Super Console X Max: Plug-and-Play Retro Gaming for under $100

With a starting price of $78, the Super Console X Max is a fairly beefy jump up from the original Super Console X line. But even at that price, is the experience worth the savings you can gain by simply doing it yourself?
Buy one here: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_AAlyGA
My Super Console X playlist: • Super Console X
This was a review unit sent to me by the manufacturer. All opinions are my own, they did not see this review ahead of time, and no money was exchanged in any way.
Timestamps:
00:00 introduction
03:12 unboxing and impressions
04:32 EmuELEC and orientation
07:32 EmuELEC performance testing
17:26 Android performance testing
22:09 summary and conclusion
If you want to support the channel, please consider Patreon: / retrogamecorps
Intro theme song sampled from "Hexadecimal Genome" by Bit Shifter:
bit-shifter.bandcamp.com/albu...
Note that this description may contain affiliate links. By clicking on an affiliate link and buying something, I may earn a small commission of the sale at no extra cost to you.
This video is for entertainment and educational purposes only.
#SuperConsoleX #EmuELEC #RetroGaming

[@parrishharris3008]

Dude your awesome, i've had my super console x for months and you showed me alot i didn't know already - 👍✌.

[@RamzanJuman]

The thumbnail had me thinking Russ is reviewing a Roomba lol

[@joshpalmer7416]

I was thinking the same thing, Somehow mine is square, but maybe it's a "knock off" just running the same emulator ECT, but doesn't matter to me it works

[@MrCumstein]

Good stuff. Very thorough as usual. Thanks, Russ.

[@kaellito]

I'm from brazil and here the retro pirate scene is huge! We love it. We keep it alive.

[@thesuperzfamilyvlog6607]

Sweet! Can’t wait to see how it compares!

[@daviddr115111]

just discovered your channel and thank goodness i did. you break down stuff and show some tricks that other channels don't mention. i have a ras pi that i put retro pi on and went and downloaded a file from that retro punks site and it gave my pc cancer lol. also i couldn't play the set up on my 4k tv but works fine on my pc monitor. I'm gonna go the route of one of these all in one system since i just want to play some retro 80s and 90s games from my childhood and games i wanted to play like neo geo for instance but my parents didn't have the money to pay for a system like that at the time.

[@semilife]

Very informative video as ever. Really enjoy watching and learning from you.

[@Junier-Hussein]

Great video this one looks decent hope they improve the system further.

[@christopherlee3163]

You videos are so detailed and informative.

[@markuc]

Thanks a bunch! I was looking at this exact model...

[@mohinderdesh4536]

thank you so much! this answered all my questions

[@sebastiansanhueza9601]

LOL! Your movie quotes, Russ, are legendary. Edit: to be fair, the real Seagal probably can't jump very well.

[@Etherealum]

Yesssss! More retro boxes!

[@Wi-san69]

You're such a cool dad and your kids definitely are proud of you

[@thedinguskhan9299]

This reads sarcastic

[@Wi-san69]

@@thedinguskhan9299 lol have you watched the video yet?

[@matthewdavies2057]

I'll keep waiting for a much faster CPU. Good review.

[@user-mo9fh9tx2d]

I love this channel !

[@beefy_buffy]

I have 5 pages of english homework but i just CAN'T lose any of your videos

[@Naeidea]

I was torn between a TV console and a handheld... I just bought the RG351v after watching your video on it and have buyers remorse already after seeing this.

[@born-again-nerd5537]

I just ordered the cube one to review-it’s on its way - but I also have created my own tv box with better chip set (will be shown with tv box series/playlist) - but i do like the kin hank products - for the most part. I have console x (1st one) , - console x stick pro and now cube on the way - -- Good video! :)

[@RetroGameCorps]

The Cube is handy with its USB ports on the front!

[@anonymousprofessor8866]

@@RetroGameCorps Hi Love your channel!! I just received that cassette tape looking 2TB HDD from AliExpress. The one you reviewed with the cube and said was a gold mine. I plug it into my laptop just to look at the data and I only saw Batocera files and no roms. Also my Laptop said the HDD was only 2GBs not 2TBs. Do you know if its just partitioned and I have to get to the ROMs data another way? I want to add some my roms to that HDD.

