Why Cheap Retro Handhelds Make More Sense Than Ever In 2026
Gaming has never been more expensive. We’re here to investigate why, and help you play more while spending less. Welcome to GameSpot Cheap Week.
It's no secret that starting a gaming hobby is more expensive than ever before, with console price increases, select games retailing for $80, and accessories making the barrier to entry even harder to crack. But you can still have a great time and not have to worry about emptying your life savings, as various manufacturers have begun to address the demand for cheap gaming.
Right now, you can pick up surprisingly powerful handhelds to play your games on, with some of the popular options being AyaNeo's line of portable devices, the budget-friendly Anbernic RG Nano, and the Troid Pocket, just to name a few. For GameSpot's Cheap Week, senior video producer Jean-Luc Seipke took a look at the Anbernic R35XXSP. Right out of the box, this little handheld hit several sweet spots.
Pricing starts at $55 for the 64GB model, the hardware allows you to play games from multiple generations on it, and it's clearly inspired by the clamshell design of the Game Boy SP--one of Nintendo's best handheld devices of all time.
All that adds up to a pocket-friendly machine that you can take anywhere with you, load up with ROM backups of games that you already own, and more. As detailed in the video, not only does this Anbernic handheld play SNES, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Dreamcast games smoothly, but thanks to a growing community of modders, you can even port select Steam games over to it.
There are some limitations to this handheld, but if you're looking to dive into your older games and mod them with a few quality-of-life features, Anbernic's handheld does a great job at a very attractive price.
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