---
title: 'You Don''t NEED an Expensive Console'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=YsMNjFOZVuk'
video_id: 'YsMNjFOZVuk'
date: 2026-06-25
duration_sec: 0
---

# You Don't NEED an Expensive Console

> Source: [You Don't NEED an Expensive Console](https://youtube.com/watch?v=YsMNjFOZVuk)

## Summary

In 2026, gaming hardware has become increasingly expensive, but affordable options under $250 still exist. This video explores several budget-friendly gaming devices, from emulators to streaming handhelds, highlighting their pros, cons, and hidden costs.

### Key Points

- **Gaming cost crisis** [0:00] — Gaming has gotten incredibly expensive in 2026, prompting a search for affordable gear under $250.
- **Nex Playground overview** [0:07] — A $240 device that outsold Xbox Series S/X on Amazon, designed for motion-controlled party games like Fruit Ninja, but requires a $90/year Play Pass subscription.
- **Trimui Brick emulator** [4:09] — An $80 handheld emulator with a 3.2-inch IPS display, metal back, and preloaded games. Runs PS1 and PSP games well, but limited by D-pad only.
- **AYN Thor dual-screen handheld** [6:34] — A $250+ Android device with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, dual OLED screens, active cooling, capable of PS3 emulation. Requires setup but offers high performance.
- **PlayStation Portal limitations** [9:58] — A $250 streaming-only handheld that requires a PS5 or $160/year PlayStation Plus Premium. Latency and Wi-Fi dependency are drawbacks.
- **GameSir X5 Lite phone controller** [12:04] — A $35 controller with Hall-effect sticks, USB-C passthrough, works on iOS and Android. Recommended as the most practical and affordable option.
- **Switch Lite and used market** [14:57] — Switch Lite now costs $230 new, but used units are ~$100. Still a great portable, though Switch 2 is imminent.
- **Evercade VS-R retro console** [16:47] — A $120 console using physical cartridges ($30 each). Emulation is decent but niche, aimed at retro enthusiasts.

## Transcript

- Gaming has gotten
incredibly expensive in 2026.
So today, we're trying some
actually affordable gaming
gear under 250 bucks.
Starting with this, the Nex Playground.
Now, this thing was all
over the place last year.
In fact, this actually outsold
the Xbox Series S and X,
if you can believe that, on
Amazon over the holiday season.
- No, I believe it.
- The pitch here
is that this is a device that is designed
to almost kinda bring back
those old school Wii vibes.
It is a lot of like,
you know, Fruit Ninja.
(item shatters)
- Oh, my god.
- Did my phone just fling
out of the back of my pocket?
- [Alex] (laughs) Yeah, it did.
- Now, we paid, I think,
exactly $250 for this, right?
- [Alex] We paid $240.
- [Austin] 240 bucks.
Now, this used to be like,
I think, $200 or less,
however they've seen price hikes.
- Ooh.
(keyboard clacks)
- Bust a Move, oh, I like it.
It's got a little camera sticking out.
Ooh, kind of dense, like
actually surprisingly heavy.
There was this whole thing
in like the mid 2010s
where everyone decided they wanted to make
a $100 little micro console,
and that that was gonna be the future.
Turned out that that was
not, in fact, the future.
I mean, it's so simple.
I assume, on the inside,
this thing is, basically,
just a glorified smartphone.
HDMI, power adapter, and
that's it, and the remote.
Now, this is not a controller.
It is a remote.
What the hell?
What a weird little like...
It's so long.
(symbols chime) Why is
there a little dingus on it?
Does it stay on the...
- [All] Oh.
- Hey.
- You can cover the camera
when you're not using it.
- Wow.
- It's actually like a nice,
delightful little piece of hardware,
but is it actually any fun to play?
So we've got it plugged in now.
So it's telling me to use the
cable provided in the box.
Here's some stuff our
lawyers want to tell you.
We don't share your stuff
without your permission.
I don't know if that's legally binding,
but, sure, let's go for it.
Avoid clothes with patterns, long sleeves,
or colors that match your walls.
