As we move deeper into the year and closer to the busy period of handheld release (Q3), more and more teases, leaks an announcements are coming to fruition. Which is great, because we consumers get to see what's coming and it gives us time to save some pennies in the hope that something is worth snagging.
An unusual leak has suggested that AYANEO is working on a small, vertical retro handheld to compete with the affordable retro handheld market, and it's likely going to be called the AYANEO Pocket Block, which follows their Pocket line of handhelds aimed at retro gamers and those who enjoy emulating on Android.
This leak was first found by RetroDeadFred on X, an avid retro enthusiast who has a habit of sharing leaks. This handheld was leaked due to the user manual being digitally uploaded to manuals.plus a source for finding manuals on almost any piece of technology. This was uploaded before any announcements from AYANEO themselves, so to take this with a pinch of salt.
The user manual shows the very basics, an outline of the handheld, it showcases the button layout and some very basic setup process for Android. Unfortunately, there are no specifications shared, nor pricing or release date, but for now, we do have a couple of images to go by, and from what I can tell, it's going to be AYANEO's first jab at a small, more affordable, vertical handheld, likely to compete with Miyoo and ANBERNIC.
It's admittedly similar to the older, larger AYANEO Pocket DMG, except smaller, more compact and no analogue stick, much like the Miyoo Mini Plus or ANBERNIC RG35xx. It features a grey casing, likely taking inspiration from the original DMG, thanks to the darker grey border underneath the display, which houses a front-facing microphone.
The DPAD looks large on this smaller design, giving an indication that this is a pocket-friendly vertical that will be easily portable. The action buttons have a slight hint of red to them, and they sit just under the iconic AYA button, which will bring up your AYANEO Menus to change settings on the fly.
Then you'll find your start, select and = button on the bottom to move around games and the Android OS. On the back, it looks fairly sleek, with heat dissipation holes for the likely included fan, four shoulder buttons, a micro-SD card slot, USB-C charging, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
If I had to guess, I can imagine this is going to be priced around the $120 mark, closely resembling the AYANEO Pocket Air that has been very popular since launch. If AYANEO prices it here, it will be a very competitive handheld in the space. They could even price it cheaper if they put less power inside of it, but in AYANEO fashion, they'll overdo it here.
It's the same problem with the recent ANBERNIC RG Rotate, they put too much power into a shell that only has a DPAD and no analogue sticks. We don't need the power, as it's cumbersome to emulate anything over PS1 due to the lack of sticks. But only time will tell.
I am personally really liking the design of this, and AYANEO are renowned for creating premium products in the space, so I am confident this will have a strong presence in the $100 category, if done right!
