Retroid Pocket 5/Mini Starter Setup Guide (or any other Android handhelds!)

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Note: Some people want to use a different front end, you of course can - here's my EmulationStation guide: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXLVlYFvjZmIh7c. This replaces the Daijisho section. If you do choose to use ES instead, you will need to setup your ROMs folder with their folders ahead of time or when you get the device. Not sure why some people are having trouble finding the AetherSX2 link, but here it is directly: github.com/Trixarian/NetherSX2-patch/releases/tag/0.0

[@sambagogo777]

Bookmarked for later use! The RP5 will be the first Android device I've ever owned.

[@jds1421]

Same Boat!

[@just_delightful]

Me too sammy

[@cerezo88]

Same here!

[@IDKYHM]

For me second

[@ImpressiveTackle]

My first ever retro handheld too. After ordering I’m worried I won’t be able to set it up properly, hopefully this video keeps me right

[@Tamachan87]

36:36 Thank you so much for being the only video to explicitly mention this about the analogue triggers. Could not figure this out for the life of me

[@richfei9703]

Absolutely the best setup guide. Tried some of the others. This one highlights the caveats and is very hands on and shows just what you need to update with no issues and no fluff. Great video. Many thanks

[@bilegtkh4847]

u sir just gained another subscriber, so underrated video i was worried how to setup my rp5 from scratch thank u so much

[@Guckkasten85]

Perfect timing. My Odin 2 Mini arrives next week.

[@chrismckenna6183]

Is this setup good for Odin 2 mini? I am seriously thinking of getting that I'm also trying to find out how it is hooked up to a TV via dock

[@beefomuffin1049]

⁠​⁠@@chrismckenna6183it’s a pretty decent guide, even helped me figure out how to get netherSX2 patched, so I would say so. Plus it’s all android, so should work totally fine for both devices

[@ViperEye]

*Many* thanks for your setup guide, received my 16-bit RP5 a few days ago and it feels like a complete package now. 😄

[@z0h33y]

I dont have a RP5, i just like watching Joey's channel.

[@ravyouli]

I just received my Retroid Pocket 5 and spent time setting this up, smoothly. I am brand new to this world! It would help to have a "start here" page on your website, along with a summary table with console, emulator app, emulator name, bios name :) other than that, this tutorial is excellent, thank you so much! All the very best for 2025 :-)

[@deanfranz]

So glad I saved this video! I just got my RP5, and I followed this comprehensive setup to the letter, and now I've got an amazing little retro handheld, and even have all the BIOS files and emu's in place to go all the way up to PS2 / Wii games! Thanks so much for not only showing how it works, but also showing and explaining what NOT to do as well (and explaining WHY when it won't work...I made mistakes, and you taught me why lol). 10/10!

[@redfoot2]

Youre the best Joey. Hope you make guides for all of the major releases, these are so incredibly helpful

[@anthonystyles]

This really helped out a lot. It was very easy to follow and got me up and running quickly. Thanks, Joey!

[@calistacraft6684]

just set up my RP5 with this video. thanks so much! I did run into a few issues, but i will try to solve them myself at another time. my main priority was Wind Waker HD and that is running beautifully. Thanks again!

[@xkxxxx]

Ive gone through a ton of guides and this one is the best! I really appreciate the amount of detail and going through how android works. This is my first android device. A lot of guides assume you know how to use the OS.

[@PatrickSomazzi-420]

The best guide out there. Thanks Joey

[@TheDeadlyTikka]

Can't wait for me Retroid Pocket 5 to arrive!

[@gamerprestige7240]

Same 😂 took a few days to look at different companies and models but kept coming back to this. Bit the bullet and order it.

[@pleasuretokill]

Even the Lucky Charms leprechaun is getting an RP5. Thing is popular!

[@jtw1821]

Hands down best videos for set up, the RG556 one was great and this is even better. All questions answered. Thank you

[@billford171]

this was awesome, thank you. literally went step by step with you and worked great. Only "issue" was ps2, had to go to the website via my pc to find the apk, but other than that perfect. thank you!

[@srgarathnor]

woah an hour of joey ASMR

[@clouphon3019]

Thanks for puting this guide out Joey, really great job. Was able to follow it easily and set everything up. Now to play some games

[@GoGoTwice]

Following the setup, this is really helpful! And the RP5 screen is gorgeous!

[@A1trizzy]

This is by far the easiest and best way to do this thanks man i thought I was stuck!!

[@louisgale6959]

This guide was a life saver, thank you! So clear and easy to follow. Legend!

[@syzygy1776]

thank you for doing this!! im new to this community and heard about retroid and old school games. I absolutely cannot wait to get mine! bookmarking this for later!!

[@RetroHaley]

Thanks for making this! I just ordered mine and I’m excited!

