u/Can_I_Say_Shit

After years of seeing almost every retro emulation handheld have so much input lag the Mini Plus and Mini Flip are the first ones that looked quick and after discovering someone did testing and found it gets 48ms avg of input lag vs a real Gameboy DMG @ 33ms avg It’s almost as good as my PC setup.

I’m super sensitive to input lag and it was THE reason why I never bought any of these. I wished I knew the MM and MM+ w/ OnionOS advertised this more years ago. Kinda annoyed no one does these test to see how much input lag there is. I feel like it’s one of the most important aspect of gaming. If you can’t react in time to what’s going on on-screen then it ruins the experience, at least for me.

If you’re like me and looking for a super low input lag device on the cheap Miyoo + OnionOS devs knocked it out of the park.

Also the buttons on the Flip are *chefs kiss*! 💋

If you wish to see and know more about the Nova check out my post to learn and see more pics:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SBCGaming/s/NjNUCT63Rw

Edit 2: More pic in comment sections with more details. Feel free to ask me more questions!

Edit: pics of back in different angles to showcase how lighting changes how the shell looks.

Back looking more transparent:

https://ibb.co/84dMWbVr

Held at a different angle looking more frosted, same lighting:

https://ibb.co/tPwP3RMZ

Wow! I’m blown away so far in every aspect of just unboxing and booting this up.

Highlights so far:
- the weight is perfect! Doesn’t feel too heavy nor cheap & light. An excellent premium feel!
- the buttons are great! Yes they are less rounded then something like a Miyoo Mini BUT are not sharp. Think NES angles but slightly convex, my fingers glide just fine. It’s nothing like the sharpness on a PS Vita LCD version. Those bug tf out of me.
- the buttons are also big enough to where I don’t need them bigger, they feel juuuuust right. Also not loud, I love these buttons!
- triggers are good, I’m not an expert in these so can’t really say anything til I test them but so far no complaints. The tiny etched texture on the shoulder buttons are way smaller than pictures make it out to be and don’t feel rough, kinda smooth tbh but can keep your fingers in place. I dig them!
- D-Pad is so PS Vita like and that’s a HUGE PRO! I love my Vita’s D-Pad and this is coming from someone that grew up on NES & SNES in the late 80’s & early 90’s and prefers old school membranes. I’m gonna jump the gun and say this is one of the best D-Pads I’ve ever tried along with my favorites like OG SNES, 8Bitdo M30 2.4ghz (buttery smooth!), Xbox One “polygon” pad w/ micro switches (just wish it was as quiet as these) and the just acquired Gamesir Tegenaria Lite (it’s what the PS1 should of been).
- joysticks feels just right. I need to test them on games but so far just playing with them I’m happy. As long as you’re not playing with the tips of your thumbs then ergos won’t be much of an issue plus the edges grip your skin where you can adjust to them in the base of your thumbs. 👍🏻
- ergonomics are good to almost great. Too early to say if it’s perfect but no issues so far. The corners are wonderfully curvy. I have the spare back plate and will try it in the future but I’m liking the flat back. Gonna see if that suits me more vs more bumps.
- the speakers with how I hold them are not blocked. That was a big concern from online reviewers but that’s not my case. Even when I put my thumbs slightly over them they still sound clear. YMMV.
- the shell is WAY less frosted than what online pictures make it out to be. In the right light yes it can get frosty and with the bumpy extra back shell away from the device it is a frosty white but with the black parts on the Nova it’s less so. As you can see the pics I took are in my bedroom around sunset. With the screen on at night on my white bed comforter you can see through plenty enough and is more of a mixture of a light grey with white highlights. I’m so happy I sticked with this shell as the black boarder for the OLED really sells the premium look. The back is also less frosty and darker than expected. With my phone screen over it on certain angles it actually gets closer to the renders online. Love it!
- the OLED is the star of the show! I just put on some random YT HD video that show cases lots of games on full screen and man it just pops! This will be a shader enthusiast’s portable dream!!! The black borders makes the device disappear and gets you more immersed vs seeing the flashy shell.
- after staring at the OLED screen the frosted shell & clear buttons are starting to grow on me cause they disappear in the background. It’s where I’ll be okay with not swapping out the buttons cause I’m digging them more and more(but I’m gonna anyways for you guys cause I love ya). They are more grey than white and so far any regret about this crystal colorway is going away more and more.
- speakers sound okay to good. Not muffled but more “tame” and retro games sound alright. I can tell a good DSP will take this to another level but don’t worry they sound just fine how they are as I prefer them less in your face. Maybe up the bass a bit and clean it up some more then they will shine.
- the fan on quiet mode and smart (haven’t pushed it yet) is barely audible in a room with everything turned off (I mean it has to be dead silent) but since it’s summer and I always have some sort of fan on me it’s not there. If you have any sort of noise around you like from the device, TV, fan on low or even a window/door open outside you will not hear it. On Sport mode yes it sounds like a tiny jet preparing to take off but I mean you will have to like push this device hard to even need this setting and if it gets there then just put on headphones or up the speaker volume. Off or quiet is the way to go.
- the carrying case is fitted for both flat and rounded back shells so no worries there. Feel solid and so glad I got it so I can just toss my Nova where ever and be worry free of damaging it

