Ayaneo’s new Ryzen handheld prices $4,300. What are we doing right here?

The Steam Deck is profitable for lots of causes: tight integration with Steam (PC gaming’s de facto house), glorious management choices, nice help. However I’d argue what actually let it spawn a brand new system market virtually from scratch was its low value of $400 to begin. So, with all due respect, Ayaneo, what the hell are you considering making a handheld that prices greater than a used Ford Focus?

Meet the Ayaneo Subsequent 2. It’s a handheld from an organization that’s well-known for them. The truth is, Ayaneo’s first mannequin predated the Steam Deck by just a few months, competing with units like GPD’s mini notebooks. This new mannequin is just like plenty of different handhelds, with specs like a 9-inch OLED display, adjustable sticks, Corridor impact triggers, and many others. The large physique lets it maintain a large 116-watt-hour battery (technically unlawful on most industrial flights), which is required to energy a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, to not point out the dual-fan cooling system.

Take a look at the promo video under. (Skip the primary two minutes of the video under. It’s the form of fluff that may make an Apple keynote look well-paced. Plus, “An unimaginable masterpiece in your palms” is a line that Groucho Marx would have died to obtain as a setup.)

Yow will discover most of these items in handhelds within the $1,000 to $1,500 vary, which already boggles my budget-focused mind. No, I think it’s the RAM and storage which are sending the retail costs into the stratosphere, similar to in all places else. The bottom mannequin makes use of 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, together with a downgraded AI 385 CPU, with an anticipated value of $2,000 when it arrives in June 2026. You may bump it as much as the very best attainable processor and 64GB of RAM for $2,700. With 128GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, you get a retail value of $4,299. Good friggin’ God.

You will get a “low cost” on these costs by pre-ordering on Indiegogo, as Home windows Central notes. And sure, whereas Indiegogo tasks don’t essentially encourage a number of confidence, Ayaneo has delivered many handhelds this fashion. When you’ve got more cash than sense a want for a handheld that prices greater than the typical high-end gaming laptop computer, you will get that high configuration for $3,500.

In protection of this design, AMD’s Ryzen AI Max chips have the capability to share system reminiscence with the built-in graphics, which implies all that RAM is a bit more helpful than on a regular gaming desktop. (See units just like the Framework Desktop for context.) However that performance is meant extra for “AI” improvement performance than gaming—we’re nonetheless speaking about built-in graphics right here. Even with 16-core energy, the 8060S graphics are roughly equal to a mid-range Radeon card.

Ayaneo isn’t the primary firm to cram these chips right into a handheld kind issue. Competitor GPD made a design with the AI Max+ 395 (the GPD Win 5) and its resolution to the heft subject was to separate the battery solely. With an identical 64GB of RAM and a good greater 4TB SSD, that system is at present going for “simply” $3,400 or so.

I do know there are folks on the market who pays a premium for a extra highly effective handheld. If there weren’t, Ayaneo and co. wouldn’t maintain making them. However I actually can’t wrap my head round this.