It’s fair to say that Anbernic and the likes (read: PowKiddy) often look at other brands for inspiration. This time around, Anbernic have gone a step ahead and announced a retro gaming handheld with support for GameBoy Advance cartridges. Meet the Anbernic K101 Plus!
The K101 Plus is yet another sub-$100 retro gaming handheld (we’ve lost count of those). What’s special here, you ask? Well, apart from support for GBA cartridges, nothing much, we suppose. The K101 Plus comes with a ‘dummy’ cartridge that you can use with a microSD card to load up your favourite ROMs (pretty clever that, Anbernic!) and we find that pretty cool.
Anbernic K101 Plus: Pictures, Specifications and Price
- 3-inch 320 x 480p LCD display
- TV out support
- Multiplayer support
- 800mAh battery (BL-5B)
- $69.99 price point
As for the specifications, the K101 Plus has a 3-inch 320 x 480 LCD screen with an 800mAh battery (it’s a Nokia compatible BL-5B). Processor details are still unknown, but on the compatibility front, Anbernic claims the K101 Plus supports the following emulators: GBC, GB, NES, SMS, GG and PCE.
Interestingly enough, Anbernic have also added multiplayer support. It seems like a feature many retro gaming enthusiasts like to have in a handheld, but it remains a question how popular the feature is in real life, post purchase. Regardless, at $69.99 on the official store, the K101 Plus seems like a decent one to add to the armoury. Do you plan to snag one? Let us know in the comments below!
I want to point a few things out:
– this handheld is nothing new, as it’s been available since 2020.
– it was not built nor designed by Anbernic. Anbernic have the bad habit of attaching their name to handhelds that have nothing to do with them. The actual name of this handheld is the Revo K101 Plus.
– it effectively sports a 320×240 resolution screen (despite what the marketing says), which truly isn’t ideal for displaying GBA games.
– it doesn’t read physical GB(C) cartridges; only GBA ones.
It does seem to be a decent piece of hardware otherwise.
Indeed—you are spot on. It seems like one of the very forgettable ones, what a pity.
P.S. – we are looking for retro console enthusiasts to grow the review team! Do get in touch if you are keen.