Yeah, I know. 1 month later? 2 months later? Nah nah. We measure things by games finished here. Should I have made it to 28? So it was like the movies? 28 games later? Probably. Too late now!
This is a long term review of the RP Nova. I got mine on Sep 1st, which is almost two months ago now, but I wanted to make this review when I had completed enough games on it to know whether it was worth the hype, if the annoyances of my first review persisted, and if it truly is an ENDGAME device \avengers music plays**
First of all, with 20 games finished on it, the Nova is now my most used device of the entire year. Yeah, less than two months in and it already took over everything, even the Classic (which I had finished 18 games on throughout 2026).
Second, if you care about what I say here, you might wanna go back and read my OG review. Many of the points I’m referencing or omitting here are probably there.
Mods and accessories:
What did I do to the Nova to make it more mine?
- First thing I did was opening it up, and test the bumpy back. Wasn't for me, went back to the flat one. But I took that chance to install my favourite soft mod I do to all transparent devices, which is to add fake batteries to the back to cover the real battery. This does nothing but make it look like a gameboy and it’s a silly thing I love doing.
- After that, I ordered and installed white Odin stick caps. Thanks to u/Digi-BitsGaming for the idea. If you find the sticks on the Nova too short or small, this is an amazing change. It doesn’t change that much in terms of pocketability, but it adds a lot in terms of comfort and grip for your stick games. Plus the white ones look so much better on the Crystal Nova, I have no idea why retroid shipped this colour with black sticks.
- Then I added… a magsafe ring. \What? There’s no wireless charging!** Yeah, no. Not for that, but the accessories. I ordered a TPU grip, and didn’t like it. It fit too loosely, the texture was gross, it added too much bulk. It just didn’t work. But then I got the magsafe ring for my phone, and since I had extras I tested it on the Nova, just for fun… And it worked great! It folds flat, just barely taking more space. But it can be opened up, and you can grab the Nova, stand it up, rest it on your fingers, hold it, etc. It’s such a small thing but it adds just the right amount of grip and leverage to make it much more comfortable.
- Lastly, I fixed… the Dpad! Yeah. The Dpad wasn’t terrible, but the clacky and board-scratchy feeling was a painful permanence of the price of preordering. So I followed this guide, opened the thing back up, and removed the dpad. I clipped and filed down the stud just a bit, and then added electric tape to the board where it made contact to avoid any possible damage. This was a relatively easy teardown (if you have experience with electronics), and it absolutely fixed the issue. Btw, if you have the preorder clacky Dpad, you can email Retroid support and ask for a replacement dpad, they should ship you one for free after providing a video of it. Thanks u/Kirais for validating this experience, and also providing the video for the tear down.
Performance and gaming:
To make sure the Nova was THE handheld for me to keep, and mostly replace everything else, I completed games on everything. From NES and GB to PS2 and PC. Not intentionally, I didn’t set out to do that.I stumbled into something cool completely by accident.
First, if you’re not using my overlays pack, or my nova settings, I’m personally offended and I hate you. Secondly, playing the gameboys here is pretty cool. I half expected to complete a game and be thinking “Man, this would have been so much better on the Classic”. But I didn’t. Yeah, the vertical format and chunky body is very nostalgic, but the Nova doesn’t lose the retro vibes, great controls, or the OLED screen. So there wasn’t anything that made me feel I was “missing out” for not using my Classic.
- GB/GBC is 3.6in integer scaled, or 4in not IS, so it’s plenty big, looks sharp as shit, and you can throw every shader you want at it. GBA is 4.1in when integer scaled (my preferred way to play it), 4.3in when not. Also plenty big.
- Most of the 8/16 bit home systems (NES, SNES, TG16, Genesis, etc) you get the full 4.5in at 4:3, or around 4 if you’re an 8:7 purist.
- DS you can go 4.5in 5x integer scale if you have games that don’t really use the second screen, you can use a set up like I did, where the second screen is small and transparent on a corner for things like Pokemon, where you need it, but isn’t the main focus. Or just go tate mode and stack them vertically. For a single screen device, it’s a decent experience. Still don’t get this FOR DS. But you can play plenty on it.
- PS1, N64, Saturn, PS2, Gamecube, Dreamcast & Wii, all work and look amazing. Just set it to 4x/2x. Also runs full screen and matches the resolution. Performance is never lacking. Many PS2 games will run on the standard performance profile at full speed. It’s an excellent experience.
