Anbernic appears to be on a redemption tour with the new to release RG DS Plus.
Anbernic released the RG DS last year with lots of enthusiasm amongst the community that unfortunately was all but lost upon receipt. Eventually the community banned together as the community often does to turn the RG DS into a workable handheld.
Now Anbernic is releasing a new RG DS Plus that in appearance is everything we had hoped the original would be. Anbernic has even incorporated new hinges, a built in stylist and their very own NDS emulator called NNDDSS [Anbernic if you are struggling to name things you have my contact info] this time around.
New build
We can only assume the new RG DS Plus will come with a more powerful processor. This caused a lot of the issues we saw the first time around.
I haven’t been able to figure out if the Snapdragon G1 Gen2 Anbernic used in the RG55G1 has dual display support, but if it does that would be a great way to go [though there isn’t much driver support right now]. The SOC with Android was a big part of the performance problem in the original.
Don’t get your hopes up on a Snapdragon however, we wouldn’t expect that on a Linux handheld. Anbernic’s release schedule will have us receiving the SOC info in about a week either way [if they stick to the script].
*Update:
Looks like the RG DS Plus is using the same RK3568 with 1GB RAM. Because this is Linux instead of Android this should be much better.
It sounds like GammaOS Nano should be available at launch as it’s using the same SOC as the RG DS. Pricing should fall at $80-$90 partly because there is less RAM.
We are expecting to see Anbernic use the same 4000mAh battery that we saw in the RG DS. It would be nice to see a battery update as the original could have gotten longer play time.
We didn’t hear much about the hinge in the RG DS but Anbernic has updated it with dual alloy hinges. Because 2 hinges are always better than one? This does put it on par with the Nintendo DS so that’s good.
The new displays are 4.3” 1024×768 with 16-in-1 pixel density. This will offer 4x picture perfect scaling.
The stylist will come built into the handheld this time around. This is far more welcome to the random stylist that shipped with the original floating around in the box [I lost mine immediately].
Software
Anbernic has created their own Linux build this time around they are calling Anbernic Linux [very creative]. This is something they have been working towards for years and it’s honestly very usable in their other handhelds [this is the first time they have pointed it out].
Anbernic appears to have also come up with their own NDS emulator. We will go over this below but I don’t see Retroachivments in features?
Anbernic released their own Turnip drivers for the RG55G1 which would be welcome here if the SOC supports them. We are going to need the SOC info before we dig too far into this.
NNDDSS
They really need to work on this name. It’s not lost on me that it’s a play on PPSSPP, the God tier PSP emulator. It also links like PPSSPP in the images we have seen thus far.
We have some of the emulator features we’ll list below:
- New Dual-Screen Emulator
- Enhanced Performance
- Screen Swap
- Lower-Screen Touch Control
- 76 Built-in Shader Options
- Instant Save States
- Real-Time Clock
- Microphone Support
- Cheat Codes Support
Did Anbernic forget to add Turnip support or is it unsupported? Being a Linux handheld I’m going with unsupported.
It’s mostly everything we would expect in 2026 from an NDS emulator. It’s nice to see they have included shaders and kept screen swap.
Thoughts
Anbernic appears to making sure they get the RG DS Plus right. It will be interesting to see the performance of this new/update handheld.
With community support the RG DS turned out to be a good handheld, it’s exciting to anticipate what this handheld will be out of the box with these new improvements. It’s great that they also incorporated stylist into the design instead of treating it like an afterthought.
Ergonomics were taken into consideration this time around and we are hoping that is more than a checkbox item. Good ergonomics can greatly increase the time we use handhelds.
With pricing expected to be between $80-$90 there will be less upfront cost due to the reduction in RAM. Go to a Linux based OS storage will be on your microSD card here so that is another expense to consider for some.
Definitely can’t wait to get some more updates on the Anbernic RG DS Plus. Our only hesitation right now comes from the anticipation we had for the original RG DS that’s collecting dust on the shelf [still need to change the firmware].
Check the Anbernic Blog for additional details as they are released at the button below:
Are you excited for the Anbernic RG DS Plus? Did you pickup the original RG DS?
GameOn
CellPhish
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