Anbernic RG SP Review: The Thin GBA SP Clone That Punches Above Its Weight (Despite 1GB RAM)

Anbernic surprise-dropped the Anbernic RG SP retro handheld right in the middle of a component supply crisis squeezing gadget makers dry. This device arrives in a clamshell form factor channeling the GBA SP, only thinner and sans analog sticks. On paper, the specs look like a downgrade from their previous lineup, but the daily driver experience is surprisingly solid.

Specs Slashed: How Does It Perform?

The engine room still runs on the Allwinner H700 chip. The difference? Anbernic slashed memory to 1GB DDR3 RAM, ditching the DDR4 RAM found on earlier variants.

Lightweight PS1 and PSP titles run without a hitch. Select N64 and Dreamcast games are playable if you temper expectations. The hardware ceiling only hits hard when pushing heavy PortMaster ports or running memory-hungry modern system emulators.

Weight & Dimensions Showdown

The slimmer chassis makes the RG SP pocket-friendly. However, that svelte profile has a side effect: grip comfort tanks during marathon sessions.

Handheld Model	Device Weight
Anbernic RG SP	167g (Plastic) / 204g (Aluminium)
Anbernic RG34XXSP	185g
Anbernic RG35XXSP	192g
Miyoo Flip	180g
TrimUI Smart Pro	231g

Casual gaming is a non-issue. But grind something demanding constant button mashing—like Pokémon Pinball—for over an hour, and your fingers will start to cramp.

Stock Firmware & The Lid Sleep Bug

Anbernic’s stock Linux OS on this series feels slightly more polished than their older drops. Swapping built-in shaders like CRT-Geom on the fly via the Menu button is a nice QoL touch. Annoyingly, the intrusive button-click sound effect is still enabled by default, forcing a manual toggle in settings.

The real headache is sleep mode. Close the hinge, and the OS frequently fails to suspend. The power LED stays lit, draining the battery dead in a few hours.

Custom Firmware: The Community Cavalry

As usual, the custom firmware community is the H700 lineup's true savior. Most community OS builds for the RG34XXSP boot on the RG SP out of the box, albeit with minor bugs. A dedicated NextUI port for this chipset is also in active development.

At roughly $3 cheaper than the RG34XXSP, this becomes the most rational buy if you want the truest GBA SP form factor clone—especially now that 2GB RAM variants are drying up in the channel.

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