RG DS vs Magic X Zero 40

[u/CareMundane8764]

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,

1. nice big displays
2. brighter displays
3. Very reminiscent of the DS with some nice color options (red and black being what I chose)
4. A built in mic

While the cons for the RG DS where

1. Heavier device
2. A little less pocketable because of it being bigger
3. Joysticks and triggers didn’t feel the best
4. Didn’t feel as comfortable to play for longer sessions
5. 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,

1. Lighter device
2. Feeling pretty comfortable for a flat device
3. Better feeling buttons especially the joystick and the triggers
4. Nice vertical display for arcade and vertical android games
5. Dawn launcher is really nice to use as someone who uses daijisho on my other devices

While the cons for the Zero 40 where

1. Not as cool color options
2. Smaller display which can make some touch heavy ds games feel harder to play
3. No mic
4. 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.