We have no idea how many handheld consoles Evercade actually sells, but they sure do produce a whole lot of them, with varying screen sizes and control layouts. This time around, the outfit just announced the Evercade Nexus, their biggest gaming handheld yet.
No, it’s not as big as the Steam Deck or any of the PC-based gaming handhelds out there that have screens upwards of seven inches. Instead, it’s just significantly larger than their usual retro gaming devices, which, typically, have displays well under five inches. Not only is it bigger, it’s supposedly than their past releases, too, with the outfit billing it as a “premium retro gaming console” that offers the best way to enjoy 32- and 64-bit titles in the Evercade ecosystem
The Evercade Nexus has a 5.9-inch IPS display, the biggest ever featured on the outfit’s gaming handhelds. It comes with 840 x 512 resolution, so it’s still aimed at older, lower-resolution games, although it does have a newer 16:9 aspect ratio, so we guess they’re looking to add some fifth-gen console-era games to their lineup. We’re talking about titles potentially from the PS1, the Sega Saturn, the N64, and such. The display also comes with 500 nits of brightness, which should be enough illumination to make this playable outdoors in broad daylight.
It has a symmetrical control layout with two thumbsticks, a D-pad, four action buttons, two shoulder buttons, and two triggers, along with system buttons below the display. Among the system buttons is a TATE button, so you can easily reorient the display for vertical games with a single press. We’re guessing you’re supposed to put the right side down when playing in that mode, since it has a thumbstick and a quartet of action buttons. It comes with a textured grip on the rear, too, ensuring it holds nicely in hand while you play.
The Evercade Nexus has dual front-facing stereo speakers to accompany the gameplay with dynamic sounds, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack and wireless headphone support, although there’s no word on the version of Bluetooth radio onboard. It also has Wi-Fi 6, which it can use for software updates. Maybe, if they start supporting online gameplay, that wireless connectivity can come in handy, too. For now, players are restricted to local multiplayer via the EverSync feature that lets two consoles play within wireless range play with each other, no internet connection needed. Only one console needs a cartridge in this mode, too, so your friend can join in without needing to buy a game.
This one comes with an RGB Nexus logo out front, by the way, if you’re one of those folks who like your toys with light-up multi-color LEDs, while the built-in 5,000 mAh offers five hours of gameplay between charges. Like other devices in the outfit’s lineup, the handheld is meant to use their licensed game cartridges. It comes with one double-packl cartridge, which bundles the original Banjo-Kazooie with its sequel Banjo-Tooie. According to Evercade, the console is compatible with all the 700-plus games available in their 80-plus cartridge collection, too, so you have a nice selection of titles to pick up.
The Evercade Nexus is now available for preorder, priced at $229.99.