MY HANDHELD BLOG

A fun small device.

September 13, 2024

I wanted to try a different brand handheld.

After all those Anbernic devices I thought it would be nice to try a different brand. I mean there is no fun in only having Anbernic devices for me. This made me decide to get 2 devices of the Miyoo brand. The Miyoo Mini and the Miyoo A30, the last one I will talk about in a different blog.

Why did I choose for Miyoo? I have been curious about this device for a while now and there was a sale online. So that makes it easy right, into my chart and hit the buy it now button. I also have to admit that I kind of fell in love with the blue color the Mini has. I mean I have other blue colored handhelds but this stands out more. They look good together in my cupboard actually.

It was not easy to find a blue one at first, seems like this color and the yellow one is less common so it was sold out in a lot of stores, but if you really want something you will find it. After some searching, I found a seller who sold this color and all that was left was waiting for the mailman to bring me my parcel.

I have to say that it was smaller than I thought it would be, but that is not a bad thing. I actually think that it makes this device even more cute. I wished they would have made a pink one too, but that aside. For this device since I was planning from the start to set up my own Micro-SD card, I didn’t get a stock one.

I probably said it before but for me the fun starts when a device arrives and I can install the firmware myself. I also like it when I can plug and play, but this is something I really enjoy doing. As long as it’s not too difficult actually, I mean there are some skills I just don’t have, but flashing a Micro-SD card and adding bios, setting up hotkeys, roms and another theme is fine for me.

The most common firmware for the Miyoo Mini is as far as I know Onion OS. It’s easy to install and very easy to set up. There website is clean and simple and has everything you need. From ports of you want to play them to themes. I love it when a site makes my life easy as that. If you want a different theme that is not on their website you can always ask google, and then I am sure you will find what you are looking for.

I do very much like Onion Os actually it’s a clear and easy Firmware and for me the best is that when I shut my device down it automatically saves where I leave the game. I have also set up some hot keys that I can play in fast forward and save whenever I want. Makes live a lot easier. I didn’t add the box art on this device since I find it simple and clean this way. I know there are other firmware for this device but somehow this was the firmware that spoke to me the most. It looks a little like Garlic OS from Anbernic. So maybe that also counted when I decided to get this firmware.

While installing the firmware and adding the bios I have been thinking what kind of games I wanted to play on this device. I added some standard games on it for different emulators with some of the common titles like Mario, Pokémon and so on. Also, a bunch of other games to see what would play nice and what I would rather play on a bigger screen. I found out quickly that I love playing Gameboy or Gameboy Color games on this device. The only downside is that it can be a little uncomfortable to hold when you playing long sessions.

I certainly not regret getting this small little handheld. When I just want to play for a little while I start this one up and since it’s always saving for me when I shut it down, I never have to worry about that anymore. I know you can add this on other devices too, but for me on this one since I use it for short sessions, I think it’s ideal.

Now maybe you would think is buying this device still worth it in 2024? I mean this year we had a lot of new devises released and there are probably better options. This is not the cheapest device for what you get. For around 50 euro there are better options for sure. I would say if you are able to get this for like 25 euro you certainly can still buy this one in 2024, but I would not pay the price I paid. Or you want to collect them and don’t care about that then it’s a different story, but I would not recommend this as a first handheld device.

I have to admit that I slowly find it fascinating to see how other brands do, compared to Anbernic and now Miyoo. How they arrive for example in a box or with screen protector and what kind of original OS is on it. Also, another point is that I like to see how the community of the brands make their own firmware for the devices.

Sometimes I think I am busier setting up devices and looking around for firmware then actually playing games on the devices sometimes . . .

Till the next blog everyone

Alexia