2024 Anbernic RG505 Analysis: Should You Buy?
Do you think the Anbernic RG505 is still holding its weight in 2024? With the recent price drops is this the emulation handheld you’ve been looking for?
I found that this devices was surprisingly in line with mid tier devices being launched so far in 2024. With its Unisoc T618 processor it easily handles emulation on a variety of systems including some Saga Saturn, PS2 and though very light weight some Switch. In 2024 we are able to find this handheld hovering around the $110 mark and with the addition of GammaOS it makes this device almost perfect.
Anbernic initially shipped this handheld with a watered down version of Android with their own backed-in front-end launcher. Some of the major issues with the version of Android they used was it coming without the addition of the Google Play Store in order to take up less processing memory to leave that power for gaming. The problem they immediately realized in doing this was they created an experience that was no longer plug and play. This frustrated their customer base as they were not able to play native Android games without searching the web for APKs and side loading them. This might sound like an easy task though an annoyance to many of our readers but your average end-user doesn’t have t he first clue as to how to do this. Anbernic did take the concerns to heart and actually fairly quickly released a system update which then installed Google Play.
Another thing Anbernic does to this day on all their devices is map the home button to their own front end without giving the user the ability to change its function. If you are someone like me who uses Dijishu (a free custom front end) you are locked from that button launching the application and in fact if you are in it and accidentally touch the home button Anbernic’s own front-end launches over the top. With Anbernic’s software you are unable to change this. Lucky for us we have GammaOS as a custom Lineage Android operating system which allows us to change this.
With the updates to the system optimization since launch, the OLED display, T618, Hall Effect joysticks (though not close to the best quality hall sticks I’ve tested) and 4gb of ram at is newest price point the Anbernic RG505 seems to finally be fitting in exactly where it belongs in 2024.
Anbernic RG505 Specs:
- Android 12 (custom build) *4.95” OLED touch screen
- 960×544 PSP pixel to pixel at 2X resolution
- Unisoc T618 64bit Octa-Core Processor
- Mali G52@850Mhz
- 4GB LPDDR4X RAM
- 128GB eMMC internal storage 5.1 HS400
- WiFi 2.4/5GHz, Bluetooth 5.0
- Hall Effect Joysticks
- 5000mAh battery
Purchase an Anbernic RG505
- Check out Anbernic RG505 on AliExpress:
- https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dk17wuh
- Check out RG505 From Anbernic:
- https://anbernic.com/products/rg505?sca_ref=4513977.ow5bzTUDba
