– 4.5-inch 120Hz AMOLED display with 4:3 aspect ratio and no full-front glass
– Qualcomm QCS8550 (IoT Snapdragon 8 Gen 2) with up to 12GB RAM
– Android 13 with DisplayPort, Wi-Fi 7, and 5,000mAh battery
– Starts at $229 (opaque) or $234 (translucent) for 8GB RAM model
– Pre-orders include free bumped back shell and tempered glass screen protector
Retroid Finally Drops the Pocket Nova After All Those Teasers
So after a bunch of teasers, Retroid has finally gone and announced the Pocket Nova as its newest Android-powered handheld. This is their first handheld this year, after a kinda rough start with price increases for the Pocket 6 and Pocket Classic, plus they discontinued the Pocket G2. It’s a big deal for fan’s of there stuff.
Screen Specs and Design Choices on the Nova
The Retroid Pocket Nova has a 4.5-inch 120Hz AMOLED display that has a 1280 × 960 resolution, giving it a 4:3 aspect ratio. Peak brightness hits 500 nits, with a 100,000:1 contrast ratio and a 150% SRGB color gamut. Unlike the Pocket 6, this new handheld dosn’t have glass covering the entire front, which is a design choice that many Retroid fans actually prefer a lot more.
Qualcomm Power and Memory Configurations
Powering the Pocket Nova is the Qualcomm QCS8550, which is basically the IoT version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Its paired with either 8GB or 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage. There’s a microSD card slot for adding more storage if you need it, wich is nice for extra roms.
Software and Connectivity Features
This new handheld runs Android 13 out the box with a promise of incremental software upgrades down the line. It also has stereo front-facing speakers, a audio jack, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, and a USB 3.1 Type-C port for both charging and data transfer. The USB port can also connect it to a external display, as it has DisplayPort support, with a maximum supported output resolution of 4K at 60Hz.
Controls, Cooling, and Battery Life
Retroid’s new handheld has its D-pad on top, symmetrial Hall Effect thumbsticks with RGB LED rings, and analog trigger buttons. It also includes a cooling fan and packs a 5,000mAh battery that charges at up to 27W. All these features fit inside a plastic body that measures 169.9 × 84.1 × 15.6 mm and weighs 255 grams, wich is fairly lightweight.
Pricing Breakdown for Every Model
The Retroid Pocket Nova has a starting price of $229 for the base model with 8GB of RAM, and goes up to $269 for the 12GB RAM version. These prices are for the Black, 16 Bit, and GC (Indigo) opaque colors. If you want translucent colors like Ice Blue, Crystal, Watermelon, or Clear Purple, they cost more at $234 for 8GB RAM and $274 for 12GB RAM.
Pre-Order Details and Free Extras
Retroid has not announced when pre-orders will actually begin yet, but they say that those who pre-order will recieve a free bumped back shell to replace the flat back that comes with the device by default. They will also throw in a tempered glass screen protector, wich is a nice little bonus for early buyers.
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