In a surprising turn of events, Retroid has announced a new model for the Duo, the Retroid Pocket Duo Lite Plus, which uses the same shell and screens as the Lite model, but with the Dragonwing Q-7790 chipset of the regular Duo. On one hand, it’s great that this model exists and I can see it being a popular choice over the Lite, but on the other hand, it feels like a slap in the face for anyone who already had their Duo Lites start shipping.
This isn’t the first time Retroid has done something like this. Back during the Retroid Pocket 3 days, Retroid announced the RP 3 Plus shortly after customers started receiving their Retroid Pocket 3s, and it only cost $20 more than the base model. As you can imagine, people who bought the Retroid Pocket 3 were not happy at all, similar to how some people are probably feeling about this Duo Lite Plus announcement. At least Retroid is letting customers switch their orders over to the Duo Lite if their handheld hasn’t shipped yet, plus you can return the Duo Lite for a full refund and pay to upgrade to the Lite Plus if it has shipped. Still, this is a very crappy situation for customers who would’ve gotten the Lite Plus from the start, and I honestly thought Retroid learned from its mistake with the Retroid Pocket 3 since the company had gone quite a while without pulling a similar stunt.
As for the Duo Lite Plus itself, it’s basically the Lite model with the chipset and power of the base Duo. It’s not a bad model for people who are more interested in emulating 3DS games in a sleek form factor similar to the 3DS itself, people who don’t really care for OLED screens, and people who want to save $50.
The Retroid Pocket Duo Lite Plus can be purchased from its website for $219, and you can use the coupon code “LITEPLUS” to save $20 until October 31st. (Non-affiliate link.)
Retroid Pocket Duo Lite Plus
