The Ayaneo Pocket S might just be the Android-powered Nintendo Switch of your dreams
It looks great, but who knows when it's coming?
What you need to know
- Ayaneo has teased its upcoming Android gaming handheld, the Ayaneo Pocket S, in a new YouTube video.
- The video showcases the overall design, along with some gameplay with Honkai: Star Rail.
- No other information or specs have been provided, outside of the inclusion of the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 and Wi-Fi 7.
If you've been on the lookout for some high-end dedicated Android gaming handhelds, you'll be excited by the latest teaser from Ayaneo. Out of nowhere, the company dropped an almost 10-minute teaser video showcasing the upcoming Ayaneo Pocket S. Not only does the video give us a pretty in-depth look at the design, but there was also some gameplay to enjoy.
Simply put, the design of the Pocket S looks absolutely incredible, with a design that's pretty familiar. You'll have a joystick on either side, along with the ABXY, and a total of six buttons on the top. If we look closely, we can even see what appears to be a microSD card slot and maybe even a fingerprint scanner.
It seems that Ayaneo will release the Pocket S in both a black and white colorway, but we can't help but wish for a retro-styled scheme similar to the Pocket AIR. However, there's one thing that's clear — the display looks absolutely gorgeous. We're keeping our fingers crossed for an OLED panel, but getting rid of any bezels just means more screen real estate for games.
You might have forgotten by now, but Ayaneo was announced as one of Qualcomm's device partners when the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 was introduced. This happened back in August, and since then, we haven't heard much about when devices using this chip would be released. Unfortunately, that trend continues as Ayaneo stopped short of revealing the full spec sheet for its upcoming Android gaming handheld.
We still don't know how well the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 will perform in real-world use. However, Ayaneo provided a few minutes of Honkai: Star Rail and the Pocket S seemed to handle it all without a hitch. Of course, this video was filmed in a controlled environment, so take that with a grain of salt for now.
On the Ayaneo Pocket S landing page, you won't find much else besides a few descriptions of what to expect. Two things that stand out are the mention of " supporting mobile ray tracing technology" and "uncompromising X86-level heat dissipation performance." It seems as though Ayaneo is taking some of its expertise from manufacturing Windows handhelds and bringing it to the Android side.
While this video is nothing more than a teaser, we can't help but feel a bit conflicted. On one hand, it's great to know that a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 handheld is on the way, but we would've liked to see more technical details. Let alone the fact that we have no idea what this handheld will cost, nor do we know when it will be released.
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The gaming handheld scene is heating up across the board, not just in the Windows space, as more Android options are hitting the market. We're hoping the Pocket S hits the market sooner rather than later, so we'll be keeping a close eye on its development.
Andrew Myrick is a Senior Editor at Android Central. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is collecting different headphones, even if they all end up in the same drawer.