10 best portable set-top boxes

Back in 1984, then a Soviet engineer developed a primitive game in which it was necessary to stack blocks of various shapes. Few would have thought that in just a couple of years this toy would become a real boom, and later turn into a legend. If only the feelings and opinions of nostalgic gamers were used in compiling our rating, Tetris would definitely come in first place. In terms of popularity, this portable set-top box easily bypasses the top models from Sony and Nintendo. The simplest game has won the hearts of millions of players around the world.

Tetris is produced today, and its content has not changed much. New visual components appear, but in essence it is still the same Tetris, a game in which you need to correctly assemble blocks of various shapes. A simple and at the same time the most difficult game, addictive for hundreds of hours. Even today, this console will be a great way to pass the time on the road. And you don't have to shell out fabulous sums for it. This is the best and by far the most popular game of all time and will exist for many generations to come.

A modern portable game console, if released by a popular brand, can easily compete in price with a stationary model and even a personal computer. Not every user is ready to spend so much money on entertaining himself in the subway or in a queue. Especially for such people, this model is suitable, the main advantage of which is accessibility. This is the cheapest game console that can not boast of advanced technical characteristics.

The simplest model on 8 bit architecture. 75 games known to gamers from Dandy are sewn into memory, and it is possible to install downloaded ROMs with your own hands. Nothing unusual, complicated or overly modern. A simple thing that can not only immerse you in the world of retro games, but allows you to pass the time in a queue or a trip. And while not standing as a full-fledged laptop. Suitable entertainment for children, who, judging by the reviews, are delighted with old games from eight-bit consoles.

It is difficult for modern children to understand why the older generation has a tear at the memory of the Game Boy portable game console. It was simply unattainable for the majority, and today there is an opportunity to plunge into childhood and for quite reasonable money. Before us is a reliable analogue of the legendary portable from the Japanese brand. All the curves of the last generation of this console are repeated. The differences affected only the external coloring, but you can choose a neutral model.

Also, you do not need to buy cartridges here. The system has 400 8-bit games. Later console architectures are not supported. You can only play games for Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Dandy.However, for a nostalgic gamer, this will be enough, and if some game is not in memory, then it can be added by simply downloading the appropriate rum to the flash card. For children, the model will also be interesting, and it is relatively inexpensive. You don’t have to constantly worry about the fact that the child will kill an expensive prefix with careless handling.

The popularity of the PSP haunts many manufacturers, Chinese companies simply could not stand aside and release something similar. Before us is an attempt to recreate the legendary portable set-top box from Sony, which was not crowned with success, but pleased with the price and availability. A console running on the popular Android operating system, and today it is the most popular platform with a thousand different games, programs, applications. They can be played on a tablet or phone, or through such a console.

But, do not expect much from the model. On board is just a dual-core processor with 512 megabytes of RAM. The architecture is rather weak by modern standards, and it simply cannot pull out top games. Basically, it's fun for kids. An adult gamer is unlikely to find something interesting in it. But it is relatively inexpensive, and judging by the reviews, the prefix is ​​\u200b\u200bmade with high quality and will last for many years. The best choice for parents whose child is constantly begging for a laptop from Sony, but will probably abandon it in a couple of months.

For children of the 90s, the Game Boy portable game console was the ultimate dream. A clumsy-looking item that doesn't support many games. In addition, with outdated graphics even for those times, voracious energy consumption and an unthinkable price. Today, Game Boy has sunk into oblivion, but its concept is alive and being implemented by some Chinese manufacturers. Before us is a portable, reminiscent of the legend with its appearance. But in fact, this is a modern console that supports several architectures from 8 to 64 bits at once.

On it you can play both the legendary games from Dendy or Sega, as well as more modern games already released on disk consoles. The price may seem high, but it should be understood that you do not need to buy games for this model. More than 2000 titles have already been sewn into the memory, and if desired, the list can be expanded with self-recorded ROMs on an SD card. A great opportunity to immerse yourself in nostalgia, not only in a portable version. The set-top box supports connection to a TV and monitor via a digital HDMI output. Also on board is a 4-core processor with a clock speed of 1.3 GHz, and 512 megabytes of RAM.

