The RockChip Powered Q400 Gets Some Pre-Release Upgrades

The elusive Q400 is now available to pre-order! And according to a user in Discord, the Q400 has had some pre-release upgrades since we first saw it.

Firstly, the poor quality LCD in those early units has apparently been replaced with an IPS panel. The Q400 promotional material stated 800×480 for the previous panel, so hopefully that remains in the replacement. The poor viewing angles were the biggest complaint on the Chinese forums back in January, so maybe the manufacturer has taken note.

Secondly, the UI has been overhauled. It’s not clear whether this is an entirely new OS or just a re-skin, but it looks better than the earlier version. The promotional material states that the OS is built on Linux, and that can be interpretted in many ways, but there is word that it now runs RetroArch. The advertised RockChip RK3128 does support Linux, so there is a possibility for some community development too.

q400 operating system

The handheld is now available in teal and yellow. I would assume that the black version will also carry through to the final product, but we’ll have to wait and see.

小霸王Q400

This device has been seen in the wild for a while now, and it’s only just become available to pre-order at supbor.com. It’s unusual for a device like this to be around on the internet for so long without being available. It reminds me of the DigiRetro Boy, which also took months to show up.

Another new video shows the device running RetroArch, but it’s not confirmed whether it will ship with RetroArch yet. The OP of the video has also said that the device will be Open Source.

You can now pre-order the Q400 for $80 shipped worldwide. It’s great to see a move away from old Ingenic chips in to a new era of powerful ARM machines. This should be an interesting year!

Update May 1st 2020. The first video preview is up.

Get The Q400

11 thoughts on “The RockChip Powered Q400 Gets Some Pre-Release Upgrades”

  1. Taki Udon teased having a unit in a community post on his YouTube channel yesterday. Perhaps he can shed more light on the operating system.

    Reply
  2. Lurker here too, but constantly visit to see what the latest news is on handhelds. Ever since the Caanoo I’ve always been interested in non Nintendo/Sony ones.

    Reply
    • Indeed, although I will admit that i like’em all, from the most obscure off brand devices to the nintendo/sony stuff. Even though I’ve been lurknig & reading for years, I only got my first other brand device last Xmas, a GPD XD+, and am emberassed to admit I still haven’t installed CleanROM yet. But yeah, from ds, psp, vita, 3ds, to all the stuff covered here, I love em all. Guess thats why i love this blog, it’s one of very, very few places that keep me up to date on the hardware side of the scene!

      Reply
  3. This new iteration looks promising, thanks for keeping us up to speed on the development. Thanks as well for your continued hard work on maintaining your site/blog – it’s an excellent resource.

    Reply

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