You may recall a few weeks back, we reported on Anbernic’s new PSPgo-style retro handheld. Now the first hands-on impressions of the device are beginning to bubble up online, and it looks absolutely brilliant.

While benchmarks are still embargoed for the time being, the chipset is basically identical to the RG556, so that means you can expect to play pretty much everything up to and including the PSP perfectly – and still get decent compatibility with more demanding PS2 and GameCube games.

The star here appears to be the slide mechanism, which looks beautifully satisfying, and the screen. While it’s not OLED, this hands-on points out that it’s just about as close as you can get, with great contrast and truly impressive brightness. It also runs at 120fps, which is nice.

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There’s no official release date just yet, but it’s expected pre-orders will be available in the coming days, starting at $179.99. That obviously puts it in a similar bracket to the more powerful Retroid Pocket 5, but the form factor is really the star of the show here.

Personally, we’ve always adored the PSPgo’s form factor – and while it was thinner and more pocketable than what’s being served up here, we think Anbernic’s done a really great job. The question is: do you really need another retro handheld? (You probably don’t!)

[source youtube.com]