Won't the price reduction element apply to both devices over time?

[@anbernicguy]

I think I'll just have to wait for a Linux or dual os version with 6 buttons (maybe a front cam).

[@Pridetoons]

NGL I'm going to buy both Handhelds.

[@bankbank]

chad

[@johnsducks9816]

Why is nobody reviewing the new 8bitdo ultimate 2c yet??? Im thirsty for reviews they added bluetooth, hall sticks, and l4 + r4 buttons without increasing the price for $30 it seems like an insane deal

[@petervladyevich8535]

Thanks Joe, it is indeed a dilemma.

[@Pridetoons]

You said what about the RG-Cube being $150!? 😳

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Yep! With my code and GoGameGeek :)

[@GacMan47]

I think the ZPG A1 does enough. Anbernic is nice to have Dreamcast and some GameCube emulation, but like why would you need that when there's other devices with screens made for those systems. Plus the RBG lights around the joysticks would bother me.

[@GlitteredUp4Easter]

If you don't want that stuff then you don't even need the zpg. You can go sub $100 if you're only doing n64 and down.

[@tommykrynock]

What happened to retroid it seems like everybody else has been creating more handhelds but they've been remaining quiet lately

[@shyguy2046]

I see the guys who created the R36S also did a R40S device so will be curious to see if you will do a review on that as well. Also awesome review for this device!

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Hey! Likely not, I don't plan on reviewing any future R series devices. R36S was the last.

[@shyguy2046]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds understood. Just love your input hence why was curious

[@jinstinky501]

Joey Jojo jr, shabadu?

[@məke]

Why would anyone ever want micro switch face buttons???

[@M_CFV]

way less likelihood of misinputs. Its why people do clicky button mods on dualsense controllers in the fighting game community

[@GlitteredUp4Easter]

@@M_CFV Misinputs don't really happen on single buttons. You either press down the button or you don't. Dpad is where the issue is, because you have 4 buttons controlled by one piece of plastic. So rolling that one piece of plastic around squishing bits of rubber is much less accurate than a clicky dpad. You don't need to be rolling your right thumb around on the face buttons in the same way. However, a clicky face button can be mashed repeatedly much easier than a rubber membrane face button, if that matters in a particular game. Microswitches bounce back harder with less travel, so you can click it extremely fast.

[@pspsmallz]

Too bad they're both android. Its dealbreaker on both for me since I would have liked a higher quality device for native pico 8 with that screen. Sticking with my rgb30 for a while longer it seems.

[@GlitteredUp4Easter]

Bro why you looking at $150 devices with analog sticks for 8 bit games limited to 128x128 resolution?

[@emilianomontanari283]

no more available

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Shows in stock using my links in the description.

[@tomonemo2992]

I love the form factor, but did not buy any of these yet... The RGB30 is too barebones, the cube is an overkill. If that price drop happens I think I will go with the unicorn

[@jakesmith5278]

I really want one of these for my vertical shooters but man those joycon sticks are horrible as hell.

[@malcolmbranch10]

Your youtube voice is funny

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

That's just my voice.

[@cyberdrizzt]

The Powkiddy RGB30 won.. a while ago :P

[@YoelFievelBenAvram]

Still the retro king.

[@dean_dv]

Apart from all the battery issues and that it feels cheap and plasticky. But still probably better than either of these.

[@YoelFievelBenAvram]

@@dean_dv the battery issues were fixed long ago with cfw

[@GraionDilach]

​@@dean_dv I didn't have any battery issues, but I switched to ArkOS before I finished the initial charge of my RGB30 due to JELOS's behaviour of turning the screen on during charge. I can imagine that was(is?) JELOS/Rocknix exclusive.

[@pspsmallz]

Battery issues were never fixed on the rgb30 but arkos does make the battery less problematic. Jellos was pretty bad at reading the battery properly since it was never fully supported. Arkos also just makes the rgb30 outright better than these expensive alternatives too since they're stuck on android.

[@JordAuke-s5s]

Wilson Scott Allen Cynthia Young Jason

[@DanielleKing-n7z]

Clark Betty Garcia Angela Lee Robert

[@PaulaSanders-l3l]

Miller Kimberly Perez Jason Taylor Eric

[@DanielleKing-n7z]

Williams John Clark Donald Allen Kevin

[@JoseRodriguez-m4g]

Thompson Sharon Young Brenda Hernandez Margaret

[@DanielReardon-s9t]

Hall Elizabeth Allen John Perez Linda

[@uncaringbear]

Joey forgot to talk about Anbernic's controversies concerning battery fire hazards and piracy.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

It was in the Newscast and the last Newscast.

[@tonyrosario1940]

Also not the same device. Cube had the screen issue, not battery. 🍻

[@washuai]

​​@@JoeysRetroHandhelds how does the ZPG charge? Is it more 5V 1A A to C nuisance, similar to Anbernic?

[@GlitteredUp4Easter]

Lol who tf cares if they pirate shit unless you're a game company?

[@BlowingDummy-s9s]

Harris Amy Robinson Donald Gonzalez Jessica

[@Charagrin]

I dont like your opening attack on Anbernic. They re an open, accessible, reasonable company meeting expectations on time or early. They are NOT your friend. Again, they are a COMPANY. They do not have to get along with other companies, and your expectation they do so is....weird. As is your framing of them operating in a shady or aggressive manner merely for......exceeding promised goals and outperforming the competition? Wut?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Thanks for the comment!

[@washuai]

Attack, you're so extreme. 🍿 Anbernic's history of beat to market copycat consoles is a fact with many examples. He's not even the first reviewer to include that fact in his review, for the unicorn. We know that this kind of business behavior is legal in China. Given the market really only cares what's best, not who originated, nor ethics, I don't see why you're so pressed.