After a tense week of teaser images, AYN has finally revealed their upcoming Odin2 handheld on their IndieGogo campaign page.
And many within the handheld community were quick to notice that the Odin2 design is essentially what AYN had offered last year as the “Loki”.
Eventually, the design of the AYN Loki changed quite a bit and became a totally new handheld.
But it would seem that AYN wasn’t quite done with that long lost design and have revisited it in an updated Odin model.
Update August 9, 2023: AYN has been playing a guessing game with their followers leading to the reveal of the exact CPU used in the Odin2. Still, no exact reveal. Just a lot of what it will NOT be. But we did get a full color variant reveal, as well as the base price for the Odin2, which will be $299usd.
AYN Odin2
If you take a look at the original Loki design, we can see that the general look has carried over into the new Odin2.
What has changed is mostly the size and placement of the triggers. As well as the addition of more face buttons and two speaker grills.
The Odin2 design offers something that feels more complete and refined than the previous Loki concept, which was almost identical to the original Odin.
Looking back now, AYN probably understood that the Loki design was more like the Odin v1.2.
So choosing to take the Loki in a different direction was definitely the right choice, even though it upset some early backers last year.
The original Odin was near flawless. This second iteration just gives them the opportunity to revisit the fan-favorite console and make it that much better.
The main improvement in the Odin2 will be the joysticks. Which was basically our only complaint in the first Odin.
They now appear to be larger and more accessible. It’s also very likely that they will be the current standard hall sensor sticks.
The triggers also seem to be more pronounced and offering easier access, as they wrap over the edge of the console.
Exact specs for the Odin2 device have yet to be shared by AYN. But we should expect a stronger chipset, better cooling, and longer battery life at the very least.
These are standard upgrades for iterative releases of current generation premium handhelds.
Impressions
As we said in our article about the Odin2 teaser, we are wildly excited about an updated version of one of the best retro handhelds of 2022.
And we will be backing the IndieGogo campaign in the hopes of getting an Odin2 as soon as possible, obviously.
As official specs are released by AYN, we’ll be updating this article and letting our readers know what to expect.
So check back to Retro Dodo for more updates on the exciting new AYN Odin2!
