Another Day, Another Game Boy-Style Handheld I Don’t Need but Can’t Resist

Trimui Brick Pro: Another Retro Handheld I Don't Need

These retro handhelds are addictive.

I am the last person who needs another retro handheld that resembles a Game Boy. I own an Analogue Pocket, an Anbernic RG35XXSP, a GKD Pixel, an Ayaneo Pocket DMG, and the recently released Anbernic RG Rotate. That's five Game Boy clones that can emulate old consoles - too many.

But like a moth to a flame, the Trimui Brick Pro is calling to me.

Pricing and Availability

At $99, the Brick Pro is relatively affordable for a retro handheld, at least compared to the $240 Analogue Pocket. It's also available for purchase, which is not something that can be said for the always-out-of-stock Pocket.

Display and Battery

As its name implies, the Brick Pro is a more premium version of the Brick, with:

• A larger 3.95-inch (1,024 x 768) IPS display
• A bigger 5,000mAh battery
• Dual Hall effect joysticks for better input precision

For comparison, the regular Brick has a 3.2-inch screen, a 3,000mAh battery, and non-Hall effect joysticks.

Performance and Storage

Emulation performance should be about the same, though. It sticks with the same:

• Allwinner A133 CPU
• PowerVR GE8300 GPU
• 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM

This should be beefy enough to emulate most retro games up to the Nintendo 64 and some Sega Dreamcast and PSP titles.

For storage, $99 gets you 64GB of built-in eMMC flash storage. Trimui also sells 128GB ($115) and 256GB ($135) versions. If you need more space beyond what's built-in, you can add up to 1TB via a microSD card slot.

Charging and Battery Life

Charging is, thankfully, USB-C, and the aforementioned bigger battery should be good for up to 10 hours of gaming, according to Trimui. The regular Brick only lasts up to 3 hours on a charge.

Extra Features

Two features that my genuine Game Boys never had but the Brick Pro does: vibration and video output. I can't speak for how strong the vibration is, but as somebody who also owns the TV dock for the Analogue Pocket, I can tell you it's nice to be able to play on a bigger screen at home. The fact that you don't need a separate dock for video output on the Brick Pro is a plus over the Pocket.

Again, I don't need another way to play my collection of retro games, but why do I feel like I do? Anybody else find themselves watching 2-hour videos from RetroGameCorps? I might need a professional to help curb my handheld addiction.