Anbernic RG353P In-Depth Review & Guide

Anbernic’s latest retro handheld device has a nostalgic design and some pretty nice features at a relatively affordable price ($130 introductory price, followed by $140 after the initial launch period). So let’s take a deep-dive review of the RG353P and see if it’s worth picking up.

Buy one here
Anbernic.com

Timestamps:
00:00 introduction
01:58 tech specs
02:35 unboxing & impressions
06:42 comparison with other handhelds
11:54 software experience (Android & Linux)
14:41 game testing (retro games)
17:01 Saturn, NDS, N64
19:24 Dreamcast, PSP, GameCube, PS2
22:48 PC streaming & Game Pass
25:30 HDMI output
26:39 summary (likes & dislikes)
28:50 conclusion

Just two days after the RG353P was publicly available, custom firmware was released to improve the game experience on the handheld. Here is my guide for setting up JELOS on the RG353P:

Timestamps:
00:00 introduction
01:05 installation
02:44 JELOS orientation
07:01 Portmaster / ports
08:36 Saturn testing
13:01 Dreamcast testing
19:02 PSP testing
22:42 summary & conclusion

Here are links that are mentioned in the video above:

Final JELOS release
JELOS wiki
ThemeMaster wiki
Jetup’s theme gallery

Note that the final release of JELOS for Anbernic RG353 devices was posted on 30NOV2022, and support stopped at that time. The link above is for that final release.

Additionally, there is a port of The Retro Arena available for the RG353P. This firmware is tinker-friendly, and should also work with PortMaster and ThemeMaster. It also has a bluetooth connection tool. Head over to the Tech Toy Tinker website for the latest release, as well as intructions on how to root the Android side to provide the Google Play Store.