Playing retro games on the smallest Android 13 phone

Chinese company Sugar Cubes has introduced Sugar Cubes X Jelly, a project that turns an Android smartphone into two different gaming laptops. While one serves more as a Unihertz Jelly Star controller, the other transforms the compact phone into a regular gaming handheld.

Last month, gaming laptop newcomer Sugar Cubes unveiled its first product. Called the Small Universe X Sugar Cubes, the device was powered by the Snapdragon 888. Probably the most notable feature of the Small Universe X Sugar Cubes was its 4:3 display, which could be rotated 90 degrees.

They also presented another device, which looks more like two controllers. The Sugar Cubes X Jelly mentioned at the beginning is actually an accessory for the Unihertz Jelly Star phone, which is unknown to us, which debuted in China in 2023. The phone has a 3-inch screen, uses the Android 13 system and a MediaTek Helio G99 chip. which is not famous for its incredible performance, but is sufficient for playing retro games. In theory, the phone should be more powerful than cheap gaming handhelds that use less powerful Unisoc chips, but that's more of a vain triumph. Clearly, these types of devices are not going to win the performance competition. More important is their purpose, in this case playing old games on a newer device wherever we are. 

Price and availability are unknown for now. Will the device come to Europe? There are not many possibilities, but let us be surprised.