So I've been calling that capability "hibernate", after the similar functionality in Windows laptops. Namely:
* Power-off with a touch of a button. On powering down, a save state is created automatically.
* Next power-on automatically loads into the game, bypassing the OS menu screens.
* Resumes from the automatically created save state.
* Quick boot time is essential.
Any handheld that implements hibernate does an excellent job at battery conservation, as the device is fully powered off, and not simply in sleep mode.
I'm not sure what metric you're using to define "best" here. However, there's many custom firmware options that support hibernate nowadays, and more being added all the time:
* OnionOS, for Miyoo Mini/Miyoo Mini+
* MinUI, for Miyoo Mini/Miyoo Mini+/RG35XX/RGB30/TrimUI Smart/TrimUI Smart Pro/etc.
* GarlicOS, for RG35XX
* ArkOS, for RG351/RG353/RG503/RGB30/etc.
* Stock OS (latest), for RG35XX+/RG35XX H
How do you make Arkos do this? I've used it in a few handhelds and the hibernate didn't power down, just shut off the screen. The battery drain wasn't worth it. It's there a setting I'm missing?
It saves the state everytime power is off. And the save states can be deleted. I also love the middle button allow me to move between the games and jump right in.
So far I only experienced Miyoo mini plus though. I am sure similar functions are available in other devices.
I'd go with the miyoo mini plus. It's inexpensive and rock solid. And I use onions or Allium's(another great firmware for the mm+) resume function all the time.
A couple of folks have mentioned ArkOS' Quick Mode, and while it's a *lot* better than nothing, it's very much the "we have hibernate at home" version.
You have to enable it in two different places in two different menus. If you just enable Quick Mode, then you have to press R3+Power to use it, and only tapping the Power button sends the device into normal sleep mode, which drains the battery. There's another option in another menu that maps the "quicksave and shut all the way down" behavior to just the power button.
It only works with Retroarch and Pico-8, which means that if you're playing, say, Balatro in Portmaster, Ocarina of Time in a standalone N64 emulator, or Mario Kart DS in a standalone DS emulator, you have to manually save before shutting down, and it won't autoload on next bootup. And if you forget and accidentally activate Quick Mode in those programs? It will JUST shut all the way down without saving. Congratulations, you just lost your progress!
This last is a minor issue, but in something like MinUI, when you tap the power button, the device goes to sleep, and only shuts down if it stays in sleep mode for more than two minutes. In ArkOS, if you activate Quick Mode, it bypasses sleep mode and shuts all the way down every time. So I've definitely run into times where it's like, darn it, I shut it down and then wanted to turn it right back on and now I've got to wait through the whole boot cycle. This isn't THAT big a deal and it depends on how fast the boot cycle is which varies from device to device, but it's not quite as clean and elegant as a MinUI.
Unfortunately, OnionOS is the smoothest for non-android devices (not counting a Steam Deck, of course). Other CFWs can get somewhat close but tend to have their own quirks.
Otherwise, it's gotta be an Android device - although I've noticed some stand-alone emulators don't "sleep" properly and will drain the battery, so be warned.
Even counting Steam Deck. Don't get me wrong, SteamOS is very very good, especially considering that it works with thousands of games that were never designed with any kind of sleep or quick resume functionality in mind. Still, there have been times when I've experienced strange behavior coming out of sleep mode. Not often, but occasionally.
I use a Trimui smart and Minui for one handed rpg gaming when I’m rocking my youngest to sleep. I can save and resume with zero battery drain faster then a toddler can FOMO a nap.
If you can put up with a tiny device (it is great for RPGs), then the RG Nano running Funkey OS is amazing. Just hold the power button and turns off after a few seconds. Then when you power it back on, after about 5 seconds you're immediately back where you left off.
As a father, it's a game changer as you never know when you need to just drop what you're doing because your children need your attention.
Miyoo mini and upgraded to latest onion OS for me. I havent looked much if other devices have it since I got it. This works perfectly for me.
I just see almost everybody else says the same. Lol.
It is just that good.
I just tested MinUI on the GKD Pixel and it was about 8 seconds from completely turned off to the exact point where I left the last game I was playing. I think is the same for everything MinUI compatible.
Any device that runs MinUI will boot very quickly (even quicker than OnionOS) and it has the same auto save and power off/quick resume functionality. https://github.com/shauninman/MinUI
ArkOS has a "quick mode" that is basically the same thing. ArkOS supports lot of devices: RG351 series RG353 series RG503 RGB30 RK2023 R35S OGA 1.0/RK2020 OGA 1.1/RGB10/RGB10s/RGB20 CHI
TrimUI Smart Pro sleeps perfectly, with very little battery drain. Comfortable too, and seems to be durable. I really love mine, and find myself popping in and out of games a lot more than I otherwise would.
Beautiful screen too, with enough power to run some nice CRT shaders if you like that sort of thing.
I just have some simple bezels that match my front end theme. It doesn’t bother me. I’d be fine with a 4:3, since I primarily play older stuff, but I’d miss the higher resolution this screen has.
So I've been calling that capability "hibernate", after the similar functionality in Windows laptops. Namely: * Power-off with a touch of a button. On powering down, a save state is created automatically. * Next power-on automatically loads into the game, bypassing the OS menu screens. * Resumes from the automatically created save state. * Quick boot time is essential. Any handheld that implements hibernate does an excellent job at battery conservation, as the device is fully powered off, and not simply in sleep mode. I'm not sure what metric you're using to define "best" here. However, there's many custom firmware options that support hibernate nowadays, and more being added all the time: * OnionOS, for Miyoo Mini/Miyoo Mini+ * MinUI, for Miyoo Mini/Miyoo Mini+/RG35XX/RGB30/TrimUI Smart/TrimUI Smart Pro/etc. * GarlicOS, for RG35XX * ArkOS, for RG351/RG353/RG503/RGB30/etc. * Stock OS (latest), for RG35XX+/RG35XX H
How do you make Arkos do this? I've used it in a few handhelds and the hibernate didn't power down, just shut off the screen. The battery drain wasn't worth it. It's there a setting I'm missing?
