With the Switch in such high demand, it's inevitable that opportunists will step in and exploit this demand with copycat clones designed to fool less clued-up buyers into thinking they're getting the real deal.
That's clearly the intention of the PowKiddy X2, the latest ARM-based handheld to come out of China. These consoles come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and are generally intended for running emulators, rather than bespoke games.
The X2 follows the Nintendo DS-inspired X18 released by the company last year, and packs an ARM Cortex-A7 quad-core processor that operates up to 1.3 GHz. The 7-inch IPS display has a 1024 x 600-pixel resolution and the whole thing is powered by a 3,000 mAh battery. There's HDMI-out functionality to connect the device to a TV (no sign of a dock, however) and a TF card reader allows you to boost the 32GB of storage.
Two USB ports are included, too – which is a good thing because, despite sporting that famous red and blue colour scheme, the X2 doesn't have removable Joy-Con-style controllers, so you have to connect up PlayStation-like pads when gaming on the TV. Amusingly, the promotional material describes this ability as:
EXTERNAL DOUBLE HANDLE: Three people fight. Meet a small friend and recall your childhood and enjoy a journey to the dark.
In terms of games, we feel sorry for any unsuspecting but well-intentioned parent who picks up one of these in the hope that it will allow their children to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons; instead, the X2 is focused on replicating the performance of vintage systems like the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, SNK Neo Geo, Capcom's CPS arcade system, NES / Famicom, SNES, Mega Drive and the Sony PlayStation.
If you're a glutton for punishment or just like collecting obscure gaming systems which look like other gaming systems, then head over to AliExpress, where you can pick up the X2 for $80.
Thanks to Jimmy_G_Buckets for the tip!
[source notebookcheck.net]
Comments 36
Definitely not the first of these sorts of inexpensive SoC emulator devices to “borrow” the aesthetics of the Switch, and certainly not the last. That said, I think this one has one of the better SoCs you’ll find in the sub-$100 range for these sorts of devices.
"Rocker"
Rocker!
@AcridSkull Rom&Roll baby
PowKiddy? Is Pow the sound you hear when it smashes against the wall when you're Kiddy finds out it's not a real Switch?
It's really hurting me to see Chinese peoples always make counterfeit things.
Counterfeit of Nintendo Switch, what the heck ?!
It's like telling "If you can get cheaper, why should you pay for the expensive one?"
That mentality is really insulting me.
I felt ashamed as a half Indonesian-Chinese people to see such things like that.
Again, these sort of devices aren't a new thing; they've been making knock-offs that only emulate NES games with varying quality, remember the SouljaGame?
And for that money it probably doesn't play anything above GBA games.
I remember these things, had a fake PS Vita variant that I got for €15 for fun and giggles, aside from cheap plastic and brand in front (PSPVITA, lol) it didn't even look like a Vita and more like a PSP.
In this day and age where a used DS or a PSP are easy to find for €30 or less, why would you bother with a crappy fake Switch for such games when both DS and especially PSP can do so much more when hacked (because these fake chinese consoles pretty much never got the games they use in a legal way anyhow)
And for games that were designed to use a nice pleasant d-pad, they use the individual button layout that only existed on the Switch to allow for single joycon use.
Nice One China...
One for Ashens to review!
@Anti-Matter nah G. Loving the Chinese factories putting out A class rep sneakers!
My sneaker collection is fire at the moment.
"EXTERNAL DOUBLE HANDLE: Three people fight. Meet a small friend and recall your childhood and enjoy a journey to the dark"
Memetic potential over 9000 here.
@FX102A Better than the pro controller's pad.
That is...something. Goodness me.
I wish the switch had rockers and operation keys
How do these consoles keep getting made with nintendo/sony games etc
I think the best part is: "Meet a small friend and recall your childhood and enjoy a journey to the dark"
Sorry but that translation can be interpreted very wrongly
I bet those 'rockers' don't drift.
Can’t believe this comes with an EXTERNAL DOUBLE HANDLE. Wait I can use both hands!?!? Sold!
I foresee this thing being memed to death.
I feel sorry for anyone who buys this expecting a normal Switch, however.
Is it better as GBA clone than Revo 101k Plus?
Another piracy box. There's hundreds of these floating around.
The only "clone" system I'm interested in right now is the Analogue Pocket! And that's not a piracy device, but something truly special. It the Game Boy 10 year old me could only have dreamed of!
