After several delays and buyers nearly giving up all hope, we have finally gotten our first official look at the AYN Loki production models.
Seeing these handhelds in their final physical form was a long time coming after an eventful journey.
To better understand how the Loki got to where it is today, we need to go back about a year and see how the it has changed.
AYN Loki Backstory
If you haven’t followed the unique timeline of the AYN Loki release, let me attempt a quick summary:
In June of 2022, AYN announced the new Loki handheld, which looked quite similar to their popular Odin.
And people were quite pleased with the idea of a more powerful big brother to the Odin.
So, when the Loki was available for pre-order, quite a lot of them were sold. Sold out entirely, to be specific.
Then it was a lot of waiting, delays, and excuses from AYN.
What really caused some issues with those who already committed their money was when AYN announced that the Loki would be getting a new look ahead of its release.
Ultimately, these design changes were probably for the better. But you do upset quite a few buyers when you entirely change the product they pre-ordered.
It would be interesting to see how many cancelled orders this caused.
Once we knew that AYN was shifting gears with the design, we also knew that meant entirely restarting production on all of the new pieces.
So it is now about six months AFTER the anticipated delivery of the Loki, and AYN has just launched a video showing the first finished production units.
AYN Loki
In the video released just today from AYN, we can see the final black and white models of the AYN Loki Max.
They do look quite beautiful. But obviously different than what we saw in the very first renders of the anticipated handheld.
This video gives us a full 360 degree view of the handhelds. Front, back, top, and bottom.
AYN also demonstrates those cool LED lights around the joysticks, and show us how they are entirely customizable in the software. While this is surely exciting and flashy, it doesn’t really make up for the delay.
Some gameplay was also shown, to let us know that these are working devices. And you can start to get an idea of how this thing looks in a player’s hands.
A short, but decent demonstration. And surely just the beginning of AYN’s promo material to be released soon.
Conclusions
While it is a relief to finally see finished production units of the AYN Loki, it has a bitter-sweet feeling.
It’s like having a really exciting date with somebody new, and they show up 2 hours late. Yes, they showed up. But the excitement will surely be effected.
With these being our very first look at physical units of the Loki, it is unlikely that these are anywhere near ready to be shipped.
It’s unclear when AYN expects these to be mass produced, tested, boxed, labeled, and ready to go out to their buyers.
We reckon that it’s probably safe to bet that those who pre-ordered are looking at a July unboxing at best.
I do not personally have a pre-order, so I can’t directly relate to the agony of waiting on a product you paid for nearly one year ago.
But I can imagine it’s very frustrating. And again, your excitement of finally receiving it will surely be dampened.
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So what do you guys think?
Did AYN entirely ruin the release of the Loki? Was the last minute redesign something you agree with? And if you purchased a Loki, are you still excited to get it in your hands?
