this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2025
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I've actually been kind of interested in the Anbernic devices, especially because some of them apparently come with Linux. I've heard that the Linux distro they use is Batocera, which is just a frontend for emulators, but I have also heard that their devices do support normal distros like Ubuntu Touch. The only reason I haven't bought one is because they just didn't seem worth it at the time. It does seem like their hardware has improved since I last checked, so maybe I'll buy one at some point.
Well, yes and no, at least with the xx line.
They come with their own firmware from the factory but installing a custom firmware is super easy, just flash to sd card and add your games.
I use MuOS on mine but there's also KNULLI which is a fork of Batocera. I don't know how well they support normal distros like Ubuntu Touch.
Here's a good article about custom firmware on the xx line
https://retrogamecorps.com/2024/06/07/anbernic-rg35xx-family-starter-guide/
They're really fun devices, definitely recommend them ๐
Okay, I'll check that out. Thank you.
Also, I'll be fine if I can't use Ubuntu Touch, but I just don't want to be locked into exclusively relying on emulators. If what I read is wrong and there actually isn't a way to run Linux applications on them, then I might have to go with the android based ones.
I have also heard that some of them come with, or at least you can set them up to have a dual boot between android and Linux. So regardless of whether or not you can actually run Linux applications on them, I can still use android as a backup if needed, assuming that it's true.