R36XX in purple · front view
Illustrative game scenes.
R36XX · built-in Wi-Fi
Your R36XX
A vertical body, a 3.5-inch 4:3 IPS screen and built-in 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. Choose the shell: the console comes with 64 GB on a microSD card.
Free delivery, taxes and customs duties included. Returns accepted within 30 days.
640 × 4804:3 IPS panel
On the back
Four triggers,
redesigned.
On the back, L1, L2, R1 and R2 sit in a row. Several testers describe them as more curved and quieter to click than on the original R36S.
The marking MODEL No.R36XX is printed on the back: it is what lets you recognise the model.
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Built-in Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi,
right inside the console.
The 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi module is soldered onto the board: no more dongle to plug in or adapter to hunt for, unlike the original R36S. Depending on the system and the emulator, it is used for updates, PortMaster, RetroAchievements and local network play.
No Bluetooth and no 5 GHz. When Wi-Fi is on, the OTG port can’t be used for anything else: a USB stick cuts off the Wi-Fi.
3.5-inch IPS screen
The 4:3 format
of home consoles.
The 3.5-inch IPS screen shows 640 × 480 pixels in 4:3 format, the same panel as on the R36S. It is the original format of most retro home consoles.
Game Boy and GBA handhelds don’t fit exactly: depending on the setting, the image is framed by bars or goes through scaling.
Physical controls
D-pad, ABXY, two sticks.
And four triggers.
The D-pad on one side, the A, B, X and Y buttons in a diamond on the other, with their coloured letters. Between them, the speaker grille and its slanted slots.
Two analogue sticks join the buttons. SELECT, START and FN complete the front; Power and Reset are on the left edge, the volume control on the right edge.
Battery life
3000 mAh.
USB-C charging.
The 3000 mAh Li-Po battery is marked on the back of the console. Battery life varies with brightness, volume and game: we don’t state a running time.
To charge, use the USB-C port marked DC with a standard 5 V adapter rated at least 1.5 A, not included. Avoid fast chargers.
Two microSD slots
The system on one side,
games on the other.
The TF1-OS slot, on the right edge, holds the ArkOS system. The TF2-GAME slot, on the left edge, takes your games. No internal storage: everything goes through the cards.
The console comes with 64 GB on a microSD card. Usable space after formatting is slightly lower, and the number of games depends on their size.
| Design | Vertical, same form factor as the R36S |
|---|---|
| Screen | 3.5-inch IPS · 640 × 480 (4:3) |
| Battery | 3000 mAh Li-Po |
| Processor | Rockchip RK3326, 4 Cortex-A35 cores up to 1.5 GHz |
| Graphics | Mali-G31 MP2 |
| RAM | 1 GB DDR3L |
| Storage options | 2 microSD slots · 64 GB |
| System | Open-source Linux with ArkOS |
| Connections | USB-C (charging), USB-C OTG, 3.5 mm headphone jack |
| Wireless | Built-in 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth |
| Sound | One speaker on the front |
| Video output | None, no HDMI or TV output |
| Touchscreen | No |
Compare the designs
Which R36 is for you?
Your questions answered
Before your
first game.
R36XX or R36S: what’s the difference?
Both share the same 3.5-inch IPS screen at 640 × 480, the same RK3326 chip, 1 GB of RAM and the same vertical form factor. The R36XX adds built-in 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, plus redesigned triggers and front. The original R36S needs an adapter and a Wi-Fi dongle to connect.
Does the R36XX have 5 GHz Wi-Fi or Bluetooth?
No: the built-in Wi-Fi works on 2.4 GHz only, and there is no Bluetooth, so no wireless controllers or earphones. For sound, the 3.5 mm headphone jack takes wired earphones. Check that your router broadcasts a 2.4 GHz network.
Can I plug in a controller or a USB stick?
In practice, no. When Wi-Fi is on, the USB-C OTG port can’t be used for anything else: a USB stick cuts off the Wi-Fi, and a USB controller is not recognised, according to published tests. To add games, use the TF2-GAME card.
What kinds of games can it emulate?
The RK3326 handles 8-bit and 16-bit consoles well, along with Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, arcade classics and many PlayStation games. On N64, PSP, Nintendo DS or Dreamcast, results depend on the game and settings. PS2 is not supported. Only play games you own the rights to.
Is there a 128 GB version?
Not on sale yet: its availability is still being confirmed with the supplier. The R36XX comes with 64 GB on a microSD card. Capacity changes the space available for your games, not performance.
Your next game starts here.
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