AYANEO Pocket DMG review: Overkill Android Game Boy

The first gaming system I poured hours into that I could really call my own (our Amiga 500 was more of a family system) was, like so many of my millennial generation, the original Game Boy. That means I’m old enough to have gone through multiple Nintendo handheld generations, with a few fleeting but notable detours along the way (loved the PS Vita, love my Steam Deck even more).

I’m also at a point in my middle-aged life that involves meticulously balancing time with work, friends, and family. That’s where handhelds are increasingly becoming the simplest and quickest way I can play. And yes, the reason I’m so taken with the Steam Deck (particularly the gorgeous OLED upgrade model I picked up recently) is that it fills that gap with very little friction. But I’m also a sucker for exciting new hardware, not immune to the clawing pull of nostalgia, and willing to spend a little extra on a gaming system if I think I’ll get enough enjoyment out of it.

All this to say that the AYANEO Pocket DMG feels laser-targeted at me. I’ve spent the past two months testing the most powerful, Android-based Game Boy clone ever made, and while I can’t ignore the fact it is absolutely a ludicrous luxury item at the current asking price for reasons I’ll get into, I can’t help but want to tell anyone with similar weaknesses as me to buy it with no regrets.

Technically, the Game Boy of my childhood was the second iteration, the “Play It Loud!” model with the transparent clear casing, which I guess explains why I like Nothing’s design work today, as well as any other retro-styled see-through gadgets I can peek into. The Retro Color limited edition AYANEO Pocket DMG version I was kindly sent to test isn’t a perfect nostalgia trip for me as it’s aping the very first model with the off-gray body and magenta buttons, but it still tickles an itch having seen so many of them brought to school and linked to mine via a cable in real-life back at the turn of the 1990s.

Before I go any further I should state upfront that if you want to pick up a Pocket DMG, I don’t recommend you try to track down the $699 special edition model (and you can’t from AYANEO’s store anyway). The 1TB storage you get is handy, and the 16GB of RAM helps with tougher-to-emulate titles, but the former can be rectified with a microSD card, and the latter is available on a regular $609 variant if you really want it. I think the sweet spot is the 12GB/256GB at $529 (or $499 at the time of this writing), rather than going for the 8GB/128GB entry-tier.

There are two caveats, however. First, if you absolutely need it to have that original Game Boy look to enjoy it, I respect it, I’m not going to admonish you for something I’d probably do if AYANEO hadn’t sent it over. But perhaps more important to know is that the Retro Color model I have has a matte plastic finish, while the Black and White models are glossy due to a protective coating, meaning you’ll encounter fingerprints and have to live with a feel that’s overall a little less premium. I personally prefer the neutral, slick look of the Black model, but the matte finish would also be something I’d pay a little more for. Unfortunately, AYANEO is making all versions glossy in the near future, so this point may be moot if you can’t get your hands on a first-edition batch.

But enough about color, as the rest of the Pocket DMG is the same no matter which model you go for. It’s hardly on the small side, but the thinness (22.3mm) makes it easy to slide into your own pocket, and it’s light without feeling lightweight and flimsy. The smoothly curved rear edges help with longer play sessions, though I wish the front edges were a little less sharp as they can start to dig into the fleshy bit at the ball of your thumb.

The button layout is far more flexible than any vertical handheld bearing the Nintendo name, let alone any Game Boy. The Start and Select pills and the AYANEO menu button are horrible mush, but the really important buttons and D-pad have okay travel and are clicky without being annoyingly loud or too resistant.

The shoulder bumpers are even better, though if you’ve got larger hands like me, it can be a stretch to arch your index fingers to hit L2/R2 (there are also optional metallic versions you can swap in). The joystick is also decent (in theory, more on that later) and the Hall Effect tech inside means you shouldn’t encounter stick drift in the future. The clickable trackpad is solidly made and responsive, though much like the joystick it has some fundamental issues I’ll get back to shortly.

Otherwise, the sides are stacked out with a tactile volume scroll wheel, a toggle that switches power modes on the fly, two customizable buttons (one on either side), LC and RC for navigating the UI, and a fingerprint sensor, which actually works pretty well. There are also two large vents on either side that house stereo speakers, and they do a fantastic job of pumping out everything from retro chiptunes to modern orchestral scores.

Rounding things out are the USB-C port on the bottom, a microSD card slot on the right, and a large circular fan vent on the rear. The latter can get pretty loud under load, but there are plenty of options to tweak the performance modes (and remap buttons) via the AYANEO button and AYAHOME software skin. I won’t dwell too long on the latter because it’s fairly mundane, though that’s preferable to me than the really in-your-face UIs that you find on some handhelds.

Plus, with Android as the baseline, you’re getting broad access to a bunch of games via Android emulators and native Android games through the Google Play Store, as well as robust touch controls and menus that will be familiar to anyone who has ever rocked an Android phone. It also means you can grab the excellent Android version of the hyper-customizable EmulationStation DE frontend for a nice upgrade over AYANEO’s own AYASPACE game collection space.

The AYANEO is powered by Snapdragon G3x Gen 2, which is kitted out with an Adreno A32 GPU. This was the top dedicated gaming chip from Qualcomm at the time of launch, and while it’s since been surpassed by the G3 Gen 3, the Pocket DMG is nothing less than a powerhouse that benefits from support for Wi-Fi 7 and a 5G modem for smooth online play and speedy downloads. It also supports ray tracing, though at this display size, and with such limited support on Android, it’s not really something you’ll notice.

