KT Pocket KT-R1S handheld rears its head with launch imminent

KT Pocket has finally revealed more details about its long-awaited second handheld. To recap, the KT-R1 took over two years to hit shelves when it debuted in early 2023. Almost three years later, and the handheld market has moved on from the Helio G99 chipset KT Pocket uses in the KT-R1.

As a result, KT Pocket has opted for the Dimensity 7300 with its Cortex-A55 and Cortex-A78 CPU cores complemented by a Mali-G615 MP2 GPU. According to our benchmarks, this chipset should provide the KT-R1S with a circa 20% performance boost over the older KT-R1. Ultimately though, the Dimensity 7300 will see the KT-R1S falling a way short of Dimensity 8300 handhelds like the Anbernic RG477M (curr. $299 on Amazon).

Nonetheless, KT Pocket plans to offer the KT-R1S with more flexible configurations than Anbernic's recent Android gaming handhelds. Based on the images released so far, the KT-R1S will come in two variants, one with a left-hand joystick on top and another with its left joystick on the bottom beneath its dpad. Full pricing and availability remain unknown for now, although Retro Gaming with Deadfred suggests that KT Pocket will open pre-orders soon.