🤬 Hello and welcome to another edition of The Memory Core newsletter. This week, I had a package stolen for the first time in my life. Whoever has my AYN Thor out there, I wish you many years of corrupted save files.

I mentioned last week that I’d have a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in for testing, and today I’ll run through the results. I also got the Pocket G2 in just in time for some preliminary testing, so I’ve included those results, as well.

I’ve also got a potential explanation for Analogue’s continued radio silence on the Analogue 3D, and it’s something that’s entirely out of the company’s hands.

Let’s get to it.

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8 Elite Gen 5 pushes limits, G2 Gen 2 redefines the sweet spot

Before I get to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 benchmarks, I want to make a quick comment about the REDMAGIC 11 Pro phone itself.

I was actually surprised by how nice the phone feels, and the liquid cooling on the back looks incredible. Check out JerryRigEverything’s teardown video for an even cooler (pun intended) inside look.

That said, the software is still subpar, so I wouldn’t recommend this as your daily driver unless you prioritize gaming performance. Or anime AI waifus.

But as for performance on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, it mostly lives up to the hype. I saw a roughly 15-20% gain in both CPU and GPU performance over last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite across several tests.

Compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 seen in many high-end gaming handhelds, it’s more than twice as powerful.

The tests also showed drastically improved thermal performance, but it’s not clear how much of that is due to the fancy liquid cooling. It still ran incredibly hot, peaking at 56°C, which was far too hot to hold.

Interestingly, turning on the “gaming mode” caused the phone to throttle performance sooner to keep temperatures lower.

In terms of real performance, the main thing I wanted to test was Windows emulation. Switch and other consoles will be gated by software and driver support, both of which should improve in the coming months as the chipset is more widely available.

I went back to my favorite test game, Hollow Knight: Silksong, playing via GameHub. At FHD with the framerate capped at 120fps, it breezed through the game, rarely dropping below 110fps. Uncapped, it hit over 340fps, but drew much more power (15-16W).

Speaking of power, some of the efficiency gains were apparent. When I tested the game on a Snapdragon 8 Elite phone in FPGA capped at 120fps a few months back, it maxed out at around 8-9W of power draw. On the 8 Elite Gen 5 with the same settings, it capped out at 5-6W.

You can bring that even lower by reducing the resolution to 720p, which brings the power draw to 4-5W when capped at 120fps. That should also help keep the heat in check, which still appears to be the Achilles’ heel of the 8 Elite lineup.

As for the Pocket G2, I won’t say much about the handheld itself, since it’s physically identical to the Pocket 5. I wasn’t a big user of that device, but it’s one of the most popular devices on the market, so the design should speak for itself.

In terms of benchmarks, the Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 is a huge jump up from the Snapdragon 865 on the Pocket 5. As I suspected, it comes just 10-15% below the 8 Gen 2 in CPU performance, which you can see in the results below.

It’s also worth noting that the Pocket G2 uses LPDDR5x RAM, rather than the LPDDR4x found in the Pocket 5. However, it only comes in a single 8+128GB configuration, so you’re mostly going to be limited to playing games off a microSD card.

In terms of emulation performance, it comfortably ran everything up to and including the Switch. Turnip drivers worked right out of the box, and all of the games I tested exceeded the threshold of what I could consider playable (it’s a high bar).

Of course, that also means that it can run the full PS2, GameCube, and Wii catalogs, as well as many Wii U games. That’s pretty unheard of at the $200 range, and I think it sets a new bar for mid-range handhelds.

I didn’t spend much time testing Windows emulation on the Pocket G2, since I don’t think that’s its strong point. Windows games need to be installed on internal storage, and the paltry 128GB (39GB of which are taken up by Android itself) severely limits what you can install and play.

While I do think the Pocket G2 is a great handheld and probably the best value out there going into the holiday season, it runs the risk of being undercut by the Pocket 6 in January. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is still more powerful, and although that power won’t translate into much in everyday use, the 120Hz display is worth the upgrade for just $10.

My hope is that Retroid uses the G2 Gen 2 on the inevitable Pocket Mini revamp. In fact, I’d love to see more companies use these G-series chips. I loved the G1 Gen 2 in the Pocket Classic, and AYANEO has repeatedly shown that the G3 Gen 3 is one of the best options for gaming handhelds.

For now though, don’t upgrade to the Pocket G2 if you already have a Pocket 5, but do consider it if you’re upgrading to your first “big boy” handheld from a cheaper device.

Analogue 3D delay: A product issue or an FCC backlog?

Last month, I wrote about how Analogue sat idly by as its yearly announcement date came and went, but there may be an explanation that’s completely out of the company’s control.

Every device that emits radio frequencies must be registered with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) before it can be sold or distributed in the US. That includes devices with Bluetooth, like the Analogue 3D.

However, the FCC announced it would “suspend most operations” starting October 1 as a result of the ongoing government shutdown. More than a month later, it’s now the longest shutdown on record, and it may have serious consequences for new devices.

