The Anbernic RG35XX Plus is one of the most popular budget retrogaming handhelds. It runs an Allwinner H700 SoC (quad-core Cortex-A53), has a 3.5-inch IPS screen, built-in WiFi, and a 3300mAh battery. Street price is around $60.
REG Linux supports it fully. Here’s how to get it running.
What you need
- Anbernic RG35XX Plus
- A microSD card (16GB minimum, 32GB or larger recommended)
- A computer with an SD card reader
- balenaEtcher (free, works on Windows/Mac/Linux)
Step 1: Download the image
Go to the RG35XX Plus download page and grab the latest REG Linux image. The file will be a compressed .img.gz — you don’t need to decompress it, balenaEtcher handles that automatically.
If you want to verify what works on this device before flashing, check the compatibility matrix.
Step 2: Flash the SD card
- Insert your microSD card into your computer.
- Open balenaEtcher.
- Click Flash from file and select the downloaded
.img.gz. - Select your SD card as the target. Double-check you’ve picked the right drive.
- Click Flash and wait. This takes about 2 minutes.
When it’s done, eject the card safely.
Step 3: First boot
Insert the SD card into the RG35XX Plus and power it on. The first boot takes a bit longer than usual — REG Linux expands the data partition to fill the card and sets up initial configuration. Give it a minute or two.
You’ll boot into EmulationStation, the graphical frontend. From here you can browse systems, change settings, and launch games.
Step 4: Configure WiFi
WiFi lets you transfer ROMs over the network, scrape game metadata, and update the system.
- In EmulationStation, open System Settings (press Start).
- Go to Network Settings.
- Select your WiFi network and enter the password.
Once connected, note the IP address shown in the network settings. You’ll use it to transfer files.
Step 5: Add your ROMs
You have a few options:
Over the network (easiest):
The device exposes a Samba share on your local network. On your computer, open a file browser and navigate to \\<device-ip>\share (Windows) or smb://<device-ip>/share (Mac/Linux). Drop your ROM files into the appropriate system folders — snes for SNES games, gba for GBA, and so on.
Via SD card:
Power off the device, remove the SD card, and plug it into your computer. Copy ROMs to the roms directory on the data partition, organized by system folder.
Via USB: Plug a USB drive with ROMs into the device via the USB-C port with an OTG adapter. EmulationStation can browse external storage directly.
After adding ROMs, go back to EmulationStation and select Update Games Lists from the main menu (press Start). Your games will appear under their respective system entries.
Step 6: Play
Select a system, pick a game, and press A to launch. Controls are mapped automatically. The RG35XX Plus has a D-pad, dual analog sticks, ABXY buttons, L/R triggers, and Start/Select — more than enough for anything up through PS1.
Useful hotkeys:
- Select + Start — quit the current game and return to EmulationStation
- Select + R1 — save state
- Select + L1 — load state
- Select + X — open the RetroArch quick menu
What runs well on this device
The H700 handles 8-bit and 16-bit consoles without breaking a sweat. Here’s a rough guide:
- Full speed: NES, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, GBA, Neo Geo, CPS1/CPS2, PS1
- Mostly playable: N64 (many titles), PSP (2D games and lighter 3D), Dreamcast (some titles)
- Too demanding: Saturn, DS (3D titles), PSP (heavier 3D)
Check the compatibility matrix for detailed per-feature status reported by testers.
Troubleshooting
Black screen on boot: Make sure you flashed the correct image for the RG35XX Plus specifically, not the RG35XX (without Plus). They use different SoCs.
WiFi won’t connect: Try moving closer to your router. The H700’s WiFi antenna is small. If it still won’t connect, check that your network isn’t using WPA3-only mode.
No games showing up: Press Start, select Update Games Lists. Make sure ROM files are in the right system folders and in a supported format (.sfc for SNES, .gba for GBA, etc.).
For more help, join the REG Linux Discord or check the wiki.