TrimUI Smart Pro vs Anbernic RG405M: Which One Should You Buy?

This is one of those comparisons that looks straightforward on paper but gets surprisingly messy once you start digging in. The TrimUI Smart Pro and the Anbernic RG405M sit in a similar price neighborhood and target the same crowd — people who’ve outgrown the $35 budget handhelds but aren’t ready to drop $200+ on a Retroid Pocket. But these two devices couldn’t be more different in their philosophy.

The Smart Pro bets on Linux simplicity: big screen, no-nonsense setup, dead-simple UI. The RG405M bets on Android flexibility: full app ecosystem, better chipset, premium metal body. One costs nearly half the other. So what gives?

Let’s break it down.

The Quick Answer

• Choose the TrimUI Smart Pro if: you want the biggest screen and best value for retro gaming up to PS1, and you prefer a plug-and-play Linux experience over tinkering with Android.

• Choose the Anbernic RG405M if: you want to play PSP, N64, and some PS2 games well, and you value premium build quality and the Android app ecosystem.

• My Pick: Anbernic RG405M — The extra $55 buys you dramatically better emulation performance, a gorgeous metal build, and the flexibility of Android. If your gaming ambitions go beyond 16-bit, the RG405M is worth the stretch.

Side-by-Side Specs

The spec sheet tells two very different stories. The Smart Pro wins on screen size and price. The RG405M wins on literally everything else that matters for emulation. Let’s see how that plays out in practice.

Design and Build Quality

Pick up the TrimUI Smart Pro and you’ll think, “this is a nice $65 device.” Pick up the Anbernic RG405M and you’ll think, “this feels like it should cost more than $120.”

The Smart Pro has a comfortable landscape design with a surprisingly large 4.96-inch screen that dominates the front panel. The plastic body is functional — not cheap-feeling, but not premium either. It’s wider than you’d expect, and the button placement is generally comfortable for long sessions. The dual analog sticks are serviceable but won’t blow anyone away; they’re fine for the level of gaming this device targets.

The RG405M is one of those handhelds you pick up and immediately appreciate. The CNC aluminum body feels expensive. It has a satisfying heft without being heavy, and the edges are cleanly machined with no rough spots. The 4-inch screen is smaller than the Smart Pro’s, but the overall build communicates quality in a way that the Smart Pro simply can’t match. The dual stereo speakers are also a welcome upgrade over the Smart Pro’s mono output — it makes a real difference when you’re gaming without headphones.

Both devices have USB-C charging, MicroSD support, and a d-pad with face buttons. Neither will win awards for their d-pads, but both are adequate for retro gaming. The RG405M’s sticks feel slightly more precise, which matters if you plan to play N64 or PSP titles that rely on analog input.

Winner: Anbernic RG405M — The metal build, stereo speakers, and overall fit and finish are in a different league. You can feel where the extra money went.

Screen Quality

This category is genuinely interesting because both screens have legitimate advantages depending on what you prioritize.

The Smart Pro’s 4.96-inch, 720p IPS panel is big, bright, and sharp. At 1280x720, you’re getting a higher native resolution than most retro systems ever output, which means clean scaling for most retro content. The larger screen is immersive — retro games look great on a panel this size, and the 16:9 aspect ratio works well for GBA, SNES, and Genesis titles (with some letterboxing for 4:3 content).

The RG405M’s 4.0-inch, 640x480 IPS panel is smaller but has a secret weapon: that 4:3 native aspect ratio. Most retro consoles — NES, SNES, PS1, N64, Game Boy — output in 4:3 or close to it. The RG405M displays these games without any letterboxing or stretching. What you see is clean, pixel-perfect output at the aspect ratio the games were designed for. The screen is also sharp and vibrant, with good viewing angles and color reproduction.

Here’s the trade-off: the Smart Pro gives you a bigger, more immersive experience but requires letterboxing for 4:3 games. The RG405M gives you a more authentic, pixel-perfect experience that’s ideal for the retro purist. If you play a lot of GBA (which is natively 3:2) or widescreen PSP titles, the Smart Pro’s wider panel has an edge. If you mostly play NES through PS1, the RG405M’s 4:3 screen is arguably the better match.