[@RetroGameCorps]

@@anonymousprofessor8866 Hi, so the 2TB hard drive has two partitions, one is the Windows boot partition (the one you see when you plug it into a PC) and the other is a Linux partition (which has the ROMs inside). So to get to those games, you need to boot into Batocera, and then press F1 to bring up the file explorer, and then you should see all of the games. You can then plug in an external hard drive and drag games into the Batocera side (or take games off and put on your hard drive). Hope that makes sense!

[@anonymousprofessor8866]

@@RetroGameCorps You're the best. Thanks for explaining this as I was a little worried. 😊 Also I found this mini PC in Amazon. It seems to be a better alternative to the cube. What do you think? Its only,$199 HUWI HeroBox Pro Windows 10 Mini PC,Intel Jasper LakeN4500 Dual-Core Processor,8GB DDR4 256GB SSD,Expandable 2TB 2.5 Inch HDD,1TB SSD with 2.4GHz/5GHz Dual WiFi 1000Mbps/BT4.2

[@DrGreenThumb2911]

@@RetroGameCorps does it come with preloaded games on it or do you have to download them?

[@Arrowdodger]

This is pretty cool, and I like these mini consoles, but it's a shame the power isn't quite there.

[@michaelweller5470]

That N64 running off the android tip was crucial!

[@cryptidproductions3160]

Yeah Knowing N64 actually runs close to perfect as long as you boot a stand-alone emulator from the android side actually makes the device seem like an even better value for the money since N64 on budget emulation boxes or handhelds is STILL something tricky to find because of how hard to emulate it's chipset is

[@karikora8279]

Neat new video. Thanks

[@fryke]

My takeaway: If the preloaded selection requires me to still go through a lot of settings to get decent gameplay for the platforms the hardware _does_ support, it certainly isn't worth the bigger price. If they actually had curated the game library and chosen settings that make sense for all platforms: Yeah, but it doesn't seem like that from your experience with it. Hence, here I'd go with the cheaper option and setting it up myself. (But I won't, since for me, that "one device" that would go to my TV set, would need to play GameCube perfectly, so it's either still rather expensive - or one or two years away. From what I read on emulation on the M1 Macs, that's looking quite good with the progress Dolphin's making, for example. So there miiiiiiiight just be a future where you could use some form of custom firmware on a future Apple TV that'll use the A15 chip just presented for the new iPhone 13 and iPad mini.

[@RetroGameCorps]

Yep, totally fair. The software image is pretty sloppy out of the box. I saw the current Apple TV on sale at one of our local shops the other day, almost picked it up to see what I could do with it!

[@FromWitchSide]

All of the Amlogic S905 series chips run locked around 1.5GHz, and it is the clock that is the most important for emulation. I read a bit through variety of chips used for budget Android TV Boxes, and my current pick will most likely be AllWinner H6 (not H616) - it is quad A53 just like S905 (emu wont use anything above quad), but running at 1.8GHz. Additionally it has much more powerful Mali 720 GPU rather than Mali 450 found in S905, with newer API support and seems to be sold only with 2/4GB RAM. After a bit of hunting used ones can be found around $30, usually running android 8, 9 or 10. One of the models using it is called T95 Max and there is also one I often see unmarked with a big Q+ logo, rounded edges and rgb all around :P

[@BURRITO44]

Awesome channel

[@jonathantillian6528]

I feel like I've seen that game you tried out was in a movie. Something about a kid going on a trip with his little brother.

[@denodan]

Looking at a cheap system and transfer the rooms to my Nvida Shield pro. Won't be much dearer getting a cheap system just for the rooms, than just buying the SD room full of games. I perfer the no fuss plug and play so would be easy to load all rooms on to my Shield

[@bazdougall]

Been looking for something with pre loaded games since the other half uses my nivida shield for TV , starting to think I'll take my shield back and buy her a firestick

[@travissmith8017]

This looks cool, but my hacked snes classic can already do all of this. If something comes out with great saturn performance id consider grabbing it.

[@CAPMAX_Gaming]

Well that's a shame. I expected better performance. I don't suppose you'll bite the bullet and order in that new Famicom-looking one that PowKiddy is selling next? 😁

[@AncientPurpleDragon]

The Dreamcast is 24 years old. How difficult is it to get ancient technology like that working perfectly today?

