Yet another player enters the handheld PC gaming market; and this time it's none other than Anbernic, makers of retro handheld consoles (till now). A couple of months ago, a patent design of the company's alleged Windows-based handheld leaked, which you can see below:

Now, it seems like this handheld has gone past the conceptual stage and will soon be announced. A few hours ago, YouTuber Taki Udon shared leaked images of a new handheld from Anbernic bearing the same form factor as the patented design above. In two of the pictures, the unannounced device is seen to be running Windows.

Given that these are not official news, you might want to take these leaks and news with a grain of salt, but a source close to Anbernic (they, of course, wished to stay anonymous) told GBAtemp that indeed this Windows-based Anbernic handheld is coming soon. While they did not share more details such as specs and an ETA for an official announcement, they did mention that the device could potentially launch with SteamOS installed, making it one of the rare third-party device to run on the system. The source says that SteamOS for the device is already being worked on, with testing underway.

As that this marks Anbernic's first foray into WIndows handhelds and also from the symmetrical joystick form factor that the device bears (akin to the company's previous devices), it might be expected that it won't be a direct competitor to devices like the Steam Deck or AYA NEO. Rather, it would be likely that this handheld will be more of a better emulation device thanks to its SSD (over microSD) and has the bonus of coming with the Steam library. But when it comes to PC gaming, think games like Dead Cells rather than Elden Ring.

But if this device won't directly compete against its beefier counterparts, depending on the price, it could offer an interesting alternative for gamers looking for better handheld emulation and light PC gaming on a decent hardware. In fact, Anbernic has a stellar track record when it comes to the hardware front, as their devices, in particular the metal shell ones, are the best retro devices I've ever used (see the RG350M and RG351M). But even the plastic shell ones were professionally crafted; and hopefully Anbernic brings its hardware expertise to the handheld gaming PC market.

Speaking of hardware, it appears that they have improved some aspects of the form factor with this handheld as it seems to bear an integrated grip for better comfort. The shoulder and trigger buttons are now stacked rather than next to each other, which should also enhance the comfort of using the device. Also noticeable from the leaked images are two new face buttons: what appears to be a home button and a windows button.

As mentioned earlier, given that these are not official news, take them with a grain of salt. But the concept of such a device could prove to be interesting to talk about. Would you be interested in a lower-priced gaming PC handheld with lower specs for emulation and light PC gaming?

Image Source

 

[64bitmodels]

I'm not a fan of the placement of the D-pad and ABXY buttons, but when they also include the touch pads, I'm not really sure how else they could do it any better.

they could ditch them for the lite versions. i see a lot of people saying they don't care for them/they don't work well/they're not nice to use
personally i think they're a necessity seeing how we're dealing with a PC handheld here, but a lite version that cuts them out entirely would work well enough. besides for aiming you have gyro and for games like RTS you already have the touchscreen, which won't be as good but still works decently enough

 

[Xzi]

Looks way better than the deck. Anbernic really do beautiful and well constructed consoles, but usually they are underpowered.

Also doesn't really matter how it looks if it's uncomfortable to hold. Placing both joysticks on the bottom of the device and making them sunken is just asking for hand cramps, especially with larger hands.

 

[ZER-O]

Man, these kinds of devices keep getting revealed every other week it seems. If I personally were in the market for one, I'd probably wait like a year or two and see what all my options are. People are quick to jump on the Steam Deck, but I'd hold off and see if a better choice pops up in the near future.

steamDeck is fine if you only want to use it as a SteamOS console, it will take another 2 years to have an optimized Windows experience

for the time being Aya Neo Pro 2022 model is the best you can have for running PC games on Windows, that device is competent enough to give you all the buttons and shortcuts you need to navigate your games

 

[gaga941021]

This thing look like a super nintendo controller, I wonder if that was on purpose?

No. It is well known, that nostalgia doesn't sell....

