Why I put them head to head
I bought the 2025 Tekko One for the same reason most people do: to replay the games I wore out as a kid. It handles the 8-bit and 16-bit classics, it slips into a jacket pocket, and it runs pretty smoothly. It came with somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 games across 10 to 12 systems.
Then Tekko released the 2026 model, and from the outside almost nothing changed. Same vertical shell, same d-pad, same ABXY buttons, same twin sticks. The changes are inside: 20,000+ games on the 64GB card or 40,000 on the 128GB, more than 20 systems, a quad-core chip, an SD card slot on the side for adding games, and more than 900 save slots. I wanted to know if that adds up to a real upgrade or a new sticker on the same box.
So I played both for two weeks. Same games wherever the libraries overlapped, same commute, same charger. Here's what I found.
At a glance: Tekko One 2025 vs. 2026
The specs side by side before I get into what each one is like to play.
| Spec | Tekko One 2026 | Tekko One 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From $69.90 (was $99.90) | No longer sold by Tekko |
| Games included | 20,000+ (64GB) or 40,000 (128GB) | 7,000 to 10,000 |
| Systems covered | 20+, from 8-bit consoles to early 3D | About 10 to 12 |
| Saving progress | Save and load in any game, 900+ slots | Doesn't always save |
| Shell and controls | D-pad, ABXY, twin sticks | Same layout |
| Adding more games | SD card slot on the side | No way to add games |
| Performance | Quad-core, runs noticeably smoother | Runs pretty smooth |
| Battery | Up to 10 hours, under 2 hours to recharge | No figure published |
| Warranty | 1 year, repair or replace | Not sold new anymore |
| Ships from | U.S., Canada, Australia and U.K. warehouses | Not stocked by Tekko |
| Rating | 4.8 from 10,000+ customers | Not rated separately |
Green marks the stronger model in each row.
The game library
This is the first thing anyone asks about, so I started here. I scrolled every system on both handhelds to see how deep each library goes.
- 20,000+ games on the 64GB card, or 40,000 if you take the 128GB
- More than 20 systems, from 8-bit and 16-bit consoles to 90s handhelds, arcade machines and early 3D
- Plenty of variety: monster-battling adventures, platformers, open-world games and fighters
- Every game is preloaded, so there is nothing to download before you start
- No Wi-Fi needed. I played through a whole flight without a signal
- The bigger card costs $5 more and doubles the library, the easiest upgrade on this page
- Somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 games, which is still a lot of evenings
- Around 10 to 12 systems, so whole platforms from the 2026 list are missing
- At most half the 2026's base library, and a quarter of the 128GB card
- Games come preloaded, so it is ready to play out of the box
- Plenty for a casual player who sticks to a few favourites
- No way to grow the library later, which matters more than it sounds
Both handhelds will keep you busy for a long time. The 2025's 7,000 to 10,000 games sounds like a lot until you put it next to 20,000 on the cheapest 2026 card. The bigger shift for me was the extra systems: more than 20 on the 2026 against roughly a dozen on the old one. If there's one platform you grew up on, check that it's on a 2025 before you buy one used. On the 2026 the odds are much better.
Shell, controls and battery
This is where the two are hardest to tell apart. Tekko kept the same vertical body for the 2026, so this round came down to how each one feels after a couple of hours in your hands.
- Vertical shell that fits a jacket pocket, with the d-pad and ABXY right where your thumbs land
- Twin analog sticks under the buttons for the early 3D games that need them
- Comes in purple, black, white or pink
- Tekko calls it a premium build, and nothing creaked or rattled after two weeks in my bag
- Charges over the USB-C cable that comes in the box
- Up to 10 hours on a charge, and back to full in under 2 hours
- Same vertical shell and the same button layout, so it feels identical in the hand
- Twin sticks here too, in the same spot
- Same pocket size, so it travels just as easily
- Select and Start sit in the same place, so muscle memory carries over
- Nothing to relearn if you upgrade, which I liked more than I expected
- Tekko lists no battery figure for the 2025, so there's nothing to compare on paper
Call this one a draw. Put the two side by side with the screens off and I'd struggle to tell you which is which. The shell, the buttons and the sticks are the same, which is good news if you already like how the 2025 feels. The only thing I could compare on paper was battery, and Tekko publishes that for the 2026 only: up to 10 hours, and back to full in under 2.
How smoothly the games run
A huge library is no use if the games stutter. Wherever both handhelds had the same game, I played it on each and watched for slowdown and lag.
- Quad-core processor, and it shows. Menus respond quickly and games start fast
- Runs way smoother than the 2025 on the same games, the first thing I noticed
- 8-bit and 16-bit games run cleanly with no fiddling
- A few of the heavier games need a small setting tweak, which Tekko says up front
- Fast enough that I stopped thinking about it after the first evening
- Runs pretty smooth on the classics, and fine for most 8-bit games
- Good for short sessions and quick pick-up-and-play games
- Side by side, the 2026 felt clearly quicker on the same games
- Once I'd played the 2026, going back felt slower
- No published processor spec, so it's hard to know where its limits are
Both are smooth enough for the 8-bit and 16-bit classics, so if that's all you play, this round won't decide anything. On bigger games the 2026 pulled ahead. Tekko is upfront that a few advanced titles still need a settings tweak on the new one, and I ran into that once in two weeks. It still ran noticeably smoother on everything I played on both.
