Virtua Tennis has built in gamepad support so you do not need to set up screen mapping. Everything works great with no slow downs during gameplay. Horizon Chase A good example of this is the PSP running N64 games. That shouldn’t be possible from a hardware point of view, yet thanks to some very clever engineering, it is. Conversely, just because something has the means doesn’t mean it’ll be utilised fully. It’s a case of wait and see, as always. So, when we received a secret tip-off about the GPD XD 2, it grabbed our attention and hooked us in like nerdy-trout. The button layout on the XD Plus was pretty good in all honesty, though it felt a little cramped, almost as though the designers didn’t want to encroach on the space where their touch-screen might have been if this were a DS.

Is the GPD XP Plus worth it? That’s hard to say. Every year we see companies release a plus version, which is pretty much the same thing with some slight modifications. In this case, GPD has improved the internal specs. The original GPD XP struggled with higher-end emulation. These changes, then, should offer up more compatibility. Moving on to some higher powered consoles now. We start off with the PlayStation 2 and the AetherSX2 emulator. Do bear in mind that this emulator is very much work in progress so performance can change between releases. PS2 emulator on GPD XP PlusMoreso, ETA Prime on YouTube has shown the GPD XP Plus in action, and it can in fact run PSP (God of War at 3x resolution) and PS2 games. It doesn’t appear to be 100 percent perfect emulation, but then nothing is, but it looks like there’s enough compatibility there for the console to be able to claim it can run the aforementioned systems. Not bad, eh? GPD XP Plus Concerns Now time for some Dual Screen action with DeSmuME running Castlevania Portrait of Ruin. We did notice one or two minor drops in games now and again, but definitely nothing that would affect your playing of the game. Vertical orientation is also playable It might even be able to act as a power bank for other USB-C devices too – now that would be something. WiFi Capabilities Some more roughly translated specs, including the apparent inclusion of active cooling in the image below. We would be willing to bet on the fact that the new GPD XD 2 will come with USB-C fast charging and an increased battery size of maybe 8000MAH, falling in line with the battery size of the PSP.

Pro Evo 2010 on the other hand runs just fine and is extremely playable. We did try some other games and it’s definitely a mix of what works and doesn’t. Some of this is down to the emulator compatibility and performance, and some is simply the XP Plus is not powerful enough. Citra Emulator Citra emulator Storage has also been upgraded from UFS 2.1 to UFS 3.1 for faster data transfer speeds. And wireless capabilities have been bumped up from WiFi 5 to WiFi 6. Other improvements include support for 30W fast charging and LPDDR-4266 memory. The new model also has a USB Type-C port that supports video out at up to 4K resolutions at 60 Hz or 1080p at up to 168 Hz if you want to hook the handheld up to an external display. With excitement building over both the N64 Mini and the Dreamcast Mini, people want their retro handhelds to be able to recreate their favourite home-console adventures of yesteryear with ease.

A lot of the specs here are going to sound like another language for most. The long and short of it is it’s comparable with the AYN Odin, and in some departments, beats the Odin. But unless this is all an early April fools joke, GPD appear to want to keep the XP product line alive. They’ve just announced a new revision, now called the GPD XP Plus. If you were GPD, what changes would you make to the product? A normal width screen perhaps? Removal of that hole punch camera in the bottom left of the LCD? Get rid of the superfluous modular controllers? Maybe even a return to the clamshell design that so many people have begged them for. Changing any of the things that the internet said were weird and wrong about the product would be a great start. The GPD XD 2 needs to deliver where the previous consoles fell short of the mark, bringing smooth emulation of games like Ocarina of Time and the other best N64 games to life with ease. Button Layout At first glance, the GPD XP looks a lot like a mobile phone slotted into a snug fitting controller. The superfluous hole punch front facing camera certainly adds to that aesthetic, as does that crazy wide LCD. We know that the LCD is 6.81″, and looking at some phones with the same size screen it seems likely to be a 20:9 aspect ratio. Not all games machines make good emulation machines, and we already know that Android MOBA gamers are one of the target demographics for this handheld. For games such as those, having a wider screen is perhaps very beneficial, allowing a wider view of the action around you.

The screen itself looks nice and crisp from what I’ve seen, which is good. But it’s the 1080×2400, 9:20 aspect ratio that’s giving me cause for concern. Many people will be buying the GPD XD 2 to play old games, but it will also have WiFi connectivity so that you can hook up to the web to play Fortnite and PUBG. To be honest though, the XD Plus didn’t do this very well, which was again down to the OS not pulling its weight. If the OS stays current and the gameplay smooth, then this will be an absolute beauty to play. The original XD Plus came with MT8176+PowerVR Hexa-core processor, 4GB RAM and 32Gb Storage, which twinned with the right OS would make for the kind of super-smooth play that dreams are made of. We think that we might see the RAM increased to 8GB as stated above if the info we have is true and the storage increased to at least 64GB for holding all of your favourite titles. Console EmulationThe right controller section of the console can be snapped out and replaced. That’s the hook, essentially. A lot of people wanted to see a touch screen or dual-screen layout on the GPD XD 2, but we’re confident that this won’t be happening. There’s no real need unless you’re playing DS/Switch games, apart from maybe having the map of the world that you’re exploring on the bottom. But as most games aren’t set up for 2-screen action, we’re going to debunk this rumour right now. Charging