Anbernic RG Rotate: vertical arcade finally full screen

The RG Rotate is a pocket Android console whose square 720 × 720 IPS panel rotates on itself. Vertical shoot'em ups and portrait-mode arcade cabinets get their original format back, with no black bars. Under the hood, a Unisoc T618 chip running Android 12: the emulation level is high, but the console has no analogue stick at all, which changes everything for 3D games.

What it does

• A square screen that rotates: 3.5-inch IPS panel, 720 × 720, fully laminated and touch-enabled, switching from landscape to portrait. An ideal format for vertical arcade and for the two stacked screens of the Nintendo DS.
• Comfortable emulation up to PSP: the Unisoc T618 chip (2 × Cortex-A75 at 2.0 GHz and 6 × Cortex-A55, Mali-G52 GPU at 850 MHz) runs 8- and 16-bit systems, the PlayStation 1, the Nintendo 64, the Dreamcast, the Nintendo DS and the PSP at full speed.
• Android 12, therefore open: 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage and a microSD slot. You install the emulators, front-ends and streaming apps of your choice.
• Fully equipped: Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 for an external controller, six-axis gyroscope, vibration motor and interchangeable high L2/R2 triggers.

What it doesn't do

• No analogue stick at all. This is the limitation that decides the purchase: the Nintendo 64, the Dreamcast, the PSP and the 3D PlayStation 1 games technically run at full speed, but are played on the D-pad or with a Bluetooth controller. Games that demand a precise stick are not comfortable on the console alone.
• GameCube and PlayStation 2: light titles only. The full library is not playable and the result stays inconsistent from one game to the next.
• Wii, Wii U and Switch are out of reach, whatever emulator you install.
• Sega Saturn and Nintendo 3DS remain partial: some titles start, no result is guaranteed.
• The 1:1 screen imposes its format: 16:9 PSP games are heavily letterboxed, 4:3 games are framed by side bars.
• Neither a 3.5 mm headphone jack nor a video output: wired audio goes through a USB-C adapter, and the console does not connect to a television.
• The stated weight is not consistent from one source to another (282 g and 320 g on the Anbernic side, 167 g and 204 g in independent measurements): we are not settling the matter.
• Supplied without games, in compliance with the law.

Skill level required

No soldering, no disassembly. The console boots into Android 12 as it is. It is not preconfigured for emulation, however: you have to install the emulators yourself from their APK files, organise your game folders on the microSD card and set up a front-end. Allow an evening of setting up if this is your first Android console, and plan on a Bluetooth controller if you are aiming at 3D games.

In the box

• 1 Anbernic RG Rotate console
• 1 USB-C cable
• 1 screen protector film
• 1 wrist strap
• 1 set of interchangeable high L2/R2 triggers
• 1 user manual
• 1 microSD card depending on the variant chosen — the « Without game card » variants include none

See also: all our retro handheld consoles

Going further

• The first ten things to do when your console arrives
• Choosing a microSD card for a retro console
• Exactly where each file goes, firmware by firmware
• Firmware and OS compatibility table by console

Supplied without games, in compliance with the law. The legal ways to build your library are detailed on our Where to play legally page.