[@SIQmai]

Excellent setup guide, thank you so much 🙏🏻

[@stuart2151]

Thanks for this great guide! One thing I would recommend is to keep your camera's focus fixed as the focus is going crazy, especially when watching on a big screen.

[@theworldsworstperson]

Solid AF Guide

[@Jassu323]

Still watching, but I'd like to take a moment and suggest the Sameboy core for GB/GBC over Gambatte. It's the only one that lets you have near-accurate colors without completely killing the contrast. Gambatte is better than the others since they all oversaturate the image, but Gambatte is too dark IMO (the colors are "accurate", but the contrast is so low that everything has a bit of a hazy look to it). The Sameboy core addresses that by correcting the saturation curve of modern LCDs (so it's not oversaturated) while retaining a good contrast level, which makes everything look both vibrant and accurate (which really shines with a good OLED display). This is especially noticeable if you apply a CRT or pixel grid shader, which darkens the image even further.

[@ctto9525]

I just got mine. It’s even better in person

[@PinkDan12345]

This was the exact video I needed. Thanks Joey

[@Nerbil]

Amazing level of detail. This is awesome.

[@antiantifa886]

This is a great guide for my rg406V and rp5 on the way. Thx Joey!

[@mattdavis9601]

This was a great video, Joey. I'll admit to fast forwarding through the emulators I already knew how to setup; but, you better believe that I watched the Vita and WiiU sections with all the rapt attention of a degenerate gambler watching Sabres-Jets on a cold Wednesday night. You have a knack for making emulators go smoothly during the setup process. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to play on an SD845, but, part of the fun of this hobby is found in the tinkering and testing process.

[@JTAL_World]

Great guide thanks :) Looking forward to getting my 16bit RP5 when it ships

[@supergooglelee]

Will use this now on my RP Mini and when my Pocket Evo and Odin Portal arrive. Thank you!

[@Raphtor13]

Thanks for doing this...not sure yet about a lot of how I'm going to set mine up yet.

[@Milouse76]

Merci Beaucoup, This tutorial is just perfect, easy to follow and very helpful.

[@EC-dc1rp]

This man is a Legend!

[@andreww8055]

Thanks, bookmarking for when my odin 2 mini arrives!

[@chigyver]

Hey Joey, is this guide good for the 406V? Just asking for a friend... Jokes of course, but holy crap, good timing. Was just setting up the 406V!

[@seansmith5904]

Awesome tutorial, very easy to follow. My only regret is I have but one subscribe to give. Thanks again.

[@Codename_aether]

Everybody drop a sub if you haven’t, mans is on it. Always.

[@Luis_Gamer21]

Joey just a quick question, if I setup the sd card on the device as portable storage will I be able to put my sd card into my computer to add the roms folder and my roms files on it ?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Yep.

[@IDKYHM]

Ty for this great video it helped me a lot with getting everything to work

[@cerezo88]

Awesome Joey! Thank you very much!!

[@8bitchiptune420]

Good starter guide 👍

[@stevehall364]

I have a question on m64. On some emulators I've seen an option for a c shift, a button you can hold down to turn the four face buttons into the c buttons. For example holding r2 could change abxy into C down right left up. Does m64 have this option?

[@CoinGoblin97]

15:10 why would I download the stand alone emulators and not just run everything through retroarch?

[@devamaria2010]

Awesome Video Thanks!

[@ashthebadash1142]

Hi! Thank you so much for this, super helpful. Question: I used this to set up my Odin 2 that just came in. I love this thing! Ran into a small problem tho and I’m wondering if anyone has found a solution. Some games (specifically DS games for me atm) need a mic. Is there a way to set this up on Odin?

[@RageQuitTv.]

Thank you buddy I’m just waiting on my card

[@paulmarchetta2516]

Could I theoretically just plug in my RP4 Pro memory card with all my stuff on it?

[@seadx6]

How Vita3k is going? Some months ago I tried Street fighter X Tekken and the game ran well but it was so glitchy on the menus it was uncomfortable

[@z0h33y]

Last update was earlier this year. Honestly, the development of it is really slow. The stuff that plays well, plays really well. For instance, i can play Mortal Kombat and FFX HD on my RP4 Pro with no performance mode. But Vita3k still needs alot of work. The UI is horrible for it, and the main dev seems to be working on other projects.

[@seadx6]

@z0h33y I hope SFxT gets better soon to play it on my RG505

[@ryanlousma7918]

Can this be set up using a MacBook? Or can it be fully setup using the RP5 itself? As in, downloading roms to selected folders right on the device?

[@meleeblub]

Thanks for the guide Joey! I followed it to the letter and am now enjoying my games. One little thing - has anybody noticed issues with analog sticks not being recognised in flycast? I've tried changing the 'analog to digital' setting on and off with no luck. All other buttons and dpad work. Eg I can play crazy taxi with dpad, but can't get turn in daytona as it needs analog stick. Have verified that correct axes are assigned in settings, and analog sticks work fine everywhere else. It's driving me crazy! Any ideas?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Not having that problem no - open a dreamcast game, open the retroarch menu, controls, make sure your sticks are mapped.