Winner: Draw — Bigger vs. more accurate. It depends on whether you prioritize immersion or pixel-perfect authenticity.

Emulation Performance

This is where the conversation gets real, and where the RG405M justifies its price premium.

The TrimUI Smart Pro runs on the Allwinner A133P — a quad-core Cortex-A53 chip with 1GB of DDR3 RAM and a PowerVR GE8300 GPU. It’s a budget chip, and it performs like one. But within its comfort zone, it’s surprisingly solid.

Smart Pro strengths:

• 8-bit and 16-bit consoles (NES, SNES, Game Boy, GBA, Genesis) — flawless
• PS1 — great, most games run well with occasional frame drops on demanding titles
• N64 — playable for many titles but expect slowdowns on complex games like GoldenEye or Majora’s Mask
• Dreamcast — surprisingly decent for simpler titles, but don’t expect Sonic Adventure 2 to run perfectly

Smart Pro weaknesses:

• PSP — very limited, only the simplest 2D titles
• DS — playable but the screen layout is awkward on a widescreen display
• PS2 and GameCube — not happening

The Anbernic RG405M runs the Unisoc Tiger T618 — an octa-core chip with two Cortex-A75 performance cores, paired with 4GB of RAM and a Mali-G52 GPU. It’s in a completely different performance class.

RG405M strengths:

• Everything the Smart Pro does, but better — 8-bit through PS1 is flawless
• N64 — near-perfect, handles the full library with minimal issues
• Dreamcast — runs the vast majority of titles smoothly
• PSP — great performance, many titles run at 2x resolution
• DS — strong performance with the 4:3 screen being a better fit for DS layouts
• PS2 — good enough for lighter titles (simpler 2D games, some early 3D titles)
• GameCube — good for less demanding games, though heavy hitters will struggle

RG405M weaknesses:

• PS2 and GameCube performance is “good, not great” — you’ll hit limits on demanding titles
• No Wii emulation worth mentioning

The gap here is massive. The Smart Pro is a solid 8-bit through PS1 machine with limited reach beyond that. The RG405M handles two full console generations more with confidence. If you’ve been eyeing PSP games, N64 deep cuts, or want to dip into PS2 territory, the RG405M is the only real option here.

Winner: Anbernic RG405M — It’s not even close. The T618 chip delivers dramatically better emulation across the board. The Smart Pro’s A133P simply can’t compete above the PS1 tier.

Battery Life

The Smart Pro packs a 4,000 mAh battery and sips power thanks to its modest chipset. Expect roughly 6-7 hours on retro titles (NES through PS1) and 4-5 hours when pushing N64 or Dreamcast. The Linux OS is lightweight, which helps battery efficiency — there’s no background Android services eating into your runtime.

The RG405M carries a 3,500 mAh battery but drives a more powerful chip and a full Android OS. Real-world battery life lands around 4-5 hours on retro titles and 3-4 hours when running PSP or N64 games at full tilt. Android’s background processes can nibble at standby time too, so you’ll want to get in the habit of actually powering off the device rather than just sleeping it.

Neither device offers fast charging — both charge at 5-10W via USB-C. The Smart Pro’s combination of a bigger battery and less power-hungry silicon gives it a genuine edge for long gaming sessions.

Winner: TrimUI Smart Pro — The bigger battery and more efficient chipset deliver meaningfully longer play sessions. You’ll notice the difference on a long flight or road trip.

Software and Custom Firmware

This is where philosophy matters as much as specs.

The TrimUI Smart Pro runs a custom Linux-based OS that’s designed around retro gaming. The UI is clean, fast, and intuitive — select a system, pick a game, play. There’s no Android setup dance, no app store, no configuring individual emulators. The community has created excellent custom firmware options that add features like better scraping, theme support, and optimized emulator configurations. If you want a device that just works out of the box for retro gaming, the Linux approach is hard to beat.