Saving your progress
This is the round that made me switch. Losing an hour of progress in an RPG is the fastest way to put a handheld in a drawer and leave it there.
- Save and load your progress any time, in any game
- More than 900 save slots, so you can keep several runs going
- No passwords and no starting over from level one
- Saves held every time I switched it off and picked it back up
- Handy for long RPGs you play in 20-minute bursts
- You can save right before a hard boss and try again
- Saves work in some games
- Arcade games and short levels don't need saving anyway
- Progress doesn't always stick, so a long game can reset on you
- No save-slot system, so there's no backup before a tough section
- Long RPGs are a gamble unless you finish in one sitting
- If you mostly play in short bursts, you may never notice
This round decided it for me. On the 2025, saving depends on the game, and sometimes it simply doesn't hold. On the 2026 you can save and load anywhere, with more than 900 slots to work with. If you play anything longer than an arcade run, that alone is worth the upgrade.
Adding more games
Even with thousands of games on board, there's always one missing. Here's what happens when you want to add it.
- SD card slot on the side, so you can add more games later
- Ships with a microSD card already loaded with 20,000+ games
- You can upgrade the card any time
- Pick the 128GB card at checkout and you start with 40,000 games
- For $5 more than the 64GB, the bigger card is the one I'd buy
- Most people won't need to add anything for a long while
- The library it ships with is the one you keep
- No way to download or add more games
- No SD slot, so you can't swap in a bigger card either
- If your favourite game isn't on it, you're out of luck
- With up to 10,000 games preloaded, you may never hit that wall
- Fewer systems on board makes a missing favourite more likely
The 2026 can grow with you, and the 2025 can't. The side slot makes a missing game an easy fix on the new model. On the old one, what came on the card is what you get. For plenty of people that's still enough, but it's the reason I'd skip the 2025 even at a secondhand price.
Warranty, support and where to buy
A handheld you can't get fixed is a gamble. This round is about what happens after checkout, and it's the most one-sided round on the page.
- 1-year warranty: if it has an issue within 365 days, Tekko repairs or replaces it at no cost
- Support based in the U.S., reachable at help@thetekko.com
- Ships from warehouses in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K.
- Orders go out in 1 to 3 business days and arrive in 4 to 9, with tracking by email
- Tekko's store lists only the 2026 now, so you can't buy a new 2025 there
- Buying one secondhand means no new 1-year warranty
- A used unit comes with whatever battery life is left
- You won't know how a used one has been treated
No contest. The 2026 comes new with a year of cover and a support address you can actually email, and Tekko ships it from four countries. The 2025 isn't on Tekko's store anymore, so the only way to get one is used, with no fresh warranty. If you're choosing today, this round makes it easy.
How many games you actually get
Game count is the number Tekko leads with, so I put the three options side by side. The 2025 tops out around 10,000. The 2026 starts at double that.
At $69.90, the 64GB 2026 works out to well under a cent per game, and the 128GB card brings that lower still for $74.90. The 2025 never came close to those numbers, and Tekko doesn't sell it anymore, so a used one has to be very cheap to make sense next to a new 2026 with a warranty.
Price and what you get
Here's exactly what each one costs today and what comes with it.
- ✅ 20,000+ games on the 64GB card, 40,000 on the 128GB for $74.90
- ✅ More than 20 systems, from 8-bit consoles to early 3D
- ✅ Save and load in any game, with 900+ save slots
- ✅ SD card slot on the side for adding games later
- ✅ Quad-core processor, noticeably smoother than the 2025
- ✅ Up to 10 hours of battery, full again in under 2 hours over USB-C
- ✅ No Wi-Fi needed, every game is preloaded
- ✅ Purple, black, white or pink
- ✅ 1-year warranty, repaired or replaced at no cost
- ❌ A few advanced games need a small setting tweak
- ❌ Same shell as the 2025, so it won't look new to anyone who owns one
- ❌ 7,000 to 10,000 games, fixed at whatever came on it
- ✅ Same shell, buttons and twin sticks as the 2026
- ❌ About 10 to 12 systems
- ✅ Runs the 8-bit and 16-bit classics pretty smoothly
- ❌ Saving progress is unreliable
- ❌ No way to add more games
- ✅ Games preloaded, ready out of the box
- ❌ No new warranty when you buy secondhand
- ❌ No published battery figure
- ✅ Pocket size, same as the new one
- ❌ Hard to find, and condition varies on the used market
The 2026 costs $69.90 new, down from $99.90, and the 128GB is $74.90. The 2025 only turns up secondhand now. Unless you find one for a fraction of that, the new model gets you at least twice the games, saves that work and a warranty.