AYANEO surprised us all with a livestream of new product demonstrations, which included some much needed news about the upcoming Slide and Pocket Air devices.
In a similar livestream this past January, AYANEO announced their new Android device, the Pocket Air. But they did not have one in hand at that time.
What they did have was some really nice rendered images and a development circuit board to show.
Seeing the new Pocket Air in hand really gives us an idea of what to expect from the new smaller addition to the AYANEO line.
And we are quite happy with what we are seeing.
AYANEO Pocket Air Retro Edition
The AYANEO Pocket Air Retro Edition has an obvious focus on oldschool aesthetics, while somehow remaining ultra modern. The “Retro Edition” sharing a similar color scheme to the original Nintendo Famicom.
Besides the color choice, the Pocket Air Retro Edition fits right in with the aesthetic of all of AYANEO’s current product line.
In fact, it’s nearly identical to the AYANEO Air Plus, just smaller. Or the baby brother to the hefty AYANEO 2 that we recently reviewed.
But the Pocket Air will leverage a 5.5 inch OLED display and Hall joysticks and triggers. And this will be their first dive into Android based gaming devices.
It’s bit smaller than their previous gaming PCs, but it still has a similar look when you see it in Arthur Zhang’s hands. In fact, I was surprised it didn’t look much smaller.
As with any AYANEO device from the past year… this one looks very comfortable to hold.
The Android operating system is gonna be perhaps the biggest change, and one that we are not used to seeing in AYANEO demonstrations.
Arthur did walk us through a bit of their working Android interface, and all looked quite familiar if you are used to using Android emulation devices.
Pocket Air Release Information
AYANEO has previously mentioned a Q2 2023 launch for the Pocket Air. So we know that we should not have to wait too long.
But there are also almost guaranteed delays with nearly every Chinese handheld device. And AYANEO does seem to suffer from some of the same delays we are growing used to in the handheld emulation scene.
But another guarantee you can count on is that the Pocket Air will be an incredible device when it actually comes. Fingers crossed it’s sooner than later.
It is also not so clear if the “Retro Edition” will be the only colorway offered, or if this is just the first to come. Needless to say, we’d like to see some options. But time will tell.
So as per usual – we are here and eager to get our hands on the new console. And when we finally do, you’ll be the first to know!
