expired
BOYHOM R36S Retro Game Handheld (various)
$21
$40
47% off
+ Free S&Hat AliExpress
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+ Free S&Hat AliExpressDeal Details
BOYHOM Local Store via AliExpress has BOYHOM R36S Retro Game Handheld (various) on sale as listed below for $24.04 - $3 (apply promo code USDEAL3 or SSUS03 at checkout) = $21.04. Shipping is free.
Available:Specs:
- Note: Price may fluctuate slightly with currency exchange rates. You must be signed into your AliExpress account and have your address added to add items to your cart and place an order. You may have to manually type in the promo code to apply it at checkout. This item ships from a USA warehouse. For expedited customer service, please email [email protected].
Available:Specs:
- 3.5" 640x480 IPS non-touchscreen display (4:3 aspect ratio)
- Rockchip RK3326 Chipset
- 1GB RAM
- 2x micro SD card slots
- 2x USB-C ports
- Dual joysticks | 3.5mm headphone jack
- Single speaker (front-facing)
- 3500 mAh battery
- Linux-based operating system (ArkOS)
- Note: No built-in Wi-Fi / Bluetooth (can use a plug-in external Wi-Fi adapter via the USB-C port, if desired)
- Can emulate most retro systems/games up to PlayStation 1 and Game Boy Advance very well; plus a limited amount of Nintendo DS
Editor's Notes
Written by megakimcheelove | Staff- This offer is $3.46 lower (14% savings) than previous Front Page deal.
- Please see the original post for additional details & give the WIKI and additional forum comments a read for helpful discussion.
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
BOYHOM Local Store via AliExpress has BOYHOM R36S Retro Game Handheld (various) on sale as listed below for $24.04 - $3 (apply promo code USDEAL3 or SSUS03 at checkout) = $21.04. Shipping is free.
Available:Specs:
- Note: Price may fluctuate slightly with currency exchange rates. You must be signed into your AliExpress account and have your address added to add items to your cart and place an order. You may have to manually type in the promo code to apply it at checkout. This item ships from a USA warehouse. For expedited customer service, please email [email protected].
Available:Specs:
- 3.5" 640x480 IPS non-touchscreen display (4:3 aspect ratio)
- Rockchip RK3326 Chipset
- 1GB RAM
- 2x micro SD card slots
- 2x USB-C ports
- Dual joysticks | 3.5mm headphone jack
- Single speaker (front-facing)
- 3500 mAh battery
- Linux-based operating system (ArkOS)
- Note: No built-in Wi-Fi / Bluetooth (can use a plug-in external Wi-Fi adapter via the USB-C port, if desired)
- Can emulate most retro systems/games up to PlayStation 1 and Game Boy Advance very well; plus a limited amount of Nintendo DS
Editor's Notes
Written by megakimcheelove | Staff- This offer is $3.46 lower (14% savings) than previous Front Page deal.
- Please see the original post for additional details & give the WIKI and additional forum comments a read for helpful discussion.
Community Voting
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Community Reviews
The R36S is a budget retro handheld that stands out for packing a lot of games and decent playability for the price. It can come with thousands of ROMs, and adding your own games is straightforward once the folders are set up. The biggest recurring caution is the included microSD card, which is often described as unreliable and worth replacing or cloning right away. Charging also needs care, since low power USB A adapters are recommended and no charging brick is included. A solid low cost pick if you are willing to do a little setup.
Common Questions (5)
Yes. The included microSD cards are commonly described as low-quality and prone to failure, so cloning or imaging the stock card onto a name-brand replacement is the safest move. A good replacement also helps avoid losing the OS and ROMs later.
Yes, it is widely treated as strong value for a budget handheld, especially around the $20 to $25 range. The tradeoff is that it usually needs some tinkering, especially around the SD card and occasional button issues.
It comes with thousands of games, but the stock card often includes duplicates, foreign-language titles, and junk ROMs. The library is usable out of the box, but many people curate it or replace it with their own ROM set.
Copy ROMs into the correct SD card folders, then use the handheld's menu to refresh the game list. If you replace the card or flash custom firmware, you can also copy the BIOS files and ROMs from the stock card after flashing.
Yes. It does not include a charging brick, and a low-powered USB-A adapter around 5W, ideally 1A to 1.5A, is recommended. Fast chargers can fail to charge it properly and may increase the risk of bricking over time.
AI-generated summary based on comments from the community. Updated ago
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31 Comments
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Not that using a charger above 5W is a fire hazard; it's just that the higher power chargers can potentially increase the risk of eventually bricking the R36S or often, not even charge the device at all. You'll also want to charge using a USB-C (inserted into the R36S) to USB-A cable (inserted into your 5W charging adapter). A USB-A to USB-C cable is included in the box.
after trying a few: R36 clone, K36 (another clone), MM+, RG40XXV, CubeXX, etc., I prefer good custom firmware and the ability to run portmaster and stuff so $40-50 is about the floor for one of these devices. Also at least anbernic seems to be putting not-garbage SD cards in theirs these days.
Yep, Charge them low and slow - old school USB 😎
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I generally buy cheap Sandisk/Samsung/Lexar/Kioxia 64GB cards off eBay from sellers who have been around for over a year and sell bulk used cards, and have good reviews for those same cards. Don't buy cards from someone who has been around for less than a year! Always use a utility like H2testw to verify capacity, or simply copy a large amount of data to fill the drive, and copy that data back to verify it can be read correctly.
Anbernic's low-end (including the BatleXP sub brand) handhelds generally ship with good quality Kioxia cards, which are the exception. I've had great luck with those over the past year, so paying a premium for Anbernic's G350 vs the various R36S clones is justifed by the mSD card savings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLRLR8J
If you want to flash a custom firmware to the new card however, you can simply copy the bios files and roms you want off the stock card, over to the new card once you've flashed it.
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