Emulation-focused handhelds are a dime a dozen these days, with companies like Anbernic, Retroid, and Miyoo all attempting to craft the best nostalgia-fueled gaming device possible. Ayaneo might have them all beat with its latest launch, though, as the Pocket DS finally brings its namesake’s dual-screen experience to an Android-powered device.
The Ayaneo Pocket DS is now available for pre-order on Indiegogo, following the company’s usual crowdfunding campaign ahead of new product launches. If the name didn’t make it obvious alone, the design sure will — this is a 3DS-inspired piece of hardware, combining two displays aligned in a clamshell form factor to make emulating DS and 3DS games feel far more native than ever before. And while you won’t find a glasses-free 3D experience here, the rest of the package might be enough to forget Nintendo’s long-abandoned gimmick.
The Pocket DS features a 7-inch 1080p OLED 165Hz display up top alongside a 5-inch 1024×768 4:3 display along the bottom. That makes for a bit of an odd mismatch — especially if you end up emulating games with dark scenes, where black levels are going to look completely different between the two panels — but the end result is a 3DS-inspired layout that should also handle DS games spectacularly. In fact, the OLED panel should come in handy if you’re playing titles from Nintendo’s initial dual-screen handheld, allowing the unused sides of the display to disappear into the background.
The rest of the specs sheet is about as impressive as you’d expect from a new Ayaneo device. The entire package is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G3x Gen 2, alongside up to 16GB of RAM and a terabyte of UFS 4.0 storage. It features Linear Hall-effect triggers, TMR joysticks, an 8,000mAh battery with fast-charge support, and a six-axis gyroscope for supported games. As with Ayaneo’s other handhelds, it’s powered by Android, though you’ll have to make due with three-year-old Android 13.
While it’s certainly not a small handheld — again, the main display alone is 7 inches — the Pocket DS should deliver a best-in-class experience for emulating DS and 3DS games, especially thanks to its second joystick and proper triggers. Of course, Ayaneo is being careful to market “various creative uses” for that secondary panel, including performance stats, multitasking, control centers, and more. You can also opt to switch to a single-screen experience on either panel from within settings, helpful for when you’re playing any title designed for just one panel.
Last year’s lineup of emulation handhelds was dominated by Game Boy Advance and Advance SP-inspired handhelds, so it only makes sense for dual-screen devices to become the dominant challenge this year. Retroid recently started selling a second screen attachment for the Retroid Pocket 5 and Pocket Mini, delivering a similar — if not built-in — experience to what Ayaneo’s promising here. Early reviews, however, have found some response time lag between the two displays.
Likewise, Ayn began teasing its own dual-screen “Thor” handset this morning, though with no other details to go on besides an early look at its design.
Unsurprisingly, the Ayaneo Pocket DS won’t come cheap. Its starting configuration includes just 8GB of RAM and 128GB of (slower UFS 3.1) storage, and it’s starting at $400 for its early bird pricing and a whopping $519 at retail. Other configurations are below:
- 12GB + 256GB, black: $439 early bird, $559 retail
- 16GB + 512GB, black: $499 early bird, $619 retail
- 16GB + 1TB, yellow: $599 early bird, $719 retail
- 16GB + 1TB limited edition gray: $639 early bird, $759 retail
Estimated shipping dates for early bird offerings are set for October. If you’re interested, you’ll want to act fast to lock in that pricing — plenty of the units are already halfway to selling out.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments