The Best $299 Android Handheld (For Now)
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- Опубліковано 15 лип 2024
- Updated performance video: • AYANEO Pocket Air Fix:...
The new AYANEO Pocket Air is the company's first Android-based device, and provides some very excellent features at a surprisingly competitive price. In this deep-dive review we'll take a look at its hardware, software experience, and gaming performance for both emulation and Android games.
Buy one here: www.indiegogo.com/projects/ay...
Timestamps:
00:00 introduction
01:04 specs and pricing
03:23 unboxing and impressions
04:04 analog sticks and d-pad
07:07 other controls and I/O
10:28 audio and screen testing
13:25 size and weight comparisons
16:22 software experience
21:01 retro game emulation
23:08 DS, PSP, and 3DS
24:58 Sega Saturn
26:31 GameCube, Wii, and PS2
32:16 Switch emulation
34:03 Android games and streaming
36:02 summary (likes and dislikes)
38:25 should you buy the Pocket Air?
42:05 conclusion
This was a review unit sent to me by the manufacturer. All opinions are my own, they did not see this review ahead of time, and no money was exchanged in any way.
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This video is for entertainment and educational purposes only.
#AYANEO #emulation #Android #androidgaming - Ігри
Update: there is a software bug that prevented full emulation performance in this review video for systems like GameCube and PS2. I’ve gone through and re-tested each of the problematic games in this video, with much improved performance: ua-cam.com/video/TxNR5vtZmcQ/v-deo.html
That thumbstick color makes me feel like they were originally white, and then got REALLY dirty, lol
They look pretty bad. I'm not a fan of the case color either, which looks like a "before" picture in a retrobright video.
But yeah, those thumbsticks are ugly as hell. If they didn't wanna go with white (due to them getting dirty?) why not black? Or at least grey?
Brown red and cream color scheme makes me think of hospitals.
They were stored in a house of smokers.
The whole machine reminds me of that tbh.
@jwill7998 or an normal 80s household where all the adults smoked.
its pointless to have a flat white sticks anyways , they will look like shit in the matter of hours of use
I love that you test the diagonals of the d-pad on the contra game, please keep doing it in your reviews, it's sooooo useful
Yess I love it too
I just came to YT looking to something to play while working on a specially boring 3D commission, and a new 43 minutes video from Russ about a handheld I'm not even considering buying is EXACTLY the kind of feel good content I needed. Just took a moment to write this, and back to Blender.
Hey, After I copied the games roms to destination, I am stuck with Pegasus and emulation station,, I can't get to the menu of the games, can you please help?
Just in time! Posted mine today as well, this was a hard one to review =]
The battery life is one of the biggest selling points, honestly. This is very nearly something I'd want, but I want to wait since yeah, it's not quite there, especially on the PS2 front.
Odin 2 will outperform this. Hopefully they ship on time
Yep. After getting a steam deck and original miyoo mini, I've been holding off on getting another device until they come out with an energy efficient device, about the size of a switch lite that can comfortably do ps2.
@@Madblaster6 just in time for the holidays.... next year.
I love the screen size comparison!
I think the best size for these handhelds are between 6" and 7" and that's the reason why i decided to wait for the Odin2.
I wish it had a 7" screen tho, but i can live with it having only 6"
Totally agree that the Odin 2 will make this obsolete in just a couple of months. I can't see any reason to buy this when you can get a better Android device in essentially every single attribute by waiting just a little bit. Heck, the Odin 1 Pro essentially does everything this device does with a slightly bigger screen and for cheaper. I'll never understand Ayaneo...
AYA Neo already have a new upcoming Android Handheld, called "Pocket-S" that will use a better chip than Odin 2 (Snapdragon G3X Gen 2).
But yeah I also don't understand how AYA Neo thinks😅
That's the problem with crowdfunding: you basically are announcing your plans to your competitors, and basically guaranteeing that they'll get to market before you do, and on top of that, you can't ethically just ditch the project once you see the competition about to release a device that'll kill your planned device.
