Back in 2021, SouljaBoy himself revealed that he was releasing one more video games console, not the one which appeared like a pretend Xbox, however a handheld that “will change the game”, also referred to as the TRDR Pocket.

Long story quick, they mentioned it was model new, when in actuality they bought an outdated mould of the Retroid Pocket from China, it flopped as a result of deceptive false ads, lies concerning SouljaBoy being “CEO” whereas promoting out to ATARI and it being a genuinely dangerous product.

We know this as a result of we reviewed it, and it was one of many worst handhelds we now have ever examined, see the video evaluation under, it’s as humorous as you may think about.

Many outdated prospects by no means acquired their authentic TRDR Pocket’s and when requested for refunds they have been ignored for weeks, if not months. They even lied to influencers after sending them samples.

As of as we speak the “new TRDR Pocket” 2 has come to fruition, and their web site has been absolutely up to date with the brand new console all whereas making the unique non-existent. This went underneath our radar till a Retro Dodo neighborhood member emailed us asking for recommendation.

We replied: don’t go wherever close to it.

The new TRDR Pocket 2 appears to be like to be concentrating on the identical type of demographic, those that need to purchase an extremely poor handheld video games console.

They forked out a load of cash for the mould, so it looks like they’ve made the choice to stay with the identical design. Instead this time it comes with new internals and “the world’s smartest AI”.

One of the highlighted options is you can even ask it “what you can eat tonight”. Amazing, the one function all of us needed in a handheld!

TRDR Pocket 2 Specifications

• 3.5″ Touchscreen
• Helio P60 Processor
• 4GB RAM
• 4000MAH Battery
• Android OS
• Bluetooth 4.0
• 128GB Storage
• USB-C Charging
• HDMI Out
• “HD Surround Audio”?
• “Life Changing AI”

They declare the hand held will function “life changing AI” and its going to be “America’s favourite new handheld”.

On paper the specs are fairly good, it’s the identical processor that’s going for use within the upcoming Miyoo P60, sufficient to energy Dreamcast and possibly even Gamecube emulation.

But the system lacks shoulder buttons, making it close to unattainable to play retro video games and Android video games on this system, except you map them to your motion buttons which can simply make the gaming expertise extremely awkward.

We’re all down for brand new corporations creating handhelds, simply take a look at the OH WOW handheld for instance, they appear to be doing it proper. But this handheld right here has such dangerous historical past that it’s additionally prone to flop or doubtlessly be deceptive for patrons.

Yes, it could be a cool new approach to test your emails, or discover Tik Tok utilizing a analogue stick, but it surely’s not going to play any of your video games comfortably, even with giant specs. The format is just horrible.

Even should you do purchase it for social media, the three.5″ is just too small to learn something, and when testing their earlier system we needed to someway sort on a keyboard simply 3″ vast, and even then the touchscreen wasn’t calibrated appropriately!

A.I In A Handheld?

Apparently so. Could they’ve constructed the AI themselves? Highly unlikely. But they could have added a 3rd get together AI to assist navigate the Android working system.

Just like Siri you may ask it to set reminders, open apps, possibly even ask it for some recommendation, however “life changing AI” can be extremely unlikely.

We’re undecided why avid gamers would purchase a handheld to ask it what to eat as we speak, or to ask it about “real life matters”.

From TRDR Pocket’s previous expertise that is probably a advertising device that fails to do what it was marketed to do, we are going to solely know as soon as we see the system in motion.

Who is aware of when this will likely be, but when they’ve began delivery then it must be any day now… proper?

Should you purchase one?

We can’t say as a result of we don’t have one, and we by no means will due to the historical past that this model has. We’re greater than prepared to offer them one other likelihood, however we can’t suggest this to any Retro Dodo reader as a result of it’s greater than probably not definitely worth the $399 price ticket.

Apparently, it has already been “released” in response to their web site, as they’ve “started shipping on the 6th September”, however we messaged them by their on-site chat and actually the haven’t even shipped but, and estimate that they’ll begin delivery on the finish of September.

So already, they’re deceptive prospects on their web site, an in reality you’re “pre-ordering” a product that hasn’t been produced but.

There are not any actual photographs of the system, nor any video footage, each picture on their web site are renders, cementing our ideas in regards to the handheld not being full but.

This is the technique they probably used final time. They would fortunately settle for pre-orders and prospects cash earlier than launch, or earlier than they shipped in hopes they will acquire sufficient money to make the product a actuality, after which when prospects requested the place their orders have been, they’d say issues like “we are adding upgrades to the product” or “shipping has been pushed back by X months”.

For extra info you may go to the TRDR Pocket web site, however we can’t state this sufficient, we don’t suggest shopping for their merchandise.

A 29 yr outdated fella that’s had a Gameboy dependancy ever since he was a baby. Brandon is the founding father of RetroDodo and created a YouTube channel with 240,000 subscribers devoted to retro gaming merchandise. He now desires to create the No.1 website to showcase the most recent retro merchandise from across the globe.