Anbernic has a habit of keeping things interesting, and a recently leaked video has the handheld gaming community talking all over again. At first glance the device looks like a straightforward silver square with a touchscreen, the kind of form factor that plenty of companies have tried before. Then it moves, and that is where things get interesting. The screen flips and rotates in a way that will immediately remind anyone old enough of the Motorola FlipOut, and suddenly it becomes clear that Anbernic is doing something nobody quite expected.
When you turn it, the screen swivels 90 degrees and the display pops out slightly, revealing all of the buttons and controls underneath. In a single fluid move, this item goes from a plain slab to a fully functional console. On the bottom, you’ll find a full set of controls: a directional pad on one side, four action buttons in various colors on the other, start and choose keys nearby, and a circular button in the center at the top. Just when you think you’re done, the triggers line the back edge, making them easy to grasp in the heat of the moment. The region around the controls is smartly created so that nothing gets caught as the screen returns to its previous position.
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The design approach is an exact replica of the Motorola FlipOut phone from 2010, which was the year when manufacturers were testing various folding and turning mechanisms on mobile phones. Anbernic has taken the concept and perfected it for mobile gaming, making excellent use of a square display that fits neatly and leaves no wasted space. Android is the operating system powering the backend, at least according to the browser icon on screen, and if that’s the case, it opens up a slew of options for running a variety of software in addition to traditional game emulation. Unfortunately, we don’t have any hard performance data because the video just displays a functional prototype.
Anbernic tried a similar approach with the RG Slide model, which is essentially an old Sony-style slider phone, but we won’t see any details on screen just yet. There’s no word on battery size, processor speed, or memory capacity yet. There has been no indication on the official launch price or date, but that single prototype video has gotten everyone talking in online communities, and speculation is rampant.
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