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popularRevOne | Staff posted Mar 17, 2026 08:45 PM
popularRevOne | Staff posted Mar 17, 2026 08:45 PM

$31.60 - MagicX Mini Zero 28 Compact Retro Gaming Handheld w/ A133P CPU, 2.8" Display @ AliExpress

$32

$50

36% off
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Ampown USA Local Store via AliExpressSpecs
  • Compact, pocketable design
  • 2.8" 640 x 480 IPS 4:3 display
  • Allwinner A133 Plus chipset (same as the TrimUI Smart Pro / Brick)
  • 2GB RAM
  • Dual micro SD card slots (1x 64GB card included)
  • Dual USB-C ports (1x charging / 1x OTG)
  • 2900mAh battery
  • 2.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi 4
  • Stereo speakers
  • Hall Effect joysticks
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Android 10
  • Review [youtu.be] (YouTube)
4.9 out of 5 ⭐ 's (7 customer reviews [aliexpress.us])

Ships from within the U.S. (no tariff charges) | Free returns within 15 days
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About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Ampown USA Local Store via AliExpressSpecs
  • Compact, pocketable design
  • 2.8" 640 x 480 IPS 4:3 display
  • Allwinner A133 Plus chipset (same as the TrimUI Smart Pro / Brick)
  • 2GB RAM
  • Dual micro SD card slots (1x 64GB card included)
  • Dual USB-C ports (1x charging / 1x OTG)
  • 2900mAh battery
  • 2.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi 4
  • Stereo speakers
  • Hall Effect joysticks
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Android 10
  • Review [youtu.be] (YouTube)
4.9 out of 5 ⭐ 's (7 customer reviews [aliexpress.us])

Ships from within the U.S. (no tariff charges) | Free returns within 15 days

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21 Comments

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Pro
Mar 18, 2026 01:16 AM
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WooHoo2You
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Mar 18, 2026 01:16 AM
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank WooHoo2You

I had one of these, my second favorite EDC out of about 12-15 other retro handhelds I've owned. Currently rocking the a XU20 V32 however just ordered another one of these yesterday because I miss the analogs so much. Going to have make these two android handhelds fight it out Wink

*FWIW, the lack of the touch screen on this device is never an issue 99.9% of the time you don't need to use anything but gamepad controls. The other 0.01% of the time you can just invoke the mouse with R3 and click "ok." Then you are done.

*assuming you are doing normal retro handheld type stuff.
3
Mar 18, 2026 01:35 PM
414 Posts
Joined Feb 2019
GreenTable7035Mar 18, 2026 01:35 PM
414 Posts
I've wanted to dabble into handhelds and this price is great and reviews seem strong…anyone have opinion if this is a good starter device/gateway drug? Or money spent better on another name?
Mar 18, 2026 01:54 PM
836 Posts
Joined Aug 2011
ZeeLobbyMar 18, 2026 01:54 PM
836 Posts
Quote from GreenTable7035 :
I've wanted to dabble into handhelds and this price is great and reviews seem strong…anyone have opinion if this is a good starter device/gateway drug? Or money spent better on another name?
Id personally go with one of the XX Anbernic devices instead. Linux handhelds tend to have more of the "just works" feel to them than android based stuff. I personally started with a miyoo mini
Mar 18, 2026 02:27 PM
9,905 Posts
Joined Sep 2007
Santa_ClausMar 18, 2026 02:27 PM
9,905 Posts
Quote from ZeeLobby :
Id personally go with one of the XX Anbernic devices instead. Linux handhelds tend to have more of the "just works" feel to them than android based stuff. I personally started with a miyoo mini
Which one?
Mar 18, 2026 02:56 PM
836 Posts
Joined Aug 2011
ZeeLobbyMar 18, 2026 02:56 PM
836 Posts
Quote from Santa_Claus :
Which one?
Really any of them. Depends what systems you want to focus on or what formfactor you like. Almost anything off this list: https://retrocatalog.com/companie...inux%22%7D
Mar 18, 2026 03:07 PM
81 Posts
Joined Jun 2018
FancyNarwhal7361Mar 18, 2026 03:07 PM
81 Posts
Owned a similar device, the screen size is just too small. Your phone screen is likely above 6", this is smaller than half of your phone screen, and worse quality. Make sure you are going to be okay with that.
Mar 18, 2026 03:59 PM
2,946 Posts
Joined Jul 2010
MasejoerMar 18, 2026 03:59 PM
2,946 Posts
Quote from WooHoo2You :
*FWIW, the lack of the touch screen on this device is never an issue 99.9% of the time you don't need to use anything but gamepad controls. The other 0.01% of the time you can just invoke the mouse with R3 and click "ok." Then you are done.
Plus it's a 2.8" screen - a touch screen is largely useless on my 3.5" device already.

