Mobile Hardware / May 11, 2026
Pi Slate turns Raspberry Pi 5 into a pocket Linux cyberdeck
Carbon Computers’ Pi Slate is a Raspberry Pi 5 handheld with a 5-inch ultrawide touchscreen, RGB keyboard, 10,000mAh battery and Batocera support.
The Pi Slate is not a mainstream handheld console, but it is exactly the sort of strange portable hardware that tinkerers love. Built around Raspberry Pi 5, the handheld Linux cyberdeck includes a 5-inch 1920x720 touchscreen, an RGB keyboard, a 10,000mAh battery rated for around three to five hours, and support for Raspberry Pi 5 boards with different RAM configurations.
For retro gaming fans, the important detail is Batocera compatibility, which means the Pi Slate can become a compact emulation and tinkering device rather than just a tiny Linux terminal. The pricing keeps it firmly in enthusiast territory, with barebones and assembled options rather than a mass-market plug-and-play package. But that is also the charm. While handheld PCs chase premium performance, devices like Pi Slate keep the DIY side of portable computing and retro gaming alive.
