Arduboy FX – A Pint-Sized Portable

How about an Arduboy? You are less likely to want to travel with a handheld in a world where handhelds are getting bigger. "I'm not taking any of these handhelds because they don't fit in my fannypack," or "It's too big and heavy and it hurts my back" are some possible responses. These are all typical grievances regarding these new handhelds. Therefore, consider this: "why not something smaller?" A RG35XX+? smaller. Mini Miyoo? Smaller. Have a playdate? Smaller. Is it Pocketsprite? Well, not that small.

I'm referring to a portable device called the Arduboy FX, which has its own games library instead of emulating the Playdate. Yes, you will enjoy my next review of a specialized handheld device.

Before we begin, however, I should clarify that I bought the Arduboy FX from the Retro Handhelds Discord Marketplace, and all (probably unfavourable) thoughts are mine.

What Is It?

In actuality, the Arduboy FX is an improvement over the Arduboy, a handheld device that was previously available. Kevin Bates first made the Arduboy available to the general public in 2015 through Kickstarter, where it was available for as little as $29 if you purchased it early enough. There are many parallels between the two.

Both are tiny credit card-sized gadgets with a 1.3" 128 x 64 pixel OLED display, an aluminum back shell, and a plastic front. Unlike colour OLEDs, these two feature a backlight and are only available in black and white. Take that Playdate. They also have an ATMega32u4 CPU and a staggering 2.5kb of RAM. It is all charged by Micro USB and runs on a 180mAh battery.

Storage is where they diverge. The Arduboy FX has enough storage to come preloaded with 200 community-made and created games, whereas the original Arduboy only had 32kb, which was enough for a few games. All for a higher cost of $54.

Now that you know what it is, let's talk about how adorable it is.

Arduboy, That's Small

As previously stated, the Arduboy FX is a device the size of a credit card. Except for thickness, it is the same size as this Burger King gift card. You can achieve roughly the same size by stacking five cards on top of one another, but the FX will be significantly heavier.

It is slightly taller but much narrower than the Playdate. Naturally, it is also much thinner and much more affordable.

Beside the boy from Chicken? Once more, it is narrower, but if you include the Chicken's hair, it is roughly the same height. Additionally, it is around one-third as thick as the Chicken.

Finally, for a few size comparisons, here is the Arduboy FX next to a Miyoo Mini and an RGB30.

Oh, and all of the gadgets' weights are listed below:

Burger King Gift card: 5 grams

Arduboy FX: 38 grams

Chicken Boy: 47 grams

Playdate: 85 grams

Miyoo Mini: 104 grams

RGB30: 209 grams

Ergonomics

Due to the Arduboy FX's poor ergonomics, this part will be brief. My hands get cramped after a short while due to its small vertical dimension, which is okay because you won't spend a lot of time gaming on a device like this.

It's unfortunate because of the buttons or how dreadfully awful they are. Each one has a gentle click followed by a gentle bottom-out sound. My thumb can cover most of the d-pad in a single motion, but this hasn't interfered with gameplay. Despite its small size and minor difficulty in viewing, the screen is gorgeous and responsive.

The Arduboy Gaming Experience

We've now moved on to the crucial details: the overall gameplay experience. As previously said, it's a little black-and-white OLED screen, but it's a really good one. So far, All the games I've played have been pleasant and responsive. What about those games?

As previously mentioned, the FX has more than 200 games preinstalled. You may also install your games later; however, it takes some time. Action, Adventure, Arcade, Runner, Platform, Strategy, Puzzle, Skill, Tabletop, Racing, RPG, Shooter, and Sports are among the genres into which the games are divided. There were games in each category, so if you didn't find anything you enjoyed in one area, you probably would in another.

Games like Kong and Kong 2 from the arcade resemble the original Donkey Kong titles. Ardu-Racer, a Micro Machine-style game, was part of Racing. Tabletop has Farkle, while Puzzle has Circuit Dude and the classic 2048 recreation. Shooters and Sports even had some fantastic games, such as Sk8, Die, and Tiny Asteroids.

It's a lot of fun, but the internal battery can easily ruin it. The 180mAh battery may last up to 8 hours. However, it may not last long if you're playing a game that utilizes a lot of white. I only saw two hours of playtime, which is acceptable because you won't play this much outside the DMV lines.

Final Thoughts and Alternatives

The Arduboy FX, which was initially priced at $54, is a fantastic little gadget that is well worth the investment. It becomes somewhat more challenging to sell at the current price of $74 or $99 for the limited edition Black Model (which comes with more than 300 games). You may get a Retroid Pocket 2S for $100, giving you access to a vast collection of games from the retro market and Android ports. Numerous excellent Retro Tech Dad videos contain a list of these games. You could purchase an RG35XX+ or RG Nano for as little as $74 and have several familiar games from your past that you would enjoy playing often.

However, those aren't the competition. Other gadgets that play specially designed games for their "platform" compete with them. You can purchase or sideload additional games after the $200 Playdate—a great but expensive time for a tiny device. The Evercade and Super Pocket costs range from $60 to $140, and fresh cartridges typically cost $20 apiece. It is an excellent library; however, prices are rising quickly. Although it is significantly larger than the Arduboy, even the RGB30 Pico-8 machine costs about $75.

The Arduboy is an excellent pocket-sized value device because it comes with 200 games preinstalled in various genres. It's an oddball overall; the ergonomics are poor, and it's not as inexpensive as it once was, but it's still entertaining. Do yourself a favour and get an Arduboy FX if you can find a reasonably priced one. It's worth a look. Even better, could you keep it in your wallet? In such cases, you will always have anything with a sound library. I'm positive I will.