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Mar 18, 2026 04:05 PM
371 Posts
Joined Apr 2006
bigbirdoncrackMar 18, 2026 04:05 PM
371 Posts
Quote from ZeeLobby :
Id personally go with one of the XX Anbernic devices instead. Linux handhelds tend to have more of the "just works" feel to them than android based stuff. I personally started with a miyoo mini
I 2nd this.
Linux ones to dip your toe in.
Pro
Mar 18, 2026 06:56 PM
9,543 Posts
Joined Mar 2018
WooHoo2You
Pro
Mar 18, 2026 06:56 PM
9,543 Posts
Quote from Masejoer :

Plus it's a 2.8" screen - a touch screen is largely useless on my 3.5" device already.
I'd agree there too. I think the complaints about the lack of a touch screen are more in theory and mostly from people who have never owned the device (and some from people who have moved to GammaOS, which is more geared towards a touch screen vs the proprietary OS on the Mini Zero 28). Using the stock OS I might have had to invoke the on screen mouse once or twice a week....at most. I will say Emulators outside of Retroarch can be a little less controller friendly so if you are doing a lot of Drastic, Mupen64, etc those might need more virtual mouse involvement when setting them up or changing button mappings.
Pro
Mar 18, 2026 07:01 PM
9,543 Posts
Joined Mar 2018
WooHoo2You
Pro
Mar 18, 2026 07:01 PM
9,543 Posts
Quote from FancyNarwhal7361 :
Owned a similar device, the screen size is just too small. Your phone screen is likely above 6", this is smaller than half of your phone screen, and worse quality. Make sure you are going to be okay with that.
Screen is small (for a retro handheld) but if you are emulating a 4:3 system on your phone, the game's actual display size would be very similar if you maintained the original screen size. So very comparable vs a 6" phone. Wide screen games would be an entirely different scenario but this wouldn't make a good 16:9 console to begin with.
Mar 18, 2026 10:50 PM
81 Posts
Joined Jun 2018
FancyNarwhal7361Mar 18, 2026 10:50 PM
81 Posts
Quote from WooHoo2You :
Screen is small (for a retro handheld) but if you are emulating a 4:3 system on your phone, the game's actual display size would be very similar if you maintained the original screen size. So very comparable vs a 6" phone. Wide screen games would be an entirely different scenario but this wouldn't make a good 16:9 console to begin with.
Here's the math: on a modern 19.5:9 phone (6" diagonal), running a 4:3 game in landscape gives you roughly a 3.3" × 2.5" game area — about 4.1" diagonal. That's almost 50% larger diagonally than the 2.8" handheld, and over twice the viewable area (8.1 sq in vs 3.8 sq in).
Mar 18, 2026 10:52 PM
2,946 Posts
Joined Jul 2010
MasejoerMar 18, 2026 10:52 PM
2,946 Posts
Quote from WooHoo2You :
Screen is small (for a retro handheld) but if you are emulating a 4:3 system on your phone, the game's actual display size would be very similar if you maintained the original screen size.
This one I don't agree with. I'm at exactly 3.5" 4:3 content on my phone's screen, held in portrait mode (with an 8bitdo micro mounted). VIVO X200 Ultra.

