R36S Retro Handheld Review – Is This Budget Handheld Still Worth It?

The R36S is one of those retro handhelds that immediately gets your attention for one reason: the price.

It is inexpensive, compact, and capable of playing a surprisingly large library of classic games.

I have used several budget retro handhelds over the years, including the XU10, G350, RG35XX H, and RG40XX H. The R36S is not the most polished device among them, but its combination of low price, light weight, and solid retro gaming performance still makes it interesting.

I have also spent enough time using it to notice a few weaknesses that are not obvious from product photos.

Here is what the R36S is actually like to use.

First Impressions

The R36S is clearly built to a budget.

There is no premium packaging or recognizable manufacturer branding on my unit. Even the box and manual are fairly generic.

The device itself also feels inexpensive compared with handhelds from brands such as Anbernic or Retroid.

That does not necessarily make it bad.

At this price, I care more about whether the controls work well, whether the screen looks good, and whether I can comfortably play the games I bought it for.

And in those areas, the R36S does better than its price might suggest.

I Measured Mine at 191 Grams

One of my favorite things about the R36S is its weight.

I placed my unit on a digital kitchen scale and measured 191 grams.

That makes it light enough to carry in a bag without thinking about it.

For comparison, some of the larger Android handhelds I own are much heavier. Once a handheld gets into the 250–300g range, I notice the difference during longer gaming sessions.

The R36S feels much closer to carrying a smartphone.

For commuting or short gaming sessions, that matters more to me than having the fastest processor.

It weighs just 191 grams, about the same as a typical smartphone — light and easy to hold.
For comparison, the XU10 weighs around 200 grams.

Don’t expect premium build quality though — this is a budget device through and through.

I also compared the weight with several other handhelds I own in my separate handheld weight test.

Controls: Functional, but Quite Stiff

This is probably my biggest complaint about the R36S.

The D-pad and ABXY buttons on my unit require more pressure than I prefer.

For a short 10- or 20-minute gaming session, it is not a major problem.

But after playing for longer periods, my fingers start to notice the resistance.

I tested fighting games such as Street Fighter II, and directional commands like Hadouken and Shoryuken are possible without much trouble.

However, the overall button feel is still not as comfortable as some of the other inexpensive handhelds I have used.

The G350, for example, feels noticeably better to me in this area.

There may also be differences between R36S production batches, so another unit may not feel exactly like mine.

Shoulder Buttons Are Loud

The L1, L2, R1, and R2 buttons are another thing I noticed quickly.

They make a fairly obvious clicking sound.

At home, that does not matter.

On a subway or bus, however, the sound is more noticeable than the main face buttons.

I often play handheld games during my commute, so button noise is something I pay attention to.

In a noisy train it probably will not bother most people, but if you want a particularly quiet handheld for public transportation, there are better choices.

The Screen Is Bright and Sharp

The display is one of the better parts of the R36S experience.

Retro games look colorful and sharp, and the screen is bright enough for normal indoor use.

For games from the Famicom/NES, Super Famicom/SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, PC Engine, Neo Geo, and PlayStation era, the display works well.

I personally lower the brightness when playing at night because the default brightness can feel stronger than I need in a dark room.

For a device at this price, though, I have very few complaints about the screen.

Audio Is Basic

The R36S uses a mono speaker.

It works, but this is not a handheld I would buy for audio quality.

Music and sound effects are perfectly understandable for casual gaming, but the sound lacks the fullness of handhelds with better stereo speakers.

For me, this is acceptable because the R36S is primarily a budget machine.

When I want better sound, I usually use earphones.

On my unit, I also found that wired earphone behavior could vary depending on the plug type, so it is worth testing the earphones you normally use with the device.

Gaming Performance: PS1 and Earlier Is the Sweet Spot

The R36S makes the most sense when you treat it as a machine for older systems.

That is how I use it.

8-bit and 16-bit games are the easy part, and PlayStation games are where I consider the device most useful.

Classic arcade titles also suit the R36S very well.

Once you start moving into more demanding systems, the experience becomes less consistent.

Some Dreamcast, Nintendo DS, or other heavier titles may run, but performance varies significantly by game, emulator, settings, and firmware.

Because of that, I would not buy the R36S specifically for those systems.

If your main goal is PS1 and earlier games, its hardware makes much more sense.

Vertical Design: Great for Portability, Less Ideal for Long Sessions

The R36S uses a Game Boy-style vertical layout.

I like vertical handhelds because they are compact.

They fit easily in a bag and take up very little space.

The downside is comfort.

Because the body is relatively narrow, my hands are positioned closer together than they would be on a horizontal handheld such as the RG35XX H.

After a long session, I find horizontal handhelds more comfortable.

For a quick game during a commute, the R36S is fine.

For an hour or two on the sofa, I usually prefer something wider.

Charging: Check the Specification on Your Own Unit

This is one area where I would be careful with inexpensive retro handhelds.

Rather than assuming that every USB-C charger is appropriate, I recommend checking the charging information printed on your R36S, its manual, or the seller/manufacturer documentation supplied with your particular unit.

Different handhelds can have different charging requirements, and USB-C ports do not automatically mean that every charging protocol is supported.

I use a charger that matches the specified input requirements of the device rather than choosing one simply because it physically fits the USB-C port.

This is also a good rule to follow with other low-cost retro handhelds.

What I Like About the R36S

After using it for a while, three things keep standing out.

The first is the price.

You can spend much more on a retro handheld without getting a dramatically better experience for basic 8-bit, 16-bit, arcade, and PlayStation games.

The second is the weight.

At 191g on my scale, this is genuinely easy to carry.

The third is simplicity.

I can pick it up, play an old game for 15 or 20 minutes, and put it back in my bag.

That is exactly what I want from this type of handheld.

What I Don’t Like

The low price does come with compromises.

The button resistance is higher than I prefer.

The shoulder buttons are noisy.

The mono speaker is basic.

The vertical body is also less comfortable for long sessions than a wider horizontal handheld.

Build quality is clearly budget-oriented as well.

None of these problems makes the R36S unusable, but they explain why spending a little more can sometimes be worthwhile.

R36S vs G350: Which One Do I Reach for More?

I own both the R36S and the G350.

Their overall use cases are similar, but I personally prefer the controls on the G350.

The D-pad and ABXY buttons feel better to me, which becomes important when playing for longer periods.

The R36S still has an advantage when price is the main concern.

If I simply want one of the cheapest ways to play PS1 and earlier games, the R36S makes sense.

If button feel matters more, I would compare it carefully with alternatives before buying.

After Using the R36S for Months

My opinion of the R36S has changed slightly over time.

When I first bought it, the low price was the most impressive part.

After using many other handhelds, I now appreciate its light weight almost as much as its price.

More powerful handhelds are obviously better for newer systems, but they are also larger and heavier.

Sometimes I do not want to carry a powerful Android handheld.

I just want something light enough to throw into my bag and use for a quick retro gaming session.

That is where the R36S still works surprisingly well for me.

At the same time, using other handhelds has made the R36S’s weaker controls and basic build quality more noticeable.

So I no longer see it as a handheld that is automatically better simply because it is cheap.

I see it as a very inexpensive entry point into retro handheld gaming.

Who Is the R36S For?

The R36S makes the most sense for someone who:

mainly wants to play arcade, 8-bit, 16-bit, and PlayStation-era games;
wants a lightweight handheld;
does not want to spend much money;
prefers a compact vertical design;
can accept budget-level buttons, speakers, and build quality.

It makes less sense if you want excellent ergonomics, premium controls, strong performance for newer systems, or a polished out-of-the-box experience.