Grant Sinclair’s GamerCard is a handheld console based on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and a 4-inch color IPS display offered in an ultrathin design that’s about the size of a typical retail gift card.
It joins other Raspberry Pi-based handheld terminals like the BeepBerry, ShaRPiKeebo, or DevTerm, but it’s more of a consumer device and offers by far the slimmest design at just 6mm thick. Being described as a “Grab & Go Raspberry Pi Gaming” platform, it’s mainly designed as a portable gaming console, but since it’s based on Raspberry Pi hardware, you could also use it as a battery-powered Linux terminal connected to a USB keyboard and mouse, and it also offers expansion capabilities through a Qwiic connector.
GamerCard specifications:
- SBC – Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W (soldered on mainboard) – Based on Raspberry Pi RP3A0 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 SiP with 512 MB SDRAM, Bluetooth 4.2 and Wi-Fi 4
- Storage – 128 GB
- Display – 4-inch IPS display up to 60 Hz; 254 ppi; flush-fit sapphire glass protective layer.
- Video Output – Mini HDMI port
- Audio
- 2x sub-miniature loudspeakers
- 2x monoblock amps with audio codec IC for stereo sound.
- USB – 1x USB Type-C port for keyboard and mouse (Note there’s one Type-C port at the bottom for charging. But if the mouse/keyboard port is directly on the Pi Zero 2 W then it should be a micro USB port)
- Controls
- 8x silicone control pads using tactile snap-dome micro push buttons on the front panel
- L+R silicone shoulder-style buttons with tactile snap-dome switches at the back
- Silicone micro push buttons for START, SELECT, and POWER-ON
- All silicone control pads and buttons have an anti-bacterial coating
- Expansion – Qwiic connector for I2C module
- Misc
- Power button
- 3x micro LEDs for battery recharge status
- Passive heat sink integrated into the Zytel layer and sitting on top of the processor
- Power Supply
- 5V charging via USB-C port
- Built-in 1600 mAh Li-Po battery
- Dimensions – 128 x 88 x 6.5 mm
- Weight – 100 grams
- Construction – Patented, sealed PCB sandwich construction with Zytel layer.
The GamerCard can run thousands of games from various classic systems through emulators available on OS images such as Recalbox, RetroPie, and Lakka. The device also comes preloaded with two multi-level action games, with more coming soon via the company’s store app, and it’s also compatible with PICO-8 games (extra purchase required), which we tested with the PocketCHIP many years ago.
Grant Sinclair also highlights that the GamerCard is more than just a gaming console, and it also supports coding development in MicroPython, C, C++, BASIC, and more. That means it could potentially be used for education using those languages, as well as PICO-8 with tools for editing code, music, sound, sprites, and maps in games.
The GamerCard can be purchased for 125 GBP ($170) on Grant Sinclair’s website. I could not find any documentation website, so all information is from the shop and some images Grant Sinclair shared with CNX Software.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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