Crowdfunding works too slowly for bleeding edge technology, and by the time you get your product, there'll be something better on the market.
It's a fool's game.
@@Boogie_the_cat Yeah I agree, and by the time Odin 2 releases we might get something better.
But I still ordered Odin 2 since Snapdragon 8 gen 2 is already powerful enough to handle everything. And it will also work good on the upcoming Windows Emulator, Cassia😁🙏
@@Mosestylez The Pocket-S looks like shit. Hopefully they use a better shell.
@@diodora2381 Their old D-Pad on the Pocket-S sucked, but they changed it so it have been improved apparently.
I still ordered Odin2 though😅
43 mins! Yes! Already preordered and wanted to see more videos on it
@36:00 Busted. U got me. Was eating ice-cream while watching ahaha keep up the good work brotha, God bless. 😊🙏 Peace & respect from Malaysia
I've been waiting for your review 🙏🙏🙏
I subscribe to nearly 300 UA-cam channels, and I think you may actually be my favorite content creator out of all of them.
Thank you Russ for your revieuw. I was very interessed in this device as my very first Android handheld. I apprecite you tested the diagonals. The design looks great and the battery is good, but once you start looking chip wise and those other issuies you have mentioned, well I guess I still have to stick with my Samsung Galaxy S20 SD 865 for a little while longer. Hopefully the Odin 2 will be the device I'm looking for.
o7
Conclusion: Get an Odin 2
Excited for this video!
I have an Odin and LOVE it.
My biggest use case is streaming in or out of home.
Perfect size to take on travel. Great battery life. Awesome for emulation.
Russ, one sailor to another, keep up the good work! This video, in particular, compelled me to comment because the physical size comparisons A+++! Also, please be careful recording outside your house. I'm an EN2(VET) from Oahu, and I'm pretty sure I've been to your building, not shouting it out though, for your privacy.
Cheers Russ, great watch as usual. Can't argue with conclusions, good but definitely a bit short of great. Still, lots to like, I'm sure people who buy it understanding the slight limitations will love it. Those joysticks look odd, but hey, they'll be covered some of the time right? 🙂
watched a few videos and the ayaneo pocket air abilities w cloud gaming is really impressive. if it was a snapdragon chip id be dipping into my savings right now (still might)
its a niche device but of the niche devices ive seen i really enjoy the form factor, the battery life, support for ds and 3ds emulation, and cloud gaming capability
Not a big deal but when you showed Zelda: Wind Waker, the txt said it was Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Really great review tho, as always! I always watch ur reviews to see what handheld I wanna buy next lol
Bro I cant wait for mine. True it will be even more dated in a short while, but I dont mind, i really like the look of this. Thanks for yet another indepth unboxing🔥
Excellent video sir. Nice work.
I was very excited for this device since most of my screens are OLED at this point (can't go back), but the smaller buttons and PS2 being iffy cooled my jets.
I always have the D-Pad pass the Tetris test. Essentially, in most modern Tetris games if you hit up, it will slam the piece down instantly, and bad D-pad's like this will cause that to happen.
Hey man. Can you help to build a comparison table for different console handhelds? how well they can simulate consoles like the PS, Dreamcast, PSP, PS2, and others in playable, full speed, upscaling and their prices. Much like the fantastic work you've done with PC mini devices.
Great video, fair assessment I think.
For those sensitive to Oled pwm flickering screens, look elsewhere. I can clearly see on the video the black bars moving across the handheld’s screen.
Getting close to 400k!!!
Love the titles says (for now) ... that is so true next week another one 😂
Oh, that thing's gonna fit in my pocket, is it?
If there's a lot of air in your pocket, maybe
I really like the look of this handheld, but will be waiting for the Odin 2.
Love to see a good amount of gamepad tester
Thanks for pushing this out just in time for the backing of the Odin2 to close down.
I’ll enjoy my recently bought Odin untill Ayn starts shipping out the Odin2. The OLED is great but if it doesn’t perform as well in the ps2/GC department as I hoped, there is no reason to go for the Ayaneo pocket air.
