The Retroid Pocket Mini has an unfixable problem that causes some graphical effects in emulated games to not work properly. According to RetroHandhelds, the Chinese company Retroid, which manufactures the Pocket Mini, announced on Discord that it will accept returns of the device, but only for a limited period from March 8 to 14 – and no more than 200 returns from owners living outside of China.
Earlier this week, the publication reported that Retroid has admitted that it cannot fix a problem that affects the way scan and pixel grid shaders, which are used to make classic emulated games look like they are playing on the CRT displays for which they were designed, are displayed on the screen. The effect can appear as “misaligned scan lines, uneven pixels, or a slightly distorted image,” writes RetroHandhelds.
In this morning’s announcement, Retroid says that conducting this return campaign is “a large and expensive undertaking” and that it expects “a large number of return requests unrelated to screen issues.” Retroid also mentions that it is asking customers to pay for the shipping of their returns, which it promises to reimburse. Finally, the company added that it will offer all Pocket Mini owners a “redeemable $10 coupon” for two of its upcoming laptops.
As Russ from the Retro Game Corps YouTube channel notes in a Reddit post asking for the company’s recommendations on how to handle the situation, Retroid is in a tough spot as a small company that now has to pay very expensive shipping on returns. But that doesn’t change the fact that many gamers who bought the $199 handheld specifically to play retro games are left with a device whose otherwise impressive display doesn’t do a good job of pulling off some of the oldest tricks in the emulation book.
