For retro, Android titles and triple-A streaming: Hands-on with the affordable Mangmi Air X
An affordable all-rounder.
The Mangmi Air X promises plenty of gaming fun at a budget-friendly price, and it largely delivers. In our hands-on, the Air X proved to be a versatile gaming handheld that runs Android titles smoothly, handles retro emulation effectively, and even supports streaming for triple-A games. Performance is solid overall, although not exceptional.Silvio Werner, ✓ (translated by DeepL / Ninh Duy) Published 🇩🇪
Versatile, affordable and good: The Mangmi Air X offers lots of fun
The Mangmi Air X is an all-around successful debut from Mangmi. The handheld is also well suited for emulating more demanding retro titles, but it isn’t limited to that purpose. Thanks to Android, you can install current games and use just about any app. In our test, local streaming worked smoothly and with acceptable delay - at least for single-player titles.
At a price of $90, the handheld remains inexpensive. Mangmi doesn’t make any mistakes in terms of build quality—the overall design is clean and solid, though not particularly innovative. The company has sensibly customized the operating system, providing an easy start for new users. Our main criticism is performance: the Snapdragon 662 struggles with more demanding Android games. Still, users looking for an affordable gaming handheld with plenty of options won’t go wrong with the Mangmi Air X. An alternative could be pairing your own smartphone with a controller (available on Amazon). If you’re mainly interested in retro emulation up to the PSP era, the much cheaper R36XX would also be worth considering.
Pros
Cons
Price and availability
The Mangmi Air X is available directly from the manufacturer for a price of $90 without memory card. There’s also a $15 shipping fee, and import duties may apply. Even if these charges don’t always occur, buyers should still take them into account.
The Mangmi Air X is an Android-based gaming handheld powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662. Its control layout follows the standard console design, with input controls positioned on both sides of the 5.5-inch IPS display.
Specifications
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 |
| Memory | 4 GByte LPDDR4X |
| Internal storage | 64 GByte eMMC |
| Display | 5.5 inch, IPS, 1,920 x 1,080 pixels |
| Operating system | Android 14 |
| Connectivity | WiFi 5, Blueooth 5.0, USB type C, jack connection, microSD slot |
| Battery capacity | 5,000 mAh |
| Charging power | 15 watts |
| Input options | Joysticks, directional pad, action buttons, shoulder buttons, triggers |
| Dimensions | 203.47 x 87.39 x 16.80 mm |
| Weight | 286 g |
| Vibration motor | Yes |
Decent build quality, modern input options
The Mangmi Air X is a landscape-format handheld, with its controls positioned to the left and right of the display. The dual joysticks provide pleasant resistance, allowing for accurate input. The directional pad protrudes slightly and isn’t the most satisfying in terms of feel. The action buttons have a nice tactile response, while the shoulder buttons and triggers leave no room for complaint. There’s an internal fan that’s clearly audible when no audio is playing. Both joysticks feature configurable RGB lighting, which feels more like a novelty than a real advantage.
Overall build quality is very good. The Mangmi Air X is comfortable to hold, even during long gaming sessions. However, the placement of the USB Type-C port on the bottom is questionable: when you rest the device while playing, the cable tends to bend awkwardly. A second charging port on the top would have been a more premium solution.
The display offers a crisp 1920 × 1080 resolution, but the IPS panel can’t match the brightness or vibrancy of modern OLED smartphone screens. A screen protector and a suitable carrying case are included in the package. Battery life is around six hours (estimated), though that’s more realistic when emulating less demanding systems. The built-in speakers aren’t terrible, but they don’t deliver outstanding sound quality either.
Android 14 with Play Store access
The Mangmi Air X runs on Android 14. Setup is quick and trouble-free, with recommended apps for emulation and Steam Link suggested during installation. The operating system has been customized appropriately: users can skip the standard Android interface and launch the Game Launcher directly. There’s also a handy sidebar, accessible via the quick access bar, that displays system performance data and provides quick toggles for features like game mode. Both the fan and joystick lighting can be manually controlled.
Use as an Android handheld
Access to the Play Store is fully available, opening up a wide range of apps. Streaming audio or video through services like Spotify or YouTube, as well as playing locally stored content, works flawlessly. Web browsing is smooth, and typing short emails on the touchscreen keyboard is manageable. Accessories can also be connected via Bluetooth.
When it comes to gaming, performance is acceptable for its class. The racing game Asphalt runs well, while Genshin Impact is at least playable - though only on low graphics settings and with occasional slowdowns. War Thunder Mobile doesn’t quite hit 60 frames per second, but it maintains a fairly stable 45 FPS on low settings. Simpler 2D titles run without issue, and the Mangmi Air X truly shines in games that support controller input.
Retro handheld for more demanding platforms
Emulator support is likely one of the Mangmi Air X’s biggest draws. Unlike many competitors, Mangmi includes a memory card only if that version is specifically selected. We’ll skip a lengthy legal or moral debate here—but it’s worth noting that while replaying a classic you once owned might feel justifiable, downloading copyrighted game images remains legally questionable. This is especially true since companies like Nintendo continue to commercially re-release their older titles.
In terms of performance, the Mangmi Air X delivers solid results. Game Boy and Nintendo DS games run smoothly without issues, and even PSP titles can be emulated flawlessly—with resolution scaling that improves visual quality. The preinstalled Game Launcher makes things simple: it can scan a memory card, automatically detect ROMs, and organize them by platform or launch them manually through the corresponding emulator.
Display of triple-A titles via streaming
Steam Link can be used directly, and setup is straightforward. It allows you to stream game content wirelessly from a PC on the same network. The Mangmi Air X handles this surprisingly well - we were able to play both Hogwarts Legacy and Escape from Tarkov smoothly. Hogwarts Legacy showed a display latency of up to 50 milliseconds, which is still acceptable for single-player games.
In our test, both the streaming PC and the Mangmi Air X were connected via Wi-Fi, with Escape from Tarkov reaching around 40 milliseconds of latency even at heavily reduced resolution - so further optimization wasn’t possible. Moonlight is another alternative streaming option, though we didn’t test it.
Transparency
The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was given to the author by the manufacturer free of charge for the purposes of review. There was no third-party influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.
