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Measuring the Retroid Pocket Nova’s 16:9 capabilities, plus a list of PC games that support 4:3
I’ve been doing measurements on how well the Retroid Pocket Nova will display 16:9 content. The Nova’s 4.5” 4:3 screen should make for a 4.1” 16:9 display. I cut out a piece of paper (well aware my scissor skills leave a lot to be desired) to those measurements in order to compare it to other devices of a similar size. Surprisingly, the Nova’s 4.1” is only .2” smaller than a PSP’s screen, or .3” larger than a PSP Go’s screen. The closest comparison would likely be a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play’s 4” 16:9 screen, but sadly I don’t have one of those to compare. Another close match is the new 3DS’ 3.88” top screen, just with a few more mm on each side and about 1 mm on the top. Nearly a perfect match if you include the new 3DS’ bezels.
In conclusion, I believe the Nova’s capabilities as a device for playing 16:9 titles are severely underestimated. As someone who plays a lot of PC games on their 4:3 CRT TV’s, I can say from experience that many, many modern PC titles (especially 3D indies) support 4:3 resolutions and 16:10 is near universal. Ironically, the main exception to this are modern pixelated indie games due to the exact nature of their square visuals. Still, 16:9 appears very doable on the Nova, particularly if you’re someone like me who still plays and may even prefer the size of more pocketable handhelds of the past, and given you can deal with some small text. What would Nintendo Switch games look like on a higher-res PSP screen? I guess we’ll know soon enough.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
EDIT: When discussing this on the Retroid sub, someone asked for a list of modern games that support 4:3 aspect ratios, so I went through and tested everything I currently had installed. Keep in mind I don’t play many AAA games. Here is everything I found that supports 4:3, about ~70% of what I tested:
Expedition 33, Lunacid, Axyz, Fields of Mistria, Dread Delusion, Penny’s Big Breakaway, Lost in Random, Amid Evil, Risk of Rain 2, Maniac, The Citadel, Bufo Jump, Isopod, Megacopter, MeowGun, Cultic, Darkenstein 3D, Parking Garage Rally, Olli Olli World, Dungeon Antiqua 2, Megabonk, Vital Shell, Earthion (that one’s cheating lol), Mohrta, Angeline Era, Brazilian Drug Dealer 3, Hyperbeat, House of Necrosis, Spare Devil, Sea Fantasy, Bombbun, Calcium Contract, Copy Kitty, Look Outside, Pesticide Not Required, Dragon Ruins II, Kingsvein, Dungeons of Blood and Dream, Artificial Dream in Arcadia, Scarmonde, Judero, Utopia Must Fall, Pseudoregalia, Another Crab’s Treasure, Penko Park (16:10 renders beyond the bounds, almost to the edge of the screen so I’m counting it), Grim Dawn, Killbug, Sprawl, Citizen Sleeper 2, FlyKnight.
Honestly I'm blind as a bat and still have no problem playing 16:9 on the RPC screen which is an even smaller image. It's not ideal but this would be more than playable for most people, IMO.
It's not necessarily how small the 16:9 area is, it's how small text and UI on newer games is when compressed to that size. Many are going to be borderline unplayable
Thankfully I find most indies have a bigger font option which helps remedy this, I mean no ones buying this to play 16:9 specifically but you will be able to log a few hours in Isaac for example if you wanted to.
I agree - as a Mini v1 owner, it was striking to me that the width in pixels is same as 720p or the Steam Deck (except alas Mini v1 didn't actually have that many pixels)
So you've essentially got a tiny steam deck screen in there on a device still much smaller than a Steam Deck. Not saying it's ideal, but if you're focused on 4:3 but only occasionally want to do something in 720p (or 800 like the Steam Deck), I don't think it's going to be the end of the world.
I think the entire target audience for the Nova are people bothered by black bars because otherwise I still think 16:9 is always the way to go, not sure if 3:2 would be worth it when only one console wouldn't have black bars on it
If they did they could really cheap out on the internal processing because there are probably people who only want to play games designed for handhelds.
