Anbernic just released a surprise update to the RG406V, RG Cube, RG406H, and RG556 — and guess what? We’re living in the future now. These little handhelds just got Skynet in them. I mean… AI features. Yes, really.
The main attraction? Real-time translation. It works via a floating button you can tap to translate game text into your chosen language. You can even tweak the font size, color, and transparency — because why not make your translations look fancy while you’re at it?
Then there’s the AI chat thing — swipe in from the edge of the screen mid-game, and suddenly you’re talking to a robot. Ask it for help with a boss fight, or just vent about your cat ignoring you again. Nobody knows how smart it is yet, but it’s there, lurking, waiting for your deepest handheld thoughts.
Also included: AI image generation and photo enhancement. You know, in case you suddenly feel the urge to upscale vacation photos on your Anbernic. But seriously, why would you have your photos on a retro handheld? In fact, why would anyone use a retro gaming handheld for anything other than gaming? Well, if you’re that one person who does… congrats, you’re now covered.
All of this seems to be powered by DeepSeek and Qwen. You’ve probably heard of DeepSeek — it made waves recently for being a surprisingly good ChatGPT alternative at a fraction of the cost. As for Qwen? Yeah, I had to look it up too. Turns out it’s an actual AI model made by Alibaba. So, not a team of 700 engineers in a Discord server. Good to know.
Reactions to this AI update? Mixed. Some folks love the translation tool, especially for navigating Japanese menus. Others are wondering why Anbernic is messing around with AI while the cardinal snapping issue still exists. And a few unlucky souls claim the update bricked their devices. Yikes.
So yeah, the AI update is ambitious, weirdly impressive, and maybe a little unnecessary. But hey — if everything else is powered by AI these days, why not retro handhelds too? Right?