AyaNeo 2 Review Gaming 2023

The gaming industry is constantly evolving, and with each passing year, we see new and innovative gaming devices hitting the market. One such device that has caught the attention of gamers worldwide is the AyaNeo 2. This handheld gaming console promises to deliver an immersive gaming experience on the go, and we were eager to put it to the test. In this blog post, we will be sharing our thoughts on the AyaNeo 2 Review by Nexus of Gaming, a trusted source in the gaming community. So, if you’re curious about what this device has to offer and whether it’s worth your investment, keep reading!

For quite some time, it looked like a pipe dream to imagine playing PC games in a classic handheld size factor.

But over the past couple of years, businesses like AyaNeo, Onexplayer, and GPD have pushed the limits of what is feasible while traveling. The Nintendo Switch solidified the appeal of mobile play, and then, BOOM, chip manufacturers like AMD and Intel pushed the integrated graphics of their chipsets to new heights. When the Steam Deck appeared, portable PC gaming got its mascot, and the race began.

In this emerging market, AyaNeo is a relative veteran, and its most recent PC gaming handheld, the latest AyaNeo 2, is about as good as it currently gets. It’s a cut above anything else on the market aside from the Steam Deck itself, which it, at the very least, matches. In some critical ways, it surpasses, software aside, the classic AyaNeo, the AyaNeo Air, and the AyaNeo Next.

In essence, AyaNeo has taken a landscape-oriented handheld device’s basic form, like the Switch Lite or PS Vita, and packed the best processing power into its chassis. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800U along with its 680M graphics is the center of those guts, which employs a 6nm process with eight cores and 16 threads and draws power from the RDNA 2 architecture.

Ayaneo 2 Specs

It is supported by between 512GB and 2TB of SSD storage and 16GB or 32GB of LDDR5 RAM. It runs Windows 11, and its gaming prowess is displayed on a stunning 7-inch 1920 x 1200 LCD that rivals the caliber of mobile OLED displays and makes the Steam Deck look almost washed out by comparison.

Everything comes together to provide a unique experience that far surpassed my expectations. Triple-A PC games such as God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Elden Ring allow you to sit down and play for extended periods. True, some graphical bells and whistles may need to be turned down, but we’re still talking about God of War in your palm at 1200p and a steady 40 frames per second. Those with powerful desktop gaming systems might scoff at those figures, but this is a handheld that, despite its 265mm length and 680g weight, is quite comfortable to hand. It also runs on a battery.

Although the battery life isn’t exceptional, you’ll get at most an hour out of the AyaNeo 2 when playing a game as demanding as God of War, you can quickly get five hours out of it when playing older games and independent releases. Even though the underlying Windows platform makes it much simpler to access a wide variety of PC gaming stores and software than on the Linux-based handheld, there is a learning curve involved with the built-in software that sits alongside Windows 11 here and is intended to create a console-like experience. It is, however, much more demanding than the Steam Deck. Its pricing is also undeniable; the 16GB/512GB model will set you back $1,099 at retail.

AyaNeo 2 Gaming

But the AyaNeo 2 is so endearing, and it packs incredible power into such a small package. It will take some getting used to, and you’ll want to keep the charger close at hand, but a handheld like this is something that gamers from a particular era never imagined were conceivable.

Aya Neo is currently directly selling the Aya Neo 2. Costs range from $1,099 for the 16GB RAM / 512GB storage option to $1,299 for 16GB RAM / 1TB storage, with 32GB RAM / 2TB storage being the most expensive. We’re focusing on that entry-level build for this study, but we anticipate performance to be comparable even up to that 32GB RAM threshold. The AyaNeo 2 is also offered by resellers like DroiX.

Early adopters can still get one of the devices at a discount from the retail prices stated above, thanks to an ongoing IndieGoGo campaign.

When compared to some of the greatest gaming laptops available or even the entry-level price of Valve’s Steam Deck, which starts at $399, it is clear that the purchase is pricey.

Read More: Best Gaming News & Reviews with Nexus of Gaming

A very appealing gaming handheld is the AyaNeo 2. While we’ve been testing the all-black model, other options include Sky White, a Retro Power edition that mimics the NES, and a little odd B.Duck version with a rubber duck-inspired colour scheme.

It is roughly pill-shaped, resembling a regular handheld more closely than the Steam Deck’s trackpad, and weighs 680g. Its dimensions are 26.45 x 10.55 x 3.61cm. The easiest way to use it is with it resting on your lap because it isn’t really small enough to be considered a “handheld” gadget. Wherever you put it, you’ll be able to marvel at its 1920 x 1200 LCD touchscreen, which is significantly superior to the Steam Deck’s lower-resolution, less punchy display and is rich with colour, contrast, and brightness. This is covered with a glass surface that spans the entire front of the device and is glossy, except for the areas where the buttons and sticks are located. It has a really nice appearance and seems sturdy.

Because of its recognizable analog stick and button arrangement, it is also more comfortable in hand than the Steam Deck. A D-pad is located below the left stick, while Start and Select buttons are placed side by side beneath that D-pad. X, Y, A, and B buttons and asymmetrical joysticks are also included on either side of the screen. Two shortcut buttons are located beneath the right stick; one launches the Aya Space game overlay, while the other immediately returns the user to the Windows desktop.

AyaNeo 2 Battery Life

The analog sticks are excellent; they are rubber-tipped, ergonomically sized, and feature magnetic Hall sensor components to minimize any potential dead zone or stick-drift difficulties that have troubled the Nintendo Switch. They are also simple to fine-tune for maximum headshot potential because of the included Aya Space program, which has full control over their sensitivity.

