Ayaneo has taken the plunge into the crowdfunding scene with its latest creation, the Ayaneo Pocket DMG, now live on IndieGogo. This handheld, decked out in a GameBoy-inspired design and boasting an OLED display, is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon G3X Gen 2. Early Bird backers can snag the entry-level model—equipped with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage—at a budget-friendly $339 USD. If you’re eyeing the high-end version with 16GB RAM and a beefier 512GB storage, it’ll set you back $499. Meanwhile, the exclusive Limited Edition “Retro Color” is available at a $589 Early Bird price tag.
At this price range, the Snapdragon chip inside is more than capable of delivering top-notch mobile gaming thrills. It smoothly runs titles such as Genshin Impact at a steady 60 FPS, and can even handle emulation for consoles from the GameCube and PlayStation 2 era, no sweat, even when cranking up the internal resolution. While Valve’s Steam Deck might offer a wider array of games at a lower cost, particularly if you already have a PC handheld, the Pocket DMG certainly holds its ground.
Beyond just specs and price, the Ayaneo Pocket DMG is impressively feature-rich for its size and what it costs. It sports hidden trigger buttons nestled between the shoulder buttons, motion controls as an add-on, and a right touchpad, bringing modern gaming inputs right to your hands—perfect for streaming games from your PC. The compact analog stick is hall-effect, potentially safeguarding it against drift over time.
Even though an OLED screen might seem excessive for this size, remember, competitors like the Analogue Pocket also feature high-quality displays—albeit a super-crisp 1440p LCD. The Ayaneo offers a 3.92-inch OLED with a resolution of 1,240 x 1,080, promising an impressive 104% NTSC color gamut at up to 450 nits of brightness. Thanks to the low input latency typical of OLEDs, it’s an excellent companion for retro gaming, though not a replacement for more powerful handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck OLED when it comes to AAA titles.
When it comes to emulation and Android gaming, the Ayaneo Pocket DMG holds its own as a premium choice, despite its small stature. While models with 12GB and 16GB RAM (LPDDR5X running up to 8,533 MT/s) might seem overkill since it’s not exactly a PC handheld, modern mobile games and emulation workloads can be taxing. For value hunters, snagging the entry-level model and augmenting it with an SD card when possible is likely the smartest play.
Worth mentioning is the device’s USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, offering up to 10 Gigabits of throughput, along with support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. While the wired connections are sufficient for transferring smaller games and files, the Wi-Fi 7, supporting up to 30 Gigabits per second, is perfect for activities like Steam Remote Play.
As always, remember that crowdfunding a project is not the same as buying a retail product. When you back a crowdfunded endeavor, you’re essentially investing in the vision and hoping for its success.
