After first teasing the Pocket Nova over a month ago, it didn’t take long for Retroid to reveal all about the new retro handheld – including its specifications, pricing, and other available accessories. Pre-orders went live on June 26/27 (depending on where you are in the world), priced from $229 to $274, depending on configuration, with up to 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Now, Retroid says the Pocket Nova will begin shipping tomorrow, July 28, starting with the Black colorway. The handheld is available in seven different colors in total. Retroid says it will ship different batches, cycling through the colors “every 1-2 days” in a set order, starting with Black and ending with Watermelon, with a dedicated assembly line to resolve backlog.

Pocket Nova units start shipping tomorrow, starting with Black models

A post on the official Retroid Discord server reveals how the shipping will work. It also reminds everyone that the pre-order bonus is still available until August 1, so this is your last call if you want a free bumped back shell and tempered glass screen protector. Shipping will rotate between Black, 16-bit, Crystal, GC (GameCube), Ice Blue, Clear Purple, and Watermelon colorways.

As you can see at the end of the post, Chris from Retroid suggests the company may have to consider pricing changes due to “industry-wide price hikes” from Qualcomm. A report from Bloomberg at the end of last week revealed Qualcomm’s plans to increase prices “by double digits” – the company is well known for its Snapdragon processors, but the Pocket Nova is fitted with a much lower-power Qualcomm Dragonwing QCS8550 chip.

Another upcoming device that may be affected by Qualcomm’s price hikes is Valve’s Steam Frame, due for release this summer. In any case, the Retroid Pocket Nova already looks like it may be the go-to 4:3 retro handheld on the market, fitted with a 4.5″ OLED display, 1280 x 960 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and a generous 5,000 mAh battery. It runs on Android 13.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.