Hardkernel Upgrades the ODROID-Go Advance with Wi-Fi, More Buttons, USB Type-C for New Black Edition
Building on its original landscape handheld design, the Black Edition includes additional buttons and an integrated ESP-WROOM-32 module.
Hardkernel has quietly upgraded its ODROID-Go Advance Arm-powered, hacker-friendly handheld games console design, announcing the ODROID-Go Advance Black Edition with integrated Wi-Fi, additional buttons, and a USB Type-C connector for power.
The original ODROID-Go Advance was announced earlier this year, itself an update to Hardkernel's original Nintendo Game Boy-inspired ODROID-GO released as part of the company's decade anniversary. Built around a Rockchip RK3326 system-on-chip (SoC) with quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 CPU, Mali-G31 GPU, and 1GB of DDR3L RAM, the landscape-format design included a 3.5" LCD panel and 0.5W mono speaker along with a joystick, D-Pad, and a series of buttons including two on the shoulders of the console.
Production of the ODROID-Go Advance, however, has been delayed — and Hardkernel has taken the time to tweak the design into what it calls the ODROID-Go Advance Black Edition. Brought to our attention by CNX Software, the revised design includes two additional shoulder buttons, a USB Type-C port for power input, and — in the biggest shift from the original - an Espressif ESP-WROOM-32 module to bring 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity to the device.
Elsewhere, the design remains unchanged: The same Rockchip RK3326 lies at its heart, behind the same 3.5" color display, with a 3Ah lithium-polymer battery offering a claimed 10 hours of continuous usage with a three-hour charge time in a chassis measuring 155x72x20mm and weighing 170g.
Hardkernel has confirmed pricing for the new design at $59, a $4 premium over the original, with shipments due to be delivered to pre-order customers later this month. The device isn't yet showing in the company's shop, but it has more information available on its forum post.