Konkr reveals the Pocket Advance, and there’s no prize for guessing its handheld inspiration

There’s no shortage of handhelds out there with pretty obvious influences, from the DS-style Ayn Thor to the Anbernic RG Vita, which slightly gives the game away in its name. Now, there’s the Konkr Pocket Advance from Ayaneo, which I think might be the most egregious so far. After its big reveal on social media, the comments are already flooded with comparisons to the iconic Nintendo Game Boy Advance, and you only have to take one look at it to see why.

From the shape of the shell, the screen positioning, and even much of the button placement, the Pocket Advance is as close to a clone of the GBA as I’ve seen in my time as Pocket Tactics’ hardware editor. I’ll be honest, it seems like a pretty smart decision from Konkr, as the Game Boy Advance is widely considered one of the best retro handhelds of all time, but with the rising prices of retro hardware, as well as the best GBA games, playing the original can prove tricky in 2026.

Not only is the Pocket Advance’s layout similar to the original GBA design, but it also comes in almost the exact same shade of orange as one of the original Japan-exclusive Nintendo models. There are a couple of differentiating factors, though. For one, the Pocket Advance’s screen looks a bit bigger than the GBA’s, and there are a couple of extra face buttons and navigational buttons on the right-hand side of the display. Outside of that, though, it looks pretty authentic.

At the time of writing, we still don’t have a release date or any pricing information for the Konkr Pocket Advance. However, given that Konkr is Ayaneo’s budget-oriented sub-brand, we wouldn’t expect the handheld to break the bank, even as the industry sees rising prices due to issues surrounding component availability and costs.

Speaking of components, we’re also waiting on information regarding the Pocket Advance’s specs. We don’t know what chip it uses, so at the time of writing, it’s impossible to tell what to expect from the handheld in terms of performance capabilities. Still, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Ayaneo’s social media channels for any further updates, and based on the brand’s track record, we shouldn’t have to wait too long for more information.