Anbernic RG406V First Impressions: Well Hello There

Something has been lacking from every handheld that has crossed my desk in the last 12 months. That is, up until now. Although I had many possibilities to play anything and anything I could imagine, I had trouble finding a vertical handheld that didn't make my wrists feel like they were burning.

To my surprise, there are more reasons than ergonomics why the Anbernic RG406V could be my "end-game" vertical retro handheld. I'll leave any written comparisons to Ban or Jalanimal because I have never had any experience with the RG405V myself. Stubbs' RG406V has already arrived.

Anbernic RG406V: What I like

I quickly launched Apotris after taking the RG406V out of the box and inserting a spare microSD card. This has been my go-to "testing" game for the past month or so to see how well the D-Pad holds up. I needed roughly half an hour to get used to the RG406V's holding sensation. However, I was unable to put it down after that.

I wanted to finish writing this impressions piece by now, but instead, I played Apotris and set up everything for the remainder of the night. Anbernic pre-installs a variety of emulators, so you don't even need to sign in with your Google account to begin playing if you have a microSD card loaded with all of your ROMs. This is part of the "problem."

This has advantages and disadvantages. While updating some of the emulators is likely necessary, it is not a must. You must first download the appropriate emulator version and then confirm that any drivers are available for higher-end emulation, so it's not like if you wanted to start playing games on something like the Odin 2 Mini. Once more, Anbernic does a fantastic job of enabling you to get started immediately with just your microSD card and no setup required.

Alright, so let's talk about ergonomics. First of all, I've never used a vertical handheld that genuinely has grips that are comparable to those of their horizontal counterparts, and even then, as someone with meaty claws, I'm shocked that I don't have to change my grip on the RG406V. Usually, I either use some grip or play until I can no longer do it.

I am comfortable playing this while my child is napping because all of the buttons are pleasant and responsive, and I don't have to worry about the clickiness waking him up. Because the rear triggers are "soft clicky," I am a little worried about that when I use them, but not too much so long as I'm not playing a first-person shooter.

It's clearly my fault, but I haven't really tried to "push" the Unisoc T820 to the limit. I played The Simpsons: Road Rage in AetherSX2 and MLB 08: The Show on PPSSPP, and I didn't notice any slowdowns. Of course, those are relatively easy games to imitate, even for the T820. On the other hand, the T820 isn't precisely a new smartphone—it's been used in a number of handhelds by now.

Anbernic RG406V: What I don't

Not to give anything away, but Jalanimal received the batch's finest colour. Even though the "Beige" RG406V I received isn't bad, I still would have liked the PAL SNES colour scheme better. My RG406V resembles the "smoker's white" on the Ayaneo Pocket Air, which is the closest analogy I can think of. Without the joysticks, the white D-Pad, and the Home/Start/Select buttons, it might not have been as noticeable.

The joysticks are higher than they should be. Anbernic resolved its cardinal snapping problems from earlier devices, but at what cost, according to Stubbs? If I were playing thumbstick-based games instead of D-Pad-centric ones, my perspective on ergonomics would be different.

Although I recognize that having Android on a handheld device is fantastic because it makes customization incredibly simple, I do wish that Anbernic would collaborate with developers to make either ES-DE or Daijisho the default front end. After opening the box, you're presented with a standard Android home screen, but clicking the button above the microSD card slot opens Anbernic's basic retro launcher. It functions perfectly, but it just doesn't look good.

Anbernic RG406V: Conclusion

I can't spend a lot of time with the RG406V right now because I have some other projects in the backlog that need to be written, but I'm going to use it whenever I get the chance in the foreseeable future. I'm not sure if there's another vertical handheld that can overtake the RG406V for me; the Ayaneo Pocket DMG is the only possible exception, but we don't yet have an official release date for that.