The Retroid Pocket Duo could be a dream handheld for Nintendo DS fans, but what would make me buy one? — Explained
Updated: 13 September, 12:00.
Retroid makes some of my favourite retro-gaming handhelds. The company was responsible for shifting me from Team Linux to Team Android in this space, making anything beyond an Evercade (with its unique physical carts) a hard sell to satisfy my retro gaming urges. But the company has now teased the Retroid Pocket Duo. So what does this mean for retro handhelds – and what would it take for me to buy one?
It’s worth noting Retroid isn’t the first company to provide a modern spin on the Nintendo DS. Anbernic just released its RG DS Plus – albeit with specs that have caused people to gripe that it’s more like an RG DS Minus. The King of Modern DS Castle right now is the Ayn Thor, an impressive device with dual AMOLED displays, but a price to match – and also very long lead times for shipping.
Screens time
Until now, Retroid dabbled with pieces of the dual-screen puzzle in different devices. The Pocket Flip had the form factor. And an add-on display let you turn existing single-screen Retroid handhelds into a slightly unwieldy dual-screen machine.
I’m a big fan of the Retroid Pocket 6 and the 4:3-aspect Pocket Nova – and also adored the DS. But, as my Pocket Nova piece said, it’ll take a lot to convince me to add to my already absurd handhelds collection. At the very least, the Pocket Duo will need to match the Nova’s quality (power, controls, display, build), have an insanely robust hinge, and not wallop your wallet until it begs for mercy.
Right now, there’s just a console shrouded in shadow and a video with EXTREMELY ROUSING MUSIC (on X – sorry). So here’s hoping when the Duo does arrive, it’s not two bad.
Update: Bargaining chip?
The Retroid Pocket Duo was first teased on 7 September 2026, and my original story went live at precisely 13:47 BST that day. The story remains as-was above. But Retroid has since started its usual info drip-feed on social media. So let’s dig in to what we now know.
The Retroid Pocket Duo will have dual 120Hz OLED displays. The top one will be 16:9 and the bottom one will be 4:3. It has the D-pad up top and recessed dual analogue sticks below.
The chipset, surprisingly, isn’t the same Snapdragon QCS8550 – effectively a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 – as the Retroid Pocket Nova. Instead, it’ll use the Qualcomm Dragonwing Q-7790 – which is more or less a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4. How this will affect performance remains to be seen, but it should be sufficient for 3DS emulation. The Duo will cost $269 and come with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage.
Retroid also revealed a ‘Lite’ version of the console. This swaps the OLEDs for LEDs, uses inline rather than stacked triggers, cuts RAM and storage by 50%, and uses the weaker Dragonwing QCS6125 chip. That drop in power may cause issues with 3DS games, but we’ll only know for sure once people have the handheld in their mitts.
Fortunately, lower specs also mean a lower price, and the base Lite will retail for $149. Although given how much memory and storage costs these days, I’d pay $20 extra and go for the $169 version, which bumps the 4GB RAM to 6GB and the internal storage from 64GB to 128GB.