Expect a CEASE and DECEASE Order from NIN Attorneys. How unsmart are these people be? This is a Direct Patent Violations along with CopyRight Protection Violations.
@Traykov540 that's actually not completely true. There are quite strict IP laws in China and especially Alibaba is fighting against counterfeit product's:
https://jingdaily.com/alibaba-fight-against-counterfeits-where-are-we-now/
In the end, they focus on clear rip-offs that even use the brand name. So this one here is clearly not a Switch, it doesn't put Nintendo's Name on it nor is it advertised as a Nintendo Switch. Therefore the damage done by this device is clearly much less then making a 100% rip off of a Luis viton back or something. I'm not trying to defend what's happening over there, but looking from where they came 10 years ago it's clearly a big step forward.
Another thing to mention is, that the demand for fake products outside of China is actually quite high. If you ever visited one of the fake markets in Beijing or Shanghai, you will notice that actually the foreigners make the biggest purchases. But when they are at home and see something like this on the news, they will say how terrible China and their fake industry is. Double Standard at it's best!
@Rayquaza2510 For the DS, a flashcart is needed and doesn't nearly have the horsepower of the PSP that can emulate a slew of emulators reasonably well.
On this edition of “Rerez Presents: Canadian Gaming Masochism with Shane Luis” (aka Worst Ever series)
https://youtu.be/t3LGlkTpVCQ
Come on Damo - you know as well as I that Powkiddy's systems are emulation devices (you've said so much in your article) and are not marketed in any way to deceive people about what they are buying. If their previous efforts are to be considered, the box this comes in will look nothing like a Switch box. They are as plain as they come.
Retroflag have done similar work with their homebrew Raspberry Pi system shells. I have a GPi Case which is a loving homage to the original DMG Gameboy. It's just that - a homage and nothing more. Nowhere are they advertised or passed off as the real deal.
These things are only sold online and via third party sites like Aliexpress and Banggood. I cant see any "unsuspecting parent" being deceived by what they are getting.
Anyone who is trying to raise the roof of controversy claiming Powkiddy are trying to pass this off as a legit Switch are just scraping the bottom of the barrel. I've been following this site for a while now and this is a bit of a low blow mate.
I can see you're genuine about the tech aspect, you've always been - but let's drop the BS about trying to bait people who don't know any better here. The homebrew emulation scene out of China is massive and their hardware just keeps getting better. Just take a look at the upcoming GPD Win MAX for example. Taki Udon was able to run Xbox 360 and PS3 games almost flawlessly using an eGPU. Its essentially a micro laptop with an 8 inch screen running the second last generation in the palm of your hand!
In the age of FGPA and MiSTeR, this is a technological era to be proud of and to celebrate. These handheld marvels are certainly no exception when it comes to preserving generations of gaming for ages to come and its disappointing to see someone of your technological knowledge and stature reduced to attempting to incite what is essentially schoolboy name calling to the uneducated.
I've called this site home for all my Nintendo news. The only other gaming site I bother with that has a shred of integrity is Eurogamer. Don't let the quality start to slip mate. NL is one of the last bastions of online gaming integrity for a reason. No one wants it to become another IGN.
Keep up the good work regardless.
So it is a Nintendo Switch that you play with a Playstation controller that has an Xbox button layout. This thing has gone full circle.
I hope they sue Nintendo for copyright infringement.
@SwitchForce "CEASE and DECEASE"
Haha, I don't think Nintendo will want them deceased.
@Bunkerneath Ooosh. I didn't even think of it like that until you mentioned.
@Rayquaza2510 It would have been cool for the PS1 games, had I not already had a hacked PsP with a bunch of Ps1 games on it.
So, playing this is as fun as a journey to the abyss? Cool. Sign me up.
@Traykov540 China, back at it again
@Danny429 Then you have no knowledge of Business 101 and how it operates. Glad your not part of their IP teams.
@SwitchForce decease refers to a person's death, or simply to die; it was a lighthearted attempt at a joke. I think you originally meant to say Cease and Desist.
@Traykov540 I guess I know what you mean. It's like this car from Beijing Automotive (BAIC) which clearly is copying the design from Mercedes G-Class : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAIC_BJ80
Beside the fact that these companies are even JV Partners, the design should be protected by IP Laws and give Mercedes the right to sue them or stop the sale, right?
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