A new handheld from AYANEO is on the way, with a particular focus on emulation and retro gaming.
Handheld device maker AYANEO has a busy 2023 — the company outlined their hardware plans for the year ahead, revealing a slew of new devices, including an Android-powered gaming device dubbed the 'Pocket AIR'.
This upcoming portable, currently slated for a Q2 launch, features a 5.5-inch 16:9 OLED screen, hall effect joysticks and triggers, and a colour scheme that seems to make a slight nod to the original FAMICOM from Nintendo.
It's being touted as a machine perfect for retro gaming and emulation, but (just like the Logitech G-Cloud) it seems it will also be capable of playing Xbox Cloud Gaming, along with other streaming services, and titles from the Google Play Store. It is comparable to the AYN Odin, one of the best Android-based handhelds, and the Retroid Pocket line-up.
It's Ayaneo's first foray into the world of Android, which AYANEO CEO, Arthur Zhang, acknowledged: "Pocket Air is our first product with Android. We are just newbies here." He then explains their decision of going for a 16:9 screen, even though other screen ratios are more popular for retro handhelds: "But a 16:9 screen is more balanced (Editor's note: for emulating PS1, and streaming games). We might come back with a 4-to-3 or 3-to-2 screen. So in the future, there may be different forms of Android products."
According to Zhang, the AYANEO Pocket Air will also come with a so-called "Exclusive retro games database", though we're unsure what this means.
At the time of writing, we don't know the full specs or price, but AYANEO expects to launch the device in Q2 2023, with more information still in Q1.
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