There's no shortage of affordable Android gaming handhelds these days, with plenty of brands offering a way to get your portable gaming fix without breaking the bank on a Steam Deck OLED or Nintendo Switch 2. Now, there's another new contender on the scene, the Mangmi Air X, a device out of China with some serious Nintendo Switch Lite vibes.
With a 5.5-inch display, the Mangmi Air X looks to be around the same size as the Retroid Pocket 5, one of the top picks from our guide to the best retro handhelds and my go-to traveling companion. Outside of the display, the Air X boasts a Snapdragon 662 chip, which, while not the newest Qualcomm tech, should still be capable of running the big hitters from our list of the best Android games, plus a 5,000mAh battery, 64GB of storage, and 4GB of RAM.
While the specs have certainly caught my eye after first spotting the Air X on Retro Handhelds, it's the design of the console that has stuck with me. I just can't believe how much it looks like the Nintendo Switch Lite. It shouldn't come as a shock, considering how brands such as Anbernic and Retroid have continuously borrowed form factors from the likes of Nintendo and Sony before, including the recently revealed RG Slide. Still, I would have liked to have seen something a bit more original or that pushes my nostalgia buttons in the same way the GBA-influenced Retroid Pocket 5 does. This is the first handheld from Mangmi, though, so there's always a chance the brand might try something new in the future.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing, we still don't have much of an indication as to how much the Mangmi Air X might cost or when it might launch. The brand doesn't seem to have much of a social media presence right now, but there is an official Mangmi site detailing the Air X and the company's design ethos, so we'll be keeping a close eye on it as we wait for updates on the all-important release date and the likelihood of global availability. Considering the slightly outdated Snapdragon 662 at the core of the device, I suspect it shouldn't be all that expensive, but that's purely speculation.
Of course, we'll be eager to get our hands on the Mangmi Air X when it eventually launches to compare it to the picks from our guide to the best handheld consoles. For more top-tier tech, be sure to check out our guides to the best gaming phones and the best gaming tablets while you're here, or take a look at our Nintendo Switch 2 review to see how we got on with the much-anticipated successor console.