The DS line of game consoles from the global brand Nintendo made a lot of noise at the time. The prefix has become truly revolutionary and has won the hearts of millions of gamers around the world. Today it cannot be called the most modern or technologically advanced, but its popularity has not decreased. On the contrary, it is gaining momentum. The company not only continues to produce models that have already become classics, but also releases new ones.True, this is just a remastering of the old 3 DS. There is nothing new here. Yes, a WI-FI module has appeared, support for high-resolution games, but there is no question of any modern versions.

The price also leaves much to be desired. This set-top box can already be called retro, but it costs as a completely modern model, even more expensive than some of the market's flagships. However, the popularity of the set-top box among users remains traditionally at a high level, so it makes no sense for the company to reduce the cost. There are really a lot of fans, although new players often write in reviews that the console itself is not very convenient, and the screen could be better, but classics are classics, and this is what Nintendo plays on.

With the release of its flagship in 2017, Nintendo quickly realized that the market for portable game consoles was practically free. The competition is minimal, and exclusive games are a powerful argument for buying a rather expensive toy. But, for many, the price of the first Switch turned out to be too high, and literally a year later a light version was posted to the users' court. She differs from her older brother only in external data. The stuffing is completely the same.

Removable gamecons have disappeared, the quality of which there were some complaints in the reviews. The ability to turn the console into a stationary gaming station is gone. The prefix itself has become smaller in size, somewhat thinner. This form was also the result of a study of user feedback. The original model was too big and not very comfortable.Carrying such a device with you is not always reasonable, and it was too expensive. In fact, Nintendo Lite has become a cheaper analogue of the first Switch, and many players fell upon the company with anger that they had to buy an expensive console, after which the brand immediately released a cheaper analogue that was not inferior in technical characteristics.

In the 90s of the last century, there were only two players in the game console market, one of which was Sega. But several failed management decisions turned into a financial collapse and lost time, but the company did not disappear anywhere and exist to this day. Yes, she no longer has a palm in the market. Games are a thing of the past, but the craving for retro cannot be taken away from the people. Judging by the reviews, this handheld from Sega is popular not only among nostalgic gamers, but also among new players.

For older people, a portable set-top box from Sega is an opportunity to plunge into the world of childhood. At a time when consoles were 16 bit, which was already considered the height of perfection. In its latest handheld model, the company exploits its greatest hits: Sonic, Contra, and other of the brand's most famous games. True, now you do not need to change the cartridge. 500 toys are already sewn into the console, it is also possible to expand this list using an SD card and ROMs loaded on it.

The undisputed market leader in the gaming industry is Sony. Its consoles are often called the best and best-selling in the world.Today it is one of the two leading brands, which is also a strong player in the portable set-top box market. Back in 2004, the company presented its PSP project to users, a portable game console that is not inferior in power and performance to its stationary counterpart. Judging by the reviews, the people took the portable well, and Sony decided to develop this direction. The apogee for today is the E 100 model, which received a more powerful gaming processor and an expanded list of games.

A distinctive feature of consoles from Sony is the variety of games. Since the brand itself develops them and collaborates with the most popular studios, the best games come out on their consoles, and the portable version is no exception. The console allows you to enjoy a wide variety of game worlds and at an affordable price. At least compared to other popular handhelds on the market.

The Japanese giant Nintendo, which gave us the legendary NES at the end of the last century, better known in Russia and the CIS as Dendy, eventually lost the game console market. But the brand did not despair, but focused on portable games. The apogee was the Nintendo Switch, announced in 2016 and already in 2017 appeared on the market. The company carried out a colossal marketing program, sales exceeded even the wildest expectations.

Even today, it is often called the best portable game console, and these are not only reviews of ordinary gamers, but also professional reviewers.The main focus of the company has been on exclusive games released on its own or by collaborating developers. As a result, Nintendo received a lot of game projects that no longer exist on any platform. The list includes both remasters of old classics and completely new games. The console itself is very powerful. With bright graphics and other modern "bells and whistles". In addition, it can be used as a stationary version. Gamecons are detached from the screen, the set-top box is connected to the TV and you can play like on a regular joystick.