Analogue Pocket Review – Is It Worth The Price?

The Analogue Pocket is one of the most highly-rated retro handheld gaming devices. This little handheld device can play games from the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and even the Game Boy Advance.

It was designed and manufactured by Analogue and it’s an FPGA-based handheld console that can play games up to the fourth-gen of handheld consoles. It has a seriously great screen, a large library of supported games, and even a handy sleep feature that is a nice touch. It’s a fantastic device for anyone who loves retro gaming.

We recently also wrote up a review of the Ayn Odin handheld so be sure to check that out as well.

In this article, we’ll be breaking down what the Analogue Pocket can do, its specs, and whether you should consider picking one up.

Initial Thoughts

The Analogue Pocket is one of the best handheld emulators that you can buy.

When you first pick up the Analogue Pocket, you’ll notice that the device is a bit heavier than you may have expected. It contains a rather large 4300mah battery and its LCD display is 3.5” (which we should mention looks fantastic and is nice and clear when playing games). While it may be heavier than you’d expect, the extra weight adds to the premium factor you’d expect from Analogue products.

The device aesthetically has a minimalistic quality to it both in terms of its physical design and that of the operating system it runs on. It looks like something you’d get with an Apple product and that’s saying a lot for a handheld that’s used to play classic games like Game Boy Color and GBA games. It’s quite clean and sleek.

Device Quality

While the device feels sturdy and high-end, there is one minor downside to its design that you may want to be aware of. The black bezels around the screen make it look a bit less outdated than something like a modern smartphone. This may not be an issue for you, but some have mentioned that they find it ugly and offputting considering how minimal the rest of the device is in comparison.

The action buttons themselves are minimal. Two of them are lightly concaved like you’d find on an SNES controller, while the others are normal. The D-Pad feels nice and sturdy while also being soft to the touch. The start and select buttons and the home button are located at the bottom on the front and the home button even has a small Analogue logo on it for an added touch.

A GameBoy link cable slot is included on the device along with a USB-C port for charging the handheld and connecting it to a dock. It also has a headphone jack and an LED light to let you know when it’s charging.

The speakers are on each side and won’t get in the way of where your hands rest while playing. Quality-wise, the speakers are fantastic and the device can actually get pretty loud if you crank it all the way up to the maximum. There’s also an SD card slot if you need to update device firmware and other things.

One thing that should be mentioned is the device’s cartridge slot on the back. Game cartridges don’t really get nestled into the slot very snuggly and when setting the Pocket down, sometimes the game can come lose a bit and cause you to lose your progress. This isn’t too common of an occurrence for most players, however, some have mentioned the issue and have spoken up about it. Just be careful that anytime you place the console down between play sessions you do so carefully so as to not dislodge your games and lose your progress.

The device’s trigger and shoulder buttons are great and feel really nice to press in. They have a springy pushback to them and click in when used.

Appearance

The device is clearly modeled after the original GameBoy and Gameboy Color in terms of aesthetics. Even the back has that grill indentation that the original Game Boy had.

It feels like it weighs about the same as the OG GameBoy. It’s 5.86″ tall and 3.46″ wide and 0.86″ thick. When compared to the original GameBoy handheld, it’s a bit taller and also a bit thinner but comes with a few additional buttons as well.

Its 3.5-inch LCD screen has a resolution of 1600×1440, which is nearly four times the resolution of the original Game Boy’s. Another improvement over the GameBoy’s screen is the Pocket’s screen brightness. It’s a huge step up and can even be adjusted to the user’s preference as well.

Analogue Operating System

The device has a simple black-and-white OS that does well to make the handheld feel simple when using it. It’s not overly complicated and naturally feels retro due to the color scheme and layout. It’s also easy to navigate and you can tweak the settings depending on the system that you’re using it for.

Switching Game Cartridges

After you’re finished playing a game on the system, you’ll simply need to remove the first game cartridge, swap out the second, and then choose the Play Cartridge option to boot up the other game. Changing games is really fast and can be done in a matter of mere seconds.

Changing Settings

Pressing the Home button while playing a game will bring up the device’s settings tab. Your settings are where you can do things such as:

• Change the display mode (switch between modern and classic visuals)
• Change the output size to shrink or stretch it as you need
• Desaturate, sharpen, or brighten the screen and more

While the exterior of the device is minimal, so is the device’s operating system. Less is certainly more here in terms of design. It helps to simplify the experience and bring you back to a simpler time when these games were first released and it makes things feel nostalgic in a way.