[@user-zc5kg4yj9u]

Hi, love the content for starters and big insight with this product! By chance do you know how to add cheats or access a cheat screen per game?

[@CrazyBurger]

Great tip on N64! Playing on the android side seems much better! Cheers

[@natetripleog1331]

How do you add the emulators on the android side

[@oliverbarklam653]

@@natetripleog1331 did you ever figure this out dude?

[@natetripleog1331]

@@oliverbarklam653 nope 👎🏾

[@PotatoImaginator]

i miss old retro games like contra , excite bike , tmnt , etc

[@Jekyll_Island_Creatures]

How do you get that games list at 6:34 to come up?

[@pyatsyshin]

Hi there. I always wonder about a lag on these bluetooth controls. Is there any? This is particularly important in old NES games like Ninja Turtles. Even a split-second lag ruins all the experience.

[@dsjunges]

I am curious about it too

[@cryptidproductions3160]

You've never heard of that Steven Seagal game because it's actually a leaked prototype of a game that was never released. It's kind of funny the pack-in rom sets include something that oddball.

[@anomaly5179]

I just ordered the x pro from ebay!

[@yoonvsaechao]

I hope you can do a video about your thoughts on the anbernic rg552

[@burnzy3210]

when i saw the thumbnail i thought it was a robot vacuum cleaner

[@twan85]

Hi, thanks very much for making this in-depth review! I recently purchased this from Amazon, and so far, it works very good! I have a question that I wanna inquire about, and that's if games such as House of The Dead 2 for the Dreamcast can be added (didn't see it in list of pre-loaded games) and will it be able to run efficiently? Thanks again for all that you do and subbed to the channel btw.

[@britishwordplay4335]

You can add your own games via downloading the HOTD2 rom

[@twan85]

@@britishwordplay4335 I just did that, and the game runs at 60fps!

[@Kingsbeak]

Cant wait for the Super Console X Mega Pro Ultimate Max Legendary Super Edition

[@DeadpoolPlayz]

Exactly my thoughts. Too many of deez

[@knoxville497]

I know the console x King has this weird thing where the A button is "go back" while the B button is "select" (which is completely bass ackwards of how it was as a kid). Is that the same for this console as well? TIA.

[@will5538]

I don't know what settings I changed but I can't use select+start to quit game any more. spent a long time trying to restore to default setting to no avail. any idea?

[@starwarsmaster]

I know I’m not gonna buy one of these, but I still love watching the videos on them.

[@Proud_142]

Same to me

[@awaytobefree9031]

Thanks for the test! Question: with all of these super consoles, is it possible to play full screen on a 4:3 ratio TV (without having the bands on each sides)? All the tests I found play on 16:9 TVs, so I wonder if my modified 1960 4:3 TV can make the deal! Thanks!

[@themadnes5413]

it runs on retroarch, so yeah it should be possible. Still you'll need a digital to analog converter for that tv.

[@awaytobefree9031]

@@themadnes5413 thanks for your reply! I should give it a try. FYI, I kept the full tv body but changed the monitor to a 14’’ 4:3 monitor (hdmi, etc.) which fits perfectly. It looks really cool and next step is to have it run some retro games

[@daviduriarte3399]

Do the high scores and initials save after power down on the classic arcade games?

[@charliesayno9942]

"Super Console cinematic universe" 😁

[@HackingInfo]

18:24 they did some serious modification in Android TV OS too, first time seeing choices just for install unknown apps permission 😂🤣🤣

[@user-kh1et3wz3g]

Hi, tell me please, how about normal working of the ki and ki 2 arcade on super x king console?

[@swansonben]

on the solo theme how did you make the games come up as a list, when i go to an eumlator thry come up differnet like pics of the old orignal game boxes pictures.

[@DSilvergun]

So if I don't want the controllers which number of games should I go with? Are a lot of them throwaways?

[@daveeast6602]

any suggestions for a joystick similar to the old atari/arcade style ones that will work on this system? thanks.

[@deadslayer16]

Is there a way to optimize the n64 and psp games on this system to support the chipset like software updates?

[@nit3h8wk81]

Probably best to go with an nvidia shield. Pre-loaded box's are nice but the performance is just not there and you never know what kinda chinese spyware they will come with.

