Powkiddy is an Asian company known for its portable consoles to enjoy classic games, and among its catalog of devices, we can now count the Powkiddy X70 , which is an improved version or successor to the POWKIDDY X45 . If that doesn’t tell you much, then know that we are dealing with a fairly cheap console (approximately 60 euros), which offers a basic emulation experience, but with the addition of a large 7-inch diagonal screen, which also offers the option to project the image on a TV or monitor thanks to the Micro-HDMI port.
Economical, slim and with a large screen
The Powkiddy X70 is a portable console that blatantly mimics the styling of the Nintendo Switch, a tactic often used by these Asian manufacturers. Obviously the build quality isn’t on par with Nintendo’s console, but for the price, that’s to be expected.
Despite the latter, we can still say that it has a slim and compact design , which at no time feels flimsy or cheaply made, but that is not a reason for praise, since it is plastic after all.
With that said, the console does feature analog sticks , directional pad, D-Pad, and R1 and L1 shoulder buttons, but unfortunately lacks R2 and L2 triggers , which is really only an issue when playing certain video games. the original PlayStation. Similarly, it has Select, Start, Home buttons and volume controls to interact with the console as such.
Changing the subject, it’s time to address the screen, which is a 7-inch IPS panel with a Sub-HD resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels . In this sense, the image quality it offers is decent and allows us to enjoy those classic games with better quality, but it is not perfect for that, in fact, the viewing angles leave something to be desired and the glass is somewhat refractive with the light.
It’s also worth noting that it’s not a touchpad , and to top it off, the snapping mode, which is supposed to resize the image to a modern aspect ratio that takes advantage of the entire screen, often ends up distorting the image disproportionately; therefore, the best option is to use the original aspect ratio, which of course implies black bars on the sides.
Games and emulation
The Powkiddy X70 is a fairly affordable console with fairly humble hardware, it has a quad-core processor and only 128MB of RAM, so don’t expect a perfect emulation experience or the ability to run heavy titles. Let’s remember that like many Chinese consoles in this class, the X70 is designed for 8 and 16-bit games from the 80s and 90s.
With that caveat out of the way, we can say that the console officially supports games from the Nintendo Game Boy (all versions), Sega Megadrive, NES, Neo Geo, SFC, Capcom Play System, and PlayStation 1 at most.
As we mentioned before, the emulation is not perfect. Most of the games that are included with the console work smoothly in terms of FPS, but suffer from stutters and sound distortions , which are more frequent than they should be, but not to the point of making the experience enjoyable; this really varies a lot from title to title and is more noticeable in games that are difficult to emulate.
Speaking of games, the console ships with a 32GB Micro-SD card which, according to the manufacturer, contains thousands of games to enjoy . However, the user interface for navigating between the games is somewhat brief and the search engine leaves something to be desired, since many games are not correctly titled/translated, so very often we will have to look at the cover image or start the game to know exactly what video games you have. Naturally, we can load more games onto the console using the Micro-SD card.
And if you’re wondering how much playtime the console can give us, Powkiddy mentions 6 or 8 hours of battery life, but that sounds too optimistic to be true.
Connectivity
At the level of connectivity, it is a very interesting console for its price. It may not have wireless connections, but what it does have is a USB-C, Micro-SD slot for memory cards, 3.5mm audio jack and two Micro-USB ports that can be used to connect two controls and play two players.
As if that were not enough, at the top we will find a Mini-HDMI output that basically allows us to project the image of the console on a TV or external monitor. Thanks to this combination of factors, it is totally possible to use the Powkiddy X70 as a desktop console, of course, as long as we have the controls, since the X70 does not include any peripherals.
PROS
- Large screen
- Includes Micro-SD card with thousands of games
- decently crafted
- Economic
- HDMI output
CONS
- Emulation performance leaves a bit to be desired
- The user interface and the complexity of searching for games
- Does not have R2 and L2 triggers
- The screen is not touch
- Does not include controls