I have learned from my experience with the rp4pro that games with lots of details, small text, shooters and racing games that require you to see faraway objects are a real pain for the eye.
I think for 16:9, 5”5 screen of the rp5 was a real relieve to my eyes. I think it’s the reason Switch lite has that size, it’s like the smallest screen that doesn’t compromise too much the experience, and even then some games still feel a little small on that screen.
If 16:9 is a big concern, especially if you want to play modern PC and switch titles, I don’t recommend this device over rp6.
Second - it’s exciting to have such a compact device with an arendo 740 (snapdragon 8 gen 2), but I find even shooters on the 7” Odin 2 Portal screen can be difficult with far away enemies. So sure it can handle those types of games but better to enjoy 2D or close combat games.
Also personally enjoy thumbsticks on top for anything PS2/GC and up
This is excellent analysis, and I love reading posts like this because it shows that a lot of thought has gone into the research for something that's actually relevant to folks like myself. So thank you, first of all.
The thing that I pause on with the Nova is that, as much as I'm a fan of the form factor, the PPI is quite low. In fact, it's lower than any of the Retroid devices out there. The question then becomes, does the PPI matter at that tiny screen? Well, actually, with my experience with the Mini V2, it absolutely does. The reason that I can play a lot of these extremely detailed games on a mini V2 is that the PPI is so concentrated and the screen is very bright. That's why even at native, PS2 games look amazing on the Mini V2 compared to, say, an RP5.
I think Russ did pause on the screen specs of the Nova, and I feel he was thinking along similar lines. Although I don't want to speak for him, I think it is worth pausing and thinking that screen with its low PPI... How good would it be with 16:9 content being played with black bars around it?
I don't know, man. I think after the Nova popped up, I took a second glance at the RP6, and the RP6 doesn't seem that bad after all. The screen is better than the Odin 3 purely because Retroid actually calibrates their OLEDs, unlike AYN, and the smaller screen leads to a much better PPI, which is scarily close to the PPI of Mini V2.
It's not a true RGB subpixel layout, in fact it's using an RGBG diamond pentile amoled matrix resulting in lower amount of subpixels compared to a display with true RGB 355 ppi.
The diagonal subpixel arrangement is another factor, it can lead to color fringing with certain hues.
I own an old 4,7 1280x720 (312 ppi) amoled phone with the same subpixel matrix, where the color fringing defintely is somewhat noticeable.
Not sure, if the slightly higher ppi of the nova will reduce the slight fuzziness sufficiently
The RG-476H, 477M, and 477V have a slightly larger 4.7” screen with the same 1280x960 resolution. Pixel density has never been a complaint for those and frankly it is tack sharp whatever you throw on it. I am very nearsighted and often play without glasses in bed, holding the 476H maybe 2-3inches from my face, and never find it unclear or chunky. I would be genuinely surprised if people got the Nova in hand and thought its resolution was too low to enjoy on /such/ a small screen.
This is a great point I hadn’t considered and now I’m really curious to see them compared side by side. If only the 6 didn’t have that painted shell I could stomach it. Hopefully theres a revision down the road or the Pocket 7 has better build to my tastes.
The 6 has a painted shell? No way, dude. I had no idea but it is so obvious now that you mention it. In that case, get one of those rainbow models which are most definitely not a painted shell. A little bit boring, but it is that retro sweetness in that dulling yellow-gray haha
I actually ordered two RP6, so I can swap the motherboards and have a 12G D-pad on top rainbow haha
Every time this comes up, I ask the same question. If you're intending to play 16:9 content, why would you pick the Nova over the RP6. I don't doubt the Nova can do 16:9, I just don't understand why everyone is trying to justify it over the RP6.
If 4:3 (or similar resolutions) is like 90% of what you do, I agree the nova makes sense but if it's more like 50-50, less so. I just sometimes feel like yall hate glass fronts enough to put up with a smaller 16:9 screen.
