AYANEO hosted a livestream, displaying the new AYANEO 2 handheld gaming console that begins shipping today. The CEO and members of the team delivered the first few handhelds to waiting gamers during the live presentation. AYANEO 2 is set to be a massive competitor in the handheld market, pitting the company into the eyes of Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and other rivals with breakthrough technology under the hood.
AYANEO 2 revolutionizes handheld gaming consoles with a strong presentation for this holiday season
The AYANEO 2 presentation confirmed much of what was reported earlier this year and many of the promises made on the company’s IndieGoGo campaign. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800U is inside the system and backed by AMD Radeon 680M embedded graphics. The chip is built on a 6nm process technology with eight cores across 16 threads and a boost clock frequency of 4.7GHz.
The TDP power consumption ranges between 15 to 32W depending on use. With the amount of heat from the processor, AYANEO developed an optimized cooling method that the user can optimize. The ultra-powerful fan utilizes 32 to 35W and is reported to run quietly for users. The battery is a first for Windows-based handheld gaming systems, rocking a 50.25Wh battery capacity. The AYANEO 2 weighs in at 6.56 grams per today’s live stream, under the 6.80 grams initially reported by the company.
AYANEO 2 also supports external GPUs via an external GPU dock, which supports the USB 4.0 interface. There is also a TF card interface at the bottom of the system, keeping read speeds of up to 300 M/s. Dual microphones are located at the bottom of the system for stereo sound and an audio jack for wired headphones. Bluetooth 5.2 support is available for users wanting to use a wireless headset or controller, and the company is working with 8BitDo to create a variation of the popular SN30 Pro controller. Wi-Fi 6 is also available on the system for 9.6Gbps of transmitted data speeds.
The system supports double-sided PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 SSD, with up to 8TB in storage, and support for LPDDR5-6400Mbps RAM, which is reported to be 116% more efficient than the previous AYANEO models.
The new AYANEO 2 handheld offers a no-bezel glass design for the screen and no visible screws that can be located on the system. The grip on the device is sleek and smooth, which the company describes as a “Baby sleeping position grip.” Upon watching this morning’s stream, the company showed an infant in a mother’s womb with a cradled appearance, which is what the team was striving for in its design. The system also offers RGB lighting effects to enhance the look of the AYANEO 2 system. There is also an S3 fingerprint sensor on the top of the system for fast wakeup times, and it allows for multiple users and accounts, meaning that the entire family can play on their profiles.
AYANEO is presenting users with a “MASTER Controller” design to the system, offering zero dead zones for the joysticks on both sides of the system, and Hall magnetic sensing technology, allowing for a significant depth of movement for the joysticks and triggers. Users will be able to adjust trigger sensitivity, joystick sensitivity, and vibration via the settings on the AYANEO 2 system. The Hall magnetic triggers utilize electromagnetic induction technology to be more precise and accurate for gamers. The pressing accuracy is measured at 0.09mm, while the acute stroke is 7.5mm.
The company checked the controls on the system and challenged its usage versus the Xbox Elite 2, Sony PS5, Nintendo Switch Pro, and Razer controllers via the Gamepad Tester website. The company discovered that joysticks on the rivals’ controllers transmitted varying results each time, while the AYANEO 2 presented the same results in every test with fewer errors than the others. In the Origin Deadzone Test, the company compared its controls to the Xbox Elite 2 and Sony PS5 controllers, offering no dead zone and superior sensitivity to any operations. Finally, in Test Circularity, the AYANEO presents an average error of 0.05% compared to the competition.
Inside the system, AYANEO 2 utilizes a dual gyroscope somatosensory assisted aiming to offer better handling during gameplay sessions. The trigger buttons provide a “button burst function,” a variation of the “turbo” functionality seen in controllers. This button burst functionality allows users semi-auto to full automatic firing in first-person shooters and other games where required or needed. Vibration is helped due to the HD linear motor inside the device that reacts to sound and gameplay, the same motor found in the Nintendo Switch.
The vibration motor is a first for Windows gaming handhelds, called SoundTAPMagic audio vibration function. The A and B buttons and the X and Y buttons can be configured to switch around for users comfortable with different layouts. RC and LC buttons can be short or long-pressed to offer other functions, and the equals sign button can trigger specific game menus, offering five different configurations. In power efficiency, the AYANEO 2 presents a zero power standby, allowing users to not entirely lose what they were doing on the system at that present time.
It does not stop there. AYANEO has presented users with a wealth of software applications to give all players an edge against the competition while also helping users to optimize and finalize their games and experiences.
The AYANEO 2 uses an in-house software ecosystem called the AYA Space. This new user interface can be controlled via the AYANEO 2, and the company has also added a phone app to correspond with the system. The phone can also double as a touch control and external keyboard for faster typing and virtual mouse control movements.
AYANEO presents users with a “configuration file” function, which allows users to access their game and hardware on the PC system, optimizing the game for users with each individual’s specific configuration that can be shared on the web and utilized by other users. The company tested this new function against 400+ games before launch.
Other added applications include a metadata editor, RTSS Handheld Optimized edition, Steam++ Accelerator to connect to Steam OS, AI translation and captioning for games, a Strategy Window overlay that will allow users to save at crucial points in the game and pull up walkthroughs of their favorite titles, and FPS Thunder to optimize the performance of each game and the system. The operating system was initially founded under Linux but has been rebuilt from the ground up to offer a more optimized experience for users. The exclusive translator, strategy overlay, and FPS Thunder software are usable for three months and will be provided for a fee afterward (unknown pricing at the time of writing).
The company is also offering limited edition models that are not part of the main line that consists of the black and white colorways. AYANEO is collaborating with B.Duck to bring the character to the overall look of the system, with keycaps to cover over the existing joysticks. The other exclusive edition is the “Retro Power” colorway, similar to the original Nintendo Gameboy system hardware colors. It has added dark gray joysticks and a directional pad to differentiate itself from the Nintendo portable.
On the Indiegogo page, there are several options still available:
- AYANEO 2 6800U+16G+512G, $1,005
- AYANEO 2 (B.Duck variant) 6800U+16G+1T, $1,055
- AYANEO 2 6800U+16G+1T, $1,105
- AYANEO 2 (B.Duck variant) 6800U+32G+2T, $1,285
- AYANEO 2 6800U+32G+2T, $1,306
- AYANEO 2 (Retro Power variant) 6800U+32G+2T, $1,356
The new AYANEO GEEK was not present in today’s live stream from the company and is expected to be a separate stream shortly, possibly in the middle to late December, since the system ships in the middle of January of 2023.
News Sources: AYANEO on YouTube, AYANEO on Indiegogo
