AYANEO Pocket Air Retro Edition Impressions
At the mention of AYANEO, what comes to mind might be premium handheld gaming PCs; after all, the startup launched the first AMD-based handheld gaming PC with the original AYANEO Founder Edition and has continued in this vein since. However, the company has recently expanded its handheld portfolio with the AYANEO Pocket Air, its first foray into Android and retro gaming. Does the company’s handheld gaming PC experience translate well to the Android gaming market? We’ll take a look at a pre-retail unit in this impressions piece. Note that contents and experience might vary in the consumer model but the unit tested should provide a close approximation of the final model's experience.
Contents and specs
Before going deeper in this coverage, it’s worth noting that the AYANEO Pocket Air Retro Edition is a crowdfunded product. As usual, caution is advised in such cases but AYANEO has traditionally held up its end of the bargain; and shipping has already begun for backers of this device. On Indiegogo, backing currently starts at $300 and the pre-retail unit came with the following items:
Before going deeper in this coverage, it’s worth noting that the AYANEO Pocket Air Retro Edition is a crowdfunded product. As usual, caution is advised in such cases but AYANEO has traditionally held up its end of the bargain; and shipping has already begun for backers of this device. On Indiegogo, backing currently starts at $300 and the pre-retail unit came with the following items:
Specs of the Pocket Air Retro Edition can be found below:
Hardware impressions
Similar to its handheld PCs, AYANEO makes a strong impression of its latest device before even using it. The box is carefully designed with even the accessories being packed in retro-themed enclosures that effectively pull on the nostalgia strings. If you’ve tried retro gaming handhelds from the likes of Anbernic and Retroid, the Pocket Air will be attractive from the box itself and also deliver a more premium unboxing and overall feel.
What also adheres to the retro aspect is the device’s shell. The white and red patterns are instantly reminiscent of the Famicom, while the purposefully off-white tinted joysticks harken back to devices we’ve (over)used in our childhood. It’s like looking at a retro device while knowing it’s new; and I mean that in a good way as it will delight fans of retro gaming.
As for the hardware itself, it packs AYANEO’s premium craftsmanship and is pretty much comparable to the company’s handheld PCs. In fact, it is nearly a one-to-one replica of the AYANEO Air in terms of form factor. Having such a hardware quality on an Android-based device is quite unique and AYANEO doesn’t cut corners on this front. Button presses deliver a satisfying feedback with the membrane underneath and the joysticks are Hall effect-based, meaning that stick drift won’t be an issue.
The device sits neatly in the hands and its dimensions are appropriate for an Android gaming device. The integrated grips and being relatively lightweight at 380g makes the device comfortable to use. While I would prefer some textured or rubberised grips, the matte finish of the Pocket Air does offer a satisfying feeling to the touch.
Android Gaming performance
Even if the Pocket Air Retro Edition is AYANEO’s first Android device, it already impresses on the hardware front. On the software front, the company has added its own spin to the Android 12 OS that the device runs on. It has its own launcher that can be controlled with the physical buttons as well as a retro games management software. These are welcome additions that make the device feel more console-like.
The device also sports a “QuickTool” feature which isn’t unlike the counterpart on AYANEO’s handheld gaming PCs. This allows you to quickly access the device’s settings as well as monitor performance. It’s also worth noting that the Pocket Air also supports SIM cards. I was positively surprised by this feature as you can essentially use the device as a phone (I’m still yearning for an Xperia Play successor!). However, it’s more targeted for Android games that require internet access, so you can pop in a SIM card and play online games on the go if you have enough data.
When it comes to performance, the MediaTek DImensity 1200 processor is well suited for Android gaming, even if the device’s specs position itself towards the mid-range tier.
Android titles such as Diablo Immortal, Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, Pascal’s Wager and the Android port of Half-Life 2 run fluidly on high settings. Being able to play such games with high-quality physical controls enhances the Android gaming experience for me. This is supplemented by the handheld’s OLED display which delivers crisp images as well as its dual speakers that output quality audio.
However, games without native controller support, such as Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds and Genshin Impact, still need to be operated via the touch screen. AYANEO has advertised a feature to map touch controls to the Pocket Air’s physical controls but it isn’t available at the moment. I hope this feature becomes available soon as it is a personal must-have for Android gaming as the experience is wholly enhanced with physical controls.
Emulation performance
Given the Retro Edition suffix, the Pocket Air is also targeted towards emulation and it performs decently at that. For the best emulation performance, you’ll want to toggle the device’s “Game Mode” that enables its 8 cores to run at full speed. There is currently a minor issue that limits the cores to run at full speed as RetroGamesCorp explained but the YouTuber also provides an easy fix for that. That said,I hope that AYANEO takes this downside into consideration and provides a more permanent solution in an upcoming update.
Under Game Mode, you can expect decent performance on systems up to PS2 via AetherSX2. For instance, Shadow of the Colossus and Ratchet & Clank run at 60fps with mild underclocking and 2x resolution. Emulation of less demanding systems also delivers full speed performance such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on GameCube runs at the capped 30fps at 2x resolution and PSP’s Ridge Racer runs at 60fps at 2x resolution.
The AYANEO Pocket Air Retro Edition’s limits are felt on more demanding systems. For example, on Yuzu for Switch emulation, don’t expect to play AAA games; but you can still experience some decent performance on indie and 2D titles such as Cuphead, Mighty Goose and Untitled Goose Game.
As such, in terms of emulation, you can expect to play games up to PS2 on the AYANEO Pocket Air Retro Edition fairly well. More demanding systems will be title-dependent and might require additional settings tweaks to get better performance. But the overall package with the handheld’s great physical controls and crisp display is well worth it currently for emulation.
High-end hardware and software that’s almost there
Overall, the AYANEO Pocket Air Retro Edition is a solid Android gaming device with premium hardware and capable specs. With the comfort, crisp OLED display and generous battery life that provides around 8h of playtime, the handheld offers a quality Android gaming experience.
That said, it is still in need of some work on the software side. The minor issues with toggling Game Mode properly, touch screen mapping to physical controls and a newer Android OS are among the updates that would be required to make the device more compelling. I also encountered an issue when connecting to my PC for transferring files. I noticed that if the gamepad (“hand lever” as it is called on the device) is activated from the Android drop down menu, the device’s internal memory will not be recognised and will not be read. Only by toggling the controller off am I able to transfer files from my PC over to the handheld.
These software-side issues should be within the realm of realistic updates and once these are ironed out, the AYANEO Pocket Air Retro Edition will make for an even more compelling case as an Android gaming handheld. If its track record is any indication, AYANEO will likely steadily support this device with updates to enhance the user experience and these will be added to this article in due time to reflect the new additions. And if the company is going the Android route, might I suggest that it considers making an actual phone with contemporary specs and physical controls to cater to the Xperia Play-shaped hole in the industry?
