Anbernic is making a swivel-screen retro handheld

Anbernic has officially revealed the RG Rotate, a compact Android emulation handheld with a square display that swivels upward to reveal its gamepad. The device mimics the form factor of mid-2000s mobile phones like the Motorola FlipOut. This allows it to function as a discreet media player when closed.

I think this device looks cute and the perfect device to travel with. We live in a golden era of emulation handhelds. There is something for everyone. You can buy massive widescreen tablets for modern streaming, or you can buy a tiny metal square that flips open to play Game Boy games on an airplane.

Aluminum and ABS options

The RG Rotate uses a 1:1 aspect ratio screen attached to an ultra-thin alloy hinge. Anbernic plans to release two versions of the shell to hit different price points. The Aurora Silver model uses an aluminum alloy body, and the Polar Black version uses ABS plastic. Both versions have a metal frame around the screen itself to protect the display during rotation.

Power comes from a 2,000 mAh battery that supports 10W charging via USB-C. That same USB-C port handles all audio output, because the device lacks a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. A microSD card slot sits on the side for loading ROMs and MP3s.

Swappable shoulder buttons

The control layout is standard for retro gaming, but the physical design requires some compromises. The bottom half of the device has a traditional D-pad, start and select buttons, and four face buttons. There are no analog sticks, which makes sense for a device meant to slide smoothly in and out of a pocket.

To accommodate games that need more inputs, Anbernic built swappable in-line L2 and R2 shoulder buttons into the top edge. You can physically remove and swap these triggers between high and low profiles depending on your grip preference. This is a new design approach for Anbernic, which usually molds fixed shoulder buttons into the back casing of its vertical handhelds like the RG35XX series.

What it can actually play

Anbernic has not released the official processor specifications yet, but the control layout gives us a good idea of its limits. Without analog sticks, the RG Rotate is built primarily for 8-bit and 16-bit systems.

I expect it to be powerful enough to emulate the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and the entire Game Boy family without breaking a sweat. Early previews suggest the internal hardware can push up to Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 1 performance. Those consoles have plenty of games that only require a D-pad. They will be perfectly playable here. You might even get away with some Sega Saturn emulation for 2D fighters and platformers.

The 1:1 screen ratio is particularly good for Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Pico-8 titles, which use a nearly square resolution. Super Nintendo and Genesis games will have small black bars on the top and bottom, but the compact size makes that a reasonable tradeoff.

Anbernic releases a new handheld almost every month, but they usually stick to familiar horizontal or vertical slabs. The RG Rotate is a weird experiment. It works as a pocketable MP3 player that happens to play Chrono Trigger when you slide the screen up.