RETROFLAG GPi Case 2 for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with 32GB SD Card and SD Card Reader, Handheld Retro Game Case for Raspberry Pi CM4

Note: This review was written for the original GPi case, not the GPi Case 2. I'll say this ahead of everything else; if you don't have time, patience or technical knowledge you should avoid this product. You won't find anything but frustration if you pick it up with a deficiency of any of the three. This is very much a fiddly sort of project, being rather difficult to make perfect for your preferences without lots of hours of work. That said, it's even better than I was expecting from reviews I'd looked at before prior to purchasing. What you get here is a full shell to house a Raspberry Pi 0 with the obvious goal of turning it into a Gameboy styled gaming device. It isn't 1:1 on replication however, as the back has two very ergonomic L and R buttons and batteries may run out even faster than with the real thing. It also boots slower once you've got an OS on it, although I didn't find any real issue with that even after needing to reboot a few dozen times when messing around with it. I likely don't need to talk about what it's used for, because if you're here you already know and if you'd find enjoyment from what it can offer. I will caveat that performance can be spotty for certain systems without, again, lots of work switching settings. You may spend a good long while finding the sweet spot for a specific game you care about. The build quality is absolutely excellent and I can see it lasting quite a while. The screen is nice and, while obviously not 4:3, displays games just how I'd like them. It even has speakers which aren't all that bad if you wanted to play with the volume up. The headphone jack however is poor. I don't know how accurate it is, but from what I read on the issue the jack itself lacks shielding and gets a lot of interference from the device, which produces white noise. It's a shame too because most would probably play it that way. My issues with the device, putting the headphone jack aside, have only really stemmed from software, which is entirely my fault. I haven't ran into any hardware issues I've seen mentioned, like overheating due to the lack of cooling or manufacturing errors, so I can at least say in my case that the product itself has been flawless, but of course your mileage may vary. Overall, was it worth the sale price I paid? Definitely! Would I have the same reaction if I'd paid the full price? Maybe not, purely because of the limitation of a Raspberry Pi 0 (and the fact you'd have to buy one, I just had one lying around). A fun project nonetheless, but you should be acutely aware of the hardware powering it to know if it'd be worthwhile to you!

This wasn't a trivial thing to get working, but once I did it was excellent. Some of the other reviews are actually for an older model and this one has USB charging and much more power (With the CM4) which is great. I used it with the CM4 + Wifi and no MMC which seems to be the best configuration to go for. Ignore all the confusing advice about scripts etc, it's all done for you now if you simply go for the image that the Raspberry Pi imager already knows about. It's a more recent version of Recalbox than the one that comes on the SD card with this item and all the mods are already done.

Asides from the obvious differences from a real Gameboy, the vertical size is also a slight bit smaller. None of this detracts from the gaming experience though, as this little unit forms an absolutely fantastic entertainment unit! Pair it with a Pi Zero W, and a MicroSD loaded with Recalbox and your favourite games, and this delivers an amazing experience. I've had about 6-7 continuous hours of enjoyment with 3 rechargable AA batteries (2500mAh). My Mother who's a bit of a gaming prude tried this out and loved it too, looks like it's fake Gameboys all round for Christmas this diseased year!

Easy to assemble with no soldering etc; just a few screws. Raspberry Pi Zero W used in mine and good enough for a lot of old school emulation. Uses 3 AA batteries (use rechargeables) which give it a good solid weight and feel. This is retro after all. Sounds good and screen is very good for such a small unit. I’m running RetroPie in mine and use it more than my Switch. The classic look and feel just can’t be beat.

No other way to describe it! My only criticism is the lack of a charging circuit, I get that if this was included it could cause the lesser educated some burns. If you want to you can buy the boards for about £2.50 and do it yourself, add some rechargeable duracell and you have hours of fun without needing to replace the batteries after. Absolutely cracking device and worth every penny!

I bought this on a whim thinking it would be a fun and simple project for a spare Pi Zero. It delivered. It was simple to put together and the Recalbox image works very well and doesn't require any tweaks to get it working.

Easy to set up All you need is a Raspberry pi zero and a set of good batteries Comes with a USB lead so you can run it from the mains i run it off a phone battery pac Everything works amazing Come with a free bag too

Works very well, easy to assemble. Fast and efficient delivery. Best if you load it up yourself with software, some of the prebuilt images are a little bloated and can take a while to load up.