TRIMUI Brick Pro Review: The Best Budget Retro Handheld You Can Buy in 2026?

A sharp 324 PPI screen, Hall-effect joysticks, and swappable keycaps for under $100 — we put TRIMUI’s best-selling vertical handheld through its paces to see if it’s worth your money.

The retro handheld market is crowded, but the TRIMUI Brick Pro has quietly become one of the most talked-about vertical-form emulation handhelds of the year. It keeps the pocketable, Game Boy-inspired shape that made the original TRIMUI Brick popular, while upgrading the parts that actually matter: the joysticks, the screen coating, and the customization options.

At roughly $94.99, it sits right in the sweet spot between disposable budget handhelds and pricier flagship devices. We spent time going through the spec sheet, design details, and real-world use cases to see exactly who this device is for.

Design & Build: Compact, Familiar, Customizable

The Brick Pro follows the vertical “brick” silhouette that fans of the original Game Boy will instantly recognize. It measures a genuinely pocketable 130 × 86 × 22mm and weighs just 236g, making it one of the lightest devices in this category.

It’s available in three colorways — Black, White, and Retro Grey — all finished in an ABS+PC plastic shell that feels solid without adding bulk. The layout includes the full complement of 16 standard buttons: D-pad, ABXY face buttons, L1/R1/L2/R2 shoulder buttons, Menu/Select/Start/Home, and clickable L3/R3 thumbstick buttons.

Swappable Keycaps — A Genuinely Useful Extra

One detail that sets the Brick Pro apart from cheaper competitors is that it ships with three interchangeable sets of rear keycaps for the L1/L2 and R1/R2 shoulder buttons. If you find the stock caps too short, too tall, or not grippy enough during long sessions, you can simply swap them — no tools required.

Three keycap sets are included in the box, letting you fine-tune shoulder-button feel.

The device also features ambient RGB lighting: a top light bar, illuminated L1/L2/R1/R2 shoulder keys, F1/F2 indicator lights, and dual joystick light rings. It’s a small touch, but it gives the handheld a more premium feel than most devices at this price point.

Display: The Real Standout Feature

This is where the Brick Pro earns most of its reputation. It uses a 3.95-inch, fully laminated IPS panel running at 1024×768 and 60Hz, which works out to an impressively sharp 324 PPI.

324 PPI keeps small pixel-art text and UI elements crisp instead of blurry.

For context, most budget retro handhelds top out around 200–260 PPI with non-laminated screens that create a visible air gap and glare. Full lamination on the Brick Pro eliminates that gap, so the picture looks like it’s painted directly onto the glass — better contrast, less reflection, and no parallax when viewing off-angle.

Controls: Hall-Effect Joysticks Finally Trickle Down

The Brick Pro uses dual Hall Effect joysticks (JF15). Unlike traditional potentiometer sticks, Hall-effect sticks use magnetic sensors instead of physical contact, which means they resist the dreaded “stick drift” that plagues cheaper handhelds after a few months of use.

Combined with a responsive D-pad and well-spaced ABXY buttons, the control layout feels tuned for both classic 2D platformers and dual-stick 3D-era games like the original PS1 and N64 libraries.

Performance & Software

Under the hood, the Brick Pro runs on an Allwinner A133p chip clocked at 1.8GHz, paired with a PowerVR GE8300 GPU (up to 660MHz), 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage — expandable via TF card up to 1TB. It ships running Trim-UI Linux (kernel 4.9) with a clean, purpose-built OSD launcher.

This hardware profile is squarely aimed at classic emulation rather than modern gaming. It comfortably handles:

If you specifically want Android-based emulation (Dreamcast, PSP, light PS2) or app support, TRIMUI’s step-up model — the Brick Hammer Pro U — runs a Snapdragon G2 Gen 1 chipset on Android 15 instead, at roughly triple the price.

Battery, Charging & Connectivity

The 5000mAh cell is generous for a handheld this size, and the ability to output clean 1080p video to a TV or monitor via the USB-C port is a genuinely useful bonus for docked/couch play.

Full Specification Sheet

Pros & Cons

Who Should Buy the TRIMUI Brick Pro?

The Brick Pro makes the most sense for retro gaming fans who mainly play 8-bit through PS1-era libraries and want a handheld that feels good in hand for long sessions, without spending $200+. The included keycap sets and Hall-effect sticks are the kind of details that usually only show up on much pricier devices.

If your priority is Android app support, PSP/Dreamcast emulation, or heavier N64 titles, the TRIMUI Brick Hammer Pro U is the better (if pricier) pick. But for the core “classic console emulation in your pocket” use case, the Brick Pro is hard to beat under $100.