Your shoulder buttons and triggers are located on the top edge. The latter are satisfyingly deep and once more utilize Hall sensors for precise analog control. At the top edge, there are two programmable shortcut buttons, a volume rocker, a power button with an awkwardly placed fingerprint reader, two USB-C ports, and a sizable air outlet vent for cooling. The USB-C charging port, protected microSD card slot, speaker output ports (smartly positioned so you can’t block them), headphone jack, and speaker output ports are all located on the bottom edge.

Despite the size of the handheld, everything is cozy to handle. When your hands grip the device, the AyaNeo 2 includes curved parts that create natural bumps where your palms can rest.

Also worth mentioning are a few other techniques. If using built-in gyroscope controls appeals to you, you can do so. There’s also a clever trick for introducing rumble to vintage games that don’t officially support it, with the motors activating when the software detects specific deep frequencies. This was a pleasant surprise when playing some vintage emulated games.

A charging brick, USB-C cable, a variety of international power adapters, and two USB-C to USB-A dongles, useful for extra storage and accessories, are all included in the attractively packaged package.

The new AyaNeo 2 has some amazing components crammed into its shell.

Its processor, an AMD Ryzen 7 6800U with RDNA 2 680M graphics capabilities, has eight cores and a maximum clock speed of 4.7 GHz. Its Thermal Design Power (TDP) can be adjusted for the most demanding games to up to 33W. Depending on your setup, RAM (LPDDR5) grows from 16GB to 32GB, and quick M.2 SSDs range from 512GB to 2TB with the handheld supporting up to 8TB of storage, that users can replace themselves. Onboard connectivity options include Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless peripherals and super-fast Wi-Fi 6. In terms of pure power, this is the pinnacle of the handheld PC.

As long as you’re willing to adjust the settings and the power drain, this results in a consistently fantastic performance, whether you’re playing even demanding games or your graphical expectations are kept in check.

Hence, even a game as ambitious as Cyberpunk 2077 is highly playable on the AyaNeo 2; with the Low graphics preset at a native resolution of 1200p and the power drain set to 28W, you’ll easily pass 30 frames per second and average around 45. If you reduce the resolution to 800p, you’ll average over 60 frames per second; at 66, it’s fluid and a lot of fun. Although you won’t get the top-notch textures or fancy ray tracing effects, this is still a better experience than playing on a PS4. You hold it in your hands!

You’ll witness comparable unexpected performances from games like God of War and Doom Eternal. In ‘Original’ (i.e., Low) settings, with FSR upscaling enabled to lighten the load on native resolution rendering, God of War necessitates turning up the TDP to a high of 33W, which is terrible for battery life. Nonetheless, that will keep your frame rate between 30 and 45, making it highly playable. At Medium settings, Doom Eternal will easily achieve 60 frames per second, and at higher TDP settings, you can raise those settings even further.

In tests, the AyaNeo 2 never became too hot to carry comfortably, and that is due to some vigorous fan activity. You may configure the fans to operate automatically or change the settings to match the game you’re playing, but it’s preferable to let them start up quickly and early. As a result, you can count on hearing their background buzzing for most of your gaming sessions.

Ayaneo 2 vs Steam Deck

Although everything is built on top of Windows 11 Home, AyaNeo has tried to incorporate Aya Space, a console-style gaming interface modeled after Steam Deck, into the AyaNeo 2. Theoretically, this is a launcher/settings menu combination that houses all of your installed games in one location, along with all the controls you’d need to manage the device’s TDP power usage, the fan levels, and any shortcuts or joystick sensitivity adjustments you might make. It also functions as a joystick-to-mouse input converter, which helps use the touchscreen in conjunction with other Windows interface elements.

Aya Space is a mixed bag because it needs to be more generally better localized for English users, making it less effective at explaining what all of its capabilities perform. But once the user gets the hang of it, it’s a helpful tool for fast adjusting resolutions, modifying performance settings, and creating hotkeys for frequently used features and settings. Pressing the AyaNeo button below the right stick opens it, and a double tap of that button displays a small overlay where you can quickly alter the game.

It may play a crucial role in the AyaNeo ecosystem. Still, for the time being, you should only become familiar with it and use it sometimes rather than relying on it to meet all of your demands for on-device gaming. So anticipate spending a lot of time in the default Windows interface, which is still difficult to use with a joystick and touchscreen.

The advantage of this interface is that you are never forced to choose one storefront or game provider over another. Although the Steam Deck has workarounds, it is built rather slickly, and it must be said to stay within Valve’s Steam gaming ecosystem.

The Epic Games Store, GoG, Blizzard’s launcher, Steam, Xbox Gaming, and other download sites are all completely accessible to the AyaNeo 2. Except for being prepared to set up any source you’re drawing from, nothing prohibits you from using the AyaNeo 2 as an emulator or playing an old shareware DOS game.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the AyaNeo 2 is a powerful handheld gaming device that offers an immersive gaming experience. With its impressive hardware specifications and sleek design, it is sure to be a hit among gamers in 2023 and beyond. The AyaNeo 2 Review by Nexus of Gaming provides an in-depth analysis of the device’s features and performance, making it a valuable resource for anyone considering purchasing this device. Overall, the AyaNeo 2 is a great investment for gamers who want to take their gaming experience on the go.

Read More: Riot Games Introduces New Background Patching System, Starting With Valorant 2023 – Nexus of Gaming