I put my top-end model Pocket DMG through the usual benchmarks we run here at Android Authority and you can see how it compares to the phones we test on a regular basis (we’ll be adding more Android handhelds to our testing database over time!). As you’d expect, it’s blown away by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, but it outperforms Google’s Tensor G4 in 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme Stress Test. The real kicker here is stability, as despite comfortably outperforming the very capable Pixel 9 series SoC, it does so without sacrificing stability over repeat runs. It also avoids overheating thanks to the chip’s efficiency and the DMG’s dedicated fan cooling. Plus, benchmarks don’t tell the full story for emulation, since the G3x Gen 2 has worse custom driver support from the community.

What this means in real-world use is that the AYANEO Pocket DMG is perfectly capable of emulating sixth-gen consoles like the Dreamcast, GameCube, and PS2 — albeit with some occasional frame drops on Sony’s system on more demanding games that will require backend tweaks in NetherSX2, or bumping up the Pocket DMG’s cooling profile. Doing so will take a hit to battery life via the 6,000mAh cell, but I generally never felt like I was burning through the battery too quickly even when under heavy load. You can also funnel all that extra power into shaders, which adds extra processing demands the Pocket DMG can easily handle while providing a more authentic feel for those older-generation platforms.

But the sixth-gen is still where things stop, not because the Pocket DMG isn’t capable of flexing beyond that to later-generation systems like the Wii U, PS Vita, and performance-friendly Switch titles, but because the console isn’t really built for them for two main reasons.

First, let’s address the display. The Pocket DMG’s 1080p OLED panel is 3.92 inches of contrast-y gorgeousness, with a super-crisp 419ppi pixel density and a maximum brightness of 450 nits that really makes the highlights pop. As an OLED-enjoyer who willingly splashed out on a second Switch and Steam Deck simply for their respective OLED upgrades, I feel fairly confident in telling you that the Pocket DMG’s panel is a stunner.

However, it also has a squared-off 8:7 aspect ratio (31:27 if we’re being pedantic), which restricts what you can actually play on it and not have to suffer from beefy black bars smothering the screen real estate. Your tolerance may vary, but to me, anything in 16:9 or close to it is simply not viable on the Pocket DMG, not because it can’t run, but because it’s not what a display of this shape was ever intended for.

Sadly, that means a lot of great Android games aren’t much fun to play on the Pocket DMG, though anything that has particularly central avatar action, such as Stardew Valley or Vampire Survivors, aren’t as impacted. Nintendo DS/3DS emulation is a little more debatable; you can hot-swap between a top and bottom screen with some tweaking, or alternatively put one on top of the other. Neither solution is perfect but no non-dual or horizontal display handheld ever will be.

Then there are the controls. That joystick I mentioned? I sure hope you like arching your thumb to use it. There’s no better place for it on a vertical handheld, but having it so far down in the corner means any games that adopt a one-stick playstyle — I played a good chunk of Silent Hill 2 on this and suffered the pain for science — will quickly lead to discomfort over extended sessions.

The other side of that coin is the trackpad, which I adore, but not for the reason I imagine a lot of folks would want. The trackpad’s primary function is to act as a pseudo-second stick for camera controls in twin-stick 3D games, but it’s an absolute chore to use for that purpose. At no point does it ever feel as accurate as a second stick would. First-person shooters are an absolute no-go, and even when I was being very careful in slower-paced 3D platformers, I almost always overshot the camera.

But I also don’t think having a second stick would be better — the Pocket DMG and Game Boy-styled vertical handhelds like this just aren’t designed for them. All that discomfort of using one stick would be doubled with an additional one (looking at you, ANBERNIC RG353V). That’s why horizontal, twin-stick handhelds are a thing.

So why do I personally love the trackpad? Well, I’m a point-and-click adventure nerd, and emulating LucasArts classics via ScummVM on the Pocket DMG has been a delight after tweaking the trackpad to act as mouse controls (tip: half the pointer speed). Ask me about Loom!

Much of the appeal of the emulation and retro handheld scene is about indulging in classic games on modern hardware while maximizing overall bang for your buck. I get that, and if the budget part of that equation is paramount to you, you should pretend the AYANEO Pocket DMG doesn’t exist and check out any of the far more affordable retro handhelds out there.

Even if I assume that what you’re looking for is specifically a vertical handheld, there are options that will do the basics for less than $50 if you shop around for a good deal, such as the TrimUI Brick ($84.99 at Amazon), ANBERNIC RG35XX Plus ($67.99 at Amazon), and Miyoo Mini Plus ($79.99 at Amazon). If you want something a bit more premium, the recently announced Retroid Pocket Classic ($129.99 at Manufacturer site) brings all the functionality of Android plus an AMOLED screen for a fraction of the cost.

Put simply, the AYANEO Pocket DMG is a luxury, a frivolity, an overkill throwback to a classic design that pulls on every nostalgia cord to make you want it, even if you absolutely don’t need it. But life is boring without a little luxury every now and again, and if you’re looking to relive the halcyon days of the Game Boy era and beyond in the most extravagant way possible, there’s currently no finer way to do it.