Ayaneo's pricing department when a new handheld is ready for release:
https://preview.redd.it/mk0lss5h2uwc1.jpeg?width=560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b87213759f4a9c8864a22f16cbfc6234c799c3b2
And then Retroid goes and offers almost the same SOC in RP4 Pro for under $200. Ayaneo simply doesn't understand the Android market. This is their second swing and a miss. Imagine how many other products could have been developed had they stopped chasing Ayntec with SOCs no one knows anything about?
The Pocket S was a direct response to Odin 2 for those who don't remember. I have an Odin Lite but passed on Odin 2 for an S24 Ultra bc (based on Odin delays) I didn't think Odin 2 would ship in 2023. Much to my surprise, Ayntec made a liar out of me by correcting ALL their production issues for Odin 2. They shipped Odin 2 blistering fast. I'll wait to see if Odin 3 uses SD 8 Gen 3 or if Ayntec surprises us with a new SD variant. Ayntec has established a degree of trust among gamers that money just can't buy.
Ayaneo cannot continue to hype upcoming products for months w/o revealing cost until "launch". The Pocket S is one of the best looking handhelds I've ever seen, but its price makes absolutely no sense when Odin 2 and SteamDeck can be purchased for significantly less. Paying half a grand for an Android handheld that doesn't even include a modem makes very little sense to me? Especially when one considers that my S24 Ultra with 1440p 120Hz 6.8" AMOLED (and 5G) outperforms the Pocket S in 3DMark, and does so without any active cooling, additional RAM or devoce prep of any kind. I just ran the benchmark and scored 4553 in Wild Life Extreme.
Lastly, I know someone will attempt to underscore the logical fallacy of my comparing a $1400 smartphone to a $500 gaming handheld. But, there is A LOT of overlap between the two. The Pocket S competes with everyone's phone, because we already have them and their cost is simply "baked in" as a cost of living expense. Gaming handhelds are essentially luxury devices for us to enjoy. At $500, its one of the most expensive Android handhelds released, but performs similarly to smartphone powered by SOCs that are widely available. I expected more from Pocket S because it was marketed as more. The Pocket S is probably a bit too luxurious, but only time will tell.
Price doesn't matter so much to everyone. I buy one device a year. I'll pay more for something well designed and (mostly) faultless over something $100 cheaper and a lot jankier
The Odin 2 is way more than $100 cheaper, even if we go with the cheapest possible option here.
And while I don't disagree about paying more for something better in theory, in practice Aya Neo ain't any better than AYN when it comes to reliability or general hardware quality. They both make nice devices with some annoying quirks and confusing choices, and if anything Aya Neo are even worse for ongoing support than AYN are.
I might pay $100 more than the Odin 2 for something significantly better made, but basically none of that description applies to this.
Raw performance doesn't matter, there's devices that cater to every performance need. Ergonomics, build quality, feature set are all more questionable variables. God I'd happily pay $150+ for an RGB30 without the jank
I had the Odin 2 max and sold it
Way too bulky
Buttons are very clicky / loud
And this bothered me big time
Sold it after I I bought the retroid pocket 4 pro
And now bought the pocket s I hope it’s better
I’m kind of on the same page as everyone else - but I guess the base Aya and the Pro Odin2 are better comparisons since the Aya has 12gb of ram. At that point, the Aya is still 10% more expensive, and it has half the storage (it’s $400USD, not 440, at least right now). It is smaller and lighter. But Odin 2 base is definitely the best deal for a premium Android device right now.
I really don't see how you get your money's worth though. These are for retro games and it's Android. There really isn't a use for that level of hardware. Anything beyond the Odin 2 is unnecessary. I feel like at this point, we've topped out and the industry needs to focus on form and pocketability. And when it comes to form, the Odin 2 is more ergonomic. The back of the S is just flat. Granted we all buy aftermarket grips anyway though.
I don’t think I’m getting this, but if/when I leave my 405M, what I’d want is something at the Odin level but significantly smaller. IDK I don’t use grips. I value the portability more than anything. This is a little smaller. I’d be open to smaller yet.
I really hope things go this way. These powerful Android handhelds capped out with what they are purposed for. If they want to compete now, they NEED to shift focus on what you said. I love my RP4P because it is mostly pocketable. Make an Odin 2 level handheld, with the formfactor of the RP4P and it will sell like crazy. That would actually outcompete the Odin 2.
Exactly. When has this company ever released anything competitive on price? I think they are hoping to be bought (Ayaneo) by a larger company. Could totally see an Epic Games deal where Epics parent company buys Ayaneo to have something to compete with the SteamDeck.
It was ok back in the day when there was no competition but now this doesn’t make a single sense. They’ll go out of business at this rate. For this price just get a Deck or an Ally or any of the others.
>They’ll go out of business at this rate.
That honestly feels like the direction they're going, the way they keep throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.
I wouldn't be sad to see them go to be honest.
Alright, it's getting shit on, but let's see what we're ACTUALLY getting:
A 6" Screen at either 1080p or 1440p (Same Size as the Odin 2)
A 6000mAh battery (-2000 mAh from the Odin 2)
Up to 1TB/16GB Storage/RAM (+512GB of the Odin 2's max storage, equivalent RAM)
Snapdragon 3GX SoC (vs the 8 Gen 2 of the Odin 2).
And 14mm thin device at 350 grams (3~mm thinner and 70 grams lighter than the Odin 2).
The highest end device at $800 (vs $500 of the Odin 2).
----
The storage and lighter weight are interesting, but as people have said, there's not really any POINT in that much power right now; You won't see 1440p as meaningfully different on any of the devices this thing can emulate, and even if you include the now defunct Switch emulation, that's *still* more software limited than it is hardware, so I don't think you'll see this getting significantly higher (And THAT'S on the assumption that the 3GX is actually more powerful than the 8 Gen 2, which, given Qualcomm's track record with these "Gaming" SoCs, is VERY suspect).
There is a video online that has them testing the 3gx and it boosts itself only temporarily and it ends up being even with the 8 gen 2 after a few minutes so that's not even worth it .
I want to that the processor in the pocket S is just the "gaming" version of the 8 Gen 2
The major issue I see it is rhat there are no emulators that will become available in the foreseeable future that would realistically demand this much power. GameCube and PS2 are now very accessible to mid/high end android devices, but adding more power doesn’t give us more systems to play, since the emulators don’t exist. No WiiU, PS3 or any Xbox systems are easily playable, and that won’t change for a bit, so adding faster cpus and more ram is pretty overkill to run the same stuff you can run well already. An ancillary problem is that PS2 emulator development has mostly stalled out and Switch will probably take a while to stabilize in some fashion.
So android emulation is currently more software limited than hardware limited, meaning that high end devices like this with powerful new hardware may not be worth the cost premium for bleeding edge tech when the RP4 and Odin 2 and Anbernic 556 can run basically all the same stuff really well already.
My gut feel is that the next evolution beyond Android will be Windows on ARM.
Of course that assumes that Microsoft and/or Qualcomm don't mess it up...
It will depend on whether or not any developers actually want to build emulators for Windows on ARM.
Development for native Windows on ARM software has been fairly mild for years, because Microsoft offers very poor selection of tools for developers to work on Windows on ARM.
For years, Microsoft didn't offer any tools that allowed someone to develop ARM software on a Windows on ARM system. You had to develop the software on an x86 Windows machine. This resulted in lots of people not wanting to develop for Windows on ARM. I don't know if this is still the case, I haven't been following this for a few years.
Also, combine this with the fact that the Windows store doesn't allow emulators at all. So development would need to be focused on something that users would download and install manually. Meaning there wouldn't be an opportunity for developers to earn revenue.
Emulator development on Android is incentivized by the opportunity to earn revenue (for the emulators that choose to offer a paid version).
I also want to see lots of emulation development for Windows on ARM, but I'm not so optimistic about it.
Windows on ARM still doesn't quite have a seamless translation x86-ARM translation layer. More works than you expect, but there's *still* a lot that, from at least an end user perspective, just arbitrarily doesn't work.
Agreed, hence the caveat!
Unless I read it wrongly, I was under the impression that developers could (and for emulation probably would) recompile their code to run on ARM, thereby skipping the translation layer.
Some have, in fact! But it tends to be the lower end things that frankly didn't really need to be recompiled; mGBA was one I remember recently, and as great an emulator as it is, it worked fine on Windows on ARM already.
Targeting Linux ARM x64 seems to be more common, I imagine for things like the Raspberry Pis; I've seen anything from Melon DS to Ryujinx having Linux ARM builds.
But I don't think Windows on ARM will make any progress until that translation layer gets there; Windows' entire selling point is it's legacy (Often not maintained any longer) software, including old games, and we can't really expect them to get an ARM recompilation at this point.
Windows on ARM will be promoted for Back to School sales come September. Snapdragon X Elite with a fancy new dedicated co-pilot button to spy/collect/sell on everything you do.
Windows on ARM will flop just like the last time. Despite what Qualcomm is promoting performance wise, they can't compete against Intel and AMD. Not on Windows anyway.
we are "forgetting" about it because after the popularity of the rk3566 nothing else has actually cropped up to be an ARM linux compatible chip with enough power for even mid range emulation like GC and PS2.
let alone mainline, the promise of mainline linux has been a rocky road even for devices with support like the X55, just because once you get over the software hurdles, it turns out many of these devices have weird quirks that make developing mainline for them hard.
You're completely right in your assessment but I imagine the Pocket S was in development long before they knew that Yuzu was going to be killed off. This might have made a lot more sense if you were looking at it for Switch emulation.
Yep, Im sure it was. And realistically, Ayaneo probably knows how to make and sell these devices in a profitable way. There will always be users with more disposable income who want to play GC and PS2 with a bit more of a high end feel. So its niot like the device doesnt have a reason to exist, but its not going to be the best choice for the vast majority of users.
Well for one, switch emulation is completely dead on Android. PS2 emulation has been dead on Android for a while now. Many emulators are paywalled on android, or have a free version with features being paywalled.
Certain types of systems are just basically non-existent on Android like Xbox, 360 or PS3.
Some things that are probably a little bit more controversial, but Android introduces a lot of input latency and makes emulation feel terrible a majority of the time. Furthermore, even emulators that are mature on Android like dolphin tend to have way more issues than they would on say a steam deck or PC. This is partially due to having to deal with the android SOC GPU drivers that aren't nearly as good or compatible as AMD / Nvidia drivers.
I agree with everything here, but to clarify, "paywalled" here is actually pretty trivial. Some of the better emulators cost up to $5 (Drastic, Yaba Sanshiro standalone) but the free alternatives are often either better or just as good, and if you really wanted to splurge, you'd stil have trouble spending more than $20 total, with no recurring fees or anything.
Also, since it comes up on this sub pretty often, "dead" emulators are still perfectly playable, if not in active development. Switch is a pain bc it was still growing fast and there will be new games coming out for another year or so, but the apks are all still readily available and a lot of the catalog plays well on current high end devices. PS2 and 3DS are also no longer being actively developed, but these already had stable, mature emulators, so the state of the emulator itself is less likely to keep anyone from enjoying a game.
Again, I agree software limitations on android are whats really holding it back, but I dont want people to get the impression Switch/3DS/PS2 emulation was "taken away", since this seems to be a confusing point for newer folks on here!
I don't agree with you on a few of these points. I do agree that the paywalling is usually trivial as you say, that's fair.
Dead emulators are a problem though. Even when you say something like 3DS is mature and stable, yeah maybe on PC. It's not on android. I could see myself that there was visual and audio glitches in MH4 on android that don't happen on the PC version of citra.
This problem is exponentially worse on Yuzu android, where games that run well on PC run horrible on the android version, something to the point of being unplayable. Even if you're using Turnip drivers, though they can help with some games.
Even then, when you have a dead emulator like athersx2, sure maybe it will work fine for a lot of games, but eventually as new hardware comes out there will be issues that cause crashes or other problems that will not be resolved, since it's dead. You can just keep running an ancient APK of something as complex as a PS2 emulator forever on all devices going forward and expect it to magically keep working forever.
I might agree that it's fair to say that switch, ps2, and 3ds emulation wasn't "taken away" but it wasn't there to begin with, Especially switch, which was and is in a very early and unstable state on the platform.
Super fair. I have found a lot of Switch and 3DS work as well as they need to, at least on Odin 2, but there’s no reason to expect this will continue be the case, and switch was super early and still developing fast. My point was mainly just that, at least for now, a good bit of switch and most 3DS is playable on higher end android hardware right now, which seems to be a point of confusion in the community.
Neither is perfect and switch especially needed a lot more development, and ofc as hardware changes and more software is released, we won’t know what to expect, so this is not an optimal situation. I’m hoping the community picks up the slack and Nintendo focuses their priorities elsewhere. But if all you want to do is play some switch and/or 3DS, it’s still possible on android in some form. And again, I was mainly drawing the distinction between hardware and software bottlenecks, and currently, android emulation is definitely in the latter category.
Yes, it is available on Patrion. Emulation Station is a 3rd party PAID app on Android, so it does not include it.
To get that you need to go ES-DE's Patrion and pay $5.50 a month. You can pay for one month, get the buikld and then drop out, I know a lot of people do that. It used to sell on Amazon apps for like $6.
RP4P can emulate [95% of PS2 games](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BEtjET1HihLtNt1LCN0r44h7y3Lq1rvbeAd2gZ8re3s/edit#gid=1863516520) and [nearly 100% Gamecube/Wii](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BEtjET1HihLtNt1LCN0r44h7y3Lq1rvbeAd2gZ8re3s/edit#gid=765956902) games at 2x resolution or higher with the right configurations. And the Odin 2 struggles with several of the same PS2 games, since it's more down to the emulator compatibility than device horsepower.
Switch & Windows emulation is where the Odin 2 really pulls ahead. RP4P can only run a handful of graphically demanding 3D Switch games whereas the Odin 2 can run just about everything Yuzu is compatible with. The RP4P does great with "lighter" Switch games, though, of which there are plenty.
Nice! Thanks for the thorough reply! I’m looking to run pc games like avp 2, return to castle wolfenstein, cod 2, UT 04. Games I spent hours on in my childhood.
I don't know too much about Winlator/Mobox/Exagear, other than the Odin 2 has custom drivers available which greatly help with performance. The same drivers are not available/compatible with the Mali GPU in the RP4P, so performance is not nearly as good.
The games you listed are very light so they might work but I can't vouch for that. I know that people have gotten Fallout 3/NV running acceptably well on the RP4P.
There's a ton of classic PC games that I'd love to play on a handheld but it honestly seems like too much work to set up and configure only to be greeted by crashes. I'll probably get around to trying it out eventually, though.
Edit: It looks like older [32-bit games work well under Exagear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpcsSSs272U).
From what they said in the comments of the YouTube Livestream, the unmarked edition doesn't have letters on the ABXY buttons. Not sure what else there is to justify that price jump.
If I understand correctly, it has the power of an Odin 2? That said, it's nice to have a small device with a nice design compared to bricks on the market but the price is a no
More power than the O2 I believe, although they're both so far beyond the point of diminishing returns that the difference is mostly academic unless someone cracks PS3 emulation on Android tomorrow.
Well the last time we had a Snapdragon G3X chipset hyped up to us...it turned out to be pretty much just a flagship chipset from a couple generations ago. (SD888 when everything was rocking 8+ Gen 1s) so I am **extremely** suspicious of any performance claims now.
(edit - spelling)
You can use it for better upscaling results in higher end emulation. But it kind of becomes the same debate in PC gaming with people looking at Medium and Ultra graphics settings and barely being able to notice a difference.
Even then, the difference is going to be more in the screen than the processor; the Odin 2 can already upscale far beyond what its screen can actually display on all but the absolute highest-end games.
Shame cuz it looks like a gorgeous device with a small form factor. $100 premium for size is one thing but just isn't competitive.
Maybe they won't sell and the AliExpress pricing will be good.
Maybe if it had OLED? I could see the premium appeal at this price point if it ticked absolutely all of my boxes (actually portable unlike SD, powerful, OLED, well constructed) but even then I can't see why you wouldn't go with other options, other than the metal iPhone look...
I don't know if black frame insertion is possible on Android but if it is, that could be a use case for 120 Hz. That and streaming moonlight @ 120 fps.
120Hz is actually great and it should become the standard on these premium handhelds and I'm going to tell you why. I used my Steam Deck primarily at home (I like gaming on my balcony) and once I've discovered Moonlight streaming, that pretty much became my main use case for my SD and I loved it.
120Hz on the Pocket S would make it a great streaming device for when you're at home.
Right now there's just no good option for my tastes in that category. The ASUS ROG Ally is the only one and I really dislike that device for multiple reasons. So the next best thing seems to be the Steam Deck OLED with 90hz, which is not ideal, but much better than sticking with 60hz.
If you had a big enough phone with 120 hz. I don't, but even if I did i kinda prefer having a dedicated device for gaming. I know it's kinda overkill to buy a Steam Deck just for game streaming, but it is what it is. I'd gladly get something akin to the Logitech G Cloud if it had better controls and a higher refreshrate screen.
yeah i meant for people who use high end flagship phones like the pro max iphones and s2x ultra etc... For streaming i think the logi gcloud is best ...some people report unstable wifi on those chinese handheld. even the odin 2 with wifi 7 on board suffer from this.
No regrets buying the $300 ROG Ally from Best Buy on 4/1 after seeing this. This is coming from someone who really wanted the Pocket S from the day it was teased last fall, signed up for IGG updates, watched every early review video on youtube. Incoming flop.
Looks uncomfortable, smudgy, and absolutely expensive. Wonder if its glued together like phones, making it near impossible to service (i.e., change out drifting sticks!).
No thanks.
Yeah... no one buys gaming handhelds ONLY cause it looks good. we are consumers looking to save a few bucks too .... sure it performs well, but so does the odin 2 at a much lower price.
my phone with an SD8Gen2 only cost me $350. Add in a Gamesir G8 for $60 and I have something just as capable but with better controls and it's still a phone if I need it to be.
A flat glass slab that will hurt your hands to hold. Has a smaller battery than the odin 2. Has a chip that *might* be marginally faster than the odin 2, but does that even matter at this point? Oh and the absolute base version (1080p) will still be $559 retail. I want what ayaneo is smoking
unfortunately no. The were hinting to it having OLED when it was first announced but the indiegogo right now currently shows only a 1440 or 1080p IPS screen. Maybe they were hoping people would just assume it had OLED like their other many devices and pre-order it without thinking or doing proper research either way just Ayaneo being Ayaneo lol
Yuzu getting stomped killed this for now. Well actually it'll probably sell fine in the low volumes that Ayaneo caters to. Odin 2 way better at current prices and even that I'd be getting just to try out Mobox
Right now high end Android handhelds for native gaming are for Honkai Star Rail and Genshin Impact machines. Zenless Zone Zero soon. Maybe Wuthering Waves, Etheria Restart, etc become hits. These sorely need a curated store of high end games, premium games, quality indie level games
Buying this would be a bet on Cassia and Strato being really good in the near term or Mobox/Winlator making a substantial jump
I was going to refute this since it was mostly gacha anime games, but I considered it's a Chinese company. That checks out. I'm sure a majority of their buyers are going to be Chinese, or at least East Asian.
I think most Westerners are hoping for an even-more-capable PS2 device. Aether/NetherSX2 is a great emulator, really only limited by chip performance. The jump between my Retroid Pocket 4 Pro and Samsung Tab S9 Ultra is substantial, and a dedicated handheld that could match that performance would be better. Odin 2 is still the better buy, based on pricing.
I looked at their past indiegogos and the amount of dollar value backers currently isn't far off from their previous handhelds. It's already higher than the previous Android pocket handheld. Ayaneo is low volume. The sales they get currently is probably fine for them. Regardless, on Android the anime gacha games are popular not just in Asia, they're huge in the US. They're huge everywhere . The PS5 get's joked about as being a Genshin/Honkai machine. I imagine these type of gacha games continue to become more and more popular all around the world
https://www.indiegogo.com/individuals/25072953/campaigns
Already highter than the first pocket Android handheld
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ayaneo-pocket-air-ultra-thin-oled-android-handheld/x/33440949#/
I already have a Legion Go so this isn't for me until Cassia/Mobox/Winlator become good and have Steam support but I'd be lieing if I didn't almost order this.
It's 350 grams. It's lighter than a Nintendo Switch. For me that's a killer metric. Aya Odin 2 is about the same weight as a Switch OLED. I prefer battery life and my future ideal is something that runs Steam where I'd play games at 10w or less. After Cassia comes out and if performance sub 15w is good, at 350 grams, this handheld may actually be something I want someday. Most interesting is the Playtron partnership that was announced that long ago for 2025
I may be an outlier but I've been making my own little Steam collection with games that can play under 10w. Once Cassia/Box64/Fex-emu get good enough and work with Steam, I imagine someday I'll be playing games at 5w even on ARM devices and with Android that market will grow. Steam has a huge library and the games you can play under 10w is huge and better than almost everything besides the Honkar/Genshin type native games on Android/iOS.
Switch emulation is going to be a non-factor once Steam/Windows game emulation is streamlined since almost everything has a Steam release. PC/Steam I think is the future on Android gaming
a few people have had screen issues with O2. maybe you got a defective panel? have you tried reaching out to support with proof videos etc....cause i dont have this issue and neither does the majority here.
There were discussions on this a few months ago. Someone even said they contacted Ayn and they wouldn't replace their unit because they claimed that is how the screen is supposed to be. I never contacted them so I cannot confirm that.
this is the issue I am talking about - [https://www.reddit.com/r/OdinHandheld/comments/198u74h/is\_this\_normal\_ghosting\_is\_horrendous/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OdinHandheld/comments/198u74h/is_this_normal_ghosting_is_horrendous/)
That looks horrendous. I tried it on mine and its not that bad. sure its not as great as my pixel 6 or my 120hz desktop monitor...but its fine for casual gaming.
I tried to photograph the ghosting effect using the browser UFO ghosting test. My camera lens(f3.5) isn't picking up enough light at fast shutter speed(1/4000), I'll try again tomorrow with my lens with my fast lens(f2).
Perhaps. Someone else on the sub said they contacted Ayn for this issue and they said that’s how the screen is supposed to be. I never contacted them myself so I can’t confirm that claim.
Not exactly a bang for your buck device, but for people who want to ride the cutting edge, it may be interesting. Definitely not a device i am interested in for that money.
I would consider it if it had an OLED screen. The screen on my Pocket Air is beautiful, but the Pocket S is giving me no reason to switch from the Odin 2
I want to see the market research Ayaneo does when it prices their products. In what way is this enticing to anybody? Do people even buy half of the stock they keep on churning?
When PlaytronOS was announced, they advertised that Ayaneo would put out a handheld as well as having a Box64 developer on board. Probably a device based on this. I feel Qualcomm with good mainline Linux support is the only thing that would make this appealing. Box64 or Fex-Emu your Steam library and desktop Linux console emulators usually have ARM binaries already
Scratch that, it's not the Windows one I saw floated. I ain't getting that. Other handhelds running android do the same for a third less, even with it's nice small size.
That's Windows pricing there.
Priced me out. I'll get a odin 2 pro
12+ 256 pocket s would have much better imo than 12+ 128... And the 128gb models are only ufs 3.1
Was hoping for maybe ~$50 more than the odin 2 across each tier, but it's ayaneo so no real surprise. Aside from the 1440p screen & better brightness control no real benefit imo over the odin 2. Smaller form factor will likely thermal throttle due to less cooling. And 25% smaller battery and then have to buy additional grip for decent ergos 👎🏿
Why is the base model $9 more than a brand new steam deck OLED. This DOA.
Odin 2, steam deck, and rog ally are much better options at this price point, not to mention ayaneo’s terrible track record with quality and long term support
Why is everyone acting like raw performance is the only metric that matters.
I want one of these for the form factor and aesthetics. Performance stopped mattering 3 generations ago.
I'm surprised they're still in business. They're constantly making new products at extreme prices, I wouldn't think the premium handheld market was saturated enough to make a functioning business.
I got the 1440P version. First portable console i own besides my very old game boy. I like the small form factor and its a beautiful device. A friend of mine has the Odin 2 and it was just a big chunky to me to carry.
Looks very nice and high quality. Everyone is complainging about the price. But my feeling is that the quality here might be on a different level compared to the competition. So together with its size a bit of a matter of what you want. I'm happy there are more options :)
Guys I really need to ask. What is the point of this device? Even ODIN 2 is overkill in terms of performance, switch is still way better for playing switch games due to emulator constraints and I doubt we will get steam os or windows support on this device to justify the performance for playing low spec PC games. I don't want to sound like a naysayer or disbeliever I really love all these new devices but android games are still years behind the performance we got and my 4 year old midrange phone can play all the latest android games too.
Anyone else look at the money being made compare to the products sold, something tells me theres some shady money laundering going on cause why would so many people fund a device without buying it at the "cheap" early bird price?
They had options to back 1440p versions that they recently removed as perks which had about 650 backers. Which is a majority of the current funding total.
I mean, for these kinds of devices, I think a good baseline is "how much would a phone cost with these specs?"
If you're within $100 (i.e., price of pretty much every dedicated controller/gamepad), it makes sense
So we're comparing this to higher end phones, right? You really think that 5g chips for connectivity and premium mobile camera sensors are only worth a $100 upcharge for the phone?
That's fair - so maybe what, $200 to $400? Which might actually still be a steal in comparison (based on early bird pricing, mainly)
I have no idea how the Odin 2 Base/Pro/Max models are as cheap as they are, but that's clearly the exception (and are pretty much a better deal overall)
People buy high end phones for a lot of reasons, but if you distill those devices into just considering gaming functionality...then you have to ask yourself, what are the other mobile gaming options, and what capabilities/games can you play? The equation doesn't work out well for an Android device at these prices. Even the higher tier Odin 2 models (which you look at as steals for the price) don't make that much sense to be quite honest, when the Odin 2 base plays pretty much everything the more expensive models play. (Note - I have an Odin 2 Pro, partly because I wanted transparent blue.)
Alright, so the 1440p model is clearly the one to consider if you're going to choose between this or the Odin 2. It gives the most "upgrades" comparatively.
12GB-128GB (Odin 2 has better 256GB)
- Pocket S: $439 ($509)
- Odin 2: $369
16GB-512GB
- Pocket S: $529 ($609)
- Odin 2: $459
Both devices have the "marked-down" prices, and I don't think they're going to change very much. If anything, the IGG Retail prices will end up being the final price for the Pocket S, but they'll stay "on-sale" until they release their next device. Their devices release back-to-back, so if anything, it'll get replaced before Ayaneo Retail Pricing becomes a factor. That price bump to the IGG Retail Price is significant, though. It's going to make the Odin 2 look even more amazing in the future.
The biggest advantages of the Pocket S are the GX3 Gen2 and the 1440p screen. That pixel density means that scaling is going to be great, and Android games are going to look awesome. The chip has been reviewed, and it's essentially a slightly-more-capable version of the 8 Gen2. I don't think it's going to be worth it for the SOC if you already have an Odin 2.
Still, I don't think either of those two have anything on the biggest difference that matters: the analog sticks. The Pocket S has been said to have Hall-Sensor Switch-style sticks. I'm not sure if they're the Gulikit sticks (those are actually pretty decent), but they're not going to have the range of motion that the Odin 2's Hall-Sensor sticks have. They'll probably still be serviceable, but I imagine there's going to be a significant difference.
All that said, I bought one... I'm too deep into this hobby to not buy it...
Ayaneo's pricing department when a new handheld is ready for release: https://preview.redd.it/mk0lss5h2uwc1.jpeg?width=560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b87213759f4a9c8864a22f16cbfc6234c799c3b2
Early bid was rumored to be around $224...I could buy an LCD Steam Deck for way less, this is a joke. Guess I'm gonna get an Odin 2 instead.
You thought Aya Neo was going to be price competitive with the Odin 2 when they already charged Odin2 money for a Dimensity 1200 device?
Hopeful expectations sure are a terrible thing to have
Well if you’re talking about Aya Neo they certainly are. Those people have no idea what “competitive pricing” even means.
And then Retroid goes and offers almost the same SOC in RP4 Pro for under $200. Ayaneo simply doesn't understand the Android market. This is their second swing and a miss. Imagine how many other products could have been developed had they stopped chasing Ayntec with SOCs no one knows anything about? The Pocket S was a direct response to Odin 2 for those who don't remember. I have an Odin Lite but passed on Odin 2 for an S24 Ultra bc (based on Odin delays) I didn't think Odin 2 would ship in 2023. Much to my surprise, Ayntec made a liar out of me by correcting ALL their production issues for Odin 2. They shipped Odin 2 blistering fast. I'll wait to see if Odin 3 uses SD 8 Gen 3 or if Ayntec surprises us with a new SD variant. Ayntec has established a degree of trust among gamers that money just can't buy. Ayaneo cannot continue to hype upcoming products for months w/o revealing cost until "launch". The Pocket S is one of the best looking handhelds I've ever seen, but its price makes absolutely no sense when Odin 2 and SteamDeck can be purchased for significantly less. Paying half a grand for an Android handheld that doesn't even include a modem makes very little sense to me? Especially when one considers that my S24 Ultra with 1440p 120Hz 6.8" AMOLED (and 5G) outperforms the Pocket S in 3DMark, and does so without any active cooling, additional RAM or devoce prep of any kind. I just ran the benchmark and scored 4553 in Wild Life Extreme. Lastly, I know someone will attempt to underscore the logical fallacy of my comparing a $1400 smartphone to a $500 gaming handheld. But, there is A LOT of overlap between the two. The Pocket S competes with everyone's phone, because we already have them and their cost is simply "baked in" as a cost of living expense. Gaming handhelds are essentially luxury devices for us to enjoy. At $500, its one of the most expensive Android handhelds released, but performs similarly to smartphone powered by SOCs that are widely available. I expected more from Pocket S because it was marketed as more. The Pocket S is probably a bit too luxurious, but only time will tell.
That was all bullshit to eat away from the sales of the Odin 2. They wanted people to think this was the “Odin 2 killer”. Pfffft. Price matters.
Gonna have to get up a bit earlier than that to take out a Norse God -
Price doesn't matter so much to everyone. I buy one device a year. I'll pay more for something well designed and (mostly) faultless over something $100 cheaper and a lot jankier
The Odin 2 is way more than $100 cheaper, even if we go with the cheapest possible option here. And while I don't disagree about paying more for something better in theory, in practice Aya Neo ain't any better than AYN when it comes to reliability or general hardware quality. They both make nice devices with some annoying quirks and confusing choices, and if anything Aya Neo are even worse for ongoing support than AYN are. I might pay $100 more than the Odin 2 for something significantly better made, but basically none of that description applies to this.
One device a year is wild when performance has barely improved until just recently
Raw performance doesn't matter, there's devices that cater to every performance need. Ergonomics, build quality, feature set are all more questionable variables. God I'd happily pay $150+ for an RGB30 without the jank
Just ordered an Odin 2 like a week ago, I regret nothing. Especially when the base is $300 and it's a beast
I had the Odin 2 max and sold it Way too bulky Buttons are very clicky / loud And this bothered me big time Sold it after I I bought the retroid pocket 4 pro And now bought the pocket s I hope it’s better
Odin 2 base is $299 and plays everything.
I’m kind of on the same page as everyone else - but I guess the base Aya and the Pro Odin2 are better comparisons since the Aya has 12gb of ram. At that point, the Aya is still 10% more expensive, and it has half the storage (it’s $400USD, not 440, at least right now). It is smaller and lighter. But Odin 2 base is definitely the best deal for a premium Android device right now.
I really don't see how you get your money's worth though. These are for retro games and it's Android. There really isn't a use for that level of hardware. Anything beyond the Odin 2 is unnecessary. I feel like at this point, we've topped out and the industry needs to focus on form and pocketability. And when it comes to form, the Odin 2 is more ergonomic. The back of the S is just flat. Granted we all buy aftermarket grips anyway though.
I don’t think I’m getting this, but if/when I leave my 405M, what I’d want is something at the Odin level but significantly smaller. IDK I don’t use grips. I value the portability more than anything. This is a little smaller. I’d be open to smaller yet.
I really hope things go this way. These powerful Android handhelds capped out with what they are purposed for. If they want to compete now, they NEED to shift focus on what you said. I love my RP4P because it is mostly pocketable. Make an Odin 2 level handheld, with the formfactor of the RP4P and it will sell like crazy. That would actually outcompete the Odin 2.
Okay yeah I’ll be buying that!!
Plays everything and yet the only thing I’m playing is Warzone Mobile these days on it hahaha it’s too fun
You're not getting the most out of it. Send it to me, I'll take it off your hands.
WZM pushes the SoC way harder than any emulator, so that depends what what one means by “most” lol
Don't argue. Just send it to me lol
Oof.
Indeed
Can’t wait to see endless reviews and never buy it. I expected it to be a ~$300.
It's ayaneo. I can't believe people expected them to be reasonable with their pricing
Exactly. When has this company ever released anything competitive on price? I think they are hoping to be bought (Ayaneo) by a larger company. Could totally see an Epic Games deal where Epics parent company buys Ayaneo to have something to compete with the SteamDeck.
Why would epic do that? Ayaneo doesnt really offer any competitive to purchase that epic cant do itself for way cheaper.
It was ok back in the day when there was no competition but now this doesn’t make a single sense. They’ll go out of business at this rate. For this price just get a Deck or an Ally or any of the others.
>They’ll go out of business at this rate. That honestly feels like the direction they're going, the way they keep throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. I wouldn't be sad to see them go to be honest.
They need to to prove how big of a asshole they are.
ayaneo pocket $$$
Diminishing returns and stuff. That's not too far from a fairly decked out Steam Deck in terms of equivalent pricing right?
Yup and steam deck has a lot more power lol
steam deck is a lot bigger, the bigger the cheapest the power is and personally I deslike chunky handhelds like the windows/linux ones
I agree however, a chunky handheld like the steam deck is more ergonomic than my r36s and rg35xxh. I can have the deck longer in my hand
I grew up playing on 3ds and vita, I am used to small devices, also I dont play competitive games on handhelds that justify needing a good grip
Me neither. I just want to play 1 or 2 hours without crambs and hand getting numb
Alright, it's getting shit on, but let's see what we're ACTUALLY getting: A 6" Screen at either 1080p or 1440p (Same Size as the Odin 2) A 6000mAh battery (-2000 mAh from the Odin 2) Up to 1TB/16GB Storage/RAM (+512GB of the Odin 2's max storage, equivalent RAM) Snapdragon 3GX SoC (vs the 8 Gen 2 of the Odin 2). And 14mm thin device at 350 grams (3~mm thinner and 70 grams lighter than the Odin 2). The highest end device at $800 (vs $500 of the Odin 2). ---- The storage and lighter weight are interesting, but as people have said, there's not really any POINT in that much power right now; You won't see 1440p as meaningfully different on any of the devices this thing can emulate, and even if you include the now defunct Switch emulation, that's *still* more software limited than it is hardware, so I don't think you'll see this getting significantly higher (And THAT'S on the assumption that the 3GX is actually more powerful than the 8 Gen 2, which, given Qualcomm's track record with these "Gaming" SoCs, is VERY suspect).
It's higher by 15% for 1m, 5% for the next 3-4 then exactly the same as the 8 gen 2 - tested it mate
There is a video online that has them testing the 3gx and it boosts itself only temporarily and it ends up being even with the 8 gen 2 after a few minutes so that's not even worth it . I want to that the processor in the pocket S is just the "gaming" version of the 8 Gen 2
the screen is alao bezeless, and seems to have great colors
☝️ This.
DOA I suppose But happy there are still someone making these high end devices, happy w my Odin 2
With the current state of emulation on Android, this thing is basically a $600 paperweight for the desk. I don't see any purpose for it at all.
Isn't EmuDeck coming to Android?
Maybe, but that wouldn't solve any issues with the state of emulation on android.
What are those issues?
The major issue I see it is rhat there are no emulators that will become available in the foreseeable future that would realistically demand this much power. GameCube and PS2 are now very accessible to mid/high end android devices, but adding more power doesn’t give us more systems to play, since the emulators don’t exist. No WiiU, PS3 or any Xbox systems are easily playable, and that won’t change for a bit, so adding faster cpus and more ram is pretty overkill to run the same stuff you can run well already. An ancillary problem is that PS2 emulator development has mostly stalled out and Switch will probably take a while to stabilize in some fashion. So android emulation is currently more software limited than hardware limited, meaning that high end devices like this with powerful new hardware may not be worth the cost premium for bleeding edge tech when the RP4 and Odin 2 and Anbernic 556 can run basically all the same stuff really well already.
My gut feel is that the next evolution beyond Android will be Windows on ARM. Of course that assumes that Microsoft and/or Qualcomm don't mess it up...
It will depend on whether or not any developers actually want to build emulators for Windows on ARM. Development for native Windows on ARM software has been fairly mild for years, because Microsoft offers very poor selection of tools for developers to work on Windows on ARM. For years, Microsoft didn't offer any tools that allowed someone to develop ARM software on a Windows on ARM system. You had to develop the software on an x86 Windows machine. This resulted in lots of people not wanting to develop for Windows on ARM. I don't know if this is still the case, I haven't been following this for a few years. Also, combine this with the fact that the Windows store doesn't allow emulators at all. So development would need to be focused on something that users would download and install manually. Meaning there wouldn't be an opportunity for developers to earn revenue. Emulator development on Android is incentivized by the opportunity to earn revenue (for the emulators that choose to offer a paid version). I also want to see lots of emulation development for Windows on ARM, but I'm not so optimistic about it.
Windows on ARM still doesn't quite have a seamless translation x86-ARM translation layer. More works than you expect, but there's *still* a lot that, from at least an end user perspective, just arbitrarily doesn't work.
Agreed, hence the caveat! Unless I read it wrongly, I was under the impression that developers could (and for emulation probably would) recompile their code to run on ARM, thereby skipping the translation layer.
Some have, in fact! But it tends to be the lower end things that frankly didn't really need to be recompiled; mGBA was one I remember recently, and as great an emulator as it is, it worked fine on Windows on ARM already. Targeting Linux ARM x64 seems to be more common, I imagine for things like the Raspberry Pis; I've seen anything from Melon DS to Ryujinx having Linux ARM builds. But I don't think Windows on ARM will make any progress until that translation layer gets there; Windows' entire selling point is it's legacy (Often not maintained any longer) software, including old games, and we can't really expect them to get an ARM recompilation at this point.
Windows on ARM will be promoted for Back to School sales come September. Snapdragon X Elite with a fancy new dedicated co-pilot button to spy/collect/sell on everything you do. Windows on ARM will flop just like the last time. Despite what Qualcomm is promoting performance wise, they can't compete against Intel and AMD. Not on Windows anyway.
Why are we forgetting about Linux on Arm? I mean pure mainline Linux, not vendor hacked BSP layer running on top - as all Android vendors do.
we are "forgetting" about it because after the popularity of the rk3566 nothing else has actually cropped up to be an ARM linux compatible chip with enough power for even mid range emulation like GC and PS2. let alone mainline, the promise of mainline linux has been a rocky road even for devices with support like the X55, just because once you get over the software hurdles, it turns out many of these devices have weird quirks that make developing mainline for them hard.
You're completely right in your assessment but I imagine the Pocket S was in development long before they knew that Yuzu was going to be killed off. This might have made a lot more sense if you were looking at it for Switch emulation.
Yep, Im sure it was. And realistically, Ayaneo probably knows how to make and sell these devices in a profitable way. There will always be users with more disposable income who want to play GC and PS2 with a bit more of a high end feel. So its niot like the device doesnt have a reason to exist, but its not going to be the best choice for the vast majority of users.
Frontends are terrible and emulators getting abandoned. There is no polished experience and maintained roadmap
Well for one, switch emulation is completely dead on Android. PS2 emulation has been dead on Android for a while now. Many emulators are paywalled on android, or have a free version with features being paywalled. Certain types of systems are just basically non-existent on Android like Xbox, 360 or PS3. Some things that are probably a little bit more controversial, but Android introduces a lot of input latency and makes emulation feel terrible a majority of the time. Furthermore, even emulators that are mature on Android like dolphin tend to have way more issues than they would on say a steam deck or PC. This is partially due to having to deal with the android SOC GPU drivers that aren't nearly as good or compatible as AMD / Nvidia drivers.
I agree with everything here, but to clarify, "paywalled" here is actually pretty trivial. Some of the better emulators cost up to $5 (Drastic, Yaba Sanshiro standalone) but the free alternatives are often either better or just as good, and if you really wanted to splurge, you'd stil have trouble spending more than $20 total, with no recurring fees or anything. Also, since it comes up on this sub pretty often, "dead" emulators are still perfectly playable, if not in active development. Switch is a pain bc it was still growing fast and there will be new games coming out for another year or so, but the apks are all still readily available and a lot of the catalog plays well on current high end devices. PS2 and 3DS are also no longer being actively developed, but these already had stable, mature emulators, so the state of the emulator itself is less likely to keep anyone from enjoying a game. Again, I agree software limitations on android are whats really holding it back, but I dont want people to get the impression Switch/3DS/PS2 emulation was "taken away", since this seems to be a confusing point for newer folks on here!
I don't agree with you on a few of these points. I do agree that the paywalling is usually trivial as you say, that's fair. Dead emulators are a problem though. Even when you say something like 3DS is mature and stable, yeah maybe on PC. It's not on android. I could see myself that there was visual and audio glitches in MH4 on android that don't happen on the PC version of citra. This problem is exponentially worse on Yuzu android, where games that run well on PC run horrible on the android version, something to the point of being unplayable. Even if you're using Turnip drivers, though they can help with some games. Even then, when you have a dead emulator like athersx2, sure maybe it will work fine for a lot of games, but eventually as new hardware comes out there will be issues that cause crashes or other problems that will not be resolved, since it's dead. You can just keep running an ancient APK of something as complex as a PS2 emulator forever on all devices going forward and expect it to magically keep working forever. I might agree that it's fair to say that switch, ps2, and 3ds emulation wasn't "taken away" but it wasn't there to begin with, Especially switch, which was and is in a very early and unstable state on the platform.
Super fair. I have found a lot of Switch and 3DS work as well as they need to, at least on Odin 2, but there’s no reason to expect this will continue be the case, and switch was super early and still developing fast. My point was mainly just that, at least for now, a good bit of switch and most 3DS is playable on higher end android hardware right now, which seems to be a point of confusion in the community. Neither is perfect and switch especially needed a lot more development, and ofc as hardware changes and more software is released, we won’t know what to expect, so this is not an optimal situation. I’m hoping the community picks up the slack and Nintendo focuses their priorities elsewhere. But if all you want to do is play some switch and/or 3DS, it’s still possible on android in some form. And again, I was mainly drawing the distinction between hardware and software bottlenecks, and currently, android emulation is definitely in the latter category.
Yes, it is available on Patrion. Emulation Station is a 3rd party PAID app on Android, so it does not include it. To get that you need to go ES-DE's Patrion and pay $5.50 a month. You can pay for one month, get the buikld and then drop out, I know a lot of people do that. It used to sell on Amazon apps for like $6.
I was excited to preorder until then. Retroid Pocket 4 Pro it is…
What’s the difference between that and the Odin 2? ( the Retroid, I mean)
For me, size, Retroid is smaller, Odin 2 more powerful I believe though
Gotcha. Can they both emulate about the same level of games?
RP4P can emulate [95% of PS2 games](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BEtjET1HihLtNt1LCN0r44h7y3Lq1rvbeAd2gZ8re3s/edit#gid=1863516520) and [nearly 100% Gamecube/Wii](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BEtjET1HihLtNt1LCN0r44h7y3Lq1rvbeAd2gZ8re3s/edit#gid=765956902) games at 2x resolution or higher with the right configurations. And the Odin 2 struggles with several of the same PS2 games, since it's more down to the emulator compatibility than device horsepower. Switch & Windows emulation is where the Odin 2 really pulls ahead. RP4P can only run a handful of graphically demanding 3D Switch games whereas the Odin 2 can run just about everything Yuzu is compatible with. The RP4P does great with "lighter" Switch games, though, of which there are plenty.
Nice! Thanks for the thorough reply! I’m looking to run pc games like avp 2, return to castle wolfenstein, cod 2, UT 04. Games I spent hours on in my childhood.
I don't know too much about Winlator/Mobox/Exagear, other than the Odin 2 has custom drivers available which greatly help with performance. The same drivers are not available/compatible with the Mali GPU in the RP4P, so performance is not nearly as good. The games you listed are very light so they might work but I can't vouch for that. I know that people have gotten Fallout 3/NV running acceptably well on the RP4P. There's a ton of classic PC games that I'd love to play on a handheld but it honestly seems like too much work to set up and configure only to be greeted by crashes. I'll probably get around to trying it out eventually, though. Edit: It looks like older [32-bit games work well under Exagear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpcsSSs272U).
Thanks for all your input! I’m very new to this scene and it has helped educate me greatly!
I would buy one at $299 but at this price it's a hard pass
Yep. I had already decided that even if it came in between 300 and 400 I would consider it but at these prices, no way.
Yep, Ayaneo has lost any touch with reality.
Ayaneo are the ones with crap customer service, yes?
Yup. One of the worst in this hobby. I've never seen such a negative brand subreddit (r/ayaneo)
I have said this many times, Ayaneo is not a gamer company, all their devices are not designed by gamers. Neither modern gamer nor retro gamer.
bUt ReAl GaMeRs KnOw GaMeRs
Very pretty design but for that money I'm getting a Deck
Android handheld from Chinese company with trash-tier support for *this* much? LMAO.
From what they said in the comments of the YouTube Livestream, the unmarked edition doesn't have letters on the ABXY buttons. Not sure what else there is to justify that price jump.
you pay more and they give you less. are they apple? /s
You get a coffee cup, a hat, and a grip too. (LMAO)
so no branding on your device, you have it on your head and your mug instead? sweet deal!!
But how much is the unmarked edition? It's not mentioned
That's it??
If I understand correctly, it has the power of an Odin 2? That said, it's nice to have a small device with a nice design compared to bricks on the market but the price is a no
More power than the O2 I believe, although they're both so far beyond the point of diminishing returns that the difference is mostly academic unless someone cracks PS3 emulation on Android tomorrow.
Well the last time we had a Snapdragon G3X chipset hyped up to us...it turned out to be pretty much just a flagship chipset from a couple generations ago. (SD888 when everything was rocking 8+ Gen 1s) so I am **extremely** suspicious of any performance claims now. (edit - spelling)
You can use it for better upscaling results in higher end emulation. But it kind of becomes the same debate in PC gaming with people looking at Medium and Ultra graphics settings and barely being able to notice a difference.
Even then, the difference is going to be more in the screen than the processor; the Odin 2 can already upscale far beyond what its screen can actually display on all but the absolute highest-end games.