I still prefer 16-bit and older games on a dedicated handheld though, even the RG28XX. I'm torn between the RG28XX and RG34XXSP for ultra portable systems.

I did grab one of these Zero 28 systems though - keep what I like the most after a game or two. At these prices, they're easy to resell locally.
Pro
Mar 18, 2026 11:39 PM
9,543 Posts
Joined Mar 2018
WooHoo2You
Pro
Mar 18, 2026 11:39 PM
9,543 Posts
Quote from FancyNarwhal7361 :
Here's the math: on a modern 19.5:9 phone (6" diagonal), running a 4:3 game in landscape gives you roughly a 3.3" × 2.5" game area — about 4.1" diagonal. That's almost 50% larger diagonally than the 2.8" handheld, and over twice the viewable area (8.1 sq in vs 3.8 sq in).
You are forgetting many emulators don't take up the entire horizontal screen width (by default) so there goes much of your "viewable" area. So still "very similar" (my claim) regardless of your perfect world situation math.

This is a micro handheld....judge it accordingly.

P.S. Nice ChatGPT reply though. I remember when the completely unneeded, and adding nothing to the conversation ".....Um aCtUaLlY's" came from humans, not chatbots.... (the "—" gave you away....no human uses m-dashes nor has such perfect use of punctuation when pretending to look smart about video game handhelds Wink )
Last edited by WooHoo2You March 18, 2026 at 04:48 PM.
Pro
Mar 18, 2026 11:43 PM
9,543 Posts
Joined Mar 2018
WooHoo2You
Pro
Mar 18, 2026 11:43 PM
9,543 Posts
Quote from Masejoer :

This one I don't agree with. I'm at exactly 3.5" 4:3 content on my phone's screen, held in portrait mode (with an 8bitdo micro mounted). VIVO X200 Ultra.

I still prefer 16-bit and older games on a dedicated handheld though, even the RG28XX. I'm torn between the RG28XX and RG34XXSP for ultra portable systems.

I did grab one of these Zero 28 systems though - keep what I like the most after a game or two. At these prices, they're easy to resell locally.
I had a RG34XXSP, it was great but the 3:2 screen wasn't perfect for most systems outside of GBA. Honesty with the size of the bezel they could have made the entire device smaller or used a 4:3 but the 3:2 was clearly a design choice and I semi understand why based on the formfactor.

FWIW, this is my second Mini Zero 28, I sold the first one but missed it. Super portable and handled up to N64 without issue. I could play SW Podracer anywhere I wanted Wink I also have a lot of luck flipping these handhelds, I normally can get 20-30% more than paid on eBay (and after fees) when I am done enjoying them. Makes it a hobby that almost pays for itself.

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Yesterday 12:11 AM
2,946 Posts
Joined Jul 2010
MasejoerYesterday 12:11 AM
2,946 Posts
Quote from WooHoo2You :
I had a RG34XXSP, it was great but the 3:2 screen wasn't perfect for most systems outside of GBA. Honesty with the size of the bezel they could have made the entire device smaller or used a 4:3 but the 3:2 was clearly a design choice and I semi understand why based on the formfactor.

FWIW, this is my second Mini Zero 28, I sold the first one but missed it. Super portable and handled up to N64 without issue. I could play SW Podracer anywhere I wanted Wink I also have a lot of luck flipping these handhelds, I normally can get 20-30% more than paid on eBay (and after fees) when I am done enjoying them. Makes it a hobby that almost pays for itself.
Agreed on all of the above.

I hope to like the Zero 28 more than the 28xx. I doubt I'll get rid of my 34xxsp though, nor my gray pocket 4 pro which was my first dedicated, android handheld. Even after my Thor Max arrives, if ever...

Vita and N3DS were my go-to systems previously, but I think I will like the Thor more than all the rest combined, if it ever arrives, for a medium-to-large handheld.

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