[@meleeblub]

@ that was it, I'm an idiot. Thanks dude!

[@melvinsin641]

Why did you recommend Daijisho over ES-DE or Beacon Launcher? Is it simply because Daijisho is free? Or is there a reason why you prefer Daijisho?

[@Miggwilson]

I personally prefer ES-DE and I'm now a pro at it. I'd recommend picking one for all your systems. Daijisho was fine and I did try it. Just like the ease of ES-DE.

[@g_p_3431]

Cause Daijisho is good and straightforward

[@coonsta1234]

I have a question. When I set the hotkeys, why is "mouse 1" assigned as well as the button I set?

[@josefh.2590]

Fantastic guide. Thank you so much! Does anybody have any tips for audio stuttering on Dolphin / GC emulation?

[@Watamel0n]

I highly recommend dark theme, because it saves battery on an oled device.

[@Dan-ob1jy]

Why did you use retroarch over drastic for DS? I've always thought Drastic was one of the best emulators so just making sure I didn't miss something here. Thanks!

[@devamaria2010]

Joey can u do a video tutorial on how to install & run winalator on the RP5? I’d love to replay Halo 1 & 2 on this device!!!

[@Miggwilson]

Will the regular AetherSX2 app not work? The special one you mention and the patcher are required? Just curious if this plays more PS2 games that the standard.

[@Muuhiro1]

some 3DS games doesnt run smoothly with this settings. I reduced to 3x native and it got better not perfect yet. in my specific case was fire emblem fates. the other 2 games I tested so far was 100% smooth

[@Pac925]

I noticed in the file transfer part you didnt show where we would put the files if we just have the handheld connected vs using the sd card directly.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

No difference.

[@Pac925]

@JoeysRetroHandhelds thank you i realized this and now i have my games from my anbernic device to my new rp5. 🥳

[@Igiochidialessandro]

Hi great and perfect guide. I have just some questiona. I have an RP3+ purchased already configured by a guy. I noticed that some emulators are APK versions downloaded from who knows where and I wanted to update them to the latest versions, but I don't want to make a mess. Do you think that if I download the latest APK updates, it will only overwrite the version leaving the settings as they are, without having to reconfigure everything in the emulator? Then another question, do you happen to have a way to explain how to configure controllers for OpenBor? Especially for Master of the Universe for my son. I tried but it doesn't recognize some keys .... Thanks again for your support.

[@Watamel0n]

What allocation size do i use for a 1tb card? For me, it shows "512 Kilobytes" in the beginning. In your video, you formated your sd card with "128 Kilobytes", but you said, we should choose "standard allocation size". That's why I'm a little bit confused.

[@Inspire_TuneS]

Great guide, thank you. But still fighting to get RP5 or RG556. My main system that wants to play is PS2.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

The 556 does not make sense for PS2 then.

[@seanpark9248]

Any chance of there being a showcase of Vita games on Retroid Pocket 5?

[@bas2627]

what do you use for mame?

[@RedBullAddict-_-]

Do u think im ok ordering from Ali express for uk delivery? excellent video so helpful subbed

[@ShaneUrbas]

The hot key to close retroarch doesnt quit the program it just minimizes it. When I try to launch another game in Daijisho that uses retorarch it says it has to kill the process first.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

No, it exits it, you just skipped the process setting in the daijisho section of the video.

[@ShaneUrbas]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds Yep I rushed it and didnt select the option about warning in Daijisho. Thanks for this guide it was really helpful.

[@boozmanchu3648]

Having a hard time deciding which emulation profile to use on m64 plus, which do you find works best on the mini/5?

[@JerryMeehanJr]

my unipatcher is not working keeps saying error this rom is not compatible with the patch

[@phantom-pr6op]

I can't figure out how to get rumble working on NetherSX2 but it worked fine for me on Retroid Pocket 4 do you know why that is?

[@quanghung9430]

Nice videos as always. I just have one question: Do you guys think upgrading to RP5 from RG556 is worth it? I bought RG556 for 130$ and it was a pretty good deal for me. My only complains being it's too bulky, the key mapping is broken and the performance is slightly below what I need. The RP5 just look so good but in my country it's 260$ so double the price of RG556. I can't decide tbh

[@Watamel0n]

Actually, double the price is a lot and I don't think the rp5 is worth 2 times the price. If the rg556 or a similar device would cost around $170-180, then I would say it's worth an upgrade.

[@Zambadonia]

Hey Joey! Is there a way to have Android games show up in Daijisho?

[@kroosbell]

Do you prefer Daijisho over ES? Any pros and cons for both?