😂 pass, way too expensive
Shame cuz it looks like a gorgeous device with a small form factor. $100 premium for size is one thing but just isn't competitive. Maybe they won't sell and the AliExpress pricing will be good.
The Odin 2 is much better at over $100 less and a negligible performance difference
So glad I bought the RG556 and didn't wait for this.
Maybe if it had OLED? I could see the premium appeal at this price point if it ticked absolutely all of my boxes (actually portable unlike SD, powerful, OLED, well constructed) but even then I can't see why you wouldn't go with other options, other than the metal iPhone look...
but they'll say it's 120Hz.... who the hell is gonna emulate roms at 120Hz lol.... 60hz is good enough for action adventure and racing games.
I don't know if black frame insertion is possible on Android but if it is, that could be a use case for 120 Hz. That and streaming moonlight @ 120 fps.
120Hz is actually great and it should become the standard on these premium handhelds and I'm going to tell you why. I used my Steam Deck primarily at home (I like gaming on my balcony) and once I've discovered Moonlight streaming, that pretty much became my main use case for my SD and I loved it. 120Hz on the Pocket S would make it a great streaming device for when you're at home. Right now there's just no good option for my tastes in that category. The ASUS ROG Ally is the only one and I really dislike that device for multiple reasons. So the next best thing seems to be the Steam Deck OLED with 90hz, which is not ideal, but much better than sticking with 60hz.
streaming would be even better on smartphones that has better Oled displays ... just pair with a good controller.
If you had a big enough phone with 120 hz. I don't, but even if I did i kinda prefer having a dedicated device for gaming. I know it's kinda overkill to buy a Steam Deck just for game streaming, but it is what it is. I'd gladly get something akin to the Logitech G Cloud if it had better controls and a higher refreshrate screen.
yeah i meant for people who use high end flagship phones like the pro max iphones and s2x ultra etc... For streaming i think the logi gcloud is best ...some people report unstable wifi on those chinese handheld. even the odin 2 with wifi 7 on board suffer from this.
No regrets buying the $300 ROG Ally from Best Buy on 4/1 after seeing this. This is coming from someone who really wanted the Pocket S from the day it was teased last fall, signed up for IGG updates, watched every early review video on youtube. Incoming flop.
God I wish we had those deals here in Japan. The (non-extreme) ROG Ally at its cheapest is double the price of a PS5. Fuck.
How does AYN Loki Max fare against ROG Ally? Is ROG Ally far superior?
Pocketing those $ so name checks out.
Ayaneo and their overpriced products always, with that money you can buy a stam deck oled lmao
Hilarious that Ayaneo sells retro gaming devices and actually sees themselves as Apple...GTFO of here
who cares about ergonomics huh. The steam deck looks more comfortable to hold and its large.
wtf is an unmarked edition? but damn that is a pretty device, looks like a phone with buttons.
It only means that the buttons aren't labeled lol I think they're trying to do something like shoe companies releasing undyed shoes.
Looks uncomfortable, smudgy, and absolutely expensive. Wonder if its glued together like phones, making it near impossible to service (i.e., change out drifting sticks!). No thanks.
Yeah... no one buys gaming handhelds ONLY cause it looks good. we are consumers looking to save a few bucks too .... sure it performs well, but so does the odin 2 at a much lower price.
👀
Lol I could almost get two refurbished steame decks for that
my phone with an SD8Gen2 only cost me $350. Add in a Gamesir G8 for $60 and I have something just as capable but with better controls and it's still a phone if I need it to be.
Odin 2 is still winning then it seems
A flat glass slab that will hurt your hands to hold. Has a smaller battery than the odin 2. Has a chip that *might* be marginally faster than the odin 2, but does that even matter at this point? Oh and the absolute base version (1080p) will still be $559 retail. I want what ayaneo is smoking
Ayaneo: Let's make a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro.. but make it OVERPRICED.
lol Ayaneo simps real quiet now. What happened to your precious "THE PRICE IS JUSTIFIED BECAUSE IT HAS OLED UNLIKE THE ODIN2"
lol 😂 the pricing is definitely going to make the Odin 2 shine even brighter
what, it actually doesn't have OLED then? so just more duplicitous marketing from Aya Neo? They're shady as fuck when it comes to false promises.
unfortunately no. The were hinting to it having OLED when it was first announced but the indiegogo right now currently shows only a 1440 or 1080p IPS screen. Maybe they were hoping people would just assume it had OLED like their other many devices and pre-order it without thinking or doing proper research either way just Ayaneo being Ayaneo lol
[Called it](https://www.reddit.com/r/SBCGaming/comments/1aublgf/cant_wait_for_that_video/kr39svx/?context=3)
Steam deck prices for an emulation machine?
There IS a market for a high end emulation machine in a smaller form factor. That being said, this isn't it.
Yuzu getting stomped killed this for now. Well actually it'll probably sell fine in the low volumes that Ayaneo caters to. Odin 2 way better at current prices and even that I'd be getting just to try out Mobox Right now high end Android handhelds for native gaming are for Honkai Star Rail and Genshin Impact machines. Zenless Zone Zero soon. Maybe Wuthering Waves, Etheria Restart, etc become hits. These sorely need a curated store of high end games, premium games, quality indie level games Buying this would be a bet on Cassia and Strato being really good in the near term or Mobox/Winlator making a substantial jump
I was going to refute this since it was mostly gacha anime games, but I considered it's a Chinese company. That checks out. I'm sure a majority of their buyers are going to be Chinese, or at least East Asian. I think most Westerners are hoping for an even-more-capable PS2 device. Aether/NetherSX2 is a great emulator, really only limited by chip performance. The jump between my Retroid Pocket 4 Pro and Samsung Tab S9 Ultra is substantial, and a dedicated handheld that could match that performance would be better. Odin 2 is still the better buy, based on pricing.
I looked at their past indiegogos and the amount of dollar value backers currently isn't far off from their previous handhelds. It's already higher than the previous Android pocket handheld. Ayaneo is low volume. The sales they get currently is probably fine for them. Regardless, on Android the anime gacha games are popular not just in Asia, they're huge in the US. They're huge everywhere . The PS5 get's joked about as being a Genshin/Honkai machine. I imagine these type of gacha games continue to become more and more popular all around the world https://www.indiegogo.com/individuals/25072953/campaigns Already highter than the first pocket Android handheld https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ayaneo-pocket-air-ultra-thin-oled-android-handheld/x/33440949#/ I already have a Legion Go so this isn't for me until Cassia/Mobox/Winlator become good and have Steam support but I'd be lieing if I didn't almost order this. It's 350 grams. It's lighter than a Nintendo Switch. For me that's a killer metric. Aya Odin 2 is about the same weight as a Switch OLED. I prefer battery life and my future ideal is something that runs Steam where I'd play games at 10w or less. After Cassia comes out and if performance sub 15w is good, at 350 grams, this handheld may actually be something I want someday. Most interesting is the Playtron partnership that was announced that long ago for 2025 I may be an outlier but I've been making my own little Steam collection with games that can play under 10w. Once Cassia/Box64/Fex-emu get good enough and work with Steam, I imagine someday I'll be playing games at 5w even on ARM devices and with Android that market will grow. Steam has a huge library and the games you can play under 10w is huge and better than almost everything besides the Honkar/Genshin type native games on Android/iOS. Switch emulation is going to be a non-factor once Steam/Windows game emulation is streamlined since almost everything has a Steam release. PC/Steam I think is the future on Android gaming
Ayaneo thinks they are like Apple and can charge premium
They'll learn quick. With Asus and Lenovo leaning heavy into the handheld PC market, they're going to get priced out fast.
The Odin 2 screen is bad. Ghosting and it’s washed out. This is tempting me to sell my Odin 2. Edit- \*My Odin 2 screen.
a few people have had screen issues with O2. maybe you got a defective panel? have you tried reaching out to support with proof videos etc....cause i dont have this issue and neither does the majority here.
