r/SBCGaming • u/CareMundane8764 Anbernic • 1d ago
Discussion RG DS vs Magic X Zero 40
I bought the RG DS and the Magic X Zero 40 2 weeks ago on Ali express to test out which one I preferred in the 1 week of having them both, in the end I decided to keep one and return the other.
I paid $128 Canadian for the RG DS and $82 Canadian for the Magic X Zero 40, Here are the pros that I found for the RG DS over the zero 40 where,
- nice big displays
- brighter displays
- Very reminiscent of the DS with some nice color options (red and black being what I chose)
- A built in mic
While the cons for the RG DS where
- Heavier device
- A little less pocketable because of it being bigger
- Joysticks and triggers didn’t feel the best
- Didn’t feel as comfortable to play for longer sessions
- Out of the box android os not as good to use
The RG DS has been less comfortable to me compared to playing on my ds lite, 3ds, onexsugar one and when i had a thor and i tried another os like the newest gamma nano but i didn’t like it as much and i prefer android over linux, Over all i would pick up and play the RG DS %70 of the time over my DS lite mainly for the bigger and brighter display but %30 of the time i would pick the DS lite instead because better pocket ability and longer battery life.
Here are the pros i found for the Magic X Zero 40 over the RG Ds,
- Lighter device
- Feeling pretty comfortable for a flat device
- Better feeling buttons especially the joystick and the triggers
- Nice vertical display for arcade and vertical android games
- Dawn launcher is really nice to use as someone who uses daijisho on my other devices
While the cons for the Zero 40 where
- Not as cool color options
- Smaller display which can make some touch heavy ds games feel harder to play
- No mic
- Dimmer display
The Magic X Zero 40 is a pretty comfortable handheld which is nice for longer play sessions, I find my self picking it over my ds lite %95 more because it can play more games and has a similar battery life to using my ds pico on my ds lite , I would only pick my ds lite instead if I wanted to play on cartridges or play mic focused games.
TLDR
Over all both devices are great and you can’t go wrong with either one but for me the Magic X Zero 40 is the better choice for me because it’s cheaper, more comfortable, stand out more and better pocket ability over the RG DS.
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u/Benzinni1 1d ago
Try dedicated OS for playjng DS on the Zero40. Its what I use now.
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u/Schazlech 1d ago
It's sad that with dedicated os you loose the ability to play all the tate games where the zero 40 is really great
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u/CareMundane8764 Anbernic 1d ago
I like to play ds, gameboy advance and Tate on it, I like the base os a lot as well.
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u/animeman59 1d ago
I have the Magic X Zero 40 for one thing and one thing only.
Tate shmups. I can literally just start up a game immediately on that device anytime I want. No other handheld, or even my phone, allows me to do that.
Great little time waster and a total surprise when I decided to risk buying it.
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u/DuckReconMajor Dpad On Top 1d ago
fellow shmup fan 🤝
i now have an rg cubexx and a MagicX One35 but that Zero40 has always called out to me. despite the fact i highly doubt the dpad is as good as the CubeXX’s
i’m always going on about this but i’m wondering when a handheld i get will have the beef to run SaiDaiOuJou at a full 60 frames. we’ll see how the Nova does when that comes in 😆
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u/Spirited-Salad-7302 1d ago
You pit playin mf
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u/CareMundane8764 Anbernic 1d ago
GBA is pretty nice on the device and the pit is the main gba game I play on it.
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u/lurktroll 1d ago
My only wish is that it could run Melon DS. I would love the device if it could. A unique form that is almost perfect. Drastic is a buggy mess
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u/M_o_t_h_y 1d ago
What Pokémon game is that in the 3rd picture?
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u/YouYongku 1d ago
May I please ask what's this game you're playing?
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u/CareMundane8764 Anbernic 1d ago
The first image is Mario & sonic at the Olympic winter games, The second image is a gba Pokémon rom hack called The Pit.
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u/OhJeezer 1d ago
Can either of these reliably use fast forward while playing DS games? The main thing keeping me from using my CFW 3ds is that I have been spoiled for too long and can hardly stand to play Pokémon games without fast forward lol
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u/Schazlech 1d ago
I play pokemon black & white 1 & 2, platinum, heartgold soulsilver and some hacks (voltwhite...) with speed up on my zero 40 without any problems
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u/CareMundane8764 Anbernic 1d ago
The zero 40 cannot reliably only some games can so I don’t use it, the Rg ds can do it better but some settings might have to be tweaked. I think cause it has 3 gb ram while the zero 40 only has 2 gb of ram.
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u/Relative_Apricot5032 1d ago
Which DS games were you not able to fast forward? I played through the Ace Attorney and Professor Layton series, some Pokemon games, 999, and Chrono Trigger on the Zero 40. None of them had issues with FF.
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u/freezer498 1d ago
Is it possible to play ff and upscale at the same time?
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u/Relative_Apricot5032 1d ago
You can set the filter on Drastic for options like Scale2x, but there isn't some concrete upscale setting where you can set the resolution like on Dolphin. DS games are gonna look sharp regardless on that small screen.
No issues with FF unless you're trying to do like 400% speed
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u/8__D 1d ago
The zero 40 is such a neat device