Revisiting the 48k Spectrum & games

During a rainy January weekend, I decided to dig out the 48k Spectrum with some accessories and have a blast - does it still hold up in 2026?

The restoration

So, I was nattering with a mate and he told me he had a spare Spectrum case and keyboard membrane, but it was all in white. I went over for a viewing of the stuff and handed over cash, transferred my Speccy in to the new case and he sorted out the composite mod for me.

Whilst I was there, I spotted the ZX-VGA-JOY he was using on his own Spectrum, and I fell in love with the device, so when I got back home I decided to locate and buy one (on ebay of all places)

The TZXduino device (the virtual tape deck) I already owned, so that was handy.

What is the Spectrum like to use in 2026?

This all depends on how you look at it and how old you are.

If you were about in the 80s, especially if you had a Spectrum, there'll definitely be a lot of nostalgia here for you, but even if you didn't have a Speccy, there's a lot of charm to it's graphics, sound and hardware.

However, the biggest downsides come from using tapes (or virtual tapes) - they're not so versatile, take a bit of time to load (not as bad as people make out mind you, especially next to the time needed to download/install a modern PC game).

Controls can be a bit of a pain depending on the game, there's several different joystick standards (Kempston, Sinclair, Fuller, Protek etc.) and not all games support all standards, and this means you can end up using keyboard, and that dead flesh keyboard is not the most responsive.

The other downside of the Speccy, or at least my setup, is the that the ZX-VGA-JOY doesn't have a pass through, nor does the DivMMC, so there's no way to use both together, hence the TZXduino.

Also, my TZXduino does not like all TZX files and has some issues with some of them - this could be firmware related though, and something I need to look in to.

Does the Spectrum hold up now?

Absolutely YES ......... it's not like other retro platforms, it's different, it's quirky, it's "cheap and cheerful" and is totally punching above it's weight in the quality of the games that exist on the machine, it's a total surprise how well many games have translated to the machine, which only highlights the legendary skill of the coders that put these titles together.

Should you get a 48k Spectrum as a retro collector?

You mean you still have to ask this question, even after reading all the above? Well hell yeah you should.

I will say, the 128k machines will give you a better experience, you get proper sound, they support RGB output so can be used on RGB SCART without much hassle (it's not impossible on the 48k, but it's more involved) and of course 128k can hold more data in RAM, and many coders made use of the extra memory by either loading all data in to RAM (instead of multi-load) or adding extra features (check the intro on Kwik Snax, which is not there in 48k, only giving you a menu). If you only want to own one Spectrum, a 128k machine (like the Spectrum 128+ or the Spectrum +2) might be more suitable, but as either a secondary machine, or, if you have nostalgia for the 48k rubber keyed wonder, then this is the machine to get.

Did I have a Spectrum back in the day?

No, I didn't, but a few of my friends had them, so I'm used to playing on and seeing them in action.