The newly unveiled Ayaneo Pocket S is a handheld gaming device developed by Ayaneo, a Chinese company that has been making Windows-based gaming handhelds since 2020. However, with its latest gaming device, Ayaneo has opted for an Android-based platform while also leveraging Qualcomm’s latest gaming chip.
The Ayaneo Pocket S will be released in December this year and will feature the high-end Snapdragon G3x Gen2 chipset. Qualcomm recently launched its G-series gaming chipsets for Android-based handheld consoles, targeting enthusiast users and competing with Windows-based handhelds.
While not many specs were revealed about the handset, the company says that Pocket S will get x86-level heat dissipation capabilities and support cross-platform AAA gaming. This suggests that users should be able to stream games from Nvidia GeForce Now and Microsoft’s xCloud services.
Ayaneo revealed how the device will look and has given it a sleek form factor. It does follow a traditional button layout seen in gaming handhelds, such as dual analogue sticks, a D-pad, and a variety of buttons, including shoulder ones. It will arrive in two colours, such as White and Black. While Windows does have a huge catalogue of supported games, Android games are also available across various genres.
Meanwhile, in other related news, Sony also unveiled a portable handheld called PlayStation Portal. The PlayStation Portal includes the Sony’s Dual-sense controller’s key features, such as adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. The 8-inch LCD screen is capable of producing 1080p resolution at 60fps. The handheld further gets a USB-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and speakers on the top. However, the rest of the specs have been kept under wraps for now.
As for how the PlayStation Portal works, the gaming handheld will connect remotely to your PS5 over Wi-Fi, so you’ll be able to switch between playing on your PS5 and your PlayStation Portal. PlayStation Portal can play supported games that are installed on your PS5 console and use the Dualsense controller. The Ayaneo Pocket S could compete with this device from Sony as it should support Sony’s Remote Play app, considering it is based on Android.