Reviewer Picks ANBERNIC's Switch Lite-Style RG 55G1 Over Dual-Screen RG DS Plus for Most Buyers
An Android Authority reviewer spent weeks with ANBERNIC's two new Nintendo-inspired handhelds and recommends the Switch Lite-style RG 55G1 for most buyers, even though the dual-screen RG DS Plus is the one he played most.
In a review published by Android Authority on Oct. 28, 2026, the reviewer said the RG 55G1, a thicker and heavier take on the Switch Lite that weighs 339 grams, is the device he would recommend to people who want an affordable but capable Android handheld for under $150. The dual-screen RG DS Plus, he wrote, is the one he actually played most over several weeks with both units.
The RG 55G1 runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon G1 Gen 2, the lowest-tier chip in its dedicated gaming line, and comes in 4GB/64GB and 8GB/128GB versions. Benchmark figures cited in the review show its newer CPU cores, laid out in a 2+6 configuration, give it roughly double the CPU performance of the MANGMI Air X and the AYANEO Pocket Air Mini. In GPU stress tests it held a small but consistent lead over the Snapdragon 662-based MANGMI Air X, although both consoles fell well behind the AYANEO Pocket Air Mini and its older Helio G90T.
Thermals showed the widest gap. The ANBERNIC unit averaged 19 and 21 degrees Celsius across the two tests, against 33 and 35 degrees for the AYANEO device and 32 and 35 degrees for the MANGMI.
In hands-on use, the reviewer said the RG 55G1 comfortably handled games up to and including PSP titles. Many PS2, GameCube and PC games failed to reach playable speeds, though some GameCube and PS2 titles ran decently, and lightweight PC games such as Broforce were playable apart from a stuttering overworld map. A 6,000mAh battery kept the device running for most of a day with little standby drain overnight, though not as little as the Retroid Pocket G2.
Build and controls drew qualified praise. The plastic back resists fingerprints and the front is all glass, and the analog L2 and R2 triggers were described as a welcome addition compared with ANBERNIC's more expensive RG477M. The reviewer objected, however, to both analog sticks sitting below the D-pad and face buttons instead of in Nintendo's staggered arrangement, and said he would have preferred larger sticks. The handheld ships with Android 14 and a largely stock interface, alongside ANBERNIC's RG Home desktop and features including fan control, performance profiles, Xbox or Switch button layouts and touch mapping.
The RG DS Plus copies the DS Lite and DSi closely, down to the hinge-mounted microphone, the position of the stylus slot and the button layout. The reviewer said he was disheartened to find it behind the original RG DS on paper, since it carries the same Rockchip RK3568 chipset with low-powered quad-core Cortex-A55 cores and a Mali-G52 2EE GPU.