I almost bought the new 12GB Retroid Pocket 6, until I read the small print
It’s official: the Retroid Pocket 6 with 12GB of RAM is back. After Retroid discontinued the 12GB variant earlier this year, due to the effects of rising RAM and storage prices, it’s a move we weren’t anticipating from the Android handheld gaming brand. However, there are two pretty notable caveats to this relaunch, which could dampen the excitement for those who had hoped for its return, myself included.
The most notable difference between this new model and the original is in the storage capacity. The original model offered 256GB of storage space for all your favorite games, but this new version has just 128GB. That’s a bit of a concern, given the file size of some of the top picks from our guide to the best mobile games, such as Genshin Impact and Honor of Kings. You can upgrade the handheld’s storage, thanks to its MicroSD card slot, but that’s another expense, which, coincidentally, moves us on to the second sticking point.
This new stick-top version of the Retroid Pocket 6 is retailing for $279, which is $20 more than the discontinued original. This hardly comes as a surprise, but if you combine the new price with the lower storage factor, it feels like you’re getting a bit of a raw deal compared to those who got in early and picked up the original model before its discontinuation. That said, it’s still cheaper than a lot of the top picks from our list of the best handheld consoles, such as the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go.
It’s worth noting that Retroid is just one of many handheld gaming brands we’ve seen hike prices in recent months. Earlier this week, Ayn revealed that it was once again making both the Thor and Odin 3 more expensive, while we’ve seen Ayaneo discontinue multiple Android devices due to rising component costs. Even the big dogs are feeling the effect of the industry conditions, with the Nintendo Switch 2 getting a price bump in September and the cost of a new Steam Deck OLED currently up by around 40%.
Whether or not you think the new version of the 12GB Retroid Pocket 6 is worth it is up to you, but personally, I’d recommend checking out the Pocket 5 instead. It’s significantly cheaper, at just $199, shares a similar form factor to the newer model, and, despite being almost two years old, still offers more performance power than some of the alternatives from our list of the best retro handhelds, such as the TrimUI Smart Pro and Super Pocket. I bought one earlier last year, and I still use it pretty regularly, despite the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2 in the meantime.
