This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/sbcgaming by /u/TheHumanConscience on 2024-07-23 23:14:22+00:00.

Edit:

Just played Banjo Kazooie, F-Zero, and Wave Race for a good hour and the device doesn’t get uncomfortably warm like when playingDC/PSP. No sweaty fingers for N64 gaming which is awesome since N64 on here is actually fun to play. Very comfortable and a much better overall experience over the 35XX series.

Just got mine today and been trying out the usual round of games, and I’m very impressed with it. Solid contender against the Trim UI Smart Pro. I figured it would be a mild upgrade over the 35XX-H but it’s not.

Some first impressions / observations:

Sticks are improved over the H. They sit a little taller so you have a bit more headroom before they edge out. The placement of the sticks means you can more easily swap between the DPAD and Sticks without suffering from as much wrist pain. I played Mario 64 and was able to move around the world more easily even with the cardinal snapping issues.

The screen is vastly improved in both brightness and contrast. Mine has a tiny amount of light bleed (barely noticeable) which is not great but you can’t see it while playing like at all. I’m sensitive to light bleed and my RGB30 looks defective in comparison (it’s not really either).

Did I mention the screen? 4" @ 480P makes Dreamcast, N64 and PS1 look really really good. It also looks huge compared to the 35XX-H even though it’s only a 30% bump. It feels much larger when actually playing. I’m seeing new details in games I haven’t before. Really surprised on the screen/contrast/brightness here.

The speakers are louder and more clear in the mid/high ranges over the 35XX-H. Even though they are downfiring they somehow give you wider sound stage which again was a little unexpected. No complaints.

Ergonomics are much improved due to the shape. While I prefer inline shoulder buttons for pocketability, there’s no retraining the brain here with the stacked triggers. PSX in particular just feels amazing. They are a little clicky/loud but feel nice to use and seem durable enough to pocket without concern like the Trim UI Smart Pro. The DPAD is very comfortable. While not as precise as the SP it makes up for it in comfort. I feel like can play for hours on this without my thumb getting sore. No sharp edges to worry about. I’m still undecided if its better than the 35XX-H but initial impressions I’m leaning toward the 40XX-H. It reminds of a larger 28XX dpad if that makes sense since there’s more travel.

Now every device is flawed. For the 40XX-H it’s the heat output. I’m not sure what Anbernic was thinking here but it gets a little too warm. Perhaps they thought this redesign would be safer than using the battery as heatsink that they do in practically every other H700 based device, but the back gets noticeably warm. It didn’t stop me from playing but I measured 39C on my heat gun after 20 minutes of Twisted Metal 2.

For short play sessions it’s not bad, but when it heats up it makes my fingers actually sweat a little! The only other handheld that does this is the TrimUI Smart Pro when set to the OC mode, but this is a little worse than the Pro. I’ll probably tear it down and come up with my own fix. If this can be fixed it’ll probably be new H700 main for a while. I’m also thinking some low profile pads like the H has on the backside could be beneficial as well, just to remove some heat for the fingers that fingers rest on the backside. You can also feel the heat a little around the ABXY buttons. Despite heat concerns, I’m sure this is healthier long term compared to how SP/H and others do it. I’m not sure how the 28XX stays so cool in comparison given it has the same performance. Perhaps the new screen is to blame? Not sure but rather the heat be outside than in for longevity.

tldr; Everything but the heat output is really impressive on the 40XX-H. It’s a real contendor to dethrone the Trim UI Smart Pro once it drops to price parity. The screen has better contrast, and the sticks as well as buttons and triggers are much better. Having L3/R3 is also great. The 40XX-H is much lighter than the Pro, so less fatiguing to carry and more comfortable in the pocket when sitting down (it’s not nearly as wide).

If you were considering the Smart UI Pro you may want to take a look at the 40XX-H depending on what games you play. If you primarily play Dreamcast or below, I believe the 40XX-H is better suited as the screen just looks much more vibrant and bright. And native 4:3 content is a tad bigger than the Smart UI Pro when both are set pixel perfect. Sound is also better but that’s not hard as the Trim UI Smart Pro isn’t know for good sound. Trim UI still rocks PSP better, but it’s not as fast as the H700 in the game I was comparing (soul caliber). With both set to 3X upscale, the H700 was hitting 55-57 FPS vs 47-49 on the TrimUI. This was a little surprising to me but it is what it is. 3:2 content like GBA also looks really good on the new 40XX-H. Again, color saturation/contrast blow away the Trim UI Smart Pro’s screen, which I prefer over the slightly larger display. I’d rather play GBA on this guy over the Pro.

Just some feedback for the community since this is a newer device. The heat issue has to be solved though unless you’re not really senstive to this kind of thing.

If you have any request for this thing please let me know, I’ll see if I can accommodate.

And FWIW, I don’t like Anbernic as a company but can look past that when reviewing these handhelds. They take many shortcuts, and the SP problem is still a problem that hasn’t been resolved yet. Until we have a proper root cause analysis done on the SP by someone other than Anbernic (I investigated myself, and found nothing!), it’s not being recommended by me at all. Hopefully we learn more about that soon. My 3rd SP came in today as well so I have 3 different SP’s to tear down / hammer on now all from different batches.