Although I count the original Game Boy as one of my first tech obsessions, I still consider Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance to be my favorite console of all time thanks to its more comfortable horizontal design (for my big hands) and its expansive catalog of excellent 32-bit and 16-bit games. Ayaneo isn’t the first company to attempt to modernize the GBA, but its Konkr Pocket Advance does it best. The handheld strikes a near perfect balance between authentically re-creating the GBA’s design while updating its hardware with new controls, a much better screen, and the flexibility of Android at a price that feels like a bargain.
As much as I still adore the GBA, I’ve eagerly embraced upgrades to the aging console over the years. First it was the clamshell GBA SP that finally delivered a frontlit screen I could actually see without a lamp over my shoulder, and later it was aftermarket upgrades like a backlit LCD display and a rechargeable battery that vastly improved Nintendo’s original hardware. Two years ago, I eagerly purchased Anbernic’s GBA-inspired RG34XX, but all of those have now been replaced by the Konkr Pocket Advance.
It’s my first handheld from Ayaneo, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find the hardware feels on par with Nintendo’s. The Pocket Advance is an all-plastic affair but with a satisfying heft thanks to extra internal hardware including a cooling fan for its MediaTek Helio G90T processor and a 4,000mAh battery. I opted for the cheaper $109 version with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which is expandable with a microSD card, but for $129, you can get 4GB of RAM with 64GB of storage built-in.
It’s not an exact copy of the GBA, but the Pocket Advance’s dimensions are close enough to fit all the cases I’ve somehow preserved for the past 25 years. Where Ayaneo’s remake really diverges from the original is with eight additional buttons including X and Y action buttons plus four extra shoulder buttons on the top edge. I’m a big fan of the larger D-pad Ayaneo has included, but some retro gaming purists may not be fans of how soft and squishy the Pocket Advance’s buttons all feel. I’ve had to learn to mash the action buttons just a little harder to ensure presses are always registered, but I don’t necessarily think the button feel is a downside because they’re also satisfyingly quiet.
The Pocket Advance’s 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen with a glass cover is an excellent upgrade, but it does cater to GBA games with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a 960×640 resolution allowing them to be perfectly scaled at 4x. (The GBA had a 240×160 screen resolution.) Unless you’re a monster who can tolerate playing games that have been stretched vertically or horizontally to fill a screen, emulating games from other systems will result in letterboxing or pillarboxing on the sides, and potentially some visual artifacts from scaling when the math isn’t perfect.
Most similarly sized and similarly priced handhelds run some variation of Linux. There’s a thriving community of developers creating and porting a large assortment of emulators, games, and apps to Linux, but installing, configuring, customizing and updating software is not always a user-friendly process, especially for novices who may only be familiar with using plug-and-play game carts. The Pocket Advance instead comes with Android 12, and while that version feels a little dated, setting up the handheld will feel a little more familiar to anyone with smartphone experience.
$109
An authentic but upgraded clone of Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance that can play more than just GBA games using emulation.
Getting the Pocket Advance up and running was relatively easy thanks in part to Ayaneo’s custom launcher called AYASpace that makes it easier to install various emulators. But the handheld also has access to the Google Play Store, or you can install Android apps or add-ons downloaded directly from a website.
I’m a big fan of a clean and simple launcher for Linux handhelds called MinUI, so instead of AYASpace, I installed an alternative Android launcher called Cannoli on the Pocket Advance that brings the same aesthetics with several emulators preinstalled and preconfigured. The flexibility of Android means I can set the Pocket Advance to load Cannoli by default, but I have the option to switch back to AYASpace at any time, or install and jump between multiple alternatives.
When it comes to emulation capabilities, you’ll want to keep your expectations limited to “retro” gaming. The Pocket Advance’s seven-year-old processor is powerful enough to handle many titles from the PS2 and GameCube, but the handheld is better equipped to emulate the PS1 and Sega Dreamcast, and you’ll have the best experience with games from even older consoles like the Super Nintendo and Genesis. An easy-access quick settings menu that slides in from the right lets you quickly customize and reconfigure the handheld including boosting its performance (at the cost of battery life) to handle more intensive games, but another thing preventing the Pocket Advance from playing more modern games is its lack of analog thumbsticks.
Performance and compatibility will also vary with native Android games and apps. I’ve had a lot of fun playing through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge once again, but while the Pocket Advance is a passable way to stream Netflix, I can’t get it to play any Disney Plus content without the app crashing out.
Anbernic’s $69.99 RG34XX is still cheaper than the Pocket Advance and may seem like a better alternative, but I think Ayaneo’s is absolutely worth the extra $40. It’s a more powerful and capable handheld with a higher-res display, and I much prefer the Pocket Advance’s larger D-pad and shoulder button arrangement. I also find the quality of Anbernic’s hardware to be hit and miss. Similar to what others have reported on Reddit, I’ve experienced intermittent issues with the responsiveness of the RG34XX’s D-pad. I haven’t had the motivation to crack it open to attempt a DIY fix, and with the Pocket Advance now in my collection, it’s doubtful I ever will.
The Pocket Advance is one of the best retro handhelds currently available and not just because of its nostalgic retro design. As long as you temper your gaming expectations and won’t be frustrated by what it can’t play, it’s an excellent way to revisit and enjoy games from Nintendo’s earlier handheld era.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge