ZX Spectrum Next
The ZX Spectrum Next is an 8-bit home computer, initially released in 2017, which is compatible with software and hardware for the 1982 ZX Spectrum. It also has enhanced capabilities. It is intended to appeal to retrocomputing enthusiasts and to "encourage a new generation of bedroom coders", according to project member Jim Bagley.
Despite the name, the machine is not directly affiliated with Sinclair Research Ltd., Sir Clive Sinclair or the current owner of the trademarks, Sky Group.
History
The Next started life in 2010 in Brazil, as a variant of the TK95 Spectrum clone. In 2016, Victor Trucco and Fabio Belavenuto announced the "TBBlue" firmware, named after the two creators and the colour of the solder mask of the motherboard, a bare circuit board implementation of the product for advanced hobbyists.With the help of Henrique Olifiers the duo wanted to export the TBBlue to the UK, the ZX Spectrum's original home, having received moderate success with the board in Brazil.
The Next was first announced as a distinct product in 2016 after the participation of original Spectrum industrial designer Rick Dickinson was secured. A crowdfunding campaign was launched on the Kickstarter platform in January 2017 with an initial funding goal of £250,000. At the end of the campaign 3,113 backers pledged £723,390. While the campaign was successful in creating a userbase for the new platform, it was not a commercial success. Due to what campaign creators call "bad tax advice" the production of the machines ended up causing costs instead of revenue to the creators.
Although initially intended to use the original ZX Spectrum's Z80 chip, the design was altered to use the Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA, to allow "hardware sprites, scrolling, and other advanced features to be incorporated within the machine itself".
The board-only computer was delivered to backers in December 2017. After some design and production delays, the first batch of finished units were delivered to backers in March 2020.
A second Kickstarter launched on 11 August 2020 at 21:00 BST and reached 100% funding within minutes. The campaign closed on 10 September 2020 with £1,847,106
A third Kickstarter, featuring a translucent magenta option, launched on 19 July 2025 at 08:00 and reached 100% funding within 7 minutes and 200% within 42 minutes. Surpassing the total funding of the first Kickstarter took slightly less than 3 hours; surpassing the second Kickstarter took 20 days. With 1 hour to spare, it surpassed the total funding of both previous Kickstarters combined to ultimately close with £2,612,335.
Industrial design
The Next's case design is by Rick Dickinson who designed the original 48K Spectrum and Spectrum+, but died during the development of the keyboard of the computer. It takes design cues from the original Spectrum, Spectrum+ and Spectrum 128, not the later Spectrum +2 or +3 manufactured by Amstrad. In addition to Rick Dickinson's work, his industrial design partner, Phil Candy, also collaborated on the design and took over after Dickinson's passing.Reception
The Next has received generally favorable reviews in the specialist press. In the official Raspberry Pi magazine "MagPi", Lucy Hattersley called it "a lovely piece of kit", noting that it is "well-designed and well-built: authentic to the original, and with technology that nods to the past while remaining functional and relevant in the modern age".In PC Pro magazine, columnist Gareth Halfacree called the Next "undeniably impressive" while noting that the printed manual lacks an index, and that some features are "not quite ready".
Retro Gamer featured an 8-page interview with the creators of the machine about the highs and lows of creating a "true successor to the much-loved Sinclair micro".
