Retroid Pocket Duo vs. AYN Thor: The Thor Is Overkill for DS and 3DS
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I just put my preorder in for the standard Retroid Pocket Duo, the second I can when it opens — $250 plus shipping, which should land comfortably under $300 delivered. And I want to be upfront about why, because I don't think this handheld is for everyone, and I don't think it's supposed to be.
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If you're trying to decide between the Pocket Duo and the AYN Thor, the real question isn't "which one is better." It's "what do you actually want a dual-screen handheld to do?"
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I'm Not a Dual-Screen Person — Except When I Am
I already own an AYN Odin 2 Portal, and it's one of my favorite handhelds, period. For PS2, GameCube, PSP, Android games, basically anything built around a single screen, that's my device. I don't want a second screen tagging along for the ride when the game has no use for it.
But DS and 3DS are the exception. Those games were built around two physical displays, and no amount of clever single-screen layout tricks — resizing one screen, swapping between them, stacking them — quite replicates the real thing. That's the one case where I actually want two screens staring back at me.
So when I look at the Pocket Duo, I'm not evaluating it as an all-purpose emulation machine. I'm evaluating it as a dedicated DS and 3DS box that happens to also run other stuff. That's a very different bar to clear than "does everything."
Why the Thor Makes Little Sense for Me
The AYN Thor is genuinely impressive on paper — Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in the Base, Pro, and Max models, a 6-inch 1080p 120Hz AMOLED main screen, a 3.92-inch secondary display, and a lot more horsepower than the Pocket Duo brings to the table. If you want one dual-screen handheld to rule them all — heavier Android emulation, GameCube, PS2, 3DS with resolution headroom to spare — that's the move. I get why people buy it.
I just don't need it. I already have a handheld that covers "everything else" duty. Paying a premium for a second screen I'd rarely use outside of DS and 3DS doesn't make sense for my collection. The Thor is the handheld you buy if you want one device to do it all. I don't want that. I want a DS and 3DS machine.
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The Duo Only Has to Clear One Bar
That's exactly the gap the Pocket Duo fills. Two 120Hz OLED panels — a 5.5-inch 16:9 screen up top and a 4.5-inch 4:3 screen below — for around $250. It's not trying to be my everything device, and I'm not asking it to be.
Here's the other reason this one's an easy yes for me: I recently sold my aging 3DS XL, and a big part of why was the screens. They'd never been great, and after years of use they'd only gotten worse. The Pocket Duo replacing that dying LCD setup with dual OLEDs is, by itself, enough to justify the upgrade — even before you factor in everything else the Duo can do that the original 3DS hardware never could. I already listed the 3DS on eBay, so this preorder is basically a direct replacement.
What About 3DS Performance?
This is the part I genuinely can't answer yet. The Thor's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 configurations have a real performance edge on paper, and that matters for 3DS emulation specifically, where higher internal resolutions and heavier upscaling can ask a lot of the hardware. Whether the Pocket Duo has enough headroom for aggressive 3DS settings is still an open question, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
I'll find out when it's in my hands. That's the real test for me: can a $250 handheld deliver the DS and 3DS experience I want without making me regret not spending more on a Thor?
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Will We Ever Get a 4DS?
Maybe, someday, who knows. But by the time Nintendo (hypothetically) doubles down on dual screens again, we'll probably be emulating PlayStation 6 games on something the size of a Pop-Tart. For right now, DS and 3DS are the entire reason I want a dual-screen handheld at all. So future proof? Don’t care, we don’t have anything above 3DS for dual screen use anyway.
The Bottom Line
Want one dual-screen handheld to do practically everything? Get the AYN Thor.
Already have a great single-screen handheld and just want DS and 3DS to feel like DS and 3DS again? That's the Pocket Duo.
I'm squarely in the second camp. My Odin 2 Portal has the rest of my library covered. At $250ish plus shipping, the standard Pocket Duo is cheap enough to buy for one job — being a proper DS and 3DS machine with screens that don't make me miss my old 3DS XL. Preorder's in (hopefully by the time this is published). I'll report back on 3DS performance the second it arrives.
