With Nintendo exhausting its supply of DS repair parts, fans of the dual-screen handheld may have another way to play when their original hardware finally dies. The MagicX Zero 40 is yet another handheld emulator but with a peculiar design incorporating a four-inch vertically-oriented 800×480 touchscreen display allowing emulated DS titles to be played like they are on Nintendo’s devices.
The Zero 40 is expected to be released sometime in April 2025 for around $75, according to Time Extension. MagicX isn’t as well known as companies like Anbernic that have been making handhelds for years, but the company debuted its first Android-powered gaming device, the Mini Zero 28, earlier this year, to favorable reviews.
The company is taking a similar approach with the Zero 40 as Nintendo did with its 2DS, and not just when it comes to skipping 3D. Although all of the folding devices in the DS lineup featured two separate displays, the 2DS used just a single panel that was made to look like two separate screens by the handheld’s plastic casing. That’s likely part of the reason the Zero 40 could launch as comparatively cheap as the 2DS.
The Zero 40 will be powered by an Allwinner A133P processor paired with 2GB of RAM and a 4,300mAh battery that MagicX says will be good for between five and seven hours of gameplay. Like the Mini Zero 28, the Zero 40 will run Android, although don’t expect the latest version of Google’s mobile OS as the company’s last device shipped with Android 10 a month ago. It will rely on the Drastic emulator for DS titles, which was made free last March for Android devices.
Aside from MagicX recently sharing a video demonstrating gameplay on the Zero 40, there haven’t been any hands-ons or reviews of the device, so its capabilities aren’t yet known. But the company says it should be able to emulate N64, PSP, and Dreamcast titles, in addition to DS games. It’s nowhere near as powerful as the clamshell Ayaneo Flip, but that DS alternative was priced close to $1,000. If it launches close to $75, the MagicX Zero 40 could fill a void with handheld emulators at a reasonable price.
