Analogue Pocket vs Anbernic RG35XX SP: FPGA or emulation?

The maker says the Analogue Pocket plays original handheld cartridges using FPGA chips, while the Anbernic RG35XX SP is a clamshell that the maker says runs ported games and "30+ emulators", and the two sit at very different prices.

The difference in one idea

An FPGA (field-programmable gate array) is a chip whose circuits can be reconfigured. Analogue says the Pocket is engineered in FPGAs with no emulation, and it plays Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges. We are only reporting that claim as the maker words it; we have not examined the hardware ourselves.

Anbernic describes the RG35XX SP differently. Its page cites "ported games and other 30+ emulators" running on an H700 chip under Linux, and it does not name the systems. So the first split is simple: one maker says its device plays original cartridges with no emulation, the other describes emulators and ported games running from a card.

At a glance

Where the maker is silent we say so rather than guess. Analogue shows weight and dimensions only as a technical drawing, so there is no stated figure to put in the table.

Screen: the clearest gap

Both screens are listed at 3.5 inches. The Pocket states 1600 x 1440 at 615 ppi; the RG35XX SP states 640 x 480. That is 2.3 million pixels against 307,200, so the Pocket's panel carries roughly 7.5 times as many, worked out from the two stated resolutions. More pixels on the same size of screen means finer detail, but whether that matters depends on the games you play, and neither maker says how its screen treats lower-resolution games.

The panels are different types too: Analogue lists LCD with Gorilla Glass, Anbernic lists IPS with full lamination. Both makers describe their own screens only briefly, so we avoid ranking them on anything beyond the figures above.

Worked example: shape, density and cost

The two screens differ in shape as well as sharpness. 1600 x 1440 divides down to 10:9, almost square, while 640 x 480 is 4:3. A 4:3 picture on the Pocket panel fits at full width, 1600 pixels wide by 1200 tall, leaving 120 pixels of band above and below. On the SP it fills the screen exactly. Neither maker says how its software scales other shapes, so this is arithmetic about the panels only.

Pixel density tells a similar story. Analogue states 615 ppi. The SP's stated 640 x 480 on 3.5 inches works out near 229 ppi by our own sum, since Anbernic does not quote a figure. The cost gap is also easy to put in numbers: $239.99 is about 4.1 times $57.99, or about 3.7 times the $64.99 regular price shown. Currencies are unnamed and shipping is excluded, so this is a ratio of listed numbers, not a total cost.

Games: cartridges or card

This is where the two diverge. The Pocket needs cartridges, and the maker's page counts a library of 2,780+ games. Its separately sold adapters add Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket and Color, Atari Lynx, and TurboGrafx-16, PC Engine and SuperGrafx cartridges. The maker lists a dock too, with 1080p HDMI output and two USB inputs.

The RG35XX SP uses a 64GB TF (microSD) card, has dual card slots and lists up to 512GB per card. The maker states Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2, with the note that Bluetooth works only with Bluetooth controllers. Anbernic also lists 2.4G wireless and wired controller connections, and an HD connection to a TV; Anbernic does not state a resolution for it. The Pocket's dock lists Bluetooth and 2.4G wireless controller support, two USB inputs for wired controllers and up to four players. Anbernic's page names no systems, so we cannot tell you which ones it covers; read Anbernic's own page before buying for a specific console.

Battery, size and software

Analogue states 6 to 10 hours of gameplay, with 6 hours a rough estimate at default brightness, from a 4300 mAh battery. Anbernic states 8 hours from 3300 mAh. Those are maker claims under unknown conditions, so treat the hour figures as ballparks, not a contest. The SP weighs 192 g by the maker's listing; the Pocket has no stated weight, so portability cannot be compared from the pages.

On software, Anbernic lists Linux 64-bit and 1GB of RAM. Analogue names PocketOS as its operating system and does not state RAM.

Price as the makers show it

Analogue's page lists $239.99 with a Preorder button when checked on 14 October 2026, and showed no UK shipping information. Anbernic's page lists a sale price of $57.99 against a regular $64.99 on the same date. Neither maker names the currency and we have not converted either figure. UK prices are not checked yet. The gap is roughly four times on the numbers shown, before any shipping or import costs.

What the figures cannot tell you

Neither maker publishes how it handles every game, and we have not played on either device, so anything about picture quality, input response or sound is outside what we can say. What the pages do allow is a comparison of kind: a cartridge-and-adapter system with a high-resolution screen and a dock, against a lower-priced card-based clamshell with Wi-Fi and several controller connections. If you are unsure which kind you need, work out first whether your games exist as cartridges you already own, because that decides most of the rest.

What to check before you buy

• Your game library: the Pocket plays cartridges, so count the ones you already own, and note that adapters for other systems are sold separately.
• Availability: Analogue's page showed a preorder button and no UK shipping information when checked.
• Systems on the SP: Anbernic names none, so confirm the ones you care about on its page.
• Total cost: add card, adapter or dock purchases if needed, delivery and import charges to the listed prices, none of which are confirmed for the UK.

Which should you buy?

• You own Game Boy, Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance cartridges: the Pocket is the one the maker says is built around them and plays them with no emulation.
• You want the sharpest screen: the Pocket's stated 1600 x 1440 is far above 640 x 480.
• You want the lowest outlay and a clamshell: the RG35XX SP is the cheaper device on the makers' figures and has a magnetic lid with a Hall switch.
• You want Wi-Fi: only the SP states Wi-Fi (802.11ac) and Bluetooth 4.2 for the device itself, along with dual card slots. Both list wireless controller support, the Pocket through its dock.
• You want to play on a TV: both state it, with 1080p HDMI through the Pocket dock and an HD TV connection on the SP.
• You need it soon: the Pocket showed a preorder button when checked, so confirm availability with the maker first.

For the full row-by-row data see the side-by-side comparison. If the SP appeals, our comparison of the RG35XX SP and RG34XXSP shows how it sits within Anbernic's clamshells, and how we research explains where every figure here comes from.

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