THEC64 and Spectrum handhelds slip to April

The wait got longer. Blaze Entertainment has pushed the release of THEC64 Handheld and The Spectrum Handheld from 15 October 2026 to 22 April 2027. In a statement posted on the HyperMegaTech site on 29 September, the firm says it found during production that the build of the devices did not meet its own standards. It hasn't said which part is causing the trouble. According to the firm, some of the problems could have been fixed quickly enough to make 2026, but they chose not to rush. The delay covers both the standard version and the Collector's Edition. Evercade Nexus is not affected and comes out on 30 October.

Now, the price. The standard version is £109.99 / $129.99 / €129.99. The Collector's Edition costs 20 pounds more. Only 2,000 of each device are being made, and they are sold only through Funstock. The box holds a hard case and a special magazine: Zzap! with THEC64, Crash with the Spectrum. Inside the clamshell case there is a 4.3-inch 840×480 IPS screen and 256 MB of RAM. For the 2000 mAh battery the firm says "more than 3 hours". Each device comes with 25 games preinstalled.

The devices aren't on sale yet, so there are no verdicts from owners either. Mind you, I'd rather wait another six months than buy a device that arrives in a rushed case. That isn't a bad deal, in my book.