You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/revo-k101-plus.1680/

The GBA is a beloved console not only for myself, but for our forum itself. Serving as my go-to console for the vast majority of my childhood, it’s blessed me with fond memories across many years. Roll on 2021 and people wanting to re-experience this joy find themselves with a dilemma–how exactly do you play? Do you cramp your hands for the square clamshell that is the SP? Do you put a backlight in your original console? Or do you just throw authenticity to the wind and resort to emulation? There is another way: the clone console. And this is exactly what I’m checking out today with the Revo K101 Plus.

Getting straight into the box, we have a delightfully clean design, sporting everything you’ll need to get started:

• The K101+ console
• K-Card custom “flashcard”
• A mini USB to USB-A cable
• A 2.5mm AV cable
• A screen protector
• A screwdriver (for the battery compartment)

That’s all, and that’s all you really need to get going out of the gate. Starting with the console itself, I was shocked by the quality. With clone consoles and emulation devices, I’ve come to expect something cheap with a horrid screen and poor software; think back to the early BittBoys and you’ll understand my general apprehension. Having said that, I’m in love with this particular design. Recreating the Famicom design of the limited edition Gameboy Micro, it feels like a weird blend of that, and the bottom half of a DS Lite. The DS Lite comparison goes a bit further with the inclusion of the X and Y buttons, but we’ll go into more detail on those later. The screen clocks in at a reasonable three inches, but doesn’t match the GBA’s aspect ratio, going with the more common 4:3. It’s bright with decent viewing angles, and I’ve had no issues playing it in a variety of differently lit environments. The buttons are a joy to press, and the L and R buttons have some of the most satisfying clicks I’ve found in a while. The point of usual contention is the D-Pad, and while I wasn’t all too fond of it out of the gate, it’s definitely not bad. While it’s possible to push it inwards from the centre and hit several inputs together, in practice I found it worked fine.

Along the top of the K101+, you have two ports and a button. The button lets you configure the screen brightness and, if held while pressing another button, will let you switch the screen display between 4:3, 3:2 with bars along the top and bottom, and pixel-perfect. I’ve kept it to the more traditional 3:2 myself, but for people who perhaps didn’t grow up with these games, the 4:3 aspect ratio generally doesn’t look too bad, and being able to fill the screen is nice. Of the two ports, one is a mini USB for charging the system, and the other supports link cables for connecting with other K101+ and GBA owners. I did manage to test this briefly with a third party cable I had lying around, and had no issues trading between an official system and the K101+. It’s just a shame the port is set in the system without the holes for the wireless adapter or GameCube link cable to clip into. It would’ve been great to try the unit out with these, but I just couldn’t bring myself to dismember my peripherals on such a whim. Other minor things of note on the unit include a volume rocker on the right of the console, a power button on the left, and on the bottom next to the cartridge slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Moving on from the unit itself, I find the K-Card particularly interesting. Not quite a flashcard in itself and not functioning on official hardware, it serves more like a micro SD adapter for the system, allowing you to access the firmware settings. You can naturally play GBA backups too, and there are a great deal of features improve the experience when compared to a standard console, or even standard cartridges on the K101+. The most interesting of these improvements come in the form of cheat support, including a handy menu that can be loaded in-game to toggle cheats on and off. It reminds me more of DS flashcards and how they’d operate. The K-Cart also supports RTC, which can again be toggled on and off, with the option to set the current date and time. Being able to change these settings on the fly makes things like berry growing in the Hoenn Pokemon games trivial, and it’s a really nice inclusion. Really, my faults with the card are skin-deep. Functionally it’s hard to fault, but using it just doesn’t feel like using a GBA. It feels like a clone console, and I just can’t bring myself to be fond of that. Fortunately, the device has no issues handling both legitimate cartridges and other flashcards, the EverDrive-GBA X5 Mini being my card of choice. It’s also worth noting that it’s the K-Card you need to use to have any of your screen settings save, so even if you’re in a similar boat to me, it’s something worth keeping around.

I’ll briefly touch on another feature of the K-Card: emulation. I’m only briefly touching on it because it’s a novelty, and not something you should be picking up the K101+ for. Officially, the device supports GB, GBC, Sega Master System, Game Gear, NES, and PC Engine. I would say using Goomba for your GB/C games is a better pick, and to abandon the idea of playing the other systems on the K101+. There are better consoles for this, so get them instead. With the lacklustre emulation in mind, it stands as a real shame to me that the X and Y buttons can’t be remapped. There would have been a real saving grace here if you were able to set Y to be select and X to be start to mimic the more modern Pokemon games, just as a quick example. As it stands though, you’re stuck with Y being L, and X being R.

The biggest disappointment I’ve found with the K101+ is the lack of HDMI output. Instead of a mini or micro HDMI port, the device opts for the frankly sad 2.5mm AV option. I will concede it works fine when paired with something like a RetroTINK-2X, but the quality at best is on par with the GameCube’s Game Boy Player. I’ve included a bit of recorded footage to give you an idea of how this looks at its best. Without some kind of upscaler though, you’ll be struggling for both quality and compatibility with modern TVs.

Looking at compatibility, I’ve struggled to find any faults. Between frequently using my EverDrive for actual play, and the K-Card for testing, everything I’ve pitted against the unit has come up rosy. Even my fake cartridge of Sims Bustin’ Out ran without issue. I’m not sure if I was expecting any particular problem with fake games, but it’s nice to see it running fine all the same. I don’t really see much point in listing random games I’ve tested when I’ve faced no issues so if you want me to try a particular game, let me know in the replies and I can give them a shot.

Frankly, the K101+ is an incredible piece of kit that I didn’t expect to like. It’s become my go-to for anything GBA, and I expect it will be for the foreseeable future. While its additional features feel a little shoehorned for the sake of advertising, the core functionality is strong enough that it stands tall anyway.