Where to buy
AliExpress
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Overview
The Retroid Pocket Nova is a premium horizontal retro handheld from Retroid with a 4.5-inch 1280×960 AMOLED screen, WiFi and Bluetooth, and runs Android 13. It is best suited for PS2, GameCube, Saturn, Dreamcast, with support listed up to Switch.
- Screen
- 4.5 inch AMOLED
- Chipset
- Qualcomm QCS8550 (Dragonwing, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-class)
- RAM
- 8 GB / 12 GB LPDDR5X
- Battery
- 5000 mAh
- Weight
- 255 grams
- OS
- Android 13
Emulation
- Classicexcellent
- NESExcellent
- Game BoyExcellent
- SNESExcellent
- GBAExcellent
- GenesisExcellent
- PS1Excellent
- Mid-genexcellent
- N64Excellent
- DSExcellent
- PSPExcellent
- DreamcastExcellent
- SaturnExcellent
- 6th genexcellent
- GameCubeExcellent
- WiiExcellent
- PS2Excellent
- Modernmixed
- 3DSExcellent
- Wii UPlayable
- PS3Playable
- SwitchExcellent
Notes on 18 systems
- DS: Nintendo DS: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- 3DS: Nintendo 3DS: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- GBA: Nintendo Game Boy Advance: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- N64: Nintendo 64: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- NES: Nintendo Entertainment System: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- PS1: Sony Playstation: All games playable at full speed without frameskip
- PS2: Sony Playstation 2: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- PS3: Sony Playstation 3: Most games playable but mostly with frameskip, struggles with harder to emulate games
- PSP: Sony Playstation Portable: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- Wii: Nintendo Wii: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- SNES: Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- Wii U: Nintendo Wii U: Most games playable but mostly with frameskip, struggles with harder to emulate games
- Saturn: Sega Saturn: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- Switch: Nintendo Switch: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- Genesis: Sega Genesis / Mega Drive: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- Game Boy: Game Boy / Game Boy Color: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- GameCube: Nintendo GameCube: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
- Dreamcast: Sega Dreamcast: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
Played on the Retroid Pocket Nova
144h 54m
across 199 sessions by 6 players
137 sessions this month · 4 new owners
Most played
- 1
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 222h 53m1 player · 22 sessions - 2
Vampire Survivors22h 50m1 player · 7 sessions - 3
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors21h 25m1 player · 10 sessions - 4
Kingdom Hearts15h 40m1 player · 13 sessions - 5
Burnout 3: Takedown15h 27m1 player · 19 sessions
Own one? Track your play automatically:Android
Specifications
General
- Released
- July 2026
- Type
- Handheld, Horizontal
- Operating system
- Android 13
- Price range
- Premium
Display
- Screen
- 4.5 inch AMOLED
- Resolution
- 1280 x 960 (4:3)
- Pixel density
- 355.56 PPI
- Refresh rate
- 120 Hz
Performance
- Chipset
- Qualcomm QCS8550 (Dragonwing, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-class)
- CPU
- Cortex-X3 / Cortex-A715 / Cortex-A710 / Cortex-A510, 8 cores, 2.0 GHz - 3.2 GHz
- GPU
- Qualcomm Adreno 740, 680 MHz
- RAM
- 8 GB / 12 GB LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
- Storage
- Internal 128 GB UFS 3.1, External MicroSD
- Architecture
- ARM
Battery and build
- Battery
- 5000 mAh
- Weight
- 255 grams
- Dimensions
- 169.9 mm x 84.1 mm x 15.6 - 26.3 mm
- Material
- Plastic
- Cooling
- Active (fan)
- Rumble
- Yes
Controls
- D-pad
- Top
- Sticks
- Symmetrical
- Shoulders
- Stacked
- Inputs
- Hall effect sticks, L3/R3, Analog L2/R2, Touch screen, Gyroscope
- Extra buttons
- Back, Home, M1/M2 Shoulder Buttons, Power, Volume +-
Connectivity
- Wi-Fi
- WiFi 7
- Bluetooth
- 5.3
- Ports
- USB-C, HDMI out, 3.5mm jack
- Storage slot
- microSD
- Speakers
- Stereo
FAQ
What systems can the Retroid Pocket Nova emulate?
The Retroid Pocket Nova plays systems up to Switch at excellent quality. It is at its best with PS2, GameCube, Saturn, Dreamcast.
Can the Retroid Pocket Nova play Switch games?
Yes. Switch performance on the Retroid Pocket Nova is rated excellent in our catalog. Nintendo Switch: Almost all games playable at full speed without frameskip
How much does the Retroid Pocket Nova cost?
The Retroid Pocket Nova typically sells for around $252, which puts it in the premium tier of retro handhelds.
What operating system does the Retroid Pocket Nova run?
The Retroid Pocket Nova ships with Android 13.
What screen does the Retroid Pocket Nova have?
It has a 4.5 inch AMOLED display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, running at 1280 x 960 at 355.56 PPI.
When was the Retroid Pocket Nova released?
Retroid released the Retroid Pocket Nova in July 2026.
Reviews
No reviews of the Retroid Pocket Nova yet. Own one? Say what you play on it, which firmware you run, and where it sits in your rotation.
