While much of the gaming world is anticipating news on the Nintendo Switch 2, the Retroid Pocket 5 reveal might have gone under your radar. We’re pretty excited about this one, though, with all signs pointing to a significant redesign for the brand’s next big release, with the possibility of some souped-up hardware to boot.
The teaser from Retroid comes with the tagline “Broaden your horizons,” with no mention of colorways, a release date, or potential pricing. However, the original images included in the posts point to a sleek redesign for the fifth-generation console, with a spherical home button, a rounder case, and longer-looking shoulder triggers. In a second teaser, Retroid seemingly confirmed the Pocket 5 has a 5.5-inch AMOLED display, something we’ve seen on some of the best Android phones, with a 1080p resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. That’s a pretty significant improvement on the Pocket 4’s already impressive IPS screen.
Retroid has a great track record for handhelds, with the brand’s Retroid Pocket 4 offering fantastic emulation for a much lower price than many of the other best portable gaming consoles. We don’t have an idea of the price point of the Pocket 5 just yet, but given the Retroid Pocket 4 released at $149.99, we imagine it’ll still be a good bit cheaper than the likes of the Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally X.
The reveal of the Retroid Pocket 5 follows a week after the first teaser for the ultra-compact Retroid Pocket Mini. The brand’s X account also posted, “I heard you guys wanted a Snapdragon chip in the RP Mini. I got you fam.”, so it’s possible the Retroid Pocket 5 could also include a powerful Snapdragon chipset to power even more impressive emulation. Still, we won’t know for sure until we get official confirmation of the Pocket 5’s specs from Retroid.
Unlike with previous Retroid consoles, we’re not expecting a Pro version of the Pocket 5. The brand has confirmed this, responding to an X query about the potential of a Pro upgrade by posting, “There isn’t a pro model. The RP4 and 4Pro launched together. And now we announced the RP5 and RP Mini together.” It seems like the brand has learned from the backlash surrounding the arrival of the Retroid Pocket 3 Pro months after the original Retroid Pocket 3 back in 2022, so there’s no reason to hold off picking up the Pocket 5 when it arrives, whenever that may be.