This is the rare time I'm not wearing
some absurdly annoying looking shirt.
Cool, great.
(Alex laughs)
We'll see how robust it is.
I hope it's not that finicky,
'cause you remember when
you used Kinect and stuff,
Kinect was actually good.
It wasn't just a camera.
It actually had a number
of sensors and stuff.
Oh, my God, hi, it's me.
Punch the balls, punch the balls,
punch the balls, punch the balls.
So we have a starter pack
which has Mirrorama, Bluey,
Bowling, Starri, Home Run Heroes, Dora,
sort of get the idea this
might be meant for children.
Ah, here it goes.
So here's the thing that a lot of people
criticize the Nex Playground for.
It comes with a few games.
It also has the Play Pass.
This is, essentially, their
version of like, you know,
like Xbox Game Pass or whatever,
but you can't buy games.
You can only sign up for the Play Pass.
Is it a yearly subscription?
Like how does the Play Pass actually work?
- [Alex] That'll be $89 for a year
(Austin mumbles)
or $49 for three months.
- What the hell math is that?
So you're not only paying $240
for the actual system itself,
but another $90 a year just
to subscribe to the games.
Let's see what happens if
I don't buy those games,
and I just play the stuff that's included.
Let's do Fruit Ninja,
'cause that feels like
the obvious one, right?
Don't move my hands, don't move my hands.
Ah, I don't remember if Fruit
Ninja was ever on Kinect,
but I feel like I've done this
version in the arcade before.
Slice some stuff, ooh, ho-ho-ho.
- Oh.
- Oh, no.
That's actually not bad.
I want to try Starri.
Even though this is gonna
get us copyright claimed.
Rhythm games feel like what's, obviously,
you're meant to do with this, right?
Little DDR action, except
it uses my upper body.
Do I want to learn or
do I just want to listen
to Imagine Dragons?
Can I not do either?
Apologies friends
for the copyright music
we're about to play.
We're just gonna have to change
it to not copyright music.
Performance seems not great.
♪ I don't want to be the (bleep) ♪
Oh, dude, it's like
freaking lagging, what?
Wait, okay, I probably should
have done the tutorial.
(Alex laughs)
Oh, I just stepped over.
I see, I will freely
admit I am definitely not
the target audience for
something like this.
This is not like a
hardcore gaming console.
This is designed as a toy that
lives sort of under your TV,
that's, you know, for like party games
and that kind of thing.
I'll say, though, that the
pricing is a lot of money.
I don't know that I want to
pay $90 a year for Brainy Inc.
Maybe I do, but I'm not gonna find out.
Who wants to pay a
subscription for your games?
- Boo.
- Not this guy,
except Xbox Game Pass, sometimes,
but may I present to you the Trimui Brick.
I feel for various like
Temu and Amazon videos,
we've tried a lot of little emulators,
and I will tell you they've
gotten incredibly good
over the last few years.
This one was below $100, right, Alex?
- $80.
- $80.
Your thoughts on emulation aside
and how you source your ROMs?
I keep all my
games manually dumped.
So there's a 3.2 inch IPS display.
It has a metal back shell,
RGB lighting effect.
Dude, that's actually really small.
- Aw.
- I got huge hands,
for context.
Well, it's not gonna be
in this video properly.
This is the Analogue
Pocket, generally speaking,
my favorite sort of
Game Boy style emulator.
Look at how much bigger
it is than the Brick.
The reason this is not in the video,
it is technically $250.
It's just usually out of stock,
and it's been around for a few years.
Buttons, not bad.
Oh, actually, it's kinda...
(item shatters)
Oh, the Analogue Pocket died.
Oh, it does come with a micro SD card,
which I'm sure is pre-populated for me.
So we had some LEDs, and, oh, oh,
actually, wow, there's a lot here.
Whoo, wow, that actually
looks really bright.
So you've got classic games, Castlevania,
Bomberman, nostalgic games.
I'm not familiar with this interface.
What are we gonna search for to make sure,
of course, it's not on here?