Everything from new smartphones to electronic toys needs FCC approval, and until operations resume, new filings are not getting processed. In other words, it’s very possible that the Analogue 3D is caught in limbo, unable to ship to pre-order customers in the United States until the shutdown ends.

It’s worth pointing out that applicants can request temporary confidentiality to prevent the applications from going public before a certain date. Analogue has routinely applied for this in the past. However, it typically only applies to certain documents that can give competitors an advantage, like technical drawings.

So can the Analogue 3D still hit its Q4 shipping target?

Using the company’s previous release, the Analogue Duo, as a guide, we can see that the timelines are starting to fall apart. The FCC applications for the Duo were submitted between October 5-12, 2023. The Duo would later ship on December 11, 2023, roughly two months later, although certain documents, like the User's Manual, were kept confidential on the FCC website until March 2024.

If Analogue followed the same procedure and submitted the Analogue 3D application in early October 2025, it wouldn’t be approved until the shutdown ends. That could very well mean that it misses its current Q4 shipping date, which has already been pushed four times over the past year.

Currently, there’s no entry for the new device in Analogue’s FCC filings page. It’s possible that the website hasn’t been updated, since the official FCC search tool redirects to the shutdown notice, or that the files are still kept confidential.

I reached out to Analogue for this story, but I didn’t receive a response. A representative from ModRetro also declined to comment on the registration status of the M64, which is also set to release in the coming months. It also doesn’t yet appear in the company’s filings.

Handheld highlights

🛒 The KONKR Pocket FIT Indiegogo campaign has finished, but you can now pre-order directly from the AYANEO website. Even better, it maintains the super early bird pricing for two more weeks. [AYANEO]

📱 Speaking of AYANEO, the company gave another little tease of its upcoming smartphone. It doesn’t show much apart from shoulder buttons, but it’s supposedly going to revive the sliding mechanic of the Xperia Play. Expect more on this one soon. [X]

💸 AYANEO had one more bit of news this week, and it’s our first real look at the Pocket VERT. The Game Boy-like handheld will have the same high-resolution LCD screen as the Analogue Pocket, but it might end up being too expensive for its own good. [X]

2️⃣ The ANBERNIC RG DS is now up for pre-order, with shipping expected to start in mid-December. It looks like a great DS device, although it probably won’t support RetroAchievements. [ANBERNIC]

👾 This isn’t really a handheld, but the Vectrex Mini Kickstarter campaign launched this week. The retro revival console has already smashed through its goal with more than three weeks remaining. [Kickstarter]

🤦‍♂️ Soulja Boy has released yet another knock-off gaming console, this time repackaging the Retroid Pocket Flip 2. Retroid has commented that it was unaware of the product, and it looks like it’s now been pulled from his website. In case I need to say it out loud, don’t buy anything from this shameless grifter. [Retrododo]

FPGA Focus

🕔 Two more tidbits of SuperStation One news this week, starting with yet another delay. A minor issue means another revision and a two-week delay for founders. Still, it’s great to see the transparency here, and they’re still on track to ship starting on November 16. [Reddit]

🆓 The good news is that the SuperStation One might ship with some free games. Taki Udon put out an open call to homebrew devs, looking to include some games or demos on a physical or digital demo disk included with the console. [Bluesky]

The Emulator Report

🍋 The Nintendo Switch emulator Citron dropped version 0.10.0 this week, its second major update in less than two weeks. It’s been making major strides in the past month or so, with a new focus on bringing in code from other projects (with proper attribution). [Git]

🕹️ MAME released its monthly update this week (or last week, technically), bringing it to version 0.282. As always, there’s a long list of compatibility improvements, so check the patch notes for the full details. [Patch notes]

🆕 A new emulation frontend called NeoStation launched in alpha this week. It offers a clean aesthetic and some great features like integrated cloud saves and RetroAchievements support. I’m looking forward to watching this one develop. [Website]

Retro archives

🪀 I have a bunch of great new ROM hacks for you this week, starting with an Earthbound hack that recreates Deltarune Chapter 1. I don’t think I need to say more, so go download it. [Itch]

🪞 The Legend of Zelda: Mirror of Worlds is a new ROM hack of the NES Zelda title that completely overhauls the game, adding new content and combining the post-game “Quest 2” gameplay with the main game. [ROMhacking.net]

🎮 Microsoft is still working to make its “This is an Xbox” campaign a reality by combining Xbox and Windows, and this week some Xbox 360 games started popping up as “coming soon” in certain regions of the Microsoft Store. Could this mean 360 games are coming to Windows soon? [X]

📊 Nintendo released a new Nintendo Store app on Android and iOS. It still opens a web browser for purchases, but the best feature is that you can see your play time in not just Switch games, but also Wii U and 3DS titles. [Play Store] [App Store]​

🎉 GameFAQs turned 30 years old this week (someone get me a cane), and to celebrate, a user interviewed 10 of the most prolific and well-received guide authors on the site. It’s a lengthy read, but it offers a fascinating glimpse into a community that had a profound influence on game culture. [GameFAQs]

That's all for this week! I'll be back next week, but in the meanwhile, I have to try to get this AYN Thor situation sorted...

Signing out,

Archivist Rowan