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The Retroid Pocket 5 is a handheld game console with a 5.5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel AMOLED display with support for up to 500 nits of brightness, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

While the handheld ships with Android 10 software, it's also the first game console from Retroid with official support for Linux: the company says users can install Batocera or Armbian, and the kernel source will be available for developers that want to port other operating systems. The Retroid Pocket 5 will be available for pre-order starting September 9, 2024 for $219, but customers who pre-order can save up to $20 off the list price.

The device's Snapdragon 865 processor is a flagship-class smartphone chip from… five years ago. It's an interesting choice for a game console since it's powerful enough to handle emulation of many classic game consoles, but old enough to be pretty cheap.

That five-year-old chip is probably a big part of the reason the Retroid Pocket 5 is shipping with a 5-year-old version of Android instead of a more recent build of Google's mobile OS. That may not be a big problem if you're primarily using the handheld for emulation, but it could lead to compatibility issues with newer Android-native games.

Fortunately the ability to install Linux could help alleviate some of those issues… at least for users who are comfortable flashing a new operating system.

Other features of the Retroid Pocket 5 include a 5,000 mAh battery, support for 27W charging,  a fan for active cooling, support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, hall sensor joysticks, and a microSD card reader.

The Retroid Pocket 5 measures 199.2 x 78.5 x 15.6mm (7.83″ x 3.09″ x 0.61″) and weighs 280 grams (9.88 ounces).

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