The Spectrum - an eerily familiar TV games console

"It plugs into your TV set and lets you play a wide variety of classic 1980s videogames - or, if you prefer, drop down to a BASIC interpreter and explore coding. It's exactly the same size and shape as an original Sinclair Research ZX Spectrum - to the extent that you can place Spectrum keyboard overlays over its squishy "dead flesh" type keyboard, for instance to help you remember the controls to a complex game such as Lords of Midnight by the late Mike Singleton."

"It's an Arm SBC, running Linux on an Allwinner H3 SoC, and on top of that, a customized Spectrum emulator running a third-party replacement ROM called TokenSE by Andrew Owen. It's based on his earlier OpenSE BASIC, but with Spectrum-style single-press keyword entry. This wasn't the end of Owen's input. The Spectrum also includes an implementation of his ULAplus, an improved ZX Spectrum graphics chip. This means it can run much more colorful games - some new, and some modified versions of classic '80s titles."

"Note, though, that this doesn't and can't improve unmodified games. (If the idea of more colorful Spectrum games piques your interest, you can add ULAplus and an HDMI output to original Sinclair hardware with the external ZX-HD HDMI interface.) The practical upshot of all this is that it's not 100 percent compatible, but it's very close, and it has better graphics than the real thing."

The Spectrum is an inexpensive home entertainment gadget that mimics the original Sinclair ZX Spectrum's size, shape and keyboard feel. It connects to a TV and supports a wide variety of classic 1980s videogames alongside a BASIC interpreter for coding. Internally it is an Arm single-board computer running Linux on an Allwinner H3 SoC with a customized emulator and the TokenSE replacement ROM derived from OpenSE BASIC, preserving Spectrum-style single-press keyword entry. The device implements ULAplus for richer colors so new and modified titles can use improved graphics, though unmodified games remain unchanged. Compatibility is close but not perfect, and the unit's casing and labeling echo the original while differing in branding and RAM labeling.

Read at Theregister