Review: Anbernic RG ARC-D

I’ve lost count of how many “retro handhelds” I’ve bought, but this one grabbed me hard, purely because of how it looks.

Anbernic markets it as a “fighting handheld” built for FTG, but the button layout is obviously lifted from the SEGA Saturn pad. Which means it’s not just good for fighting games — it’s better suited to SEGA MD and Saturn titles.

That’s the idea, anyway. Reality is another matter.

When this thing launched, they pulled a sneaky one and split it into two versions: the single-OS ARC-S and the dual-OS ARC-D. Generally the whole “Linux and Android dual system” thing on these handhelds is pointless, but of course this one used it as a sales gimmick. The retro colorway everyone wants is exclusive to the dual-OS model, while the single-OS one only comes in “translucent black” and “translucent white” — the colors that love to crack. And the dual-OS version costs more, so players like me end up paying extra for a dual-boot setup we’ll never use, just to get the color we want.

And in practice, this machine has way more problems than I expected.

First, the feel of the controls

The layout copies the SEGA Saturn exactly, but compared to a real Saturn pad it’s miles off. The big issue is that it’s too stiff. The d-pad doesn’t have that nimble Saturn feel at all — it’s downright rigid. The face buttons on the right are stiff too, not responsive at all. That alone is enough to scare off a lot of potential buyers.

And mine had a d-pad that stuck right out of the box. I had to send it back for a replacement, so quality control isn’t great either.

Then there’s the performance

For a retro handheld that replicates the SEGA Saturn’s buttons and layout, it can’t even emulate Saturn games properly. That’s absurd. You can maybe get by with MD games. I mean, with a button layout like this, everyone’s here for the Saturn — and it can’t run Saturn games smoothly. What’s the point? The SoC is the lackluster RK3566. Even a Unisoc T618 would’ve made this thing perfect, but no. The weak performance takes away another reason to buy it.

Last, the terrible system support

A retro handheld needs solid system support. Either the official OS has to be good enough, or there need to be plenty of third-party options. With the ARC-D, the official OS is a pain to use: slow boot, counterintuitive navigation, and lots of button mappings that don’t match the labels. Play MD Contra: Hard Corps, for example — it should support six action buttons. The system doesn’t support those six buttons at all. You’re still on the traditional A B X Y, and you have to remap everything yourself. That’s fucking stupid. You build a button layout like this and the official OS doesn’t even test it?

The official OS being garbage would be one thing, but the machine also lacks third-party open-source support. Good luck figuring out what to flash. And official updates seem to have forgotten this thing exists — classic case of sell it and abandon it. Buying one is a disaster.

Oh, and don’t tell me to use the Android side of that “dual system.” Everyone knows most cheap retro handhelds have noticeable input lag with controllers under Android, and this one’s no exception. Plus that crappy 4-inch screen makes Android completely useless here.

All in all, the Anbernic RG ARC-D was designed as a “fighting handheld” and the idea is solid, but the final product is a failure. The controls are a poor imitation that misses the point, the performance can’t even run the thing it’s imitating smoothly, the stock OS has plenty of problems and nobody’s fixing them, and it isn’t cheap either. I honestly don’t think there’s any reason to buy one.

Unless you plan to display it as a figure. As a display piece it’s got some appeal — at least it turns on.