No more ad-filled Android games; this is why I gave my husband the gift of emulation

My husband and I don’t have a habit of gifting each other on birthdays or holidays. We did that for a bit the first year or two, then fell into a rhythm of choosing what we wanted together, be it valuable purchases, trips, or experiences. But a few months ago, as his birthday was approaching, I decided to break this unspoken rule and buy him an Android gaming handheld, the Retroid Pocket Classic ($149 at Amazon). Here’s why I made that choice and why it turned out to be the most perfect and fun gift I could’ve ever given him.

For a few years now, Marcel (we’ll call him by his name because “my husband” will get old fast) has been playing games on his Android phone when he has a few minutes to spare. I don’t know how exactly he finds these games on the Play Store — Top Charts? Recommendations? Search? By category? — but every few months, he has a new addiction. Often, though, these are lightweight, free-to-play, ad-filled games where he has to wait for lengthy, loud, and obnoxious ads to finish before he can play another level or have another try.

This behavior is what put me on the path to find him a dedicated gaming device where he could have proper physical controls and, potentially, some higher-quality games. I wanted something that he could carry on trips, long train rides, and easily move around the house, not a console that sits at home the entire time.

Plus, I was determined that this would be his gadget, first and foremost, not a shared device. Heaven knows we have enough of those, and any remotely tech-related gadget from our Home Assistant installation to our Synology NAS and smart home gear ends up being my responsibility because of my job. The other reason is that I’m not a gamer by choice. I have zero self-control and will get sucked up by any game I play, to the detriment of my sleep or work, so I often have absolutely zero games installed on my phone, and we don’t have any PlayStation, X-Box, or Nintendo Switch plugged into our TV. I’d be useless if we did.

Speaking of the Switch, the Switch 2 ($449.99 at GameStop) and the Steam Deck ($549 at Manufacturer site) were my first thoughts. I’m not versed in the handheld gaming market, but these are the two I’d most heard about and that my colleagues often rave about. But I couldn’t pick on my own, so I turned to Nick Fernandez, our go-to portable gaming gear guy for advice.

When I explained my thinking and my husband’s gaming habits, as well as his geeky developer background, to Nick, he immediately steered me away from my initial options — too expensive, too large to carry around as easily as I thought Marcel would want. Plus, given Marcel’s affinity for retro and old-school games, the option was looking us straight in the eye: an Android gaming handheld.

Nick explained the perks of these devices from affordability to versatility, but also their pitfalls from the need to understand emulation, find the right apps, find good ROMs (in our collection of ripped games, of course), and the near-constant urge to tinker and waste time making the experience better… Or worse.

Even though we cover emulation and gaming handhelds here a lot, it was clearly not a topic I personally fully understood because of my self-imposed no-gaming rule. So Nick’s suggestion sent me down a YouTube rabbit hole to try to understand the market, usability, and make an educated guess around whether an Android gaming handheld was really a good fit for Marcel, and which of the dozens of options would best fit him.

After watching a lot of videos from Retro Game Corps and TechDweeb, among others, and reading some of Nick’s reviews here, I was sure this was the path to take, and my choice landed on the Retroid Pocket Classic.

What drew me in was that it’s an affordable “starter” handheld, which is a perfect fit for this new experiment. No need to spend hundreds of dollars and realize he barely games on it, especially not when we have a mortgage to pay. Despite the low price, though, the Pocket Classic doesn’t skimp on specs. Good enough to run RetroArch, Dolphin, DuckStation, and other emulators, and all the NES, SNES, Game Boy, and PlayStation 1 games. Plus, the display’s aspect ratio is perfect for those kinds of games.

But if I’m being honest, it was that Game Boy Color-like design that instantly won me over. Like Marcel, I’m an ’80s kid, so I fully understand the nostalgia of losing hours lying on the couch or sitting in the backseat during a long road trip playing Tetris on a Game Boy. I knew Marcel would have one look at that display, that candy bar shape, those buttons, and laugh.

The final question was a matter of color, but it wasn’t even a contest. Yellow and blue — or PKM Yellow as it’s officially called — instantly won. I mean look at it…

When I gave him the box, Marcel opened it, looked at it, lifted his head, and smiled with a big questioning look. I guess he didn’t expect a gift to begin with, and definitely not this one. He knew my personal stance on gaming, and he probably never thought I’d be the one buying him a gaming handheld. But it also turns out that for the past months, he’d been reading articles about people investing in old Game Boy units and reviving them. He was curious about that, but he knew it wasn’t the time to get into it because we’d just bought a house and were furnishing it from scratch. Our entire budget was getting sucked by everything from couches to kitchen utensils; a gaming gadget could wait.

That’s what makes the best gifts, though, right? Surprise and accuracy. I’d hit the nail on the head with the Retroid Pocket Classic. It was so close to what he wanted, without us even discussing it. What he wasn’t familiar with, though, was the entire concept of emulation and Android gaming handhelds. His first reaction was to laugh at the nostalgic design and colors of the Pocket Classic, but he had no idea what this contraption was or did exactly.

I explained it briefly, plus I had prepared a few links and YouTube videos. And so, his cute and thoughtful gift became a multi-day homework. I wasn’t worried, he’s a nerdy developer, as I said, so he’d surely figure it all out.

A few days later, when we had a lull from all the busyness of our lives, he got started with his research and had his first emulator and game installed in a matter of hours. I haven’t asked questions or followed along, once again by choice. I can’t afford to get sucked in, but it’s mostly a matter of individuality. Android is my “thing” — I mean I work here, so… — and, as I said earlier on, everything Android eventually becomes my “thing” in our couple. This being an Android handheld is very risky business for our history and tendencies. But I want it to be and remain his “thing” — his gift, his hobby, his fun. I distanced myself; my work here was done.

I don’t think he’s delved into everything he can do with the Retroid Pocket Classic yet. We’ve been busy with the house, family coming over, and work, so he hasn’t had much time to tinker. But he does play games on it every now and then; he even packed it on our getaway to Athens last weekend and played some games during the flight. That was the exact purpose of this gift: an affordable, portable, gaming experience that’s not tainted with today’s gacha schemes and ads. The Retroid Pocket Classic is perfect for that.