Which handheld runs PS1?

Sony PlayStation (Sony, 1994) tested on 11 devices, cheapest first.

Cheapest device in this data that handles PS1

Nearly flawless across everything from 8-bit through PS1.

Every tested device

Miyoo Mini Plus

Dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1.2 GHz · ~$70
Hit and miss

2D titles run well; 3D titles struggle. This is the device ceiling.

  • Reported to run reliably at full speed: Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX, Crash Bandicoot 1-3, Spyro 1-3, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Tekken 3, Gran Turismo 1 and 2, Resident Evil 1 and 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2, Wipeout, Ridge Racer.
  • Most 2D fighters are fine.

Anbernic RG CubeXX

Allwinner H700 (quad-core Cortex-A53) · ~$75
Full speed

Most of the library runs at full speed, with minor graphical glitches on a few titles.

  • Based on a test of 20+ titles including Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy VII and Tekken 3.

Reading this page

Devices are ordered by price, not by score, because the useful question is usually the cheapest thing that clears the bar rather than the best thing available. “Playable” is where most people should stop reading upward: past that you are paying for headroom and upscaling, not for the game running.

Devices absent from this list have no published PS1 testing found. That is a gap in the data, not a verdict on the hardware.

Other systems