hat does your money actually buy?
Buying an ultra-cheap handheld console usually feels like playing a rigged lottery where the grand prize is a piece of plastic destined straight for the trash. The market is flooded with garbage like R36S, which looks tempting on paper but delivers horrible, mushy buttons, firmware bugs that make you want to throw the console at the wall, and zero durability. ANBERNIC unexpectedly shattered this depressing pattern by rolling out the RG 35 handheld straight on ANBERNIC.com for just $37.99 ahead of its September 2026 release.
For less than the price of a pathetic cinema ticket and a bucket of popcorn, you get a ready-to-use, genuinely functional pocket machine rather than a disposable piece of electronic waste. It is packed in a textured shell that feels sturdy enough to survive being tossed into a backpack without the squeak of a cheap toy.
Very rare is the console of this quality that comes out under fifty dollars.
It comes in three colors: transparent black, gray, and transparent pink. The gray option pays homage to classic gaming hardware with proper action button colors and an authentic retro design.
Controls, screen, and everyday performance
Up front sits a sensible 3.5-inch IPS display with a crisp resolution of 640 by 640 pixels. Such a classic 4:3 screen format is ideal for older systems like PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64, which means you won't have to stare at ridiculous black bars or monstrously stretched graphics.
ANBERNIC equipped the RG 35 with a thick, responsive D-pad (directional pad used for movement controls) and quiet glossy action buttons that won't annoy people around you if you play late at night.
If you need an affordable pocket companion that simply runs retro games without forcing you to spend flagship-level money on a device you have to baby, this little thing offers honest and straightforward hardware at a price that makes you wonder why anyone even buys overpriced premium consoles.
Key takeaways
- Release date: September 2026
- Price: $37.99 on ANBERNIC.com
- Manufacturer website: https://ANBERNIC.com
- Specifications:
- Screen — 3.5" IPS, 640 × 480
- Processor — Rockchip RK3326, 4 cores, 1.5 GHz
- Graphics — Mali-G31 MP2
- RAM — 1 GB
- Storage — 32 GB
- Operating system — Linux
- Battery — 3200 mAh
- Dimensions — 128 × 81 × 22 mm
- Weight — 191 g