I Played The Retroid Pocket 4 Pro For A Week And This Happened

[@tbguy]

I worked around the Minecraft issue by setting the L2/R2 as digital buttons. I believe they’re set to both digital and analog by default

[@ChronikSpartan]

That's interesting! I'll give it a go, cheers buddy

[@sifka1607]

I think you e got it twisted. The RP4P is more than powerful enough spec wise to play absolutely every single PS2 game and possibly even all Switch game as well. It isn't a spec issue. It's a software issue. Emulation is difficult. Especially on units that were hard to make games on originally. That's the case with the PS2. We've reached a point were it's rarely a spec issue, and almost always a software issue.

[@ChronikSpartan]

That doesn't really explain the performance difference between the RP4 Pro and the Odin 2 though

[@sifka1607]

@@ChronikSpartan It kind of does. Yuzu for example is build with a specific chip in mind. The Snapdragon chip set. And when you have more power, emulators in general are going perform better. But if the emus were built perfectly, there wouldn't really be a difference. RP4P with 8 gigs of LPDDR4 RAM is hardware overkill if you take into the consideration the power needed from the original hardware the games were supposed to run on. The fact that you have to have overpowered specs is because the software isn't finished or not optimal.

[@vagrantender]

This. Developers are still working out the mediatek chips. Technically the 1100 is as powerful as snapdragon chips but it all comes down to the emulators themselves, not the hardware.​@@sifka1607

[@purgeyou]

So basically PS2 emulation still sucks.

[@mb31415]

Its cool to see this video compared to your RG556 one! Love these “only using x device for x time” videos. Thanks for sharing!

[@ChronikSpartan]

Thanks! Really glad you enjoyed it and for the great feedback 😊 I wanted to try something different with my reviews and thought this could be fun.

[@suhtangwong]

5:21 that happens to me all the time whenever I connect a Bluetooth controller to my tablet. I think it's minecraft glitch.

[@ChronikSpartan]

That's interesting. I've heard that setting R2/L2 as digital can help

[@glitches911]

My experience has been great with the games I've wanted to emulate even at 1.75 x upscaling. GameCube has worked better than PS2 for me though. Some of the crossover games I choose to play on GC

[@ChronikSpartan]

Yeah GC is always easier to emulate than PS2

[@masterjedijeff]

This one got Hall effect joysticks?

[@sirvel75]

Yep

[@ChronikSpartan]

It does :)

[@rodd1000]

Odin 2 also has issues so not perfect either. Most is due to emulation not the hardware.

[@omegamanGXE]

What issues

[@RGB-Gamer]

Mmhh no the Odin 2 can handle every Ps2 game perfectly😅

[@Watamel0n]

No, it doesn't. Even gamecube emulation has issues, f.e. the third stage of rogue squadron etc.

[@ChronikSpartan]

Yeah it's becoming much clearer now how much of an impact the emulator is

[@BEED0GG]

Did you grab the right Bios for PS2?

[@ChronikSpartan]

Yeah tried loads. Turns out the RP4 Pro has an older version of AetherSX2 that doesn't have those issues. If I patch that it works better

[@MsModestyBlaise]

Sorry, what happened? To be honest, if you really want to play PS2 without issues give the RP4 and RG556 get an Odin 2. Performance and compatibility between Snapdragon vs mediatek isn’t even close.

[@ChronikSpartan]

I ended up not loving the RP4 Pro as much as I thought. I'm definitely looking towards the Odin 2 now. What did you think of the format, a bit confusing?

[@MsModestyBlaise]

@@ChronikSpartan yeah, I actually think the RP3+ is the better purchase for about £90. Anbernic/Retroid handhelds do feel like toys in comparison to the Odin 2 and it’s just far nicer to have one nice one and use the cheapies when out and about or on day trips etc. The format was fine, just my dry sarcasm having a poke at the click bait title - your videos are better than that.

[@brownwallet942]

Odin 2 is easier to hold, has a larger screen, great battery life and thermal handling but the odin 2 mini is better ergonomically for dpad, has better looking screen, and is more portable. Odin 2 mini is the king for me

[@suhtangwong]

I ❤ my rp4 pro, but the screen is wayyyy too tiny for me. Plus the analog placement is made to play old school retro games not ps2, GameCube, wii, switch etc. The Odin 2 is much bigger, stronger, may need to upgrade to it ASAP.

[@z0h33y]

@@suhtangwong I dont know if you noticed this, but the PS4/PS5 controllers, also have the analog placed below the Dpad.

[@malant2719]

How does sega saturn perform on this

[@omegamanGXE]

Better than Sega Pluto but worse than Sega Uranus

[@ChronikSpartan]

😅 Sorry I haven't tested it yet

[@PatriotJedi]

I was gonna get this but then I decided to go with the Odin Pro 2. Glad I did. My RP3+ is stuck in a boot loop so I was a little sour to retroid even though it could be a fluke or isolated issue but upon further look others had that issue as well.

[@sourcey6620]

Leave it on the charger for 10 mins then when it can boot loop while on battery power plug it in as soon as the retroid logo shows on screen.

[@ChronikSpartan]

Yeah, those kind of issues suck. Hopefully you managed to fix it

[@slickslabmcknabful]

Same problem with mine. Ended up having to use a "dumb" charger and USB-A to C cable to sort of trickle charge it back to life. After about an hour it charged and worked fine. When I first used a PD60W charger or higher, it just wouldn't get going.

[@vagrantender]

First off most emulator developers haven't put in the work for racing games. Every PS2 game I've thrown at the Rp4pro has worked flawlessly besides racing games. And that's simple because RPGs and action adventure games have always been the main focus for these devices

[@ChronikSpartan]

Yeah that's a good point

[@NickTaylor-Phantom-Works2]

So given the current state of play with emulators, is GameCube actually easier to emulate than ps2?! Surely not. Im still finding my way in this minefield of software and devices, but i really wanna emulate ps2 i loved the thing back in the day, and have owned several over the years. Any advice much appreciated mate.