Can't wait for the Odin 2. The Odin 1 is what got me really into emulation but the GPD XD+ (not XP) is what got me into it overall. It was overpriced and bad but still did it. I never see anyone talk about the GPD XD+.
Hope it's not a super long wait to even get one though. That's the only problem with AYN, they have crazy manufacturing issues (I mean, it's the same story with almost everyone else tbh, but, yeah, it's making me mindful of these new devices coming out, only to get to your doorstep 6 months to a year later).
I'll probably wait until the Odin 2 is readily available on Ayn's website.
Love the content but would prefer if you did direct capture. The waves on the screen are very distracting. I know you mentioned it was a result of the camera on an Oled but it was hard to focus on the performance issues you mentioned over the waves.
Very skeptical of the December release date for the Odin 2. Still waiting for the Loki Mini Pro...
Getting the AYN Odin2 max🎉
Hey Russ, great video as always. One thing I am a bit confused about is why you were using 3x as the default max upscaling for the GameCube/Wii/PS2 games when they natively had a max resolution of 480p (any higher via digital out mostly only being possible through Swiss), so in those cases 3x would actually end up being 1440p, which is a lot higher than the 1080p screen on the Pocket Air. Wouldn’t it have been better to start with 2x for 960p(which also isn’t a perfect 1080p but is still significantly closer to it than 1440p) and going down in .5 increments to test at 1.5x(720p) for the moderately demanding games and the default 1x for the really demanding games, with the added mention of being able to mess with Dolphin’s Settings.ini to manually set it to 2.25x for a perfect 1080p upscaled resolution in GameCube and Wii? (PS2 wouldn’t need a manual adjustment since AetherSX2 already has the ability to upscale in .25 increments to adjust it to 2.25x properly in the app).
3x will indeed result in superscaling for most Gen6 games, although the output resolutions vary by game for PS2/GC so it may often result in something less than 1440p (but generally always at least 1080p). This is the testing standard I use for all devices (Windows, Android, etc), because it’s the simplest for inexperienced end users - who are often who I envision in my reviews so that I don’t overwhelm them when getting into this hobby (I always speak to the pre-RGC version of Russ when imagining my target audience). Using partial-integer scaling is an excellent option for users who want to take the time to try it out! But this is contrary to my point in the video, in that if I was paying this much, I’d expect to play through those catalogs without having to dive into the settings or create custom ini files for each game. Rather than extend the already crazy long runtime of the video to walk people through that configuration process and it’s implications, that’s something I’d rather include in a Dolphin settings video (which I’ve had on my list for a long time but never really get to!). Hope that makes sense! There are quite a few things I have to simplify or leave on the table in my reviews, I wish I could address everything in every video but already this one took me 60+ hours to create and the runtime was 10 minutes longer than my goal 😎
@@RetroGameCorps Understood, and definitely get that “wanting to judge from a new user standpoint” mentality, so it definitely makes sense for the video review. If you’re also doing a more thorough written guide on your website for using the Pocket Air, I’d then probably suggest putting those details on more optimal resolution upscaling in that for people just looking for a guide on everything they can do with the device, alongside anything else like suggested emulators (possibly including ones that do have optimizations for Dimensity chips).
Wow what a great question and response. I almost missed it in the comments we should pin this!
I guess one great question would be: “if u simply run GC/ Wii at 2x (960p) how performant is it? How so at 720p?” Many of us are comparing the pocket air to the Odin Pro/ light which usually went for 720p emulation. How do they stack up head to head?
@@jasondonnelly150 Russ did already respond with his reasoning for that (he’s looking at it from a new user standpoint on what they’d likely go for, since they likely wouldn’t go for something as small as a .75 difference, much less go into the settings.ini to mess with the resolution upscaling manually), but I do agree that it would probably be best to see how well the Pocket Air runs when the game is at the proper resolution for its screen. Personally I definitely think it absolutely will run better than the Odin Lite since the Lite uses a D800 and this uses the D1200 so even with neither being a Snapdragon that the Emulators are optimized for, the Pocket Air should still do better than the Lite via its pure chip performance alone being better (although that depends on whether or not the architecture of the chips themselves are similar enough that the D800 being around long enough for emulators to be optimized for it doesn’t actually give the D800 an advantage via optimization, so this probably isn’t the type of question that can be answered thoroughly in a UA-cam comment and I’ll personally suggest to look up what’s different in D1200 from the D800, which is what I personally plan on doing as well).
