Review Anbernic RG557 - A Powerful Emulation Handheld With One Too Many Issues

Anbernic is a company which is famous for releasing multiple emulation handhelds every year, but it's gone through something of a quiet period of late.

The Android-based RG557 is its first release in a few months, and it isn't even a 'new' product, really—it's an iterative update of the RG556 powered by a Dimensity 8300 chipset, which replaces the Unisoc T820 seen in the previous model.

Is this $250 device worth a look, given that this sector of the market is becoming pretty crowded with amazing products from Retroid, AYANEO and Ayn? That's what we're here to find out...

Anbernic RG557 Review: Design & Controls

If I were to compare the RG557 to any other handheld, it would probably be the Switch Lite. While it has a more ergonomic design than Nintendo's device, the overall size and weight feel very similar; this isn't a monster which you're going to think twice about before taking it out of the house, but it's not as super-slim as other emulation handhelds, either.

The unit I was sent by MechDIY boasts a transparent casing that calls to mind the 'Atomic Purple' Game Boy Color, but the plastic is a little glossier and cheaper-feeling. Still, I'm a big fan of 'skeleton' cases, and it looks pretty impressive.

The ergonomics deserve a second mention, too; while those prongs mean it's not quite as easy to fit in your bag as, say, the AYANEO Pocket S, the RG557's shape makes it pleasant to use for prolonged periods of time. This might actually be one of the most comfortable emulation devices I've ever used, in fact (it goes without saying that the same thing could be said about the RG556, its direct predecessor, as the design is identical).

One thing that has changed on this new model is the type of analogue stick being used. The good news is that these sticks aren't unlikely to ever suffer from drift; billed by Anbernic as "high-resolution, anti-magnetic interference capacitive joysticks", they're pretty precise, but there's one massive flaw here—they're tiny.

Even when compared to the sticks on the Switch family of consoles, these are really, really small, and they feel very odd to use on a system of this size. I wouldn't say they make the RG557 a complete write-off because they're still perfectly serviceable, but I have no idea why Anbernic thought these would be a good fit for this kind of device.

The D-pad is located below the left-hand analogue stick, which I traditionally have issues with as I find I use digital input around 90 per cent of the time when playing retro games via emulation. On the upside, the pad's location isn't so bad that you get thumb cramp, but the glossy plastic used means that your thumb can slip around a bit, especially if it gets sweaty during gameplay (oo-er).

Anbernic RG557 Review: Display

The RG557's 5.48-inch AMOLED screen has a 1080p resolution and looks impressive. AMOLED screens have become pretty commonplace on emulation handhelds recently—especially those over $100 in price—so it's good to see that Anbernic hasn't cut any corners with this one.

The panel is bright and colourful, with good levels of contrast. It's ideal for playing Android games on and is well-suited to GBA and PSP titles, but with a lot of retro games, you're going to have black borders down either side of the playing area.

Anbernic RG557 Review: Performance & Battery Life

While many Android-based emulation handhelds are rocking Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets, Anbernic has gone with the Dimensity 8300 chipset for the RG557, which has a Mali-G615 GPU. That's important to note, as compatibility with this GPU isn't fantastic, and that makes itself known when you attempt to emulate some of the higher-end 3D consoles, like the PS2.

While the RG557 can make short work of pretty much every system up to the best-selling PlayStation console, a lot of the PS2 games we tried exhibited serious issues. Some titles would refuse to load at all, while others were missing visuals or were saddled with graphical glitches. On the rare occasion we managed to find a game that seemingly worked perfectly, like Gradius V, there would be moments where the entire system dropped to a crawl (facing off against the first end-of-level boss, in this case).

There's clearly a lot of power here; the Dimensity 8300 is a potent chipset that has the potential to be a real monster—the issue is that compatibility isn't there yet, and this is made even more frustrating by the fact that the Android build which comes on the RG557 isn't the best. Early reports suggested that it was actually throttling performance, although a recent firmware update claims to have fixed this.

That same recent update also brings with it a lot of baffling AI-led features, such as the ability to create AI images. I'm not sure why Anbernic needs to jump on the tiresome AI bandwagon at this stage, but the ability to translate text in real-time might be moderately useful, especially if you play a lot of Japanese RPGs.

The RG557's 5500mAh battery delivers around eight hours of battery life, according to Anbernic, but from my experience, I'd bring that number way down if you're looking to emulate 3D games.

Anbernic RG557 Review: Specifications

Anbernic RG557 Review: Conclusion

Given how long it has taken for Anbernic to release a new handheld in 2025, the RG557 is something of a disappointment. It's very similar to the RG556, so it doesn't really feel like an exciting new product. Another downside is the tiny analogue sticks, and the Dimensity 8300 chipset feels undercooked at present due to the fact that many really demanding games can't be emulated without issues.

On the positive side, the design is still one of the best Anbernic has ever made, and the AMOLED screen (the same as the one on the RG556) is still brilliant, even by 2025 standards.

The big problem for Anebrnic is that the playing field is incredibly competitive now—especially at this price point—so it really needed something special to face off against what its rivals have on offer. While the RG557 certainly isn't a bad product, it's not the smash hit I was expecting.

Thanks to MechDIY for supplying the Anbernic RG557 used in this review.