While the market is littered with quite a few different handheld gaming devices, they are using the ARM architecture. What makes the Aya Neo different is that it’s using an x86 processor — the AMD Ryzen 5 4500U mobile CPU, with six cores and Radeon graphics.
Translation: the Aya Neo is a portable Windows-powered PC that can play most of the games on Steam like you would on a traditional laptop or desktop.
The Aya Neo sort of looks like the Nintendo Switch with the Joy-Cons attached, with two clickable thumbsticks, A, B, X, and Y buttons, a D-pad, two shoulder buttons and two triggers and a few extra buttons towards the bottom of each side. The hardware that it comes with is as follows:
- Six-core Ryzen 5 4500U processor, with a turbo speed of 4 GHz
- 16 GB LPDDR4 RAM
- 500 GB/1 TB SSD storage, depending on the model you select
- Wi-Fi 6/Bluetooth 5.0
The battery is rated at 47 watts per hour — five-to-six hours on average, and just a little over two hours while playing AAA games. The screen is multitouch, measures 7 inches across the board, and has a native resolution of 800p. The Aya Neo also includes a built-in gyroscope and vibration.
As for game framerates, according to their chart, it seems Monster Hunter World runs at an average of 50-60 FPS on low graphics settings and 30 FPS on a higher graphics preset. Cyberpunk 2077 runs at an average of 30 FPS on low settings.
The handheld PC includes three USB Type-C ports, one of which can be used for charging the unit, while another can be used for video output to an external monitor. By connecting to an external monitor and a keyboard and mouse, the Aya Neo can also be used for productivity purposes. It has a 3.5mm headphone jack, and it can be equipped with a portable docking station with even more USB ports, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, and an Ethernet jack.
Interested in buying? Head over to their Indiegogo page. Units are estimated to be shipped in May. Their early bird tier is sold out, so right now, you have the following options:
- The 500 GB edition for $788
- The 1 TB edition for $869
- The ultimate, 1 TB edition for $958, which includes several accessories
Accessories that can be bought with the unit beside the docking station include grips for the sides of the handheld, joystick caps, tempered glass screen protector, and a carrying case. But you might want to be quick — it won’t be long before these tiers get sold out as well!
(Aya Neo video produced by ETA Prime.)