Retroid
TL;DR Retroid has pulled the Pocket 6 from its website, ceasing pre-sales.
The company is collecting feedback from fans for a redesign.
The Pocket G2 remains available for sale, but it’s unclear when the Pocket 6 will be relaunched.
Retroid is one of the most popular brands in Android gaming handhelds, but it seems like every new product the company releases is immediately mired in controversy. The highly anticipated Pocket 6, which follows the fan-favorite Pocket 5, has once again proven this true, as it has now been pulled from pre-sale after less than a day.
While fans are pleased with the pricing and the upgraded Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, the physical design of the handheld has been met with widespread disapproval in the community. The new row of buttons beneath the screen, which gives it a more retro look, reduces the overall screen-to-body ratio, and some feel that it’s a step backwards.
The Retroid team is going back to the drawing board with the Pocket 6 design.
Additionally, many fans are questioning Retroid’s decision to keep the D-pad on top. Typically, more retro-oriented handhelds have the D-pad on top to accommodate older games, but the Pocket 6 is more than powerful enough to play more modern console emulation, which tends to favor stick-based controls. Given the compact nature of the device, it could be uncomfortable to shift your thumb down to use the sticks.
Currently, Retroid is running polls on its official Discord and X accounts, and while there are fans on both sides of the issue, the majority favor removing the buttons from the bottom and shifting the joystick above the D-pad. As a result, Retroid has ceased pre-sales of the Pocket 6 while it undergoes a redesign.
This is a very unusual move for any company, especially since it’s already taken pre-order money from customers. However, the company did something similar with the Pocket 5, when it was initially announced with 6GB of RAM, before fan complaints prompted the company to increase it to 8GB. It’s also possible that the pre-sales of the Pocket 6 were so disappointing that the company felt it had to take action to turn things around.
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