Buying a retro handheld should be simple. One chip is faster, so the handheld using that chip should be better.
The Allwinner H700 and Rockchip RK3566 make that logic a little uncomfortable. RK3566 has newer Cortex-A55 CPU cores, a faster Mali-G52 GPU, better I/O, and an NPU. H700 uses older Cortex-A53 cores, weaker Mali-G31 graphics, and was originally designed as a low-cost multimedia processor.
So RK3566 wins… except that many people shopping for an inexpensive handheld don’t actually need everything it wins at.
The real question isn’t whether RK3566 is faster – it is. The question is whether that extra performance changes the games you want to play enough to justify a more expensive device, potentially higher power consumption, and a product whose software may still matter more than its processor.
H700 vs RK3566 specifications
The hardware difference is larger than the similar four-core layout suggests. H700 combines Cortex-A53 with Mali-G31 graphics. RK3566 moves to Cortex-A55 and Mali-G52, while adding features useful beyond handheld gaming.
| Feature | Allwinner H700 | Rockchip RK3566 |
| CPU | 4× Cortex-A53 | 4× Cortex-A55 |
| Common maximum clock | Around 1.5 GHz in handhelds | Up to 1.8 GHz |
| GPU | Multicore Mali-G31 | Mali-G52 2EE |
| Graphics architecture | Bifrost | Bifrost |
| Video decoding | Up to 4K60, 10-bit | Up to 4K60 |
| NPU | None | Up to approximately 0.8 TOPS |
| High-speed expansion | Limited | PCIe 2.1 and USB 3.0 |
| Best fit | Low-cost multimedia and retro handhelds | Faster handhelds, SBCs, and embedded products |
The official Allwinner H700 brief describes a multimedia platform built around 4K video decoding and several display outputs. The RK3566 is a broader application processor, with PCIe, USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and more flexible memory support.
That difference is important for an SBC. In a handheld, much of it may remain unused.
RK3566 has the better CPU
Cortex-A55 is the successor to Cortex-A53, but this isn’t merely a new name attached to the same small Arm core. Arm improved branch prediction, memory access, floating-point performance, and cache behavior. According to Arm’s Cortex-A55 overview, the design provides higher performance and roughly 15% better power efficiency than Cortex-A53 under Arm’s reference comparisons.
RK3566 also runs at a higher nominal clock. That gives it a meaningful advantage in emulators that depend on one or two CPU-heavy threads—exactly where H700’s older cores begin to struggle.
But Cortex-A55 is still an efficiency core. RK3566 doesn’t suddenly become an RK3588-class processor, and four small cores don’t guarantee perfect performance in every PSP, Dreamcast, or Nintendo 64 game. Our article on Rockchip RK3566 specifications explains why the chip works so well across inexpensive Linux devices without pretending it is a flagship.
Mali-G52 gives RK3566 more room
H700’s Mali-G31 is one reason the chip works better in retro handhelds than its CPU suggests. It supports Vulkan and improves on the Mali-400 and Mali-450 GPUs paired with many older budget processors.
Mali-G52 is still the stronger GPU. It offers more execution resources and gives RK3566 additional room for higher rendering resolutions, shaders, and systems that put more work on the graphics processor. That advantage becomes more useful as emulation moves beyond the original PlayStation.
It isn’t a fixed performance multiplier, though. Memory bandwidth, drivers, emulator backend, and cooling all affect the result. A well-configured H700 handheld can feel more consistent than a poorly supported RK3566 device.
The emulation difference is real, but specific
For NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Game Boy Advance, and original PlayStation games, both processors already provide enough performance. RK3566 offers more overhead for shaders or inefficient emulators, but it doesn’t make a PlayStation game twice as enjoyable.
Original PlayStation emulation also shows why hardware specifications are only part of the experience. Our guide to running a Linux PS1 emulator uses RetroArch and the PCSX ReARMed core on Ubuntu ARM64, including the manual setup required when RetroArch’s Core Downloader does not work. The tested RK3588S board is much faster than either H700 or RK3566, so it is not a direct performance comparison – but the software workflow and common setup problems remain relevant across ARM Linux systems.
The separation appears with Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and PSP. H700 can run part of these libraries, sometimes very well, but results vary sharply by game. RK3566 gives the emulator more CPU and GPU headroom, so fewer titles sit directly on the edge of playability. It is the safer choice if those systems are a major reason for buying the handheld.
This is where product listings become misleading. “Supports PSP” can mean that the emulator launches; it doesn’t mean every game runs at full speed. Our Allwinner H700 performance overview covers that limitation in more detail.
A faster chip doesn’t fix the handheld
The processor is only one part of a retro handheld. Screen quality, controls, battery, suspend behavior, cooling, and firmware determine whether the device is pleasant to use. Poor software can waste a surprising amount of stronger hardware.
This is H700’s best argument. It has become common enough in inexpensive handhelds to attract mature community firmware, shared configurations, and devices in many shapes and screen sizes. The chip isn’t unusually fast; the surrounding ecosystem makes its limitations easier to live with.
RK3566 has a mature Linux base too, but support still varies between individual handhelds. Paying more for the faster SoC only makes sense when the rest of the device is at least as good.
Which one is the better value?
RK3566 is the better processor. It has faster CPU cores, stronger graphics, more expansion, and enough additional headroom to make a practical difference in harder emulation workloads. For an SBC or embedded product, the decision is even clearer: PCIe, USB 3.0, networking, and the small NPU give Rockchip far more to work with.
But a retro handheld isn’t a development board. If the goal is primarily 8-bit, 16-bit, and PlayStation gaming, H700 already clears the important performance threshold. In that use case, paying extra for RK3566 may buy benchmark headroom that rarely changes the experience.
H700 isn’t the better chip. It can, however, be the better-value handheld and that is the distinction specification tables tend to miss.
FAQ
Is RK3566 faster than H700?
Yes. RK3566 has newer Cortex-A55 CPU cores, a higher nominal clock, and more capable Mali-G52 graphics. The advantage is most useful for Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, PSP, and general-purpose Linux workloads.
Is H700 good enough for retro gaming?
H700 is well suited to systems through the original PlayStation. Some Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and PSP games also run well, but performance isn’t consistent across their complete libraries.
Does H700 support Vulkan?
Yes. Its Mali-G31 GPU supports Vulkan 1.1, although actual availability and performance depend on the operating system and driver.
Can RK3566 emulate GameCube and PS2?
Limited experimentation is possible, but RK3566 is not a reliable GameCube or PlayStation 2 platform. Buyers interested primarily in those systems should consider a substantially faster processor.
Which chip is better for an SBC?
RK3566. Its PCIe, USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet support, memory options, and NPU make it much more flexible for general Linux and embedded projects.
