6 Things to Check Before You Buy a Retro Handheld (I Learned #1 the Hard Way)
Summary: My first retro handheld ended up in a drawer after a week. These are the six things I check now before I buy one, and how the Tekko One did on each of them.
Do the Games Even Start?
My first handheld promised thousands of games on the listing. A lot of them froze on a black screen or loaded with no sound, and after a week I stopped scrolling and put it in a drawer.
Tekko curates and tests its game library. The Tekko One comes loaded with 20,000+ games on the 64GB card or 40,000 on the 128GB, covering 8-bit and 16-bit consoles, 90s handhelds, arcade machines and early 3D systems.
A quad-core processor runs them, and most play smoothly the first time you load them. Tekko says a few of the heavier titles may need a small settings tweak. That matched what I found, and I like being told up front.
Can You Read the Tiny Text in an Old RPG Menu?
Old games were drawn for chunky TVs. Squeeze them onto a dim, washed-out panel and the menu text turns to mush, and you end up squinting at item names you used to know by heart.
The Tekko One has a crisp HD display. Pixel art keeps its hard edges, and I can read the dialogue boxes without pulling it up to my face.
Will the Battery Last a Whole Flight?
My old one died about an hour into a flight, and it charged from an odd cable I never had in my bag.
The Tekko One runs for up to 10 hours on a full charge. It charges over USB-C with the cable in the box and goes from empty to full in under 2 hours.
Tom W., Tekko customer: "Got this mainly for flights and hotel nights when I'm on work trips. Way better than scrolling."
How Long From Opening the Box to Your First Game?
Some handhelds arrive half finished. You download files, format a card and follow a forum guide, hoping it was the right one. Plenty of people who get one as a gift will never make it through that.
The Tekko One comes with a microSD card already loaded with the games. You switch it on and pick something. It doesn't need Wi-Fi or any downloads, and you can save and load your progress in any game whenever you like.
Sarah T., Tekko customer: "Got this for his 40th birthday because he's always talking about the games he played growing up. The look on his face was priceless."
Open the Box, Switch It On, Pick a Game
Loved 4.8 by 10,000+ happy customers. The games come preloaded, so the only choice left is 20,000+ games or 40,000.
MOST GAMES
Tekko One 128GB
40,000 games preloaded
Tekko One 64GB
20,000+ games preloaded
SHOP NOW1-Year Warranty • US-Based Support
What Happens If It Stops Working in Month Seven?
Read the warranty line on the listing before you pay. Some say 30 days and some say nothing at all, and if a button sticks in month seven, that's your problem.
Every Tekko order comes with a 1-Year Warranty. If it develops a fault or stops working, you contact Tekko within 365 days and they repair or replace it at no cost to you.
Will a Real Person Answer Your Email?
A one-year warranty means nothing if nobody answers the email. If the seller is just a listing with no address and an inbox nobody reads, you're stuck.
Tekko has real US-based support at help@thetekko.com, and it lists its address in American Fork, Utah.
Shipping: most orders leave one of Tekko's warehouses in the US, Canada, Australia or the UK within 1 to 3 business days, then arrive in 4 to 9 business days. The tracking number comes by email.
Check where you buy it, too: Tekko warns that replicas of the Tekko One are sold on other shops under its photos and name, and that they tend to lag, with dull screens, sticky buttons and batteries that die fast. The genuine one is sold on thetekko.com.
The 6-Point Checklist, With the Tekko One's Answers
What to check on any retro handheld:
- Games: tested to run, or only counted
- Screen: sharp enough for menu text
- Battery: hours on a charge, and which cable
- Setup: ready out of the box, or a weekend of forum guides
- Warranty: how long, and what it covers
- Support: a real person who answers
Tekko One:
- Games: 20,000+ (64GB) or 40,000 (128GB), curated and tested
- Screen: crisp HD display
- Battery: up to 10 hours, full again in under 2 hours over USB-C
- Setup: games preloaded, no Wi-Fi, save anytime
- Warranty: 1 year, repair or replace at no cost
- Support: US-based, help@thetekko.com
- Score: 6 out of 6
Get the Handheld That Passed All Six
Loved 4.8 by 10,000+ happy customers
1-YEAR WARRANTY
Ready to Play
Games preloaded, tracked shipping on every order
64GB or 128GB
20,000+ or 40,000 games preloaded
SHOP NOW1-Year Warranty • US-Based Support • Tracked Shipping
1-YEAR WARRANTY
20,000+ Games