I've been playing and loving my RG405m but I messed up and played my Switch OLED in handheld mode. It was like I was looking at an iMax screen. Now I am on the hunt for a RG405m but bigger screen.
The cost just kills it for me. That's steam deck level of pricing. Id rather have that for gaming and a rg405/ for my pocket
Exactly. These mid tier handhelds just don’t make sense when the steam deck exists.
Yup I have an rg405m and a rog ally. Perfect combo.
Silly me, when Russ testing out the fan noise, i move my ear to the side of my phone (because i watch this video full screen) and didn't hear anything. Took me a while to realize my speaker is at the bottom of my phone and facepalm'd myself 😅
I'm looking forward to something that can handle 3ds well. 3ds library is awesome, but the 3ds is pretty limiting as to what other systems it can handle.
I would love the off-white/red color scheme if it wasn't for the analog sticks. I wish they were the same color as the body or red like the buttons
Color scheme is a factor for me. I like that they went with something different but I don't particularly care for _this_ combination of different. Maybe at retail they will have more colorways.
i'd say its a bump up from the logitech g cloud and with a better screen! interestingly with the g cloud i was actually able to play a few gc and ps2 games that here the pocket air is having issues with (mario kart, zelda WW, dq8)
The design of the pocket air looks great. It’s a bummer that they had to use a dimensity chipset. If they had used the snapdragon 865 I think people would go and purchase this device. Lastly, the lack of updates for PS2 emulation is to be considered as well as for the switch. At the price point there’s lots to consider. Android with some emulation support limitations on the high end consoles but great on handling resources , there’s windows based devices with good emulation support but challenges with managing resources.
guess people shouldent act like a fool to the emulator dev. thats why he quit working on it.
@@gogereaver349 why what happened?
@@lucykaede5863 Heard both sides of it some time ago, but the gist was that people were harrassing the AetherSX2 creator/main dev (can’t remember his name) asking for more features, critiquing, etc. Then the creator snapped and decided to stop supporting it and threw in some ads in the last build he posted to the Google play store. Some say that he intentionally made the last build worse but not sure of his motivations on that
@@MithosDagon Damn. People have to understand that the developers of these free emulations do it in their free time and out of their own pocket. Funny to hear that he was petty with that ads update 😂
After seeing this I am SO glad pre-ordered the Odin 2 instead..
What chipset does Odin 2 use?
I'd love a noise comparison between all of the handhelds with fan cooling. It's probably a bit too expensive, because you'd have to measure the absolute decibels but also how annoying the frequencies of the individual devices are. At least for me, noise is an important factor for these decides as I play a lot during commuting on a train.
Great review by the way, really love your attention to detail.
05:25 😆
Dpad is rly important!
I'm sure you have tested many Dpads, what are your favorites or all time? I remember you mentioned the 8bitdo controller in the podcast.
His favorite is the psVita style I believe. Dome switches like the GPD Win 4
Now I appreciate more my RP3+ and I'll wait for the Odin 2
26:40 Thank you! That is the expectation for me as well if I am paying 300 dollars. If I don't get the full library for that price it's not worth it. That is a ton of money to spend for games that old now.
The specs are huge step up from my pocket 3+. They stepped up the price too lol
Fresh cut man❤
This video leaves with more questions than usual: is there any kind of overclocking on this with the huge x86 cooling on it? I didn’t see the typical synthetic benchmarks, any reason to think they weren’t what we’d expect? GC seems to run worse than the GPD XP+ with the same chip.
