In a world where analogue control is now seen as more important than digital, we've recently seen some emulation handhelds (AYANEO Pocket S, we're looking at you) get their input layout completely wrong, placing the all-important D-pad below the left-hand analogue stick—which might be the accepted practice on the Nintendo Switch, but makes far less sense on a device where you'll be focusing on digital control first and foremost.
Thankfully, PowKiddy is more sensible with its new X35H handheld; the D-pad is exactly where it belongs, sitting above the analogue stick, precisely where your thumb naturally rests.
The D-pad is a decent size and hits fairly accurate diagonals, but it can be a little over-sensitive, leading to some unintended inputs. It's also made from quite shiny plastic, which causes sweaty thumbs to occasionally slip during intense play. So, while its placement is beyond reproach, it's not perfect.
The Hall Effect dual analogue sticks allow you to play more modern games on this device with ease, but they are situated a little too close to the bottom edge of the device, which could cause hand cramps if you're playing for prolonged periods.
The four face buttons have a good amount of travel, although the coloured letters on the top of each look a little on the cheap side. On the top edge of the PowKiddy X35H, we have four in-line shoulder buttons that are easy to reach but super-clicky.
The only other items of note are the dual USB-C ports (one on the top, one on the bottom), HDMI-out, twin MicroSD card slots, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Reset button.
The X35H's case feels a lot more solid than PowKiddy's other handhelds, but I wasn't all that keen on the lurid orange variant I was sent for review; the transparent option looks a lot less garish.
The PowKiddy X35H is rocking a 3.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 640x480 pixels. The screen is bright and colourful and pretty much perfect for playing retro titles on. The only annoyance I had was that the stock OS defaults to full-screen with all of the games, and in almost all cases, this results in an ugly, stretched image. You can, thankfully, switch to a 4:3 or integer-scale option.
Audio is piped through two speakers on the bottom edge of the system. The maximum volume is pretty impressive, and I was relieved that, despite their location on the unit, your hands never end up covering the speakers and muffling the sound.
There's a Rockchip RK3566 calling the shots here, so it should come as no surprise to learn that the PowKiddy X35H will happily run 8 and 16-bit games without any noticeable performance hiccups. PS1, Dreamcast, and N64 stuff is also playable, but don't expect a ride that is quite as smooth. Saturn emulation is also included, and while some of the games run ok-ish, there's a lot of frameskip happening here; it's not the ideal way to sample this console's fantastic library of games.
With a price tag of around $70, the PowKiddy X35H is pretty decent value for money. It's nicely put together, has a good screen and can emulate most '90s consoles with ease.
The sticking points are that less-than-ideal D-pad, and the fact that this sector of the market is absolutely flooded with better options right now. If you crave a horizontal handheld then it's worth a look, but it probably doesn't do enough to stand out from the crowd, if I'm being brutally honest.
Thanks to MechDIY for supplying the Powkiddy X35H used in this review.