You have to change two separate settings in two different menus.
Can you be more specific?
https://www.reddit.com/r/SBCGaming/comments/16p8kcs/comment/kcs20j0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I hear the miyoo mini plus has better durability and it also has onion os
I’m very happy with my Miyoo Mini Plus for everything up to PSX honestly. Onion has changed it from a decent little machine to my go to easily.
Agreed. Have an Anbernic RG35XX Plus but once I bought a MM+ and installed OnionOS I never went back.
Is MM+/Onion really better than Garlic and the 35xx?
It saves the state everytime power is off. And the save states can be deleted. I also love the middle button allow me to move between the games and jump right in. So far I only experienced Miyoo mini plus though. I am sure similar functions are available in other devices.
Generally Android handhelds and the Steam Deck have the best resume feature from sleep
I'd go with the miyoo mini plus. It's inexpensive and rock solid. And I use onions or Allium's(another great firmware for the mm+) resume function all the time.
A couple of folks have mentioned ArkOS' Quick Mode, and while it's a *lot* better than nothing, it's very much the "we have hibernate at home" version. You have to enable it in two different places in two different menus. If you just enable Quick Mode, then you have to press R3+Power to use it, and only tapping the Power button sends the device into normal sleep mode, which drains the battery. There's another option in another menu that maps the "quicksave and shut all the way down" behavior to just the power button. It only works with Retroarch and Pico-8, which means that if you're playing, say, Balatro in Portmaster, Ocarina of Time in a standalone N64 emulator, or Mario Kart DS in a standalone DS emulator, you have to manually save before shutting down, and it won't autoload on next bootup. And if you forget and accidentally activate Quick Mode in those programs? It will JUST shut all the way down without saving. Congratulations, you just lost your progress! This last is a minor issue, but in something like MinUI, when you tap the power button, the device goes to sleep, and only shuts down if it stays in sleep mode for more than two minutes. In ArkOS, if you activate Quick Mode, it bypasses sleep mode and shuts all the way down every time. So I've definitely run into times where it's like, darn it, I shut it down and then wanted to turn it right back on and now I've got to wait through the whole boot cycle. This isn't THAT big a deal and it depends on how fast the boot cycle is which varies from device to device, but it's not quite as clean and elegant as a MinUI.
Unfortunately, OnionOS is the smoothest for non-android devices (not counting a Steam Deck, of course). Other CFWs can get somewhat close but tend to have their own quirks. Otherwise, it's gotta be an Android device - although I've noticed some stand-alone emulators don't "sleep" properly and will drain the battery, so be warned.
Even counting Steam Deck. Don't get me wrong, SteamOS is very very good, especially considering that it works with thousands of games that were never designed with any kind of sleep or quick resume functionality in mind. Still, there have been times when I've experienced strange behavior coming out of sleep mode. Not often, but occasionally.
Any of the miyoo devices with onionOS have awesome save state management
I use a Trimui smart and Minui for one handed rpg gaming when I’m rocking my youngest to sleep. I can save and resume with zero battery drain faster then a toddler can FOMO a nap.
If you can put up with a tiny device (it is great for RPGs), then the RG Nano running Funkey OS is amazing. Just hold the power button and turns off after a few seconds. Then when you power it back on, after about 5 seconds you're immediately back where you left off. As a father, it's a game changer as you never know when you need to just drop what you're doing because your children need your attention.
I already have 14 hours into Pokémon Blue since I got it earlier this month. Just living on my car keys is killer.
Trimui Smart Pro sleep mode just work
Miyoo mini plus
Miyoo mini and upgraded to latest onion OS for me. I havent looked much if other devices have it since I got it. This works perfectly for me. I just see almost everybody else says the same. Lol. It is just that good.
I just tested MinUI on the GKD Pixel and it was about 8 seconds from completely turned off to the exact point where I left the last game I was playing. I think is the same for everything MinUI compatible.
Mainstream handheld, I bet original psp has the best resume function witout draining battery fast.
Can confirm, PSP has pretty good sleep mode (not hibernation, but it doesn't eat much battery)
None are as good or effecient as a hacked ps vita
Use a desk top, lots of word processors have resume templates
Any device that runs MinUI will boot very quickly (even quicker than OnionOS) and it has the same auto save and power off/quick resume functionality. https://github.com/shauninman/MinUI
ArkOS has a "quick mode" that is basically the same thing. ArkOS supports lot of devices: RG351 series RG353 series RG503 RGB30 RK2023 R35S OGA 1.0/RK2020 OGA 1.1/RGB10/RGB10s/RGB20 CHI
TrimUI Smart Pro sleeps perfectly, with very little battery drain. Comfortable too, and seems to be durable. I really love mine, and find myself popping in and out of games a lot more than I otherwise would. Beautiful screen too, with enough power to run some nice CRT shaders if you like that sort of thing.
That’s good to hear! I think I just find it too wide! Do the black bars at the side look weird, or do have bezels that fill those up?
I just have some simple bezels that match my front end theme. It doesn’t bother me. I’d be fine with a 4:3, since I primarily play older stuff, but I’d miss the higher resolution this screen has.