Ayaneo Pocket EVO Android Retro Gaming Handheld Flexes Snapdragon And 120Hz OLED
At long last, Ayaneo is ready to accept crowdfunded preorders for its upcoming Pocket EVO gaming handheld, which is available to back on Indiegogo with early bird pricing serving up deep discounts over the advertised retail price. According to Ayaneo, the "groundbreaking" Pocket EVO stands as the world's first flagship Android gaming handheld to wield a 7-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.
It's a 1080p resolution panel with HDR support, and can purportedly achieve 800 nits of brightness. Qualcomm's Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 gaming platform powers the handheld, which pairs an 8-core Kryo CPU with an Adreno A32 GPU. The Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 is also Qualcomm's first G-series chip system-on-chip (SoC) to feature Wi-Fi 7 support.
The handheld measures 17mm thick and weighs 478g. That latter figure puts it in a lighter weight class among handhelds. For example, the ASUS ROG Ally X checks in at 678g and MSI's Claw weighs 675g. The Pocket EVO is more comparable in weight to handhelds like the Nintendo Switch OLED and Logitech G Cloud, which weigh 420g and 463g, respectively.
It also features a capacious 8,600 mAh battery, an RGB hall sensing joystick + linear hall trigger, four-mode vibration, a turbo key, and various other odds and ends. Cooling is handled by a large copper plate, heatsink, and fan.
Ayaneo's early bird pricing on the Pocket EVO starts at $389, with Sky White and Starry Black color options available. Here's a breakdown of the RAM and storage options...
- 8GB + 128GB: $389 (versus $499 IGG retail, $499 official retail)
- 12GB + 256GB: $459 (versus $529 IGG retail, $599 official retail)
- 16GB + 512GB: $529 (versus $609 IGG retail, $699 official retail)
- 16GB + 1TB: $489 (versus $669 IGG retail, $759 official retail)
It will be interesting to see what kind of demand exists at those price points, as the retail figures are more in line with premium x86 handhelds. At the time of this writing, the Pocket EVO has attracted over $86,000 from 149 backers on its Indiegogo page, with 61 days left in the campaign.
