Verdict
The Ayaneo 2S is a nifty play handheld with enough power to play most games on the go and more generous spec option than most of its rivals . But it ’s difficult to recommend when the software system has so many issues and the ROG Ally delivers a similar experience at a lower price point .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Ayaneo 2S is yet another handheld gaming microcomputer that ’s look to take advantage of an emerging trend kickstarted by theSteam Deckback in 2022 .
While this new mart has so far been dominated by established heavy hitters such as Asus , Lenovo and Valve , Ayaneo vex out from the bunch as a Chinese start - up companionship that was only founded in 2020 .
Can the Ayaneo 2S outmuscle the heavyweights ? Here are my intellection .
Design
The Ayaneo 2S has the same introductory design rule as other gaming handhelds , with a 7 - inch screen sandwich between two accountant launch area .
However , while most handheld gaming PCs typically opt for a charge plate finishing , Ayeaneo has instead slapped a shabu sheet to the front of the twist . This not only make the Ayaneo 2S look and feel a classy portable , but also adds excess protective covering to the screen . I ’ve previously criticize the plastickyROG Allyfor feeling a little cheesy , and this is an elegant root .
The downside to this is that it increases the exercising weight of the portable . At 667 GB , the Ayaneo 2S is noticeably toilsome than the ROG Ally ( 608 g ) despite being shorter and thin . I in person do n’t think the added ponderosity is enough to be problematic , as I still played on it for minute without noticing any aching or strain on my arms .
The rear of the Ayaneo 2S is draped in a suave credit card , with the grips comfortable to hold , with nothing digging into my medal as I play . There is a huge vent on the rear contrive to release rut , while you ’ll find another fumes at the top .
Ayaneo has added glow - up ring around the analogue stick , which helpfully flash red when battery animation is low . Otherwise , I ca n’t help oneself but palpate that the Ayaneo 2S looks a niggling basic , lack the extra touches to give it more personality . The Ayaneo 2S at least has multiple colour options , including Black , White and a few especial edition such as Retro Power that ’s inspired by the Nintendo Entertainment System ( NES ) cabinet .
The top executive push can be obtain on the top , and it also has a fingerprint sensing element embedded with support forWindows Hello . A volume switcher is put right next to it , which is a picayune too close for my liking as I ’ve accidentally put the portable into standby multiple times .
There ’s a beneficial option of port , with3x USB - C , a 3.5 millimetre headphone Jack-tar and a TF circuit card slot for expanded storage that supports pep pill up to 300MB / s. Ayaneo generously bundles in two USB - C to USB - A adapters too , just in display case you want to hook up an old keyboard or computer mouse .
The Ayaneo 2S stomach all of the latest wireless standards , includingWi - Fi 6Eand Bluetooth 5.2 .
Controls
On the aerofoil , the controls for the Ayaneo 2S look unremarkable . On the front it has the exact same clit layout and positioning as the ROG Ally , although this makes perfect sense , as both are trying to mimic the controls of an Xbox controller for convenience .
This include an analogue stick on either side , a D - Pad and 4 - front look buttons . Ayaneo has settle against including trackpads like the Steam Deck , which I personally determine disappointing as it makes you reliant on the touchscreen for Windows and is harder to navigate games such as Football Manager .
Up top you have berm buttons and triggers , as well additional LC and RC buttons that move as Macro keys which you could assign secondary commands to . However , these button are extremely modest and a piddling awkward to pass on .
One aspect I really care about the Ayaneo 2S is the use ofhall sensingjoysticks and foyer induction . This means they use attracter to trigger inputs rather than a physical mechanics , eradicating the nettlesome joyousness - stick gallery phenomenon and reducing the delay between input signal and on - screen action . you may even adjust the predisposition of the joysticks and triggers .
You ’re also able to tweak the point of vibration . I treasure this feature of speech , especially in game such as Horizon Zero Dawn where you’re able to feel the clout of a bowstring and world - throb stomps of a dinosaur . That said , the vibrations are n’t as accurate as what you ’ll find on aPlayStation DualSenseor Nintendo Joy - Con .
Display
The Ayaneo 2S sports a 7 - inch IPS screen , with no bezel draft the panel . This creates the illusion that it ’s bigger than the screen on the ROG Ally instrument panel , despite sharing the same dimensions .
I ’m a little dismayed that there ’s noOLEDscreen here look at the mellow price , but the high 540 - nit brightness level that I record nevertheless insure a vivid board , resulting in one of the best pictures I ’ve see from a gambling handheld .
The high resolution helps , coming in at 1920×1200 , which is slightly more pixel - compact than the ROG Ally although is outgo by theLenovo Legion Go . I personally do n’t reckon you need a higher resolution than this on a handheld gaming gimmick .
The colour insurance coverage is superb add up in at 97 % for the sRGB visibility . This result in course naturalistic color whether you ’re gawking at the autumnal leaf in Horizon Zero Dawn or the bright ruby-red suits of Spider - Man .
Therefresh rateis disappointingly limited to 60Hz , which is a corking ignominy compared to the 120Hz venire of the ROG Ally . You could argue that the performance is n’t quite adept enough to make use of such speeds , but it ’s still nevertheless an advantage for the more low-priced Asus system .
The speakers are a big disappointment , as they are really restrained and easily drowned out by gimcrack background interference . Detail is really lacking here , with the crackling of a flak sounding muffled and the manna from heaven of a grenade hollow . It ’s almost essential that you use a play headset instead .
Performance
The Ayaneo 2S is all about great power , boasting an even better performance than both the Steam Deck and ROG Ally , although the advantage over the latter is n’t quite enough to rationalize the monetary value difference .
The AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor powers the portable . This microprocessor chip is normally found inside laptop computer , such as theAcer Swift Edge 16 , alternatively of handhelds which is rather queer . The Asus ROG Ally use aRyzen Z1 Extremechip instead , which offer the same glasses , but has improved power optimisation .
The Ayaneo 2S sees a slight performance reward over the ROG Ally in every individual benchmark I used , with both systems set to the highest carrying out setting .
However , that extra power is n’t satisfying enough to make a big difference to the gambling execution . Using the in - game bench mark test of several game , there was only unremarkably up to a 3fps vantage to the Ayaneo 2S at a 1080p resolution .
Just like the ROG Ally , the Ayaneo 2S in general offers a 10fps to 15fps performance advantage over the Steam Deck so is doubtless more muscular . But it ’s authoritative to call back the base Steam Deck costs just $ 399 compared to the $ 1139 official retail price of the Ayaneo 2S.
The Ayaneo 2S trump its rivals when it comes to configuration options though , with a more generous offer of memory and computer memory : up to 64 GB RAM and up to 4 TB SSD .
The extra warehousing certain wo n’t come cheap though . A 2 TB Ayaneo 2S costs a whopping $ 1499 and 4 TB is a astounding $ 1999 . Ouch . I ca n’t criticise the SSD speeds though , with a 4832MB / s read and 4375MB / s publish speed ensuring snapping loading times .
On the Balanced performance mode , I did n’t receive any real thermal issues . That changed once I zigzag up the performance to Game Mode to eke out every drop of might . This make the rear of the Ayaneo 2S to become observably quick , even on the grip areas I was entertain . It ’s the same story with the fans , which only sound off up a hassle on the high performance style , but still are n’t loud enough to prove too distracting .
Software
The Ayaneo 2S runs on Windows 11 , which signify you’re able to access any PC depository library that your background figurer or laptop can . It ’s an sheer pain navigating Windows with the 7 - in touch screen though , with type passwords on the digital keyboard proving peculiarly tiresome .
The use of Windows does give the Ayaneo 2S a slight advantage over the Steam Deck in terms of accessing third - party software . For example , it ’s a lot easier to stream Game Pass and GeForce Now , but I for certain would n’t advocate the Ayaneo 2S for browsing the web or learn videos – navigation is simply too ungainly .
Ayaneo has pre - instal its own app called AYASpace , which automatically load up when you power on the portable . This software package set about to streamline the process of booting up plot and tweaking context . However , it does n’t really exploit as intended , as take a secret plan will usually just plain me onto the Windows desktop anyway to sign into my Steam account .
The software package ’s Assistant does n’t have as many tweakable features as I hop-skip . you could vary the sensitiveness of the joyousness - stick and trigger , select a carrying out style and single-valued function buttons , but not much else .
After an automatic update , the AYASpace reverted to the Taiwanese language setting , and so I needed to expend an on-line guide to revert it back to English . It ’s issues like this that make the software on the Ayaneo 2S palpate like a work in onward motion , and for certain nowhere near the standard of accessible , polished operating systems on the Steam Deck andNintendo Switch .
Battery life
Battery life is the self-aggrandising issue for every personal computer gaming handheld I ’ve reviewed so far . I was affirmative that the Ayaneo 2S would tucker out that trend , with a large 50.25Wh cellphone go through a greater capacity than the 40Wh ROG Ally and Steam Deck .
woefully it was n’t to be , with the Ayaneo 2S lasting just 100 mo on Horizon Zero Dawn with the execution put to Balanced Mode , and 70 minutes on Game Mode . That ’s slightly good than the ROG Ally ’s stamina , but only by an additional 10 hour .
Battery life will dissent depending on which plot you act . When running Stardew Valley on Balanced Mode for an hour , the battery only run through by 24 % , indicating a stamina of up to 4 time of day . But do n’t gestate to extend battery life even further than this , no matter which biz you pick .
Despite take a larger barrage fire capacity than the ROG Ally , I put on the chip inside the Ayaneo 2S is less power efficient . That ’s the barter - off for using a CPU specifically design for a laptop computer instead of gaming handheld .
Overall , battery life is poor on the Ayaneo 2S. With the Nintendo Switch OLED lasting 5 hours with Metroid Dread and up to 9 hour for less demanding game , it ’s the far safer alternative for plane and train journeys .
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Should you buy it?
If you ’re prepared to spend a caboodle of money , you may buy the Ayaneo 2S with up to 4 TB of SSD storage , which is far more generous than the 512 GB limit from rival systems.&bsp ;
The Ayaneo 2S is a lot more expensive than theROG Ally , despite offering few ( if any ) major upgrades over it .
Final Thoughts
I ’ve enjoyed using the Ayaneo 2S. It offers a heavy carrying into action , a lovely 1200p screen and more form option than any of its contender . Battery lifetime is poor , but I ’ve still enjoyed toy AAA game on this portable , some of which theSteam Deckstruggles to scarper .
It ’s impossible to ignore that atrociously gamey start price of $ 1139 though , which is significantly more expensive than the £ 699/$699.99ROG Allywith an almost monovular level of carrying out . It ’s difficult to see where the Ayaneo 2S excuse that extra price .
That enjoin , the Ayaneo 2S does boast a swell selection of configuration options for retention and storage if you ’re disposed to expend even more .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test gaming handhelds by make for a potpourri of unlike games at different graphics options , while checking the mean skeleton rate either via in - plot bench mark or an FPS overlay .
We also lead various battery mental test by playing games for longsighted reaching of time , trying out a variety of graphics configurations to fix whether they made an encroachment .
FAQs
The Ayaneo 2S has a high performance roof , particularly with a more generous range of configurations . But our testing show there to be a minimum difference to play performance compare to the ROG Ally .
Yes , there ’s no question that the Ayaneo 2S is more powerful than a Steam Deck . Expect around a 10fps to 15fps boost in the Ay
