When Gogamegeek sent me the new Powkiddy RGB20S, the first thing I noticed was how strange it looked. This was both a good and bad thing though, but overall, the design is certainly a head-turner. The size of the RGB20S, for a mini-handheld, is just about right but with some caveats.
First off, we have another RK3326 device, and I was originally unsure whether or not this could stand the ground in 2022 as most handhelds released so far have newer chips. But I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.
One area I am unsure about is the design and the layout of the buttons, etc. I really don’t like how the buttons or D-pad are placed below the sticks. For me it felt really strange, and I felt the number of buttons on offer were a little over the top for the size of the RG20S. But this is my opinion, and many may find nothing wrong with this layout.
The first thing that will stand out is the face in the middle, which is made up of three different buttons: Start, Select, and the Function button, which is used to get around the emulator settings. This really does look like a face and is quite cute.
There is a grill in the middle of the device housing the speaker, which sounds really good. What is also good is that it isn’t covered by your hands and isn’t muffled.
Above that you get the 3.5” IPS display, which has very small bezels fitted to the edge of the handheld, giving it a very modern look compared to some other handhelds.
The quality of the screen is very good, with a resolution of 640 x 480 offering impressive brightness, as well as an OCA display that sits very close to the cover, meaning there are no gaps, and there’s less chance of getting dust trapped. The image quality really is very good, and you will not be disappointed.
Around the edges of the device, you’ll find the usual buttons such as On/Off, two USB-C ports, a volume button and a second SD card slot for adding your own ROMs. Gogamegeek provided me with a unit that had ROMs pre-loaded, so I was able to get straight into gaming.
The shoulder buttons are large, taking up the whole width of the device, which is a first for Powkiddy. The L2/R2 buttons sit a little higher than the L1/R1, which makes it easier for you to switch between.
The shoulder buttons feel very comfortable, and the positioning is perfect due to how they are slightly raised. I could spend long periods of time using the RG20S without any issues.
Specification-wise, it’s a little underwhelming, mainly due to that RK3326:
- 3.5″ IPS OCA Display (640 x 480)
- RK3326 1.5Ghz Quad-Core Processor
- 1GB RAM
- 3500 MAH Battery (5+ Hours)
- Wi-Fi
- 3.5mm Headphone Jack
To my surprise, it’s rocking a RK3326 chip, which considering we are in the middle of 2022, I was both surprised and disappointed to see. I had hoped that we had moved away from this now aging chipset, but nope, here we are again. However, the RG20S still performs very well and is a great handheld to use.
I review 99% of my handhelds straight out of the box, without any CFW or tweaks, and I’m happy to say the RGB20S performs great, and this is mainly down to the fact it comes with Emulation Station pre-installed. Any retro gamer will be immediately at home with this OS as it’s very easy to customise.
As I mentioned earlier, Gogamegeek provided me a review unit preloaded with thousands of games, and whilst I do not condone this practice, it did allow me to get straight into gaming heaven. Straight out of the box, it really is ‘switch on and play’, which is great.
When it comes to performance, it’s very much the same as previous reviews I’ve done of other handhelds with the RK3326 chip. However, the 4:3 display is ideal for many platforms, offering full-screen gaming.
During testing, I was really impressed with every platform up to PS1, with excellent images, sound and smooth gaming. If you aren’t bothered with anything higher than PS1, you will love the RGB20S.
You will find that Dreamcast games have a tendency to crash, and if I’m being honest, playing those games is not a very enjoyable experience. So, I would not recommend this device to anyone wanting to play Dreamcast games. However, do not let that put you off from buying the RG20S as it really is a great portable handheld.
PSP and most of the really good PS1 games played great, as did quite a few N64 games. But the best platforms to use on the RGB20S are the likes of Game Boy, Game Gear, etc. They look fantastic and play amazingly well.
Out of the box, controls are all mapped well, and the only changes I had to make were with some of the emulators, especially as everything is set to auto. But once I changed the emulator for the likes of the N64, for example, I had no issues at all.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with this little device, and I’m sure you will too. It’s well made, with a great screen, decent sound and loads of buttons. But that chip is aging now, and Powkiddy need to stop using it.