Can you use usb-c headphones with it while playing games? I'm asking because I saw a mention in another video, that to transfer files from PC, you have to disable built-in controls, so I'm wondering wether it has effectively disabled usb-c port during actual use for everything else than charging and display port output.
“I think it would have been really impressive if they included a 6 inch … but 5 and a half inches is still really great” #thatswhatshesaid
But seriously, awesome review as always. Informative, entertaining, tempting me to buy stuff I don’t need 😂
Hey Russ, could you please check what is decoding latency in moonlight?
It depends on chip and internals and is crucial for streaming
Let's gooooooooo 🎉
After watching this, I actually went ahead and canceled my order... Maybe I'll put down my $$$ on an Odin 2.... or just wait and see what the future holds! Either way, thanks for the awesome video!
24:28 *Citra still doesn't have a shader cache for Vulkan yet, so you'll still see stutters every time you play a game
Beautiful handheld.
Don’t think I could ever brave walking towards ledge 20 stories up while loosely holding my device in one hand lol.
I had to pause this video so I could cancel my pre-order. I think i will just Pre-order another Odin2.
Wait, no snacks or drink alert for this long one?!
(Alfred, you trusted me and I failed you .gif)
You think we can get the ayaspace app for any divice? Or if you could sideload it onto a different handheld… 🤔
Considering how well the Odin Lite performs when compared to the Odin Pro, I'm surprised you didn't mention the Lite! It's a fair amount cheaper and appears to emulate GameCube and PS2 just as well.
It really seems to depend on the game. For example, I posted a fix that got Dragon Quest 8 running very well on my Odin Pro, and apparently it just plain doesn't work on Dimensity chipsets.
Kinda doa since Odin 2 preorders
It needs a nice purple and blue or blue and green trim and colors. The dpad needs work. This does seem like it could be a good Android development, testing, emulation and affordable computing education device. Steam Deck still hard to beat.
Get HYPE🔥🔥🔥🔥
Have you tried to clear the data of that aya neo app? Sometimes apps bugs out because of broken data files.
Really did a good job at making me cancel my pre-order, despite knowing the specs internally and not caring much about PS2/Switch/Wii emulation hearing that it doesn't perform well for either of these platforms makes me think of this device as a cheap cereal that has a better brand out there!
Joystick placement is great
I wish people would extend the bottoms of their devices so you wouldnt have to get third party grips
That being said i still believe the retroid pocket flip is the consensus best overall device (value+performance)
Fortunately I snagged the 6GB model for $279. As it stands, buying the Pocket Air for any higher price is not a good value. Just wait for the Odin 2.
Got a samsung galaxy s10e for 100 dollars brand new, as soon as I notice it’s gaming performance bought a bsp-d3 for 15 dollars it turned out to be a very solid hand heald better than the rg505 and rp3+, I compare it’s like a 115 dollar hand heald that stands between the odin and the rp3+
Does the right stick block your thumb sometimes from hitting the face buttons?
Is this the only device that receives a sim card? Any others coming out soon? I'm looking for something that I can use for Xbox game pass and for some retro games
"Great hardware, wrong chip" -- nailed it
Considering all these hand helds using Android and smartphone chips, I'm waiting for Nokia to make a new version of the Ngage or Sony to make a new Xperia Play or something. When we have stuff like this Aya device all that's really missing is cellular capability lmao.
Hi Russ,
I really wanted to play games like Need for Speed U2, MW, Carbon, etc. Im looking forward for the best android based device that can carry smooth gameplay. What do you recommend the most under 300$ budget? Thanks!
The perfect the handheld for me, love your videos, always
Maybe. That D-pad issue is pretty bad.
@@subzero-ku2wx not for me, i don't like contra and don't play a lot o fighting games...
What Phone do you use and what is the controller you attach?
I’ve been trying to get the super Mario bros 3 rom in my x55 but can’t seem understand which folder in the SD card it goes in :(
I own a Logitech gcloud, which doesn't have video display port out. I also own a pair of xreal glasses. It seams to me that I should replace my gcloud with this and use it with the glasses
can you test PSP Hot shot golf? I had lagging issue with this game when running on my D9000 cpu tablet.
