I’m sure all of us gamers fancied playing our favorites on the go, while the Nintendos and PSPs tried the best and offered some of the great experiences, there’s no denying the fact they couldn’t fill in for PC.
PC gaming has already thrived even under the shadow of the consoles churning out exclusive AAAs with its mass availability, lower entry price and upgrade options – not to forget the same PC could double-hat to perform all other ‘PC’ tasks.
Consoles had one advantage and that was to guarantee a game to run without having to change tons of settings or buying more hardware, they are mostly instant-boot and now with instant-resume but if you wanted the best resolution and performance, PC has been the only go-to option.
Since Sony stopped the portable world after PS Vita fiasco ( which in my opinion is still one of the best portables and I love it to death) and Nintendo targeting more of casual gamers, there’s been this section of gamers wanting to play their favorites on the go!
Gamers rejoice! Addressing this need are the new breed of portables – most of these are actually portable PCs that do a fantastic job of a portable gaming console while one, Steam Deck being a dedicated gaming handheld only.
SteamDeck, started off this revolution in the portable industry with their first one itself being an overnight success, so much so the wait time still runs into months and just like the shortages plaguing PlayStations and Xboxes, is still hard to score.
Then there are multiple others, that double hat as a gaming console and a full-fledged PC while still being portable. How about that!
Enter the realm of another rising industry led by brands such as; GPD, AYN, One, Anbernic, AYA Neo and more. They not only offer multiple internal hardware choices across price points but also sizes.
OLED as a technology spoils anyone using it once and the differences are almost always highly striking, one of the handhelds offering OLED options is AYANEO and while this is still under crowdfunding, it has well surpassed the goal to hit production.
With portability come challenges, challenges to ensure the performance is consistent without making the device too hot to handle, rendering games at a consistent FPS of more than 30 at least, battery life, upgrade options, connectivity, display quality along with brightness- remember these are portables, and the chances are these are going to be used outside, mostly under the sun or bright lights. In your quest to bring home one of the best, do pay attention to these factors along with obviously the price and the delivery.
For me, for now, SteamDeck with its dedicated OS and more gaming-focused approach and AYANEO Air Pro with its OLED and performance are the ones to live with!
AYANEO AIR Pro in action
And here’s a brief comparison table to help you decide
| Specifications | SteamDeck | AYANEO Air/Pro |
| OS | Steam OS | Windows 11, AYANEO OS |
| CPU | Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32) | AMD Ryzen 5 and AMD Ryzen 7 |
| GPU | 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32) | Radeon™ Graphics, Core Count : 8, Frequency: 2000 MHz |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR5 on-board RAM (5500 MT/s quad 32-bit channels) | 8GB LPDDR4 3200 Mhz – 32GB LPDDR4 4266 Mhz |
| Storage | 64 GB – 512 GB | 128 GB – 2 TB |
| Display Type | IPS LCD | AMOLED |
| Resolution | 1280 x 800px (16:10 aspect ratio) | 1920 x 1080px |
| Display Size | 7″ diagonal | 5.5″ diagonal |
| Brightness | 400 nits typical | NA |
| Refresh Rate | 60Hz | NA |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 | 5.2 |
| Wi-Fi | Dual-band Wi-Fi radio, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, 2 x 2 MIMO, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | Wifi 6 |
| Audio | 3.5 stereo headphone / headset jack, Multi-channel via DisplayPort over USB-C, standard USB-C, or Bluetooth 5.0 | 3.5 stereo headphone/ headset jack, |
| Power Input | 45W USB Type-C PD3.0 power supply | NA |
| Battery | 40Whr battery. 2 – 8 hours of gameplay | 28 Whr 7350 mAh – 38 Whr – 10050 mAh |
| Expansion | microSD | microSD |
| External connectivity for controllers & displays | USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4 Alt-mode support; up to 8K @60Hz or 4K @120Hz, USB 3.2 Gen 2y | USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4 supporting 4K60Hz |
| Size and Weight | 298mm x 117mm x 49mm, Approx. 669 grams | 224mm x 89.5mm x 26.7mm, 224mm x 89.5mm x 29.6mm. 398 – 450gm |
| Accessories | Docking Station | Docking station, controllers and others |
| Price Range | $399.00 – $649.00 | $499.00 – $1299.00 |
Let us know what you think of these new ones and what games would you like to start these with.
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