Emerging manufacturer Yoniq has unveiled its portable retro console Duo, a spiritual clone of the Nintendo DS that aims to compete directly with the Anbernic RG DS. Its proposal includes a dual screen, a 4x-scaled stylus, and PantasOS, an open-source Linux distribution. However, the official images appear to be mockups or AI-generated renders, raising reasonable doubts about whether the hardware exists beyond paper. The retro market is once again attracting players with speculative projects.
PantasOS and dual screen: the theory sounds better than the practice 🎮
On a technical level, Yoniq promises a solid infrastructure with PantasOS, a Linux-based system that should offer compatibility with DS, GBA, and other classic system emulators. The 4x-scaled stylus is a curious detail, but without a functional prototype or real gameplay videos, those specifications are just digital smoke. The dual screen, the key feature, requires complex mechanical design that isn't solved with pretty renders. Developers know that community support is earned with downloadable binaries, not promises of future repositories. Until we see a unit in the hands of an independent reviewer, this is a PowerPoint presentation with more ambition than substance.
The 4x stylus: for signing blank checks, not for playing 🖊️
A stylus four times larger than the original sounds like a technical drawing tool, not an accessory for playing Brain Training. Maybe Yoniq thinks users have giant hands or that we play with boxing gloves. Next, they'll announce a leather case for the stylus and a neck strap. Meanwhile, the only demonstration of its existence is an image that could have come from a free image generator. If they want us to take them seriously, they should publish a video of them disassembling the console. Until then, this is more fiction than hardware, and the only real scaling up is that of our disappointment.