[@stephanietremblay9851]

I have the super console X pro and it's amazing. I was able to get every N64 games to play perfect with like 5 min of screwing around with the settings.

[@amerigocosta7452]

8:27 Nope, that's not how Jim Power on the Amiga is supposed to run. It runs perfectly on original hardware, here the emulation is just flawed. It might be difficult to emulate using older builds of Amiga emulators because it's a game that uses a lot of programming tricks.

[@ghostbombl8034]

These systems are convenient and people do enjoy them but I rather use a desk top with a 3.0 gigahertz or higher cpu.

[@drunkenkot]

My SCX pro seems to run Dreamcast pretty darn smoothly. I wonder why it's not as smooth on the SCX Max?

[@Goldstarman]

The pro uses emuelec 3.9, which is 32 bit. 4.0 and above uses a 64 bit user space, so it makes systems like dreamcast harder to emulate

[@davetheg28]

Ty! How does this compare to the Super console x king & the latest pandora box? I want to make sure I choose the best/most powerful system.

[@JustMe99999]

The King plays everything up to PSP pretty well. Still have to tinker with settings in some games.

[@Hallojijdaar]

Nice simple console. In some games you see a FPS counter. Is it possible to hide that? If so where in the menu can i find that.

[@benjrgadgets7223]

Great Review, can someone tell me how to back up or clone the MicroSD card of this Retro Devices. I heard they go bad because the gamebox maker uses cheap Micro SD card.

[@joandarc441]

Amazing

[@MistreNeptune]

How did you install the stand alone n64 emulator on the android side? I'm struggling trying to play n64 games

[@beefy_buffy]

You always say that the sd cards that come with various handheld devices are prone to failure, but i dont get what do you mean, are they ,like, gonna lose their data or something?i will be very happy if you answer me

[@hengerrnr1574]

Hey there can u tell me is it possible to play goldeneye perfect dark or super smash bros without lags? And with what for options? THANKS!

[@alkistsepapadakis4780]

How do I do to make the Android TV system boot first and not the gaming mode ? I need to run it in the number 1 order and let the gaming mode in second place. How do I do that if the first system booting now is emuelec ?

[@danielroberts2131]

I tried saving my game once and it work one time but then the next time I went to play the game it was gone. RPGs are useless if you can’t save the game. Any ideas?

[@deguzz]

Hey I had a question hopefully you can help me out with. I just got the Super Console X everything runs great but when I play ps1 games the sound doesn’t work right. I get all the sounds for whatever I’m doing but there is no background/ music playing. Like when I’m playing a racing car you can hear the car but no music playing.

[@britishwordplay4335]

I would suggest downloading a different version of the game and seeing if is any difference

[@Argonisgema]

who knew darth vador was a translator in his off time.

[@robertacanning1977]

Mine when powers on just goes straight to the media side and not emulec where all the games are , so basically its a media player at the moment do you know why ? I've tried reeboot etc but everytime I power on it goes straight to the media stuff

[@bernardoangelini8674]

sono molto interessato all'acquisto .. ma sono molto indeciso tra questa console e la 'classica' super console cube x. perchè hanno fatto soltanto due porte usb? la ram fa la differenza in questi giochi? grazie infinite :)

[@ziohausam]

Does this one include the MSX2 emulator? Or only MSX?

[@captainfyita2682]

16:15 That says it all, it's the crude truth.

[@Minusroot8]

Considering something like this since my internet is super slow and it would take forever to download even smaller games. Can we pull the games off the SD card and run them on a PC?

[@Bigd7775]

As long as you have your pc setup to play the roms yes. Like I've transferred roms from the card over to my ds to save me from downloading them.

[@0kti]

I have this box but its called H96-MAX-X3

[@rickdavis32]

Serious question about the steven segal game. Is it using the mortal kombat engine like the batman game or is it just a weird reskin of moonwalker!?

[@christopherlee3163]

Russ, you should do a review on the upgraded version SUPER CONSOLE X MAX PLUS.

[@RetroGameCorps]

Oh geez, I didn't realize that they had ANOTHER one. It looks to be the same exact hardware, just with a new (and nice!) shell. So performance will be the same as in this video.

