VHBL Vs. the Droid X360
Yesterday I posted a lengthy review of the Droid X360, a Chinese clone of the PS Vita. Although that device is cheap and has many good points (Ice Cream Sandwich OS, good multimedia playback), its main interest to some of you might come from the integrated gamepad, especially for emulators.
Sadly as I mentioned in my review, the controls are a bit stiff, in particular the directional Pad (up/down/left/right). Today I’m showing a video in which I compare the Vita’s controls to the Droid X360’s controls.
I mentioned yesterday a patch to the Droid X360 which improves the gamepad experience. I can say it improved the experience a lot overall, in particular for the action buttons ( A B X Y ). Sadly, in the case of the Directional Pad, I think the issue is physical and can’t be solved with a software patch. Basically, this specific part is too stiff, and pushing the buttons “strong enough” is necessary for the physical contact with the connectors to happen. This gets easily irritating in turn based games, and goes as far as making the game unplayable for action-based games.
In the video below I am playing Advanced Wars on a GBA emulator on both devices. In the case of the Vita (running Neur0n’s port of VHBL on 1.69), controls are smooth. In the case of the Droid X360, I have to push the buttons so hard that the console moves as I press the buttons. And yet, not all of the key presses get recognized.
As I said yesterday, the Droid X360 still has many good points. I just think that the physical gamepad is not so great, and should only be used as a backup to the touch controls of the emulators, rather than on its own. As I described yesterday, playing Wagic using both the touch screen and the gamepad was really enjoyable. So if you’re looking for casual gaming, a bit of emulators (not action games!), and a good movie player, the Droid X360 might be for you. There are however many cases where a hacked PSP or a hacked Vita (The next VHBL is coming soon!) is a better choice, such as for the GBA emulator as shown in the video.
First! And yeah, I was excited about this Droid X360 until I read your review. I’m sure it’ll suit someone…just not this guy.
Awesome review, the input response time is super important, especially for fighting games >.<, Vita ftw.
Great review, Wololo. I had thought about getting a Droid as well as my Vita, but I think I’ve probably got enough functionality from my hacked PSP’s.
I also really like the way you snuck in the info about VHBL as I am eagerly waiting for this, since I only got my Vita last week – can’t wait!
Keep up the good work.
Too bad it doesn’t have Bluetooth because then you could get an app and use a ps3 or wii controller which would probably fix that problem. It would still raise the question why someone would want to do that ex… Using the ps3 controller on a psp go. But if you could then it would be an option. Maybe some third party rubber button inlays may solve it one day.
if the dpad issues where fixed, aswell as the OS glitches, this handheld wouldnt be a bad decision for a multimedia device..
cant wait for VHBL and 1.80 xD…
maybe there is some way to fix it.
some hardware mod should this
should fix it*
Well I bet I could find a fix for the Dpad problem. I’m real good at modding and fixing hardware. Sounds as though the pressure pads need a little tweaking. Maybe if someone sent one to me I could have a look. Maybe I may just get hold of one myself and have a play. Seems someone like me could sort this out with a simple hardware fix. :O)
i hope it be released soon ^^
Its already released. ;O)
Wololo
Take it apart and mod it to work better. 😛
Next review : Droid X360 vs God
wololo email me i have something might be useful
droid fail !
Comparin a Vita to x360 droid is like comapring a Ford to a Rolse Royce.
Good news
a guy from a dingoonity forum says that:
I guess it is hardware dependent. I have no such problems with mine. I don’t have to push hard on any of the buttons or the d-pad.
So wololo was out of luck with this malfunction d-pad.
maybe some mod can fix or maybe wololo can return the device and get another…
I just hope my droid x360 arrive with any problem.
Anyone have a link to the newest SNES emulator for the PSP?
http://www.wololo.net/downloads/index.php/download/670
Wololo.. If you want to take it apart and fix it all you need to do is glue a thin piece of hard plastic under the Dpad (on the Dpad itself) very simple to do.
Iv done this with PSP’s iv installed into new housings sometimes the new Dpads that come with them don’t work just like the problem you are having with this.
Or you can just use a hard drying glue and build up the inside of the Dpad where it press’s onto the rubbers.
Will the new VHBL be out before school starts up again this september (not rushing take as long as you need) I want to know so I have one extra reason to bring my vita to school. 🙂
Guys i would like to notice you that there is one more interesting vita clone coming out name is iReadyGo Much (3G)
Do not overtake with DX360 😛
the ireadyGo is more expansive than dx360
@wololo, the end of this video shows a picture of the DroidX360 button contacts. This guy had the same issues and took it apart and tried different solutions to no avail. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UIJHiKIZesU. He also shows the contacts of the Yinlips for comparison.
Wololo was obviously pulling punches on those buttons…
@ricardo, we don’t yet know price of Much 3G… Maybe much have better buttons.. 😀
1599 Chinese yuan = 204.314644 Euros
1500 yen is $16 usd so 12 euros 🙂
I guy from Willgoo store got one
look:
well, we had got one device back now.
Till now, there are two version for this device. 3G version and Wifi version. The only different between them is 3G version is made for Chinese market. There is no SD slot in it. For the Wifi version, it will be very suitable for you guys as there will be with SD *** in it. (the manufature replaced the 3G slot to the SD slot).
The battery life can be about 5-6 hours if you keep playing games. The standby time is about 450-600 hours. I did not test it till now. But I think its 3000mAh battery capacity is very great power. And its save power chip.
The screen resolution is pretty good. The same with touch screen control.- real 5 points capactive touch screen. I think it has a very good running on all Android games. Yes, there is Android play store in it. You guys can use it once receiving it.
Tunring to the emulator games, I had tried to map the key. The d-pad can be used but you can not use the joystick at the same time- both the left and right one. Can we say they are un-link in this case? For some emulator games, the control are good. But I think they need to improve.
####
SO.. if the guy from store says it neet to improve the control, it means the control suck 😛
A guy *
Between PSP and droid360, I would prefer a PSP or maybe I will get Vita instead.
Hey wololo, does my avatar always look like this? It looks sick.
hahaha I like my avatar XD
x_x on August 10, 2012 at 2:33 pm
1500 yen is $16 usd so 12 euros
Yeah that’s google mistake i typed in Renminbi…
1599 Renminbi is 204.492527 Euros . . I think this are correct numbers… compared to DX360, much 3G is twice as expensive… 🙁
And its much more weak 😉