TrimUI Brick Hammer is a Premium Take on a Proven Handheld

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TrimUI has carved out a nice lane for itself within the retro handheld space. Their output isn’t massive, but their standout releases have been consistently well-received.

The TrimUI Smart Pro stood as one of the best budget options for PSP emulation until the MANGMI Air X came along. The TrimUI Brick still holds its place as one of the best everyday carry devices, handling up to PS1 fairly well. The Brick Hammer is the same device internally, but the Hammer variant solidifies it. Literally.

With a 1024 x 768 screen at just 3.2 inches, the TrimUI Brick has one of the highest pixel densities found in any retro handheld. Its 4:3 aspect ratio makes it a perfect fit for retro home consoles that were designed around 240p displays. The foundation of the Brick is already rock-solid, and the Brick Hammer builds on it by doubling back on a proven design and refining it in a way only a few companies can pull off.

If you choose to buy it, you can use the SDHQ5 coupon code for 15% off your purchase!

Metal Celebration

Fully metal devices aren’t entirely rare, but when they show up, they’re usually attached to designs that have already proven themselves. The Analogue Pocket received its metal variant years after launch. The Anbernic RG Nano shipped as a tiny metal keychain device, built around a design heavily inspired by the original Game Boy. The newer RG477M also features a metal shell, but its overall design follows a formula Anbernic has refined across multiple generations.

The TrimUI Brick Hammer feels like a celebration of the original Brick in much the same way. It keeps the same screen, specs, battery, and overall experience, but wraps everything in a full aluminum body. It adds a level of class and premium feel typically reserved for higher-end devices, and the Brick has more than earned that status among its peers.

An Upgrade, An Improvement

With the standard Brick already handling PS1-era emulation well, offering one of the highest pixel densities in the category, and remaining incredibly pocketable, it has firmly proven itself within the community. Before it, the Miyoo Mini Plus was widely seen as the go-to everyday carry, thanks to its low cost, ease of use with OnionOS, and massive community support. The Brick, while lacking OnionOS, improves on nearly every other front while also offering stronger raw performance thanks to its Allwinner A133P chipset.

The Brick Hammer positions itself as a true “deluxe” version of the original by elevating the overall feel of the device. It’s not the most powerful, and it’s not the smallest, but it lands in a near-perfect middle ground. It slips easily into a pocket, its display makes games look excellent, and that dense screen makes colors pop in a way that’s hard to ignore. The Hammer takes all of that and wraps it in a premium shell that reinforces everything the original Brick already did right.

Still, the Brick Hammer has its fair share of minor annoyances that may make it a less-than-ideal purchase. For instance, the buttons themselves are relatively clicky when compared to the softer feel of the Miyoo Mini Plus’s controls. The screen is another point of contention, not because of its quality, but its resolution. At 1024 x 768, it doesn’t cleanly integer scale with any major system, but at just 3.2 inches and with such a high pixel density, any uneven pixels or scaling inconsistencies are incredibly hard to notice in actual use.

Handheld Going Hammer

Buying a TrimUI Brick Hammer in 2026 is still one of the best decisions you can make when getting into the retro handheld space. You’re getting a device that handles a large portion of truly retro consoles while feeling just as premium as more expensive options. Its chipset gives it extra headroom for demanding ROM hacks and allows for more flexible shader use than weaker devices.

After all, it stands as the current king of the everyday carry sub-niche, balancing performance, portability, and build quality in a way few devices manage.

If you're interested in purchasing the TrimUI Brick or Brick Hammer, you can purchase one from GoGameGeek, the supplier of the handheld featured in the above write-up. And don't forget to use coupon code SDHQ5 for 15% off your purchase!

The TrimUI Brick and TrimUI Brick Hammer links above are using an affiliate link from GoGameGeek, the supplier of the handheld for this article. The affiliate link gives us a little back from sales at no extra charge to you. All proceeds go back into SDHQ and its development.

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