[@ChronikSpartan]

Currently GameCube is easier. Not sure if that's a reflection on the OG hardware or if it's jsut a case that GC emulation has had more focus, especially on Android

[@NickTaylor-Phantom-Works2]

@ChronikSpartan right, now I get it. That actually makes more sense to me. Cheers mate for the reply. Think I'll chill trying to emulate ps2 for a while, and try gamecube. I got the emulator running ok, it's just that damn controller. Have to figure out mapping to a series x controller.

[@zerocal76]

I've had retro emulation as a hobby for several years now. PS2 has always been harder then GC. That's why I always make sure I have the GC version of a game and sometimes opt to not have the PS2 version at all. Dolphin is amazing.

[@Watamel0n]

It's because they develop dolphin since ages ago and they still improve it with updates. Ps2 on the other hand is very recent and that guy who developed aether has pretty much abandoned it. Except from nether there is no one to work on ps2. Not sure why, since it's very popular.

[@suhtangwong]

What happened? Sorry to hear, our condolences 😢

[@ChronikSpartan]

This video happened lol. I guess it's hard to achieve perfect PS2 emulation at this price point still.

[@sonomute]

Any descent smartphone would work better probably

[@ChronikSpartan]

But the overall experience won't be as good without the built in controller. Plus I don't like having to use my consoles as a phone as well, it uses too much battery

[@sonomute]

@@ChronikSpartan so not being able to play the game is a better experience?

[@ZefZiona]

This has nothing to do with the hardware but the software side (emulation) and your complete lack of doing any manual configuration. For more then half the PS2 games using Aether/Nethersx2 you will need to do some manual tweaking in the config menu's.

[@ChronikSpartan]

You're totally right but I do plenty of manual config but it becomes tedious if I went into that detail in the video especially when it still didn't make a difference

[@PhatBoyzClub]

Wrong. Its got 0 to do with software its hardware. Its just a port pcsx2 which itself is based on hacks there is no known accurate PS2 emulator its 30 years away if that we are just getting to the start of 1:1 saturn emulation now. Float point hacks run based on chip power the more power you got the better emulation. The only real modern PS2 emulator which is PLAY! which is more than 10 years away from being useable because its being worked on by 1 guy.

[@ChronikSpartan]

You basically just explained why it is to do with software 🤔

[@cgwworldministries83]

The price of the odin 2 is just phone territory and I'll just grab a phone at that point.

[@ChronikSpartan]

Yeah, it's too high for me

[@cgwworldministries83]

@@ChronikSpartan the retroid pocket 5 just dropped and it has a sd865... that's galaxy s20 territory. $200 handheld. get hyped. I know I am.

[@davidagiel8130]

You need snapdragon gen 2 atleast. I'd rather a gen3 phone over this.

[@ChronikSpartan]

Phones are a great option

[@jakesmith5278]

Nobody in the emulation dev cares about those games you play. It's why they run like crap.

[@ChronikSpartan]

Why thank you oh wise oracle 🤣

[@fightnight14]

Man the Steam Deck is only $70-100 more

[@zerocal76]

Where is the SteamDeck only $270-300? 🤔 RP4 Pro is 200

[@fightnight14]

@@zerocal76 refurb SD if in stock us $279 and brand new during sale events gets as low as $299

[@ChronikSpartan]

The Steam deck is such great value now!

[@UMvsC3DPFWPW]

Yeah I can see where you’re coming from. The RP4 Pro is not for anyone and isn’t as powerful to support the high process PS2 or Switch Games. Honestly it’s best to Save more money for the Odin 2 or the Steam Deck. Then again it just depends on Budget really. I’ve owned many Retroid Pocket Handhelds and through my experience it’s mostly out of Portable though it withdraws Screen Size & Performance. Hopefully you’ll find an Emulation Handheld that suits you.

[@ChronikSpartan]

I'm definitely thinking the Odin 2 might be the best bet, but I can't decided between the Mini and normal

[@UMvsC3DPFWPW]

@@ChronikSpartan that does seem like a difficult choice. While the Original Odin 2 has a Bigger Screen & is on Sale. Meanwhile the Odin 2 Mini is a lot Portable but quite Pricey. Although both Models Perform the same it’s the Size & Price Differences that’s hard to pick.

[@TheMysteryDriver]

Ya, I'm basically waiting for someone to completely hack the switch to play PS2, ps3, GC, Wii, etc. That way I don't have to buy another handheld.

[@Kaimerah]

Honestly a switch lite that could play most GC and PS2 would be awesome. Seems like the AYN Odin 2 and 2 mini def fill that role but honestly for the price of a Odin 2 you could just get one of the older LCD steam deck models, or save up a bit more and get an oled model. Which might be what I do

[@suhtangwong]

It's already hacked, but it's not strong enough to play those systems.

[@skewyangel]

The switch isn't nearly powerful enough to emulate PS3 games, and it might struggle with Wii games too. Its CPU is just really slow and outdated.

[@Watamel0n]

Just look at the specs. The hardware is far too weak to emulate ps2.

[@ChronikSpartan]

For me I think the buttons are lacking on the Switch for that emulation, the lack of analogue triggers puts it behind some of these newer retro handhelds.

[@adrian_veidt]

I see reviewers still refuse to say it breaks easily. My gf's little bro had a nightmarish experience dealing with this garbage handheld. Just grab an AYN odin 2. Better build quality and more future proof.

[@ChronikSpartan]

Honestly, no issues so far for me. No doubt people are having problems but I can only speak from my experience