Leaked video footage of the working prototype for Anbernic‘s latest Windows based gaming handheld have just leaked, the anticipated Win701.
We were not really all that excited about Anbernic’s first attempt at a Windows handheld. So, are we gonna be more excited about this one?
Well, to be fair – yes, we were more excited. Because we had hoped they could learn from the mistakes of the Win600 and give us something way better.
And while the internals of the new Win701 are looking pretty solid, it’s the outer shell that’s kind of bumming us out.
Anbernic Win701
Those who follow the handheld gaming scene will likely see some similarities between the new Win701 and the AYN Loki. They both look quite soft. And yes, I do mean that as an insult.
Anbernic and AYN both went with a really smooth shape, with the intention of improving ergonomics and make it more comfortable for long game play.
Which it actually will probably succeed in achieving with this design. But I can’t help but feel a bit unimpressed with the look of the new Win701. It’s too fluffy and lacks character.
I’m fond of Anbernic’s more angular and sharp design choices, like in the RG353M or their previous Windows based device, the Win600.
While the Win600 didn’t necessarily impress us at the time of the release, it did have one really solid point in its favor – it was available.
When other companies were promoting upcoming Windows based handhelds, such as the Loki, many of them ended up being delayed.
The Win600 actually came out. So while you were waiting on the Loki, some were playing on the Win600 for over a year.
I still wouldn’t say that the Win600 was a massive success, but Anbernic still has aspirations of creating a great Windows handheld.
More Details
This new leak confirms that the Anbernic Win701 will feature a Ryzen 7 7840U cpu.
That’s the same chip inside one of the new handhelds coming from Orange Pi, and seems to be the hot new chip for more powerful handhelds.
The new leaked videos show us the prototype shell design of the Win701 as well. We do know this is a rough print for testing purposes, but we can expect that this will be the final design for this anticipated handheld device.
As I mentioned already, I don’t really love the look of it. But sure, it does look comfortable enough.
We’ve seen the design files of this one a while back, and the new prototype does match what we saw in that leak. But it did look a bit nicer in the flat design files.
Like in the original design, we have the alternating joystick positions (top left, bottom right), four action buttons, and four functional buttons to access Windows and menus.
Anbernic has changed their trigger style several times, and these new ones look a little more conventional for a current generation controller.
There is a strong presence of active cooling vents on the top and rear of the device, and we now see the actual fan on the internal shots.
That strong CPU will certainly need that cooling, and we’ve got our fingers crossed that the fan will be fairly quiet.
Conclusions
This is still an early leak of a device that has not yet been revealed by Anbernic to the public with official stats. So we still have a bit of time before that official reveal from Anbernic themselves.
However, this is a device that has been a long time coming, and has been discussed in the gaming community for quite a while now.
We’re likely only a few months away from the release of the Win701, so we can expect that these leaks and official images will begin to come more frequently.
As those new images and videos become available, we will absolute keep you guys posted on the new Win701 Windows based gaming handheld.
