If you still sometimes look into the /r/sbcgaming, the purple shell is slightly redder than the marketing images. Of course, camera settings and all that as grain of salt, but a lot of people are disappointed and changed their orders to other colors.

I too hope the purple goes hard. It's one of my favorite colors.

It looks like the device is d-pad centric + the 4:3 screen makes it focused on more retro emulation. Also, Russ (from Retro Game Corps) pointed out that the back is pretty flat OOTB, and this means it's more comfortable to shift your hands down. The ergonomic back is also going to ship with the retail units if you want to swap that in (requires screwdriver though, no fancy magnets or anything)

As a happy owner of both a big powerful versatile machine (Steam Deck) that can play anything from the late 70' up to modern AAA PC games, and small pocketable-ish but underpowered console (RGCubeXX) that's good up to the PSX, I'd say go for the most powerful your budget allows. The Deck is my main gaming machine but for anything up to the mid-90's, the RG is great EDC. I feel this one, provided there is an open source OS released for it, could be an excellent compromise.

I’ve been buying these since the GP32. I grew up with a Gamegear>GB Pocket>GBA.

There’s always a faster, more capable unit pushing what you’re capable of doing. I’d get whatever the current more affordable, pocketable darling is with the form factor you like (Eg TrimUI Brick) and if you love it and find yourself lusting after higher end emulation and PC game translation gaming after sinking time into your little one, then you’ll know it’s worth it and what you’re looking for.

I have just as much fun with the cute cheaper ones as the more powerful ones once I find a game that gets me hooked. I do like to tinker though.