Models
Revisions of the Next's motherboard's design are referred to as "Issues", in keeping with the original ZX Spectrum, and have been made to either improve quality or in response to problems with the supply of components. Care has been taken to not change the core capabilities, compatibility, and specifications of all models of the Next between Issues.| Aspect | Details |
| CPU | Z80N implemented in FPGA |
| Speed | 3.5, 7, 14 or 28 MHz |
| RAM | 1024 kB base, 2048 kB maximum, in 8 kB banks paged in and out of Z80's 64 kB address space; 256 kB is reserved for ROMs |
| Graphics | From 128 × 96 to 640 × 256 pixels. |
| Colour | Depending on mode and layer, 16 or 256 colours on-screen with no colour clash in certain modes, from a palette of 512 colours. |
| Sprites | Up to 128 hardware sprites of 16 × 16 pixels |
| Sound | Traditional "Beeper", 3 × General Instrument AY-3-8910 programmable sound generators, and 4 × 8-bit DACs implemented in FPGA |
| Software | NextZXOS Operating System + NextBASIC; prior versions of Sinclair BASIC and optionally CP/M |
| Connectivity | Tape in/out, Audio out, HDMI,VGA/RGB, 2 x Cursor/Kempston/Sinclair joystick connectors, PS/2 mouse port, ZX Spectrum compatible expansion bus, WiFi on selected models |
| Storage | Built-in DV-MMC-compatible SD-card slot; optionally cassette tape, Sinclair ZX Microdrive or any other storage system compatible with original ZX Spectrum series |
First Kickstarter
Four models of the Next were produced in the first Kickstarter using the Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA.| Model name | Cased | real-time clock installed | Wi-Fi installed | Raspberry Pi Zero "Accelerator" installed | Board Issue | Notes |
| ZX Spectrum Next developer board | No | No | No | No | 2A | Only board Issue which can fit in an original, modified, ZX Spectrum case |
| ZX Spectrum Next | Yes | No | No | No | 2B | Does not require modification, with a capacitor, to eliminate electronic "noise" |
| ZX Spectrum Next Plus | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 2B | |
| ZX Spectrum Next Accelerated | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2B | Accelerator enables loading compressed tzx tape images from SD-card and provides emulation of the MOS Technology 6581 SID soundchip. |
All models include 1024 kB RAM and can be upgraded by the owner;
- Adding two 512 kB chips brings the RAM to 2048 KB.
- An internal "beeper" speaker can be installed.
- Any of the higher models' optional extras can be installed.
Second Kickstarter
Two models of the Next were offered in the second Kickstarter using the Xilinx Artix-7 XC7A15T FPGA.| Model name | Raspberry Pi Zero "Accelerator" installed | Notes |
| ZX Spectrum Next Plus | No | Wi-Fi module relocated to avoid audio interference |
| ZX Spectrum Next Accelerated | Yes |
Both models are cased, include a real-time clock, Wi-Fi, and 2048 KB RAM, use board Issue 4, and can be upgraded by the owner;
- An internal "beeper" speaker can be installed.
- A Raspberry Pi Zero unit can be installed as an "Accelerator" into the Next Plus.
Third Kickstarter
Two board models and three cased models of the Next were offered in the third Kickstarter.| Model name | Cased | Raspberry Pi Zero "Accelerator" installed | PCB colour | Notes |
| ZX Spectrum Next developer board | No | No | Black | Will only fit in an original, modified, case |
| ZX Spectrum Next upgrade board | No | No | Black | Will only fit in an ZX Spectrum Next case |
| ZX Spectrum Next | Yes | No | Blue | |
| ZX Spectrum Next + Accelerator | Yes | Yes | Blue | |
| ZX Spectrum Next Magenta Accelerated | Yes | Yes | White | Comes in a translucent magenta case |
The third Kickstarter machine introduced a larger FPGA with twice as many Look-Up Tables, flip-flops and RAM as the second machine's A7 XC7A15T. It also has out of the box support for the Sinclair QL and Commodore 64 with stretch goals met for support for the SAM Coupé, ZX81 and Amstrad CPC 6128. All models include a real-time clock, Wi-Fi and 4096 kB RAM.
The translucent case colour is magenta, similar to the text on the on a ZX Spectrum.
Operating system and software
The default operating system of the Next is NextZXOS. The operating system provides a graphical file browser and menu based access to Next's features. In addition the machine has an extended BASIC interpreter NextBASIC, with commands and features added to support the new capabilities, such as support for 9-channel AY-sound and built-in sprite graphics editor.NextZXOS and NextBASIC were written by Garry Lancaster, and the machine is provided with printed manual covering the OS and BASIC in detail. The first edition of the manual can be downloaded from the official website.
In addition to the native OS, the Next is able to run prior versions of Sinclair BASIC, such as 48k BASIC and 128k BASIC. The Next is also able to run CP/M. Although this does potentially open a sizeable software library of CP/M to the Next users, it is worth noting that CP/M cannot take advantage of the machine's advanced capabilities, such as large memory.
Some 3rd party "Next only" software has sprung into existence despite the comparatively short time that the machine has been on the market. These include the likes of NxTel by Robin Verhagen-Guest, and NextDAW by Gari Biasillo. NxTel comes bundled with the machine on the accompanying SD-Card.
Some of the original ZX Spectrum games have also been upgraded or are being upgraded to utilize Next's improved graphics and sound. Among the most notable remakes are Atic Atac with improved graphics by Craig Stevenson. The new game version is backed by the current owner of the rights Rare studio and the Next port is written by Kev Brady.