ANBERNIC RG ROTATE

ANBERNIC RG ROTATE

I
have received Anbernics latest offering, the Anbernic RG Rotate which
appears to be quite the unique little console with its rotating
display and controls beneath, available in a couple of colours: Polar
Black and Aurora Silver, whichever you get there is something new in
the box I have never seen before and that is a spare set of trigger
buttons which give the L2 and R2 slightly higher triggers. The
chassis on the Polar Black model is comprised of Aluminium
Alloy + ABS Plastic and the chassis on the Aurora Silver model
is purely Aluminium, there are no other hardware differences between
the two.


So
where does my preference lay when it comes to the chassis
construction? Aluminium Alloy + ABS
Plastic or purely Aluminium, this was really an easy decision to make
and that was all aluminium, of the two of them the Aluminium model is
slightly heavier but not by much and I don't foresee the slightly
heavier weight causing any issues during gaming sessions. My thoughts
are also that the rotation mechanism may last longer in an all metal
construction.

I
have only seen the Unisoc Tiger T618 chipset in one other console I
own, the Anbernic RG505 which is quite the capable device, so I
expect similar from the RG Rotate. For the size of the console the
Unisoc
Tiger T618 is quite the powerful processor.

Before
turning it on I am going to do 1 thing I don't normally do, I know I
should, and that was to install the screen protector, it is not a
clamshell so no protection for the screen and I don't have a case.
Now to insert the included 128GB, turn on and go through the usual
setup an Android device asks for.

Having
a square aspect ratio means it lends itself to quite a few consoles
but only one with a true 1:1 aspect ratio which is the Pico-8, there
are others that are close to 1:1 and they are the Neo Geo Pocket
(160x152), Nintendo Entertainment System (256x240), Game Boy (160x144), Game Gear
(160x144) and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (256x224). There are hacks you an do
that make some of the other consoles, even though the ratio isn't
close, seem a little better such as oversale within RetroArch.

To
start with I chose to uninstall all the emulators already
pre-installed in order to be a bit more choosy over the installed
emulators and also to make sure they are the most recent versions,
also which if any front end will I be using? Daijisho has always been
a trusted front end coupled with RetroArch, using RetroArch means not
having to install individual emulators.

I
found the controls cumbersome, but then again I was brought up
playing games with a joystick and a D-pad has always seemed difficult
to come to terms with, if they had been able to include a low profile
thumbstick I would have been happier. That being said the controls
are accurate and reasonably quiet, not clicky.

You
may see the rear firing mono speaker as a flaw during gameplay as it
can easily be covered with your fingers, but in actuality it does
quite a competent job.

I
thought I'd give some of the other functions a go such as music
playback, something I don't normally check on Android devices as I
see them as purely games machines, but this is different, it's more
than a games machine. So I added some music, “Steps” don't judge
me, files to the internal storage and played them with the included
music player and I must admit I'm very impressed at the audio
clarity, it's loud, it's clear.

Now
let's try video playback, so I add the movie “Outrageous Fortune”
which is a .avi file to the internal storage and used the installed
video player to see the quality and as with the music player the
audio quality is impressive, however the video is a little jerky but
watchable, so I tried another file “Torch Song Trilogy” another
.avi file and again a little jerky but watchable so I thought it may
be the file format, I'll give a .mp4 file a go “Move Over Darling”
and the audio was spot on and this time not jerky.

Would
I recommend the RG Rotate?
This
is a difficult one, the chipset is powerful enough to be able to play
up to PSP, PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64, however the screen size and aspect
ratio does not suit the higher end emulators and on the other hand
systems like Game Boy and Game Boy Color which suit the screen size
and aspect ratio don't take full advantage of the chipset. Take note
that while setting up the RG Rotate did get a little warm.

Do
I think it could be better, for me?
Yes,
I believe a larger screen like that of the Anbernic RG Cube which has a 3.95”
display would of made a great deal of a difference. I would have
preferred a low profile thumbstick similar to that of the Anbernic RG Slide
and a front firing speaker, also a larger battery. Maybe these can be implemented in RG Rotate v2.0.

In
conclusion, what it does it does well but may be too much of a
novelty for some but the novelty of it may be a selling point for
others including myself. Third party applications, such as ClassiPod
(an iPod inspired music player) I think might add to the Anbernic RG
Rotate experience.

Follow and comment below

Michael