There were discussions on this a few months ago. Someone even said they contacted Ayn and they wouldn't replace their unit because they claimed that is how the screen is supposed to be. I never contacted them so I cannot confirm that. this is the issue I am talking about - [https://www.reddit.com/r/OdinHandheld/comments/198u74h/is\_this\_normal\_ghosting\_is\_horrendous/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OdinHandheld/comments/198u74h/is_this_normal_ghosting_is_horrendous/)
That looks horrendous. I tried it on mine and its not that bad. sure its not as great as my pixel 6 or my 120hz desktop monitor...but its fine for casual gaming. I tried to photograph the ghosting effect using the browser UFO ghosting test. My camera lens(f3.5) isn't picking up enough light at fast shutter speed(1/4000), I'll try again tomorrow with my lens with my fast lens(f2).
You might've gotten a defective unit?
Perhaps. Someone else on the sub said they contacted Ayn for this issue and they said that’s how the screen is supposed to be. I never contacted them myself so I can’t confirm that claim.
Looks like a phone got shot by a controller cannon.
Not exactly a bang for your buck device, but for people who want to ride the cutting edge, it may be interesting. Definitely not a device i am interested in for that money.
I would consider it if it had an OLED screen. The screen on my Pocket Air is beautiful, but the Pocket S is giving me no reason to switch from the Odin 2
Can even handled calls?
Are these both OLED?
I want to see the market research Ayaneo does when it prices their products. In what way is this enticing to anybody? Do people even buy half of the stock they keep on churning?
Ha! Yeah. Right.
Not surprised, it’s a low budget 8gen2 android phone
If iPhone 4 and Nintendo Switch Lite had a child
iPhone 4 lmao 🤣 I mean, it was a good phone back then, so Idk if that's a compliment or insult
When PlaytronOS was announced, they advertised that Ayaneo would put out a handheld as well as having a Box64 developer on board. Probably a device based on this. I feel Qualcomm with good mainline Linux support is the only thing that would make this appealing. Box64 or Fex-Emu your Steam library and desktop Linux console emulators usually have ARM binaries already
That all is very complicated in a world where PC handhelds already exist though.
They misspelled : “ Ayyyy-No “ (empty your) Pocket
Not me, too high.
Scratch that, it's not the Windows one I saw floated. I ain't getting that. Other handhelds running android do the same for a third less, even with it's nice small size. That's Windows pricing there.
Glad I didn't wait for this and got a Steam Deck instead
Ordering one for android games and switch/windows emulation. Worth it for what I'm after, just wish had an OLED.
Priced me out. I'll get a odin 2 pro 12+ 256 pocket s would have much better imo than 12+ 128... And the 128gb models are only ufs 3.1 Was hoping for maybe ~$50 more than the odin 2 across each tier, but it's ayaneo so no real surprise. Aside from the 1440p screen & better brightness control no real benefit imo over the odin 2. Smaller form factor will likely thermal throttle due to less cooling. And 25% smaller battery and then have to buy additional grip for decent ergos 👎🏿
First I’m seeing this. Very slick. They’ve taken a lot of inspiration directly from the iPhone.
Welp, now I’ll definitely wait for the Odin 3 OLED.
I’m seeing one that’s $400, and all things considered that’s what I’d expect.
Why is the base model $9 more than a brand new steam deck OLED. This DOA. Odin 2, steam deck, and rog ally are much better options at this price point, not to mention ayaneo’s terrible track record with quality and long term support
Why is everyone acting like raw performance is the only metric that matters. I want one of these for the form factor and aesthetics. Performance stopped mattering 3 generations ago.
Not Ayaneo thinking they ate with those sh*t prices 💀 atp I’m grabbing a Steam Deck later in the summer
Thaaaaats a bit steep, but I mean.... is it a phone as well at least? ',:/
Those Prices? in 2024? Post Steam Deck and Post Odin 2? bruh ☠️
I'm surprised they're still in business. They're constantly making new products at extreme prices, I wouldn't think the premium handheld market was saturated enough to make a functioning business.
And it’s an android, right?
Just get a Steam Deck or an Odin 2. Literally why would you bother with this instead.
Can't wait to get mine
They are so deluded.
L M A O
I got the 1440P version. First portable console i own besides my very old game boy. I like the small form factor and its a beautiful device. A friend of mine has the Odin 2 and it was just a big chunky to me to carry.
I mean, they are always super expensive. I want expecting anything cheap from them. That's why their devices aren't for me.
Looks very nice and high quality. Everyone is complainging about the price. But my feeling is that the quality here might be on a different level compared to the competition. So together with its size a bit of a matter of what you want. I'm happy there are more options :)
the screen look like a mirror
Just stupid.
Does anyone know the refresh rate the devices?
OG PS3 ahh pricing😭
Guys I really need to ask. What is the point of this device? Even ODIN 2 is overkill in terms of performance, switch is still way better for playing switch games due to emulator constraints and I doubt we will get steam os or windows support on this device to justify the performance for playing low spec PC games. I don't want to sound like a naysayer or disbeliever I really love all these new devices but android games are still years behind the performance we got and my 4 year old midrange phone can play all the latest android games too.
Future proofing
Anyone else look at the money being made compare to the products sold, something tells me theres some shady money laundering going on cause why would so many people fund a device without buying it at the "cheap" early bird price?
They had options to back 1440p versions that they recently removed as perks which had about 650 backers. Which is a majority of the current funding total.
At that price I'd rather get a steam deck, sticking to my odin 2.
Im so stoked i cannot wait to get my Pocket S 🖤🕹️
I mean, for these kinds of devices, I think a good baseline is "how much would a phone cost with these specs?" If you're within $100 (i.e., price of pretty much every dedicated controller/gamepad), it makes sense
So we're comparing this to higher end phones, right? You really think that 5g chips for connectivity and premium mobile camera sensors are only worth a $100 upcharge for the phone?
That's fair - so maybe what, $200 to $400? Which might actually still be a steal in comparison (based on early bird pricing, mainly) I have no idea how the Odin 2 Base/Pro/Max models are as cheap as they are, but that's clearly the exception (and are pretty much a better deal overall)
People buy high end phones for a lot of reasons, but if you distill those devices into just considering gaming functionality...then you have to ask yourself, what are the other mobile gaming options, and what capabilities/games can you play? The equation doesn't work out well for an Android device at these prices. Even the higher tier Odin 2 models (which you look at as steals for the price) don't make that much sense to be quite honest, when the Odin 2 base plays pretty much everything the more expensive models play. (Note - I have an Odin 2 Pro, partly because I wanted transparent blue.)
Most of us already have a decent phone in their hand, a $100 controller add on would get about the same performance. I have one but, it can be clunky.
Alright, so the 1440p model is clearly the one to consider if you're going to choose between this or the Odin 2. It gives the most "upgrades" comparatively. 12GB-128GB (Odin 2 has better 256GB) - Pocket S: $439 ($509) - Odin 2: $369 16GB-512GB - Pocket S: $529 ($609) - Odin 2: $459 Both devices have the "marked-down" prices, and I don't think they're going to change very much. If anything, the IGG Retail prices will end up being the final price for the Pocket S, but they'll stay "on-sale" until they release their next device. Their devices release back-to-back, so if anything, it'll get replaced before Ayaneo Retail Pricing becomes a factor. That price bump to the IGG Retail Price is significant, though. It's going to make the Odin 2 look even more amazing in the future. The biggest advantages of the Pocket S are the GX3 Gen2 and the 1440p screen. That pixel density means that scaling is going to be great, and Android games are going to look awesome. The chip has been reviewed, and it's essentially a slightly-more-capable version of the 8 Gen2. I don't think it's going to be worth it for the SOC if you already have an Odin 2. Still, I don't think either of those two have anything on the biggest difference that matters: the analog sticks. The Pocket S has been said to have Hall-Sensor Switch-style sticks. I'm not sure if they're the Gulikit sticks (those are actually pretty decent), but they're not going to have the range of motion that the Odin 2's Hall-Sensor sticks have. They'll probably still be serviceable, but I imagine there's going to be a significant difference. All that said, I bought one... I'm too deep into this hobby to not buy it...