AISLPC RG52 Mini

About the AISLPC RG52 Mini

The RG52 Mini is a big-screen budget handheld with a 5.5-inch 720p IPS panel, an RK3562 chip and 2GB of RAM, running Linux. AISLPC isn't a manufacturer the way Anbernic or TrimUI are, it's a seller's own label, but this is a coherent, properly reviewed device rather than a mystery box. PSP runs comfortably at 2x, N64 and Dreamcast are playable with some core tweaking, and that's about the ceiling, so don't expect GameCube or PS2. It has analogue rear triggers and HDMI out, but no Bluetooth.

The flaws are the cheap kind. The fan grille is fake, Back and Home sit where you'd expect Start and Select, and reviewers found the small buttons a bit loose and toy-like. The preloaded games and built-in downloader are the usual grey-area extras, and the stock software isn't as ready to go as the box suggests, though dArkOS now supports it if you'd rather start clean. Units come in two hardware revisions that listings don't tell apart, and the reviewed ones had 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only. At around £60 to £70 it's a fair pick if you want a bigger screen and more PSP headroom than the cheaper clones; above £80 the TrimUI Smart Pro or an Anbernic is the safer buy.