AYANEO 2S Handheld PC Gaming Console

AYANEO 2S Review: A Powerful and Premium Handheld Gaming PC

The AYANEO 2S is a handheld gaming PC that aims to compete with the likes of Steam Deck, ASUS Rog Ally, and other portable devices that run Windows 11 and can play PC games on the go. But does it have what it takes to justify its high price tag and stand out from the crowd? Let’s find out.

Design and Build Quality

The AYANEO 2S has a sleek and classy design, with a glass coating on the front that adds protection and elegance to the device. The 7-inch LCD touchscreen has a resolution of 1920 x 1200, which is higher than most of its rivals, and offers a bright and detailed picture quality. The device also features hall sensing joysticks, which use magnets to prevent drifting issues, and a fingerprint scanner for security.

The device is comfortable to hold, with smooth plastic grips and well-placed buttons and triggers. The device has two USB-C Type 4 ports, one USB-C 3.2 port, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader. It also has a large vent on the back and another one on the top to expel heat from the powerful internals.

The only downside to the design is that the device is quite heavy, weighing 667g, which is more than the Steam Deck or the ROG Ally. This might make it less portable and more tiring to use for long sessions.

Performance and Battery Life

The AYANEO 2S is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor, which is a laptop-grade chip that offers impressive performance for gaming. The device also has various storage and RAM options, ranging from 512GB to 4TB of SSD storage and from 16GB to 64GB of DDR5 RAM. The device I tested had 2TB of storage and 32GB of RAM, which was more than enough for most games.

The device can run most PC games smoothly at medium to high settings, depending on the game and the resolution. I tested some popular titles such as Doom Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077, GTA V, and Apex Legends, and they all ran well with decent frame rates and graphics quality. The device also supports streaming services such as Steam Remote Play, GeForce Now, and Xbox Cloud Gaming, which can expand the library of games available.

However, the high performance comes at a cost of battery life. The device has a 47Wh battery, which can last between one hour to five hours depending on the power settings and the game being played. The device has a TDP (thermal design power) slider that can adjust the power consumption of the CPU from 5W to 33W, which affects the performance and the battery life. For example, playing Cyberpunk 2077 at 33W TDP drained the battery in less than an hour, while playing it at 5W TDP extended the battery life to almost four hours but reduced the frame rate significantly.

The device also gets quite hot and loud when running demanding games at high TDP settings, which might be uncomfortable for some users. The device comes with a USB-C PD charger that can charge it in about two hours.

Software and User Experience

The AYANEO 2S runs Windows 11 as its operating system, which gives it great flexibility and compatibility with PC games and applications. However, Windows 11 is not optimized for handheld devices, so some features might be hard to use or access on the small screen. For example, some menus and icons are too small or too close together for touch input, and some games do not support touch controls or scaling properly.

To address this issue, the device has an overlay software called AyaSpace that can be activated by pressing the Home button. AyaSpace is designed to make the user experience more convenient and intuitive for handheld gaming. It allows users to adjust settings such as brightness, volume, TDP, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, keyboard layout, mouse mode, gamepad mode, etc. It also has shortcuts to launch games or applications from Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG Galaxy, etc.

However, AyaSpace is still under development and has some bugs and glitches that need to be fixed. For example, sometimes it does not recognize some games or applications installed on the device or does not launch them properly. Sometimes it crashes or freezes or causes conflicts with other software. Sometimes it does not respond to touch input or button input correctly.

AyaSpace also has some features that are missing or incomplete, such as cloud sync for game saves or profiles, game optimization or recommendations based on hardware specs or preferences, game streaming integration or support for other platforms such as Origin or Uplay etc.

Conclusion

The AYANEO 2S is a powerful and premium handheld gaming PC that can play most PC games on the go with impressive performance and quality. It has a sleek and classy design, a bright and detailed display, a comfortable and responsive controller, and a flexible and compatible Windows 11 operating system. It also has generous storage and RAM options that can suit different needs and budgets.

However, the device is very expensive compared to its rivals, with the base model starting at $1,139 and the highest-end model costing $1,849. The device also has poor battery life, especially when running demanding games at high power settings. The device also gets hot and loud when under heavy load, which might be annoying for some users. The device also has some software issues that need to be fixed or improved, such as the AyaSpace overlay that is still buggy and incomplete.

Overall, the AYANEO 2S is a great device for hardcore gamers who want a portable PC gaming experience with no compromises and are willing to pay a premium price for it. However, for casual gamers or budget-conscious gamers, there are other options that might offer a better value or a more balanced performance.

I hope you liked my product review of AYANEO 2S. If you have any feedback or questions, please let me know.

Happy gaming!😊