Gogamegeek recently sent me the newest handheld from GKD, the Plus classic. Previous handhelds released by GKD have been a little hit or miss. Comparing them to the likes of Anbernic or Powkiddy would be unfair though, as both of those companies produce dozens of handhelds a year, compared to the GKD.
This time round the GKD Plus Classic, is a vertical metal handheld. This gives it a more premium feel and look compared to their previous handhelds.
Gogamegeek are selling this new handheld for $179.99 with free shipping and no taxes to pay. It comes in 2 colours, Black or Blue with 10,000 games pre-installed for all of your major platforms including Sony, Nintendo, Sega and MAME.
Specifications:
- 3.5″ IPS Display w/ Tempered Glass (640 x 480)
- 1.8Ghz RK3566 CPU
- 1GB RAM
- 3000MAH Battery
- WiFi/Bluetooth
- USB-C
Very similar in design to the ANBERNIC RG353V but in metal, the Plus Classic actually looks and feels like a great premium handheld and surprisingly came with it’s own storage case, which I wish other companies would include. It’s a really nice touch, and the quality is great.
Specs wise it’s not too bad, but certainly not one of the most powerful gaming handhelds out here. But it holds it’s own and can play the majority of platforms well up to and including PSP (no god of war though).
Design:
The screen on the Plus classic is probably one of the best features alongside the sleek metal build. Image quality is really good with a resolution of 640 x 480. On the 3.5” IPS display everything looks great with nice contrast and clear sharp images.
As with their previous handheld you get the same 4 LED lights, that light up when being charged and showing what battery life is left. It’s simple and easy to see when you need to charge the handheld, without getting in the way.
There are a lot of buttons on the face of the Plus classic, and strangely enough it has a number 3 with a small LED, which lights up when charging. I have absolutely no idea what the 3 refers too.
The DPAD is quite large and really nice quality and responsive. Facia buttons are also good quality, which feel great to use, and not too clicky. Everything feels of much higher quality, which is a great step in the right direction from GKD.
In-between the DPAD and A,B,X,Y buttons are start & select, and 2 smaller buttons which are used for saving or exiting emulation. Below these are two analogue sticks, again these are nice quality and responsive.
On one side is the volume rocker switch and on the other side two other buttons which can be mapped. On the top of the handheld is a power button which also acts as sleep/wake-up and two SD card slots. There is also a USB-C port and headphone jack. Altogether there are a load of buttons on this handheld, which may be a little intimidating for newcomers.
On the rear you will find L1, L2 & R1, R2 buttons, and a design which vaguely reminded me of the original Gameboy Colour. There is also a large housing at the very bottom for the 3000MAH battery, which looks like it can be removed. This is a fantastic feature which you rarely find on other handhelds.
The only real issue I don’t like about the plus classic are the rear buttons, they are awkwardly placed and far too small, which is a shame, as the rest of the handheld design and placement is good.
I think overall the design of the plus classic is really good, and GKD are certainly moving in the right direction. They just need to refine the amount of buttons and especially with the shoulder buttons.
Performance:
The Plus Classic uses the RK3566 chip with 1GB of RAM, which as I mentioned earlier isn’t going to win any awards. But it can hold it’s own, when it come to medium spec handhelds.
Powered by emulation station, retro game collectors will be well at home with this frontend, and various settings within. It’s a great piece of software and easy to understand, and uses the RetroArch backend, running all of the emulators.
Classics such as Gameboy, Game Gear, ATARI Lynx, Wonderswan, NES, SNES and Nintendo 64 games all run well and as expected, with the RK3566 chipset. Everything looks great on the screen, and I was really impressed with what I saw.
Moving onto the Playstation 1, again, everything worked well, running smoothly and looking great on this screen. The dual analogue sticks performed well too.
Whilst the GKD Plus Classic can play PSP emulation, you will be restricted to what it can and can’t play. Forget the likes of God of war, the Classic Plus just isn’t powerful enough, which is a shame. But smaller PSP games will work quite well, just make sure you don’t hold high expectations.
When it comes to Dreamcast games, the Classic Plus worked really well. I was honestly impressed by how well these games performed. They were far better than what I thought they would be.
The 3000MAH battery will give you around 4.5hrs worth of gameplay on a single charge. The handheld also stays fairly cool, and doesn’t heat up a great deal. Overall my experience was a good one.
For the price, this is a great handheld but there are others on the market at a similar price range which will offer more when it comes to power. I really like the GKD Classic Plus, I just wish it was slightly cheaper, that way people wouldn’t compare it to the likes of the Retroid Pocket 3 or the 3+, both of which have more power than the GKD.
It will be interesting to see where GKD go with future handhelds. If they produce something similar with a few refinements, and a more powerful chip and extra RAM, then they could be on with a winner. Lets wait and see.
You can buy your GKD Classic Plus from Gogamegeek by following the link below or tapping any of the highlighted areas within the article.
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