I bought a ModRetro Chromatic a few weeks ago after posting about it. The ModRetro is sort of like a restomod of a GameBoy Color, but a modern rebuild from scratch. It's roughly the same size and takes the same physical game cartridges as a GameBoy Color, but has a metal shell and a sapphire screen.

I bought it for midday and pomodoro breaks when I might otherwise anxiously eat or doom scroll X/nostr. It satisfies that need very well. The screen is bright and legible even in full sun, and I feel comfortable throwing it in my backpack without a case - the screen is scratch resistant and the shell is practically indestructible. I also very much appreciate the "grounding" and scarcity of the physical cartridges. I can only play a few simple games or nothing.

The only negative things are the clackiness of the buttons, which I can get self-conscious about depending on the context, and the battery life. It drains 3 AAs in about 4-6 hours. I've gone through a dozen AA batteries since it arrived. But it has a USB-C port for power, so unless you're on the go you can just plug it in.

It comes with a new Tetris cartridge which is the main game I've been playing on it. Yesterday I learned Tetris is beatable and can now reliably get to the game's end. I also bought ModRetro's rerelease of Toki Tori. Toki Tori is a slower puzzle game, and I think for my use I might prefer something less logic-based. If I'm right, I'll probably try one of the other ModRetro originals like Monsterland next.

There's a lot of handheld consoles and emulators these days, none of which I've tried, but I'd guess the ModRetro is at least as good as most of them. Here's a review from an experienced retro gamer that basically confirms as much.

I give it five out of five meat morsels on the k00bimeater.