For the better part of seven years, I’ve had the hobby of buying and trying out various emulation handhelds to play my favourite games for systems such as SNES, GBA, PS1, etc. Most recently, the Trimui Brick Hammer. Every year, other companies release different handhelds with slightly better specs, different form factors, sizes and more. While some have come close to ticking all the boxes I have to make it perfect, I have yet to find one that perfectly fits my needs, at least until now!
The new Trimui Brick Hammer, a metal shell handheld that boasts a decent amount of power while maintaining a compact form factor that makes it easy to take with you, wherever you may go. Building off the already successful Trimui Brick that was released late last year, the Brick Hammer improves upon it in a handful of ways that make it feel much more premium in use than most other handhelds on the market.
Coming in three colours —rose gold, wild green, and space gray —I opted for space gray for its more subtle appearance, as I am not generally one to show off brightly coloured devices. Each has an anodized aluminum body with plastic buttons and a glass screen. I must say, the Trimui Brick Hammer feels absolutely incredible and feels much more expensive than its cost of $94.99 would suggest. While not at all heavy, it is a touch heavier than its predecessor, but I was not at all bothered by it.
Additional changes include improved shoulder buttons that are much harder to remove when swapping them out. This addresses the issue of buttons falling off too easily, which some previous users have mentioned on various forums. These shoulder buttons also felt much more improved when pressing them compared to the old model, and had a very satisfying actuation and click when pressed.
“I must say, the Trimui Brick Hammer feels absolutely incredible and feels much more expensive than its cost of $94.99 would suggest.”
In the words of Billy Mays, “But wait, there’s more!” Trimui has even upgraded the speakers in the Brick Hammer to enhance sound quality, and they sound much cleaner and clearer overall. Unlike many handhelds of this price range, Trimui gave both the Brick and Brick Hammer stereo speakers, which is something I personally love seeing when executed properly.
The face buttons on the Brick Hammer all have a nice click from dome switches over the commonly found contact pad switches on most other devices. I found this helped prevent accidental presses and made for a much more accurate and enjoyable gaming experience. I would personally have liked to have seen slightly quieter menu, start and select buttons as they have a noticeably louder click than the other buttons; however, this did not take away from my overall experience when using the Brick Hammer as they are not as commonly used buttons.
While most handhelds in this size only play up to PS1, both the Trimui Brick and Brick Hammer tops them by also having the ability to play some Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 games, although it’s important to know that games that require a thumbstick may not be as easily playable. Some software allows you to swap the dpad functionality for thumbstick use, but games that require both likely won’t be as enjoyable to play.
Trimui claims you can get 4-6 hours per charge on the 3000mAh battery. In my case, I found that if I was playing less demanding systems such as Game Boy Colour or some Game Boy Advance games, I was able to get over six hours of gameplay, making this perfect for commutes on the train, plane rides or whenever you have time for some gaming.
While it may not be everyone’s ideal handheld, at least to me, the Trimui Brick Hammer is a premium-feeling handheld that I have only ever dreamt of owning one day. Not only does the build quality feel superior, but the power it combines with its compact form factor has made it the handheld I now find myself reaching for when I want to play my retro games. For the price, I think it is worth every dollar. This has become the handheld I take with me wherever I go and amazes everyone who sees it and asks about it.
