The ZX Spectrum Gets a 21st Century Upgrade With the ZX Spectrum Next

The 1980s was certainly a time of innovation, really the birth, of the home computing market. This era brings to mind the Apple II, Commodore 64, and the, perhaps lesser-known, at least in the United States, ZX Spectrum. This device did sell millions of units, and at a price as low as £99 in the UK, it introduced many to the world of gaming and programming.

Over three decades after its original 1982 release date, the ZX Spectrum Next (now on Kickstarter) offers an upgrade to the original hardware. It has an HDMI output in order to work with modern displays, and can work with an SD card for greatly enhanced storage. On the other hand, this design is fully-compatible with the original, down to cycle timing, so it will run every game and demo created for the Sinclair. If you want to run older associated hardware, it has a bus connector for this purpose, and can output in RGB or VGA as needed. It can even use a tape drive if you so desire.

The design features an updated case by the original Spectrum’s designer, Rick Dickinson, which looks beautiful, and has an enhanced keyboard. It can also run at an accelerated 7MHz speed, meaning some games that were difficult to play on the original can now be run at a reasonable frame rate.

Perhaps most exciting though is that the Next can accommodate a hardware “accelerator,” in the form of a Raspberry Pi Zero, which would seem like a gateway into all kinds of interesting hacks.