The RG405M runs Android 12, which means you’re setting up RetroArch, standalone emulators, and frontends yourself. The upside is enormous flexibility — you can install any Android app, stream games via Moonlight, browse the web, and use the device as a general-purpose handheld. The downside is the setup investment. Plan on spending 30-60 minutes getting your emulators configured, downloading the right BIOS files, and setting up a nice frontend.

For the tinkerer, Android is a playground. For the person who just wants to play Super Mario World on their commute, Linux is bliss.

There’s one more factor: longevity. The Smart Pro’s custom firmware community is active and continues to optimize the platform. The RG405M’s Android version is unlikely to get OS updates from Anbernic, but the emulator apps themselves are regularly updated through the Play Store, so your gaming experience will continue improving even if the OS stays at Android 12.

Winner: TrimUI Smart Pro — For a retro-focused device, the Linux firmware experience is more polished, faster to set up, and better optimized. Android wins on flexibility, but most buyers in this price range want simplicity.

Value for Money

Let’s talk dollars per smile.

The TrimUI Smart Pro costs around $65. For that, you get a big-screen retro handheld that handles everything from NES through PS1 with confidence, has decent build quality, good battery life, and a dead-simple software experience. It is, by any reasonable measure, an incredible value. It’s only $10-15 more than the cheapest options in this space while being considerably better built and more capable.

The Anbernic RG405M costs around $120 — nearly double. And here’s the thing: it’s also an incredible value. That $120 buys you a metal body that feels premium, an Android ecosystem that extends the device’s usefulness, and emulation performance that stretches into PSP, N64, Dreamcast, and even touches PS2 and GameCube territory.

The question isn’t which device is a better value in isolation — they both are. The question is what $55 buys you. In this case, $55 buys you two additional console generations of playable emulation, a metal body, stereo speakers, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of built-in storage, and the full Android ecosystem. That’s a lot for $55.

If your gaming stops at PS1 and you want maximum screen size for the money, the Smart Pro is the smarter buy. If you have any ambition to play PSP, N64, or beyond, the RG405M’s premium is well-spent money.

Winner: TrimUI Smart Pro — Dollar for dollar, the Smart Pro delivers an absurd amount of retro gaming capability for $65. But the RG405M makes a strong case that $120 is the real sweet spot.

Score Summary

These scores are close because the devices serve different masters. The Smart Pro punches above its weight in value and usability; the RG405M punches above its weight in everything performance-related.

Final Verdict

Choose the TrimUI Smart Pro if you want a big-screen retro handheld for as little money as possible. You play NES, SNES, Game Boy, GBA, Genesis, and PS1 — and that’s your sweet spot. You don’t want to fuss with Android setup. You want to pick it up, turn it on, and play. The 4.96-inch screen is genuinely great for the price, the battery will last all day, and the community firmware support keeps getting better. At $65, it’s almost irresponsible not to recommend it.

Choose the Anbernic RG405M if you want a handheld that grows with you. You started with NES and SNES but now you’re eyeing PSP, Dreamcast, N64, maybe even some PS2. You appreciate good build quality — the metal body isn’t just cosmetic, it makes the device feel like something you’ll keep for years. You don’t mind spending 30 minutes setting up Android emulators because the payoff is a dramatically more capable device. At $120, the RG405M sits in a sweet spot where you’re getting real quality without flagship prices.

The bottom line: These two handhelds represent different rungs on the same ladder. The Smart Pro is the affordable entry point that does the retro basics extremely well. The RG405M is the step up that opens whole new libraries of games. If your budget allows it, the RG405M is the better buy — the jump in emulation performance and build quality justifies the extra cost. But if you’re on a tight budget or retro gaming to you means 8-bit and 16-bit, the Smart Pro absolutely deserves your consideration.

Where to Buy

TrimUI Smart Pro — ~$65 on Amazon

Anbernic RG405M — ~$120 on Amazon | Anbernic Direct

Recommended accessories:

• Samsung EVO Select MicroSD 128GB — Perfect for either device. The Smart Pro needs one for storage; the RG405M can use it to expand its built-in 128GB.
• Samsung EVO Select MicroSD 256GB — If you’re loading up PS2 ISOs on the RG405M, go bigger.

Last verified: March 2026