Just make sure to use a high quality screw driver/bit before you unscrew it after reading others have trouble. Don’t have one? I’d suggest you invest in one for future handhelds, the Nova alone is worth the investment.

I will get back to you later on how this plays and will be testing the latency as well since I’m very sensitive to input lag and why I didn’t buy these retro handhelds in the past. It ruins the experience for me and I rather play them at home on my PC, Steam Deck and Mister vs being frustrated on-the-go. Update: I posted a comment below about playing and lowering the input lag and… yeah it rocks! Go check it out!

This is my first retro handhelds purchase but I actually bought a Miyoo Mini Plus and a Mini Flip right after from discovering they have one of THE lowest input lag compared to what has been tested out there. FYI a Gameboy DMG and Gameboy Advance have an avg of 33ms and the Miyoo test at an avg of 48ms! With run-ahead/preemptive frames on GB, NES and SNES feels so snappy to play! I hope I get these same numbers on the Nova, I will be thrilled if this matches the Miyoo’s numbers or maybe match the Steam Deck as that is snappy af!

Any ways feel free to ask me any questions about the device itself. I won’t be able to test games on it til maybe tomorrow around midnight.

So as I wait for my Nova to arrive (my first SBC handheld) I went down a rabbit hole after Russel complemented the Nova’s input latency. It’s the main factor as to why I followed this scene since 2020 but never bought one in hopes for a device to get as close as 1-2 frames from OG hardware.

After a lot of googling someone on YT did a test showing a MM+ w/ onion was hitting AVG 48ms response time compared to a console with CRT @ AVG 30-ish ms. Bought a MM+ and Mini Flip soon after and while systems like Arcade w/ Preemptive frames still lag a bit (feel it more with SHUMPS) consoles like Gameboy and NES are super snappy! So quick to the point where I know there’s still delay but it doesn’t distract from my enjoyment.

Does the Brick and its other variants have similar input lag or is it like the others handhelds hitting around 70-80ms response? I hope not cause everything about the brick (looking at the hammer as well) is amazing for its price. That screen with people’s custom Gameboy filters look like a dream!

Do I need a custom OS like MinUI or others out there?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: This is the video I was reffering to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoKONhRQf1E&t=804s

So I really couldn’t decide which combo looked the best and decided to just pay extra and get my favorites that I think would best complement the Crystal shell. I still wish they had an SNES color which would look so fire but that’s wishful thinking.

Taking one for the team and will try them all out with pictures from many angles and light sources so others can decide which ones to buy for themselves. I didn’t get any other crystal buttons since IMO didn’t look good from the renders with this shell and not my thing. The solid colors tho… oh just bliss!