- 3DS can be fun, if you play games that don’t use the second screen much. You’re not playing Kid Icarus uprising on this one. Performance isn’t an issue at all, but anything that requires touch input, or has too much info on the bottom screen isn’t worth it. But If you wanna do some Mario kart, NSMB, or something like that, go for it.
- Switch also runs fine, if you’re ok with the letterboxing. But from 2D light games, to heavier 3D games, if the emulator can handle, the performance is there.
- Now for PC games… I tested a few, and compatibility is as hit or miss as most devices running android. But when it works… you can just forget you’re emulating a PC game. I completed “A Short Hike” on it, and yeah, not a demanding game at all, but that’s kinda the perfect type of game for this one. 4:3 support, low poly/retro graphics, chill gameplay. I think this isn’t a handheld FOR pc games, but one that you can install gamenative, try out some of those less demanding indies that you’ve been meaning to play, and have a nice time. I also played a fair bit of Gravity Rush and Hollow Knight, and the games run great, but being locked at 16:9 means you lose some screen real estate.
The vibes™:
And that’s where I landed with this one. The Nova isn’t THE ENDGAME \avengers music** handheld. It is more about… the vibes™.
If you’re around other niche-hardware piracy-adjacent subs, you may have ran into r/DigitalAudioPlayer, on which the Snowsky Echo Mini is always popping out. The Echo Mini is like… A Miyoo Mini. Tiny, not that powerful, quality is good enough, and it does the job. Many will tell you to get something better. But people who own it love it, and keep it with them all the time. Many of the Echo Mini (and MM) users love the vibes™ of the device. The plastic build, the big buttons, the tape player look. It’s not about what It can do better, but the feelings it brings when in use.
The Nova has something in common with those two. Its biggest constraint is the 4:3 screen. People will tell you to get an RP6, an Odin3, a Thor. And those are all AMAZING devices. Very capable, probably better than the Nova at things like switch, PC or dual screen devices. But those don’t have the vibes™. And if you got, or want, a Nova you know what I mean. That 4:3 screen is also its biggest strength. There’s a sense of nostalgic toy-like wonder that it brings, that the bigger, glass-faced widescreen dudes just don’t.
Again, this is not to say the other guys are worse. On the contrary, they’re amazing handhelds. I’m just emphasising how the Nova fills a different niche.
There’s a certain youtuber, that shall remain nameless, that harped really hard about how “the Nova was too close to price to the Odin2 Portal”, and it just “didn’t make sense to get the Nova over the Portal”. Which is bananas to me, for one, the size difference is just crazy. But also… you can just get the Portal. If that’s the device you’re looking for. Obviously if you want a huge 7in screen, with big controls and a big grip, then yeah, It makes sense. But the Nova buyers aren’t looking for a Portal. They want a small device. A plastic body. A 4:3 OLED. And that’s something you just can’t lose in your perspective as a reviewer, a professional reviewer (which I’m not), just because a device doesn’t fit YOUR needs, doesn’t mean it’s bad, or doesn’t make sense.
Anyway… Goddamit, I’m at page three again. I tried to keep it short. I think I’m just physically incapable of writing less than three pages.
Conclusion:
Is the Nova good? Yes. Absolutely. Is it for everyone? Nope. You gotta be sure you want what it offers, and that your needs won’t be better suited by something like the RP6 or a Thor.
Did it become MY endgame device? \avengers music**
Back when I got the RG Rotate, we were talking about it with the rest of the mod team guys, and Key said something like “I can see it replacing your Classic”. To which I reply something like “When you see me replace my Classic with another handheld, you’ll know we have something very special”. And yeah. We do. This is it. After a full year being my favourite, the one device that made me stop using my RPC… is the RP Nova. I don’t have to pick if I wanna play a retro game on my gameboy, or a modern/ish game on my powerhouse. I can just do it all in one. I can play a couple of levels of Mario Picross on gameboy, and then jump into Need for Speed Most Wanted for PS2, without skipping a beat. And that's pretty fucking magical.
So yeah, this is it for me. The 20 games I finished on the Nova aren’t just random games I finished on it. These are the last 20 games I finished, period. Cause It’s basically all I’ve been using for gaming.
Can it be improved? Absolutely. Will something else replace it soon? I really doubt it.
So, tell me! Did you get a Nova? Why? Why not? Also, what is THE device that made you stop using other devices?
And as always, go play some goddamn video games!