 

[nero99]

SteamOS is going to be the go-to for such devices going forward, unless some really big advances are made on the software front on the Windows side. Judging by LTT's videos about the Deck, SteamOS is just a way better experience than Windows. Less jank trying to get around without a keyboard and mouse and easier access to your games. Plus it runs way better. Unless Valve and AMD pulled some magic with the specific Linux drivers the Deck is using, those improvements in performance should translate to other low end devices as well as there is less overhead which matters on such a weak system (but likely would not have much effect on higher end hardware simply because the overhead comparatively takes up much less of the system resources when you have more resources available)

It is true that the "competitors" to the Steam Deck (put it in quotes because the price is not even in the same ballpark) have some software niceties that the Steam Deck on Windows doesn't. Not on the same level as SteamOS, but with enough effort it could end up with a comparable feature set and convenience (or if some hobbyist devs decide to take it upon themselves to make the ultimate frontend for Windows based handhelds)
But it's going to be tough to solve the performance disparity between Windows and SteamOS. The difference is great enough that it takes some games from unplayable/barely playable depending on who you ask, to a relatively smooth 30 FPS with not too many framedrops. On the exact same hardware, that gives SteamOS a huge advantage, which means it'd be stupid to stick with Windows as the default because what people are going to see in reviews and comparisons is the out of the box performance, and they're obviously going to go with the Steam Deck if it performs 50% better.

Steam is really is better for now. Heck I use my deck for gaming more then my gaming desktop pc. That thing just gets used for 3D printing stuff now

 

[Gronbar]

Steam OS is great way to cut price, weird sticks position and look's too small to be powerful enough but if it will be powered by some ultra low power SoC like Athlon/Atom then price 100-150 will be ok. Great competitor to Switch Lite.

 

[Taleweaver]

So a "to be announced" device might use an OS that's not been officially out (aside its own device) ?


Yup: that second maybe certainly makes the whole thing more plausible. If each have 50% of being true, then 50+50...there's your 100% confirmation right there! Basic math, people!

 

[Deleted member 194275]

So a "to be announced" device might use an OS that's not been officially out (aside its own device) ?


Yup: that second maybe certainly makes the whole thing more plausible. If each have 50% of being true, then 50+50...there's your 100% confirmation right there! Basic math, people!

you can flash steam OS in any X86 device for a while now, not that you should, as it sucks, and it is not the newer version either, but you can.

 

[Osha]

A low stick placement works on a regular controller because there are handles to keep the thing steady in your hands. In this case it just looks tacky and easy to drop.

 

[Taleweaver]

you can flash steam OS in any X86 device for a while now, not that you should, as it sucks, and it is not the newer version either, but you can.

Oh, right... I forgot about steamos 2.0. Yep... True. But that's kind of saying that it's a windows device and neglecting to mention it's windows xp.

 

[TooLateNate]

It's tough, not that it's a bad machine, but having Valve backing the Steam Deck is a huge plus for me vs this machine. It'd be cool to see how well SteamOS would run on this though...

 

[LightyKD]

So... this was in Taki Udon's video today. Some possible specs for the machine.

Here is some Witcher 3 footage:

Hopefully, Anbernic goes with a slightly more powerful chip.

 

[Veho]

That's... not very good :/

And "under $450" is not as enticing either, when the Steam Deck is $400.

I guess it makes sense for markets where the Deck absolutely is not available.

I was really hoping they would manage to bring the price down some more.

 

[TooLateNate]

So... this was in Taki Udon's video today. Some possible specs for the machine.

-snip-

Here is some Witcher 3 footage:

Hopefully, Anbernic goes with a slightly more powerful chip.

That's... not very good :/

Yeaaah... Tbh, I think everyone was kinda like "Hmmm, maybe a less supported Steam Deck" but it eally goes to show that Valve does know what it's doing most of the time. The previous Steam Machines fiasco was due to a lack of experience in the field.

 

[LightyKD]

That's... not very good :/

And "under $450" is not as enticing either, when the Steam Deck is $400.

I guess it makes sense for markets where the Deck absolutely is not available.

I was really hoping they would manage to bring the price down some more.

Keep in mind that what Taki posted isn't final but if this chip is chosen then I hope the entire device is less than 300.