How about Pokemon?
There's no Pokemon on here, good, glad.
- [Alex] So the processor's
a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53.
- So fairly weak, I've got
Crash Bandicoot right now.
Let's give it a try.
Wait, this is the Game Boy
Advance version of Crash?
(Alex laughs)
I mean the screen looks fantastic.
In fact, it's almost a
little too bright on camera.
Performance looks great. I mean
it shouldn't be a surprise,
I mean it's Game Boy Advance, right?
You have PPSSPP, okay.
Ooh, this might be much for the PSP.
Also, I'm realizing
that with only a D-pad,
I'm very limited in the kind
of games I do want to play.
I mean, it seems to run okay,
but that's not actually it.
Let's maybe try a PS1 game.
Ace Combat, let's go.
(bright music)
Oh, wow.
Speaker's actually not bad.
This plays really well.
In fact, I would almost say
it almost plays smoother than the PS1.
This thing is pretty damn
rad for like 80 bucks.
Buttons feel good, the screen's fantastic.
We're probably gonna want
to be a little bit limited
in the kind of games you play on this,
but, honestly, this might be
like my favorite little emulator
if we were gonna ignore the next one
I'm about to show you, at least.
(eyebrows blink)
May I present to you, my
friends, the AYN Thor.
- You're Thor?
- I am Thor.
The Thor is probably the most exciting.
I didn't even want to call
it an emulator handheld
because this is a full on Android device.
Now, we are cheating a little bit,
because this was actually featured
on Mystery Tech recently with Kyle.
You can go check that video out,
but it is meant to be much
more so like a kind of DS
or 3DS style dual screen emulator.
So from the outside, like
it doesn't feel amazing.
Like it's kinda like sort
of much cheapy plastic,
but it actually has active cooling,
and that's because this thing
actually has some real performance.
Remind me again, what's the spec?
'Cause this is a much
more powerful handheld.
- [Alex] This is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
- That's a flagship chip from
just a couple of years ago,
and one of the downsides with this one
is that, you know, the Brick came
preloaded, ready to go.
This is a little bit more
of an advanced device,
because it actually requires some setup.
So I believe the top display
is 16x9, if I remember right.
The bottom was 4x3,
but they're both OLED,
so you have almost reminiscent
of Switch style sticks.
So it kind of sunk it in
so it actually closes,
and because it's running Android,
you can actually play
games that are designed
just as Android apps and games, too.
Alex, what's the price
of a device like this?
- [Alex] So... (laughs)
There's like five
different versions of this.
The very, very cheapest is $250 now.
We bought kind of like the second
to highest tier.
- Yeah, that's the Pro.
- [Alex] And we bought
that for $250, basically.
- The lite version, I believe, just has
mostly just less performance, right?
That's the main thing that's missing.
- Yeah.
- I think that this is
powerful enough to run our RPCS3, right,
actually, like PS3 emulation?
- [Alex] I'm not gonna
say that it's gonna run
perfectly obviously.
- Why don't we play some, ah,
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, why not?
Almost all of these emulators
need a little bit of coaxing.
As you can see, I've loaded up my game,
and it's running on the bottom display.
(bright music)
There we go, okay, I did it.
- Yay.
(bright music)
- The speakers and especially
these OLEDs are phenomenal.
Dang, dude, that's
actually properly smooth.
I've never played
Colosseum or Gale of Darkness
on this before.
This feels like it's a puzzle.
I need to figure out how
to not die immediately.
He's gonna Rain Dance so I
need to Sunny Day, right?
Okay, come on, you got it, my boy.
Ah, there we go. (claps)
I am Pokemon master, and the
AYN Thor is frigging rad.
Is it cheating to
include this in the video
when I'm talking about $250 items?
Maybe, but I would say that
the lite version of this
does offer a lot of the same
sort of features at 250
bucks, and let's be honest,
by the time you watch this video,
half these items might have
already seen price hikes.
It's just what's happening at this point.
If you want a emulator that's gonna handle
sort of like lighter weight things,
like the Trimui Brick is
fantastic, two thumbs up.
