2025 is turning out to be the year of Clamshell/Flip Retro Handhelds. We have been begging for years for these devices and manufacturers seem to finally be over their fears of the dreaded hinge.
Powkiddy has had one of the most popular clamshell gaming handhelds for years in the V90. It was one of the closest functional handhelds to the Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP that could play up to and including PS1 games. Not to mention it has a very satisfying hinge.
The firmware wasn’t initially great on the V90 but back when it came out Powkiddy was mostly “borrowing” firmware from the community to get their devices to run. Now Powkiddy has recently released their own PowkiddyOS. This is an OS based on EmuElec and looks pretty nice so far. The only handheld I have seen it on is the X35H. There might be an opportunity to put this on their new handheld if they stick with the same SOC.
Powkiddy unofficially announced tonight during the LIVE Retro Handhelds Podcast that they are releasing a V90-2. This will be an update to the current V90 that they still sell today making them more competitive in the Flip handheld space.
With the Miyoo Flip getting a revision within weeks of release to be re-released soon, Anbernic reportedly releasing a new RG34xxSP based on the RG34xx making it smaller than last years model and Retroid recently announcing sales to go live soon for the long awaited Retroid Pocket Flip 2 it is suddenly a busy space in the Flip Handheld Gaming Market.
I know nothing else about the V90-2 other than it is coming out. We should get ahold of renders in the next day or two and I will update you once I receive them. I think I can take a crack as the SOC that is going to be in there however with little to no information on the handheld.
Powkiddy this year is kicking it off using the reliable RK3566 SOC in many of their newer higher end handhelds. I would imagine that not only because of that and the fact that PowkiddyOS is currently only running on the RK3566 SOC it is a safe bet to say that is what they are going to use.
This would give them similar performance to the Miyoo Flip as it also uses the RK3566. Things that come with that SOC is dual SD slots, HDMI out and WiFi. All things becoming ever more important on new handhelds coming out. Flips are also some of the best handhelds to consolize and these features would make the V90-2 a home run.
This is all I know so far about this new handheld other than it isn’t supposed to have joysticks. Once I get more info on the V90-2 I will keep you posted.
If you want to checkout the V90 at Powkiddy Click Here!
Do you think Stubbs from Retro Handhelds is going to start shipping out V90-2s to community members expecting a new born? If so my. Wife and I might need to add another player to our soccer team.
GameOn
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