If you have been following the new Anbernic BattleXP release of the G350 we now have a New handheld claiming to be the BattleXP R350. Recently reviewed by always ahead of the budget handheld market reviewer DeadFred from Retro Gaming with Deadfred.
Deadfred seems impressed with the quality of the handheld but is it truly another BattleXP device? Aside from that back of the handheld being labeled as “Game console” (often seen on R36S handhelds) the boot up tosses you into a mess of a firmware offering instead of the old Anbernic OS build. It is disappointing that a device like this comes with solid hardware and becomes mostly unusable due to firmware.
With the roots of Anbernic BattleXP I wouldn’t have been surprised if they were already releasing another handheld. But then again Anbernic is getting ready for the release of their new RG557 this week.
The problem going forward with the current Tariff climate in the US is going to be the lack of distribution of devices like this. There needs to be a solid sales base of handhelds before we are likely going to see devs investing their time with building custom firmware. When $35USD handhelds like this turn into an $80USD (estimate) handheld with Tariffs it’s not going to be worth the gamble to purchase.
It’s an unfortunate situation because we have seen great innovation in the last 2yrs as well as quality handhelds being sold for budget pricing. The cost of entry to someone new to Retro Handhelds will likely be too high to take a gamble (I have a separate post dropping soon about this). A lot of the innovation of the more premium handhelds starts from the bottom up on budget devices. The Miyoo Mini really kinda sucked before OnionOS, as did the Anbernic RG35xx prior to GarlicOS.
I for one am bummed that the R350 isn’t another BattleXP device and instead appears to be from Game console or one of the many new clone manufacturers. Even though the joystick is likely in the wrong place (there are no specs available) good build quality is all you need for a base… well CPU makes a big difference as well.
If you want to learn more about the BattleXP G350 checkout my review here. If you have been looking to pickup a BattleXP G350 click here: use code RetroSpecd at checkout to save 10%.
If I find more info about this “R350” handheld I’ll post an update. DeadFred was unable to open the device due to proprietary screws so we are really left in the dark here.
Let me know your thoughts on companies already borrowing the BattleXP branding after the success of the G350?
GameOn
CellPhish
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