Hey russ, I'm starting my own gaming channel from Australia. Got any tips?
Crazy taxi man 🤣🤣 got the android google play version its pretty sick man so much like the original 💯💯🏆💚💚👊
What's the charging speed on the Pocket Air and how long does it take to charge from 0-100%?
I've been wanting a dedicated emulation device. I know my smartphone(SD870) can emulate most of it. I just can't decide whether to just buy a controller for smartphone or maybe something like an anbernic. 😅
Its a nice little machine but the only thing stopping me from buying it is that there's supposedly an SD8 gen2 version in the works.
Creo que la versión con Qualcom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 será la que más interés tenga.
Lo más seguro es que se le pueda instalar Windows y eso será un gran plus ya que ninguna empresa adquiere sacar una handheld Pc económica y Valve aunque tiene la suya, es gigante y no puedo considerar eso como portátil
@@DienerNoUta Ya hay muchas con windows hacen falta las de Android, y bueno la que si veo muy buena es la AYN Odin pro que si traerá el Snapdragon 8 Gen2, que francamente es un chip muy capaz, podrás emular casi todo sin problemas y también podrás jugar a todo lo que vendrá para juegos móviles.
I was hyped for this until the Odin2 price got announced. Seems like I dodged a bullet - both in price and performance. Will have to wait a few months for my Odin2 but atleast I know I’ll be getting the deserved value for my money.
What keyboard is that you have for your computer?
It's nice the device came pre-yellowed lol.
A direct comparison against the G Cloud would be good since that's also $299 now.
He mentions the G Cloud. It’s much less powerful and still over priced.
@@kennethd4958 ahh yeah found it. Unfortunately he showed the listing from best buy but its$299 at amazon and logitech directly. I just got a used one for $225
Soooo...is this better than the odin pro? i would get the odin 2 but i dont want to wait for another year :D
Unrelated, but id be thankful if anyone can answer. Whats the drawback to gaming on a cellphone? I imagine battery life and actual playing time reduced due to overheating? I was interested in the phone used in the video due to its sound system, and seeing it perform better on gc/ps2 was a nice suprise that makes me more convinced to get a discontinued phone.
Well, there is a bunch of things i can mention as being my issues with gaming phones:
1. Screen ratio and size (Smartphones tends to have a very wide screen when in landscape)
2. Battery life (Due to it's necessity to be portable, phones tends to pack a smaller battery)
3. Heat. (Again, due to it's size, you can't have active cooling systems wich makes the phones runs hotter)
4. Background process (Phones usually runs waaay to many apps on the background that sucks power from the CPU like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter..)
5. Gamepad (Yeah you could get a usb/bluetooth gamepad but it will cost you more, and you're gonna have to deal with it every time you want to install or remove it)
6. Ergonomics (You can improve that with a gamepad but phones are just chunky bricks lol)
This is just my vision on android handhelds vs gaming smartphones, but you may see it differently. If you already have a good android device tho, i don't think it really makes sense to get an android handheld.
@@pistolao_vr i thought gaming phones have active cooling? Anyways, do you have experience using non specialized phones? I’m curious what would be a good play time limit without pushing the phones limits of say gc emulation.
I had no idea about the background apps. I’ll look into that.
@retrogamecorps Russ, what do you think i better betwern this One and rp4 pro?
Damn, I was really looking forward this model, especially for the oled screen. But the gc/ps2 perfomance is a big letdown. Maybe this could be solved with better sofware, but I guess it will never happen.
Definitely seems like it needs some driver updates! My odin lite seems to run dolphin better than this..
Im waiting for the odin 2, guess I'll be waiting quite a while. The dimensity 1200 isn't a bad chop but doesn't compare to something like the sd8 gen 2 of the odin 2 (obviously). But ayaneo is a more premium company and I see what they did.
I am also saving for the Odin 2. Just better all around, at least from what I've seen
@@racingaerials4493 you see pretty well