As kids, we all grew up with handheld consoles. From the Nintendo Gameboy to the Playstation Portable, the handheld console market has been struggling to compete with the phone market ever since you’ve been able to play games on a phone. However, some still prefer the controls of handheld over a touchscreen, and would love to play PC games on the go. That’s where the GPD Win shines.

The GPD Win is a fully functional Windows 10 computer that fits in your pocket. This is full desktop Windows 10 we’re talking about, so you can run most Windows programs on it! Not only that, but it has a full keyboard and gamepad built-in! This means that it’s the perfect mobile device for playing Roblox since Roblox has gamepad support now, and the gameplay experience is way better than on a phone. It’s the only mobile device currently that can run the Roblox desktop client! It’s also way better for chatting in-game than a phone since the keyboard isn’t virtual and doesn’t block the gameplay.

GPD stands for Gamepad Digital, the name of the small Chinese company in Shenzen that makes the device. This device was the result of a successful IndieGoGo campaign started last year. IndieGoGo is a place where people can show their ideas for products and people can donate to them to help the product become a real thing.

The GPD Win has an Intel Atom x7-Z8750 processor, with 4GB of RAM, which is pretty nice for its form factor. It has a 1280 by 720 resolution 5.5 inch touchscreen, with an integrated keyboard and gamepad. The keyboard feels ok, the keys are a bit tougher to press than some may like. The gamepad feels alright, however the A B X Y buttons are smushy instead of clicky, so it doesn’t feel quite as nice as a Nintendo, but that’s what you’d expect from a small Chinese technology company. They don’t feel like they’re about to break though, they feel decent. There are four buttons on the back for L1, L2, R1, and R2, and more keys on the right side of the keyboard for L3, R3, the power button, volume, and more. The control layout is pretty good for what it is, and feels comfortable enough in the hands.

However, there are some issues with the build quality. The speakers and fan are located right where your hand rests on the bottom, so depending on how you hold it, it may not get the best heating or sound. Also, there are reports of the battery having issues where if you charge it for too long it could overcharge! I’m not exactly sure what the issue is, but when I charge it to 100%, Windows still says it’s charging. So if you’re going to get this, be careful about the charging, and don’t leave it charging much after it’s fully charged.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this is the full desktop Windows 10 on a 5.5 inch screen. Things are really small, so you mostly want to be actually playing games, as navigating Windows on such a small screen gets difficult. The right joystick can also act as a mouse with the left and right shoulder buttons becoming the left and right mouse clicks, which is surprisingly intuitive, but it won’t be nearly as efficient as using a regular mouse and keyboard.

The GPD Win is surprisingly powerful for what it is. It can not only play most Roblox games, but it can even play some of the higher end Roblox games at decent framerates. It plays Jailbreak at around 25 FPS, and Phantom Forces at around 20. It runs most of the mid to low end Roblox games at 40 – 60 FPS! Note that on a screen this small, 20 FPS is way less noticeable.

There are some downsides to this device when it comes to playing Roblox, however. The battery life is generally pretty good, but Roblox is pretty draining on the battery life. I get around 2 to 3 hours of Roblox gameplay on the Roblox desktop app, and around 4 to 5 hours on the Roblox Windows 10 app, so I would recommend using the Windows 10 app if you want maximum battery life. The Roblox desktop app gets more FPS though, so it’s a tradeoff. However, this is the only phone sized device that can run the desktop Roblox client, which is really cool! Also, the device gets pretty hot after playing Roblox for 30 minutes, so you may want to take breaks to have it cool down.

As a developer, I was interested in knowing how Roblox Studio runs. You can open up Studio with a blank baseplate and test it just fine, but once you work on a game with a lot of parts and scripts, it gets very laggy, especially with multiplayer testing.

Overall, the GPD Win is an amazing device. It does have its quirks, but GPD is planning to release a second version sometime next year, with a better processor, slightly larger screen, and better heating. The new version promises to resolve most of the issues with this first version, but we’ll have to wait and see. For now, I think this device is amazing despite the minor issues, and I’ll be on the lookout for similar things.