M17: New cheap gaming handheld powerful enough to emulate PS1 and SNES titles now available for US$55.99

KeepRetro has started selling the M17, a gaming handheld that measures just 170 x 80 x 30 mm and weighs 320 g. According to the retailer's website, the device runs Linux overlaid with EmuELEC 4.3. As such, the system comes with various cores pre-installed, including those for emulating N64 and PSP games.

According to Retro Game Corps, the M17 is not powerful enough to emulate either of these game libraries smoothly. Instead, it seems that the PS1 and SNES are where the M17 reaches its limits, with NES, NeoGeo, Genesis and Game Boy games perfectly playable for the most part. Please note that the gaming handheld has a 16:9 panel. As a result, older games will be stretched from their native 4:3 aspect ratio.

For reference, a quad-core ARM Cortex A7 chipset sits at the heart of the M17, which is complemented with 256 MB of RAM and a 1,500 mAh battery. Additionally, the M17's display measures 4.3-inches across with a 480 x 272-pixel native resolution. Currently, the M17 is available from KeepRetro for US$55.99 with a 64 GB MicroSD card. Alternatively, the retailer sells the same device with 128 GB of storage for US$62.99.

Purchase the Anbernic RG35XX on Amazon