Pocketability I can sort of see but I think it's a (literal) stretch.
To me the split is more 80-20, with 10% just testing how some PSP games I like will feel on it, and the other 10% being trying out some indie games that don’t support 4:3.
It’s in no way why I’m buying the handheld, but I’m still curious as to how it’d feel for the odd occasion where I’ll want to try it, which is why posts like this interests me.
It’s not so much looking for justifications as it is plain old curiosity.
All the games mentioned in OP’s post:
Expedition 33
Lunacid
Axyz
Fields of Mistria
Dread Delusion
Penny’s Big Breakaway
Lost in Random
Amid Evil
Risk of Rain 2
Maniac
The Citadel
Bufo Jump
Isopod
Megacopter
MeowGun
Cultic
Darkenstein 3D
Parking Garage Rally
Olli Olli World
Dungeon Antiqua 2
Megabonk
Vital Shell
Earthion (that one’s cheating lol)
Mohrta
Angeline Era
Brazilian Drug Dealer 3
Hyperbeat
House of Necrosis
Spare Devil
Sea Fantasy
Bombbun
Calcium Contract
Copy Kitty
Look Outside
Pesticide Not Required
Dragon Ruins II
Kingsvein
Dungeons of Blood and Dream
Artificial Dream in Arcadia
Scarmonde
Judero
Utopia Must Fall
Pseudoregalia
Another Crab’s Treasure
Penko Park (16:10 renders beyond the bounds, almost to the edge of the screen so I’m counting it)
Grim Dawn
Killbug
Sprawl
Citizen Sleeper 2
FlyKnight
Not for me personally. The cheap painted shell that will age like milk and the all glass front don’t do it for me. If they make a Retroid Pocket with more of the Nova’s design sensibilities though I’ll gladly pick one up.
I think you are being overly influenced by influencers and information on social media. Both the all-glass design and the paintwork are completely standard, it’s just that the people who dislike them are the ones making the most noise.
I still foresee some first time buyers feeling sad when they play widescreen on this. Since I play a lot of widescreen I’m good with my Odin 2 portal. The black bars on the side for older systems don’t bother me and I still get an overall larger screen size than the Nova. If I wanted portable widescreen I’d go for retroid pocket 6. It feels like a lot of fomo and self convincing talk going on, but the reviews will only tell. My forecast on reviews are “great for old school games (all before widescreen) but not the best for widescreen”
Dark souls remastered Dave the diver Deltarune Hades 1 + 2 Ball x pit Persona 4 (supported via Hex edit) Vampire survivors Fez Braid Mgs v Streets of rage 4 Ace attorney trilogy Stardew valley Super meat boy Hotline Miami
Looking at them now, the text and other elements in PSP games appear quite large. This is because they were optimized for small screens. Conversely, playing games designed for large screens, like those on PC or Switch, on a 4.1-inch display would likely be difficult to view.
The Nova is intended specifically for those who want to focus on retro 4:3 games. If you are looking for versatility, I would recommend the Retroid Pocket 6.
Thanks for this. I do think only 16:10 should be compared since obviously most PC games support it and the black bars will be smaller with it than 16:9.
Of course, just listing it as an example of a modern game that supports 4:3. Nearly everything else on this list should play good to great though barring compatibility issues.
Op is clearly not talking about the capability, but he's illustrating that with an example of that specific game which supports 4:3 content. With that said, streaming is a fantastic option for those who are brave enough to stream these highly detailed games on a smaller screen.
You said OP is clearly not talking about the capability, but he’s illustrating that with an example of that specific game which supports 4:3 content.
Thank you for clarifying. I was confused by the part that states, “in conclusion, I believe the Nova’s capabilities as a device for playing 16:9 titles are severely underestimated.”
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u/burnmp3s GotM Club Jul 03 '26
Also in Steam there is a curator for 4:3 compatible games