If, however, you want to play stuff
that's a little bit more modern,
this does technically have the horsepower
to, at least, give it a fair shot.
On the emulator side, I'm feeling good,
but who wants to play old games?
I want to play new games.
- [Alex] How new?
- Well not that new.
We only have 250...
(people laugh)
Now, if you're looking for a name brand,
Sony or Xbox or Nintendo handheld,
your options, at this point, under $250
are almost non-existent.
However, there are a couple,
and one of which would be
the PlayStation Portal.
Now, this is a very nebulous
inclusion in this list,
because not only why this
used to be 200 bucks,
it's now $250,
it's not really a standalone game console.
So if you're unfamiliar of the Portal,
essentially, it looks like a handheld,
but there's no like
performance on the inside.
It is entirely reliant on streaming.
The primary use of the Portal
is to use it alongside your
PS5 so you can stream games
directly from your PS5 to the Portal.
The other use for the
Portal is cloud streaming,
which is a thing you
don't need a PS5 to use,
and I'll say that this is actually
a fantastic piece of hardware to use.
So it's, essentially, a DualSense
with a giant tablet stuck to the middle.
It sucks, 'cause this is like the price
that you used to pay to get like a PSP,
but at this point, that's not happening.
Let's play some Ghost of Yotei.
Oh, is this...
It wants me to buy it.
- Oh, oh, I remember.
- Is this the wrong account?
- [Alex] It's also frozen.
- That's fun.
PS5 it's connected to right here,
connected via ethernet
for the best results.
I think the PS5 fell asleep.
- [Alex] I...
- It's on, it's off!
The PS5 crashed, great, don't you...
(device beeps)
Yup, it's doing...
Look, it's doing an angry beep.
It is usually better
than this, but this is...
It's just bugging.
Assuming that this is a smooth experience,
which, normally, it's better than this,
help me out here, Alex.
The Portal itself costs now $250.
- Yes.
- The actual subscription,
you need the top tier of PlayStation Plus.
- [Alex] That is $20 a
month or $160 a year.
- The performance and the quality level
of it is pretty good, but you'll see,
I mean there's definitely latency, right?
Like, again, this is like
the best case scenario.
So right now, the PS5
is on my local network.
It's plugged in via ethernet,
and it is like playable,
but it's playable for the kind of game
that you would normally play at 30 FPS.
I mean I'm not dropping a lot of frames,
but it definitely does not feel...
Oh, yeah, now, we're dropping frames.
I just wish it wasn't so reliant on the,
honestly, not very good
Wi-Fi that's built in.
If you really like the idea of the Portal,
I'll be honest with you, you
can just take your DualSense,
pair it to your phone, and
use remote play that way.
It's almost like it's
exactly what I'm about
to suggest you to do, isn't it?
Well, may I present to
you the GameSir X5 Lite.
Now, full disclosure, while this video
is not sponsored by GameSir,
we have done some sponsorships
with GameSir in the past
over on This Is channel.
The idea with this, and, again,
you can really sub this out
for a bunch of other options,
is that your phone does,
I don't know, a whole lot.
It not only watches beautiful
Austin Evans videos,
emphasis on the beauty.
Your phone has, not only games
that you could play locally,
but, also, cloud streaming, and, usually,
your phone's gonna have a
more powerful Wi-Fi radio
than something like that's
built into the Portal,
and the real advantage here with this
is that this is one of
the more higher quality
handheld controller options
that are certainly not that expensive,
just right off the rip.
Alex, how much do we
pay for the GameSir X5?
- [Alex] This is, by far,
our cheapest item at $35.
- Now, this does say, technically,
is designed for Android,
however, my understanding,
and we're gonna find out
in a second, is it also works on iOS,
'cause it just shows up as a
sort of just mobile controller.
- Yeah.
- So it does have
Hall-Effect sticks,
pretty solid for 30 bucks.
You have a USB-C port on the
bottom for passthrough charging.
Now, this is not as full featured
as something like a Backbone,
which also has an aux
jack for 30, 35 bucks.
