A talented modder by the name of StonedEdge recently developed a DIY kit that allows you to make your very own Raspberry Pi powered emulation handheld in a very familiar and sleek package. While the outer shell resembles a Switch Lite, it’s anything but.
It’s called the Retro Lite, and StonedEdge meticulously designed this project from the ground up. The entire build process is very well thought out, and it comes together fairly easily. He even designed a custom battery for this kit!
Now it has to be stated that this kit is actually no longer available since during the time of it’s planned release, there was a massive shortage of RPi CM4’s causing a huge spike in their price. Since the whole project is based around the CM4, it did not seem viable for release at the time. So with the impending release of the all new CM5, StonedEdge decided to redesign RetroLite to accommodate the more power chip and also make improvements based on lesson’s learned from the RetroLite CM4, which he has since made the open-sourced!
Making some good progress on the Retro Lite CM5 board but still a long long way to go! I have tested the screen connector positioning in the housing with 3D prints and have decided to give the user an option to use eMMC for the OS so games can be stored on an SD card. pic.twitter.com/jn6cXhMjsI
— StonedEdge (@StonedEdgeMods) July 24, 2023
Some of these improvement will hopefully include updating the trigger mechanism for better feeling. The current designed left a lot to be desired especially L2 and R2 which didn’t always register button presses and sometime got stuck.
The video above gives us a good overview and installation process of the CM4 version and also what to expect for the updated CM5. Essentially, this device uses RetroPie with an overlay that resembles a Nintendo Switch UI. Overall, a very clean looking UI with emulation support up to the Sega Dreamcast, although your mileage may vary depending on the game. It can reliably emulate all the up to the original PlayStation.
So while this is currently unavailable, definitely be on the lookout for the upcoming CM5 version which I think will massively improve and already really great DIY emulation handheld.
