Overall in terms of aesthetics the Playdate is very pleasing to look at, it’s portable, slim, sleek, modern and impressively lightweight. It also folds down and packs itself away so that it doesn’t catch on your pocket or bag when transporting it. The quality of the crank should also be mentioned, it’s made from small blocks of metal and in now way does it feel stiff, it has this very fluid motion and there’s literally zero tension to it when playing games making it incredibly easy to use.Īt first I was worried that I would snap it off, but it’s almost impossible to do so due to the sheer quality of the materials used on the crank, even the plastic tip spins with you, giving it a natural movement.
The crank is what grabs gamers attention, and it’s what allows you to jump into games using a very new movement, far different compared to the simply press of buttons that we are used to. Now let’s take a look at the crank, as it’s one of the most unique ways to play video games on a handheld. That’s pretty neat and something the Analogue Pocket won’t even do! The Crank? Sleep mode will show a clock constantly, and even then the Playdate can sit there for almost 2 weeks on one charge, showing you the time with an always on screen.
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The plus side of having this screen is that the battery life lasts for a very long time, we see around 7 hours of gameplay from one charge, but the magic is when it’s in sleep mode.
This feature alone is what makes the device so unique, but at the same time, it’s what holds me back from taking the Playdate out with me and at times it’s the feature that stops me from playing it in the evenings.Īll it needs is for me to think “oh i’m nowhere near a light source, or i’m on the wrong chair in my living room” for me to not bother playing on it.Īt times this does make it annoying to play on and I do wish that the screen was backlit instead, but that aside the screen when perfectly visible is incredibly crisp, with distinctive contrast making games and levels easy to understand. It’s not back lit, nor is it front lit, this 2.7” screen is a 1-bit black and white super reflective screen, similar to what you’ll see on an e-reader. When you turn it on, some of you may be surprised as to what screen the team has chosen. To go with the whole minimal look, there’s not that many buttons, only the essentials such as your DPAD, A, B, a sleep/wake button and finally your home button which gets you into the settings. It’s also incredibly thin coming in at just 9mm thin, which is similar to a pencil and far slimmer than many of the best retro handhelds on the market. In the hand it feels incredibly well made, the bright yellow shell alongside the pocket friendly design gives it this adorable, cute aesthetic that I can’t help but love, it’s as if it belongs in a Toy Story movie. My first impressions after unboxing it were joyful. That’s right, this handheld here is called the Playdate and it’s unique selling point is the fact that you use a crank to play the games installed on the device.Īs mentioned in my unboxing, it feels like this handheld has been in the works for years, I remember the day it was first revealed in an Edge magazine back in early 2019, now three years later it has landed on my desk to review. I never thought the day would come where I would be reviewing a handheld device that features a crank.