[@TheM1shM4sh]

Hi Joey, i followed your exact steps, only when i click the file, it starts installing, then instantly it ask me if i want to update it. Ive then tried 2 things First i said yes update and it then states "something went wrong app not installed: Second i selected cancel and it then states "app not installed" 🙄. Has anyone encountered the same issue ? Ps im using anbernic rg556 with a labeled sd card

[@oceanman4786]

you probably have some kind of plugin installed not fully deleted, you can check the all-app section to see if it's there

[@scottamero7909]

How can ypu dp a set up guide if you havent got the new retroid launcher ?

[@Blake-np5ip]

That NetherSX2-patch no longer has Resources at the bottom for you to download the APK file… 😔

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Yep, it's still there.

[@IEDProductionsI]

How do you turn off the bar on right handside again? I know you mentioned it, but cant find where you did.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Swipe down, floating icon.

[@joejacobs7384]

Just putting this here. I formatted my SD card using my pc and added tons of games to it. When I popped it in my RP5, it did not like it and claimed it was corrupted and I ended up having to reformat it with the RP5. Huge bummer lost a lot of time transferring my ps2 games. Anyway just to be safe and not potentially waste an hour (depending on how many games you are transferring) maybe just wait and format it with the RP5.

[@1992Lachlan]

hahah i thought it might have just been me. i feel you

[@AmarnathShankaranarayanan]

Brother my Retriod Pocket 5 Pattern locked and i forgot the pattern how to unlock. Please help me

[@DroidLocks6971]

.... with this guide work also on my S24 Ultra Android CellPhone ....

[@titaniumlover3724]

im having so many issues with this guide and set up ive gotten all the files to the correct format and everything. the only systems that wanna work for me rn are lime and ppsspp. joey if your some how reading this. what am i doing wrong? dolphin wont show my games even though i have them in the correct files. and nether will not boot after i told it where my roms were at. Like at all it crashes on start up. what am i doing worn SOS please dude

[@fredgoodlord8094]

Annyone that gotten a chance to play with the device in regards to setting up the SD card beforehand with exfat will that be an issue with linux. Like Batocera and Rocknix in anyway? Meaning would I need to reformat the card in anyway to make those OSes work with the SD card? Like will I be able to dual-boot Android and Batocera/Rocknix from system storage and just use the SD card as ROM/Cover art storage for both?

[@Watamel0n]

As of now, it lioks like you can use the sd card for linux and the unternal storage for android. Another youtuber said something about trying to figure out how to use the sd card for both operating systems, but as of now it's not possible.

[@kiyondeva]

im trying to download retroarch on the official page like in the video but it just shows a 404 error, what should I do ?

[@brianhangfaing4946]

Yes need help

[@IvanSilvestri-m4v]

Did you try ROCKNIX for PS3 emulation?

[@DonkSnorkeler]

Where can I find BIOS files?

[@natesznn4923]

My nether SX 2 will not install. What should I do

[@fierorecensione5828]

Thank you!

[@VaticanTop]

Why daijishou over ES-DE?

[@TheREDRUM720]

I'm not seeing the apk file or Nethersx2 under the assets section. I don't want to mess anything up so I'm not sure which to choose now.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

It's still there.

[@TheREDRUM720]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds I'll give it another look! I'm on an RG406V, maybe I'm looking in the wrong place

[@TheREDRUM720]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds Found it. Had to do some searching. I appreciate the content, man!

[@ShreddinThrash]

Whats the best way to transfer my emulator data or just the save files? I cant transfer duckstation or AetherSX2 saves on my PC :S

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4vLnax9jaiGfJI

[@ShreddinThrash]

@JoeysRetroHandhelds thanks Joey. You da man!

[@plasmasid]

great video but can someone please help me i want to download a bunch of android apps but it goes straight to my internal storage which is limited to a 128gb and i would like a abundance of android apps and have a 1.5 ter sd card i want to have a lot on my rp5 but can’t find a way to move the apps to the sd card please help i would very much appreciate it

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

You can't. Limitation of this device, spoke about it in my review.

[@plasmasid]

@ what would happen if i put the apk on the sd and would it be a bad idea to format my sd card to internal storage

[@iamnotyourbuddyGUY]

Nice video

[@jowck762]

Thanks a lot !!!

[@signasmilk]

hi my settings for gamecube are not transferred over when opening from ES-DE. When i use dolphin from their app i have all my settings there but when i open from DS-DE it loads the game with default settings can anyone help?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Check my ESDE setup guide, but your issue is esde is loading a different version of dolphin, you likely have two installed.

[@signasmilk]

@ ahh okay I figured out it’s because my emulator was set to default. I switched to standalone on the alternate emulator settings and now the games won’t load at all. Thanks for the reply by the way I really appreciate it!

[@antiantifa886]

Do you just name a folder for mame mame?