I'm not complaining too much about that.
Hmm, it feels decent,
maybe I wish there was
a little bit more travel on the button.
Wow, I think it's fricking big
as hell, but what I will do
is pair it with the ultimate
gaming phone, an IPhone Air.
- [Alex] You mean the thing
that overheats like crazy?
- No, ah, it gets a little warm.
So instead of like having
like a really like rigid sort of grip,
it's like this sort of these like rubber
little like kind of
fingers, and the USB port,
also, you can see, it tilts.
I like that a lot, because,
especially with like a
phone, like the iPhone Air,
which is a little bit thinner than normal,
the port doesn't go in
all the way straight,
'cause it's not expecting
it to be so flat.
That actually feels pretty
good, and the light lights up.
Why don't we play a little bit of Control,
shall we, my friends?
- [Alex] Wow, Control with the controller.
- If you have an iPhone, and
you have never played Control,
it is absolutely worth five bucks.
Look at this, man.
Look at how freaking good
Control looks, and you know what?
those Hall sticks do feel really smooth.
Obviously, if you're pixel peeping,
this is not quite as nice looking
as something like the PS4,
but I'll be honest, it
does not look bad at all.
So again, we've paid 35 bucks.
So don't expect it to, you know,
have a bunch of crazy
bells and whistles here,
but as far as a controller,
this sort of works smoothly
on iOS and Android.
I guess, let me be very honest with you.
We're looking at a lot of
different items for this video.
If you don't already own a
controller for your phone,
that should be your first stop,
and especially with the phone like this,
like it's still lightweight enough
that I can just kind
of just chill and game,
not to say that the
whole point of my video
is buy a controller for your phone,
but you should buy a
controller for your phone.
Hey, everyone, remember, five seconds ago,
when I gave some very
practical consumer advice?
Not to say that the
whole point of my video
is buy a controller for your phone,
but you should buy a
controller for your phone.
- [Alex] You know, quote,
unquote, practical.
- Okay, how about buying a Switch Lite?
- [Alex] Well, I mean,
that's really not practical.
- (laughs) I will say
that, for many years,
I was the world's biggest Switch Lite fan.
At 200 bucks, this was
the best and cheapest way
to get into the Switch and,
arguably, to gaming as a whole.
However, I will say, as much
as I love the Switch Lite,
it is about at the end of its rope.
This is a Switch Lite that,
if you want to buy today,
actually, now costs $230.
So this also saw price hike.
- [Alex] That's not how
it's supposed to work.
It was supposed.
- I know.
- To get cheaper.
- I know,
and there are still Switch 1 games
being released, but I think everyone
has very, very quickly decided
that the Switch 2 is the way forward.
The amount of games that
are actually coming out
for the original Switch,
I think, is gonna dwindle very fast.
Now, I'll say that if you're
willing to be a little bit
of an adventurous fella,
you can actually do a lot
of mods to a Switch Lite.
So we built one where we swapped it out
with an OLED display, which
made a huge difference
to the picture quality.
The other thing I would recommend
is to just buy a used one,
which is really what I think
almost everyone should do.
I mean, we're talking like 100 bucks?
I mean...
- Yeah,
somewhere in that region.
- If you just care about
playing it portably,
which, for me, a Switch is almost always
a portable, this sort of a console,
then the Switch Lite is still
my favorite way to play.
Like one of the things I
like about the Switch Lite,
you can toss this thing in a bag
and kind of forget it's there.
(Austin sighs)
Well, if you know what I'm
really gonna say, right?
I wish that they would
bring out a Switch 2 Lite.
The whole reason why
we're doing this video
is just, if you are a gamer,
you are getting squeezed,
but that's one of the things
that I do want to try to highlight
is that there are still options,
and there's some unique options out there
that I think a lot of people
might not normally consider,
but might be worth a look like...
You don't have to follow me down.
It sounds like, listen like...
- Oh, oh.
Okay, yeah.
- Surprise.
I'm gonna pop up.
- No, I got it.
I got it, like this.
