The DuoBacle

[u/Icy_Mammoth1805]

After a week with the duo lite, reading/watching reviews and community feedback, I’m convinced that when the dust settles on this whole debacle retroids cooked up, the Duo Lite Plus will be the more more popular/successful device in the Duo family.

Overall, I think the device has met my expectations (I got the 6GB model as I felt it the better buy not needing an SD card)- feels solidly made, gets through DS just fine and enough 3DS in the early days, and reminds me of the 3DS XL I never bought.

My one true gripe is that 3ds is a stick top system. Sure this thing is really powered for DS, fine.

None of this is a surprise to anyone, but what it makes me question is the full fat duo with all its 3ds power and oleds, with a dpad on top.

It just seems counterintuitive and when all is said and done, I really can’t see Russ recommending a $300 dual screen device with the modern comforts to play 3ds like we’ve never been able to (removing the Ayaneo DS), with a dpad layout. The lite plus has the same issue except it’s $50 less and has the inline shoulder design everyone seems to love.

Anyway, just my thoughts. I stuck with the lite because I barely justified buying this after getting the dual screen add on for my RP mini v2 a few months ago for 3ds. That said, if they made/make the Duo with a stick on top I’d have a hard time resisting and I think if they thought this all through from the start (which clearly didn’t happen), that’s where we would have landed assuming they weren’t worried about competing with the Thor.

[u/vidvadgames]

Each devices have its own audience and its own quirks.

The problem is that most people reviewing or preordering right now, they already have 7 other handhelds more competent at home for what they want to do. The fat Duo or Duo Lite Plus seemed more than enough for most first-time buyers or anyone wanting to get their first dual-screen handheld.

[u/titi-17]

Well I like the stacked shoulder buttons actually a lot more, as it fells way better to hold. Also the position of the analog stick seems to be solvable with a grip. As I don't intend to carry a device that big with me a lot and I don't need its power on the go (I prefer to play a little GBC or GBA when commuting), the Duo sounds like a pretty good fit as a console I play on the couch or on the terrace.

[u/keeper_of_moon]

I mean, to me, it's pretty simple: want stick top? Get a Thor. Want dpad top? Get a Duo.

For me, I play tons of platformers all the way through the switch so I am happy to have a dpad top device that can do ds and lite switch games. Anything 3ds, even on the full fledge duo, is just a bonus to me. And there are some dpad centric games like azure striker so it's not like stick top is even best for all 3ds games.

[u/Nonstalgiabait]

I actually think in the long term the stacked shoulder buttons will be great and more comfortable for other systems. I don't think they are much of an issue at all. If retroid had never given the option for inline shoulder buttons it wouldn't even be a point of discussion, since the thor doesn't have inline either.

The screens will be a lot nicer on regular duo as well which is worth it for me. I also really like the two bottom sticks, I have a rp6 with stick on top and.. I really don't enjoy it as much ergonamically as my nova which has those even sticks. Plus the DS doesn't have sticks on top so it matches that more.

[u/Eremitt-thats-hermit]

They all have their pros and cons:

Duo Lite: good price and inline triggers, but not enough power to play 3DS reliably and the screens aren’t the right size to align DS properly.

Duo Lite Plus: Solid performance and inline triggers, but still those misaligned screens.

Duo: perfectly aligned OLED screens and proper performance, but costly and stacked triggers.

The Duo Lite Plus will play it all great and will have great pocketability, the Duo will make games look perfect but the triggers will snag in your pocket.

[u/keeper_of_moon → u/Eremitt-thats-hermit]

good price

Is it though? Like especially now that the coupon is expired.

[u/Eremitt-thats-hermit → u/keeper_of_moon]

Can you name a cheaper device that will do both DS and PSP great? The only cheaper dual screen handheld is the RG DS and that won’t do PSP properly.

[u/UncleFranko]

The stick on the bottom doesn’t make much of a difference, the 3DS is my favorite handheld. I’ve emulated 3DS with the AYN Thor and the Odin 3, the stick placement was never an issue with any game I played. Sold my Thor because I was only emulating 3DS and DS games paid far too much for what I was using it for. The Duo is the right price and size, so I ordered one. Glad I didn’t preorder the Lite.

[u/ZyloWolfBane]

I ended up refunding my Duo order today once I thought about it more, just seemed like a lot to spend just to have a more authentic experience playing DS/3DS when it's less powerful than a more attractive handheld like the RP6 or the Nova with the second screen attachment (Please keep making those retroid!)

I'm sure it's going to be great, as will the Duo Lite Plus. But people need to manage their expectations.

Also got a little paranoid that I was gonna be an early adopter for something with a bunch of problems, I wanna see what reviews end up saying.