AYN Thor pre-orders open tonight, and it's much cheaper than I thought

What you need to know

• AYN revealed pricing and pre-order details about its first clamshell handheld, Thor.
• There will be two versions available, one with the Snapdragon 865 and the other with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
• Retail pricing starts at $249 and $299, with pre-orders set to kick off tonight at 9:30 PM ET.

After starting the week off with a bang, AYN followed it up by slowly dropping more and more details about its first clamshell handheld, the AYN Thor. Now, the curtains have been fully pulled back, as we know everything the upcoming handheld brings to the market, and how much it will cost.

Surprisingly, AYN is actually offering two different models, with the AYN Thor Lite being powered by the Snapdragon 865. This is the same chip found in the Retroid Pocket 5 and Pocket Flip 2, managing to perform quite admirably, years after its original release. The 865 is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while also being the only config available with this chip.

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From there, AYN moves back into even more familiar territory as we see the return of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for the other AYN Thor models. As we've seen with the Odin 2, Odin 2 Mini, and Odin 2 Portal, you have your choice of up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, while AYN is surprisingly skipping a 512GB option. Check out the full list of specs below:

Where the real story comes in, however, is the price. When the AYN Thor goes up for pre-order starting tonight at 9:30 PM ET, the Thor Lite will cost $249, a $10 savings over the retail price. Meanwhile, the 8GB/128GB Thor costs $299, the 12GB/256GB comes in at $349, and the 16GB/1TB model tops out at $429.

In comparison, the AYANEO Pocket DS Indiegogo campaign started last Monday, with Early Bird pricing starting at $399 for the 8GB/128GB model. And if you wanted the top-end model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, it'll cost either $599 for the Starry Yellow or $639 for the "Limited Edition" Retro Gray version.

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What's wild about this isn't just that we're getting dual-screen clamshell handhelds powered by Android, but that they are actually relatively affordable. The Thor Lite, at $249 with two screens, pushes the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 out of the space with its single screen and $229 price tag.

If you plan on picking one of these up for yourself, don't forget to set an alarm or reminder, as we don't know how much stock AYN has. Now, I just need to figure out whether to go with the "Rainbow" or "Clear Purple."