Audio Software

One cool feature that needs to be mentioned is that the Analogue Pocket has a digital audio tool called Nanoloop. This software is a synthesizer and a sequencer for creating music. With it, you can edit sounds and capture or play music.

Create Your Own Original Game Boy Games

Also, the Pocket is compatible with GB Studio, the free program that allows you to create your very own Game Boy games with zero coding required. It’s the perfect introduction to game programming and being able to test your games on actual hardware. What could be cooler than creating and playing Game Boy games that you made?

Firmware Updates

Firmware updates can be downloaded from the official Analogue website when they become available. Updates that are released typically will improve the system’s stability, add additional features, and include bug fixes.

It uses FPGA technology which is why it can run games natively and accurately with zero emulation. It’s also why it can handle running games from multiple systems. This means that you can play Game Boy (aka original Game Boy Pocket), and Game Boy Color games, and can even play Game Boy Advance games (and Game Boy Advance SP) games.

Things like the Lynx Neo Geo Pocket Color, Game Boy Link cable, and Game Boy camera will also work as well.

Analogue Pocket Gameplay Quality

The Pocket is a gameplay experience that is as close as possible to using original hardware as you can get. Its use of FPGA technology means that nothing is actually being emulated, but instead, the cartridges think that they are being run on actual original hardware. This results in a gameplay quality that is nearly identical to what you’d get playing on an original Nintendo handheld device.

One of the main advantages of the Pocket is that is its battery which lasts for up to 8 hours depending on the titles that you play. The battery life of this device is pretty great and 8 hours is a long enough time to get down on your favorite games while on the go.

Size-wise, it fits comfortably into your hands, and the shoulder buttons are perfectly positioned for your index fingers. When you need to put the device down and take a break, its sleep function allows you to easily pause the game for a few hours and then resume playing without draining any of your battery’s life.

Load times are also great and the device works seamlessly. The gameplay quality on the Pocket is next level here.

Should You Buy Analogue Pocket Accessories?

One of these is the Analogue Pocket Dock. It lets you dock your Pocket into an HDTV like you would a Nintendo Switch, allowing you to sync up to four additional Bluetooth controllers, letting your friends join in on the fun too. The Dock is well-designed and is also minima looking. It has two additional USB ports for connecting wired controllers and ultimately allows players to turn their handheld into a home console when not out.

Another accessory worth mentioning is the cartridge adapters. These cartridge adapters let you play games from other consoles on the Pocket like the Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and even the Neo Geo Pocket. As we mentioned earlier in this review, even with these adapters, you’ll need to be careful not to bump them too hard or you may lose connection to your game.

Aside from that though, gameplay using the adapters is pretty much flawless, and visual and audio quality is fantastic. The additional systems that you can play on the device by using things like the Game Gear adapter to play Game Gear games bring the library to a whole new level.

You can also pick some other additional accessories like a travel case, screen protectors, and cables for trading with friends.

Summary

The Analogue Pocket is a premium high-end console that isn’t exactly cheap. For gamers who are willing to spend a pretty penny on a new console to play their favorite classic handheld games, it’s a fantastic option that is well-designed, sleek, and of extremely high quality. However, do keep in mind that this device is primarily for retro enthusiasts who already have a game collection of cartridges that they can play from as if you don’t, you’ll also be incurring costs purchasing game cartridges as well.

Despite the price point, the Analogue Pocket is a fantastic product that delivers an excellent retro gaming experience. The build quality on the device is next level and the FPGA technology works flawlessly.

The are only very small caveats and ways it could have been improved such as the volume buttons, the cartridge slot, and the screen bezels. Aside from these small nitpicks, the device is nearly perfect in every other way.

It can even be used with flash carts and works well with the EZ-Flash for Gameboy Advance. You can also connect and use rumble packs with games like Pokemon Pinball.

If it’s within your budget, the Pocket is well worth the price. It delivers an excellent retro gaming experience and a very high-quality device. We can’t recommend picking it up enough.

Also, be sure to check out our review of the Anbernic RG405M.