- Yeah, yeah, yes.
the Evercade, the Evercade VS-R.
There's a couple of
versions of the Evercade.
It is a true throwback to
old school gaming devices.
So the Evercade actually
uses real game cartridges.
Now, the games you're
gonna play on the Evercade
are largely older titles.
From Amazon, we paid...
(Austin gulps)
(upbeat music)
How much for this like hmm...
- [Alex] We paid $120.
- I don't think it comes with any games,
and I know that when we...
We bought just one game
here, it was not cheap.
Wow, the controller's huge.
What the hell?
- Hey, man, nostalgia.
- You can tell it's definitely
designed for old school games
because it's literally just a
D-pad, ABXY, Start, and Select
and a center button, and then we have the,
oh, the Evercade itself.
Oh, that's kinda weird.
So it's got micro USB?
No, micro USB?
- [Alex] It was released in 2021, so yeah-
- Oh, it's old, I didn't realize
it's been around for that long, oh, okay.
You have two different cartridge slots.
I wonder, is that because you can just
kind of easily swap between games?
Let me get this thing set up,
and we'll see if spending 100
and something dollars plus games,
which might be a little bit
expensive, is actually worth it.
Okay, yes, I would love
to agree to the EULA.
I remember I used to do that every time
I plugged in my Super Nintendo.
(Alex laughs)
Apparently, this one's
coming in August of 2025.
(arcade music)
(keyboard clacks)
- [Alex] What day is today?
- What day is today?
Let's say I want to get Tomb
Raider: The Last Revelation.
How to buy?
So instead of downloading it,
you just buy the physical cartridge.
Can I download, oh, I can play Old Towers.
So you get a free monthly game with this,
no subscription needed?
- [Alex] Yes, now, I do believe that
it's like just the one game a month.
- Oh, that's weird, okay, cool, got it.
(arcade music)
Ah okay.
You know what this reminds me of?
The old puzzles in Pokemon,
like Gold and Silver.
Why don't we actually try,
'cause we did actually
purchase a physical cartridge,
the one and only Duke Nukem collection
that not only has Duke Nukem:
Time To Kill and Advance,
but Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes.
Ooh, oh, I like that cartridge, dude.
It reminds me of like
a chunky like Game boy
or like a really shrunk down
like Genesis cart or something.
Yes, perfect, so our games are here.
- [Adriana] The one that...
Okay.
- What game did you
think we're gonna play?
(Austin laughs)
What a (quacks) intro
for a video game.
(Austin laughs)
Yeah!
Is that Linus Tech Tips?
- Ha.
- Oh. (laughs)
Pshh, bro, go up.
Oh, we can go into...
That's water?
You know what, let's
play Duke Nukem Advance.
I think that seems like maybe
a game that actually
is designed for D-pad.
Wow, that looks balls, but you know what?
This is also not for me.
Let's try the last game here,
which is one I think I most want to try?
No okay well (quacks).
Why am I surprised, why am I surprised?
Oh, we can go into Bootylicious.
Let's go in to investigate.
(Alex laughs)
Oh no okay.
Sorry, I'll leave Bootylicious
alone for a minute.
Wah! (quacks)
What do we think about this?
'Cause the hardware
itself is actually decent.
I don't know if the
emulation is incredible.
I've never played some of these games
on the original hardware, but
I mean, it seems broadly okay,
but my bigger question is
how much are the games?
- [Alex] For the one that you're holding
in your hand right now, we paid $30.
- It's a lot of money.
It very much leans toward
the like I miss playing
the Amiga and Commodore 64 kind of gang,
and maybe not to call everyone
who likes those games old,
but if you had a Commodore 64, no offense,
but if you want this for the
nursing home, it's all yours.
I'm curious, what do you think
about the $250 and less
gaming gear that we found?
Is there anything that you
wish we would've included?
Let me know in the comments below.
Until next time, my friends,
I'm gonna go get acquainted
with Land of the Babes again.
(Alex laughs)
Once we cut the camera,
of course, I don't...
- Freaking creep.
(upbeat music)