[@christopherlee3163]

@@RetroGameCorps Russ what is your opinion on the beelink GT King Pro when it comes to running retro games on Emulec? Or would I just be better off getting the Nvidia Shield?

[@johnayling1560]

Anyone know a good website to buy a pre loaded 256 gb card from?

[@famaral42]

Is the SCX-Max (Super Console X) a little better than SCX-Cube? And if understood correctly the hierarchy is something like this? SCX-Max (S905X3) >> SCX-Cube (S905M-B) >> SCX & SCX-Pro (S905X) As always, great videos.

[@TeamPandory]

905x is slightly quicker than the 905m, but they're pretty much the same in performance. 905x3 is a step up.

[@famaral42]

@@TeamPandory but watching the video of the "Cube", N64 seems to run better on it. It starts well but then thermal throtle. This one with 905x3 startt already bad. Do you know why?

[@swansonben]

for n64 does it have wwf no mercy and does it play good? also do you setup wireless wifi the same as a console x pro?

[@deadslayer16]

I bought this last week and yes it does have no mercy and it played well actually. You can also setup wireless wifi as well.

[@Edwinschuur]

I got a question about the console X machines in general. My TV is 49 inch. Every KZbin reviews these boxes on a monitor. How does this perform on a bigger TV? Does it look good or: -Is the image ugly and stretched out or -You have very large black borders around the screen and only 20 inch of gameplay on the TV?

[@RetroGameCorps]

Hi, I answered this on a different video, but for posterity, here is the reply: the signal on the TV will be the same as you see here, I was using an HDMI capture card and outputting to 1080p. So in terms of stretching and everything else, the output will be the same as you see in this video. It'll look great on a 49-inch TV!

[@roberto1519]

It's weird, but even being Brazilian doesn't make sense to keep those translated games, unless the person don't speak English, but after decades playing games in either English or Japanese, it's hard to not know enough of both languages. I wonder why some PT translated games are kept in devices like these, are Brazilians involved somehow? And what's that mysterious game again? You always try it when playing NES but I can never remember it.

[@RetroGameCorps]

Yeah, the SD card image that the company uses was originally made by someone in Brazil, and so there are som ROMs still there. Not sure about that mystery game, every time I look for it on my console it disappears!

[@sony4k270]

Do you know if this console has Dragon's Lair arcade version?

[@ianproductions5540]

Is the cooling on this thing good? Does it get hot after a while?

[@natetripleog1331]

How do you add the other emulator on the android side

[@Stella-ri5ex]

Super console x pro box says it can emulate 80 systems. How is that possible? I don't see 80 systems emulated. How do I add more systems? please help.

[@anayama3377]

I have the super console x pro 256gb can I just buy the base model of the super console x max and insert my 256 gb in it ??

[@T2O-KI]

Does track and field is in any of the console?

[@pvhs1983]

Hi. I bought a used one thru eBay and it automatically boots into Android. I took out the SD card and reinserted it and it doesn't recognize it and continues into Android. What do I need to do so it will not in to emulec? Thanks

[@wolffactor56]

Who was the Brazil team? Is it on arcadepunks?

[@mariosdemosthenousdemosthe8159]

When i startup the console can automatically go to android tv system?

[@knokkelezotjemiguelsanchez]

yes i have some question on Kinhank Super Console X2 4K Draagbare Video Game Consoles 100000 Retro Games 70 Emulator Voor Psp/PS1/sega Saturn i have issues with the games from nintendo en sega my remote controls don’t work for those games. I find no where explanations how to fix that

[@guccimane8941]

Is there any good plug and play retro handhelds?

[@macaroni6028]

Is this one better than the x pro?

[@alkistsepapadakis4780]

Does it support video previews ?

[@jeangabrielcotto508]

I when to Aliexpress and They don't show the Game list, In their Question, they Say, The thing has too many games to make a list😑 Which just sounds to me like a lazy excuse to Not make a list, I wanted to know if Alundra for the ps1 was in there?? Because I don't have a computer to download games on it

[@sting6ph]

this guy knows karate...😁

[@alkistsepapadakis4780]

Can I attach a USB hard drive and play the games from there?

[@OmegaCoyote]

Is this currently the best retro console under $100 with pre installed roms?