Another Steam Deck and ROG Ally competitor is coming and it has the option of being an AI PC

What you need to know

• AYANEO is a gaming handheld company that has released several devices.
• The first AYANEO Windows gaming handheld released in 2021, before the Steam Deck's release in 2022.
• Today, the company revealed it's latest gaming handheld, the AYANEO 3, which will have your choice of either a regular AMD CPU or an AMD AI CPU.
• OPINION: It feels like we're getting way too many gaming handhelds on the market, and many of them don't offer a different enough experience to make them worth buying.

It's easy to think that Steam Deck kicked off the PC gaming handheld craze in 2022, but even before Valve's device gained a lot of traction, AYANEO (a.k.a. Aya Neo or AyaNeo) released a Window handheld in 2021. Since then, the AYANEO has gone on to release several gaming devices. Today, the company announced its latest flagship handheld version, the AYANEO 3, and revealed some of its specs.

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We're still waiting for AYANEO to reveal all of the configuration options for the AYANEO 3, but so far we know what kind of CPU and display you can get. First off, consumers have the choice of getting either a standard AMD Ryzen 7 8840U, which is a decently powerful CPU that AYANEO has used in previous handhelds (see my AYANEO FLIP DS review and AYANEO 2S review for examples).

However, if buyers are interested, they can also go for a Ryzen AI 9 HX370, which not only offers better performance than the 7 8840U, but will make the AYANEO 3 an AI PC gaming handheld. In other words, the handheld will be able to handle certain AI tasks far more efficiently if it has this AI CPU in it.

For those interested in knowing, the Ryzen AI 9 HX370 is a direct competitor to the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H Meteor Lake CPU, and AMD's AI CPU offers better multi-core performance and power efficiency than Intel's offering. However, the Intel Core Ulra 9 185H is now considered an older AI CPU since the new 200S series has now launched. You can learn more in our Intel Core Ultra 9 285K review.

• RELATED: IPS LCD vs OLED vs QD-OLED vs QLED vs AMOLED vs Mini LED display comparison

Display-wise, the AYANEO 3 has a pretty standard 7-inch screen size (which is the same size as Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch OLED, ROG Ally and ROG Ally X, and MSI Claw). However, AYANEO 3 buyers get to choose between getting either a less expensive LCD display or a much higher quality OLED that supports HDR.

We don't know how much RAM or storage AYANEO is offering for its latest flagship device. However, the company has been good about offering a range of options in the past.

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Based off of the pictures that AYANEO has released, we can see that there is a microSD card reader on top of the casing as well as a USB-C port. It's unclear if there are any additional ports on the bottom of the device at this time.

Pictures also let us know that the AYANEO 3 has a pretty standard button layout which includes ABXY buttons, bumpers, triggers, two joysticks, and a D-Pad. However, it also has a pair of rather unique-looking rear buttons, which are different from the AYANEO 2's.

Additionally, it features trigger lock keys on the backside, which I've so far only seen on one other handheld, the upcoming Zotac Zone. These locks allow you to determine how far you have to push on the trigger before they send a signal. This is a feature that can be especially useful for competitive games since being able to adjust trigger depth can give players more control and faster responses.

AYANEO hasn't yet revealed pricing for AYANEO 3 configurations nor has the company revealed the actual release date for this handheld. However, we will likely get this information in the next few months.

What I can tell you is that AYANEO historically has offered early bird pricing for its gaming handheld devices. So, while we haven't been told the price of the AYANEO 3, yet, it's very likely that it will be sold at a discount for a while. In the past, AYANEO devices have sold on Indiegogo, so that's where we can expect to see the AYANEO 3 at some point.

Are we getting too many handhelds?

I've been using my Steam Deck ever since I first got it in 2022. Then when ROG Ally launched I grabbed one of those to see what a gaming handheld would be like with Windows 11, and I fell in love with it. Since getting these devices, I regularly play a gaming handheld in bed or take them with me on trips. They are incredibly convenient and give me more flexibility than a desktop or laptop, plus they don't take up as much room.

Now, if you've been keeping up with gaming handhelds, you know that many companies plan on releasing yearly refreshes or variants for these devices. In fact, ASUS already released it's updated ROG Ally X earlier this year and we know that Lenovo is working on a Legion Go S. Then of course, we also know that the next MSI Claw is on its way in 2025 after the failure of the company's first AI PC handheld.

However, some companies see gaming handhelds as devices that should stand on their own feet for a few years. For instance, Valve has said it won't do annual releases of the Steam Deck. Meanwhile, Nintendo — who is really responsible for kicking off the whole handheld craze in 2017 with the Nintendo Switch — will release its backwards compatible Switch 2 sometime next year.

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The whole PC gaming handheld market is a relatively new area, so it's not too surprising to see companies vie for top position amongst themselves. After all, many of these companies are working out the kinks in their initial designs or are releasing "Lite" or "Pro" versions of their original devices. Meanwhile, other devices haven't even released yet like the Acer Nitro Blaze 7.

At this moment, Nintendo Switch followed by Steam Deck, followed by ROG Ally, and then Legion Go are the top dogs on the market. We're already swimming in handheld choices and we're going to hit a point where some of these companies won't be able to keep up with a somewhat niche market, especially when many of these devices aren't all that different from each other. Unless they can provide compelling reasons and standout features to pull audiences to a product, I don't see the point of many of these handhelds releasing so often.

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That's something I can say for AYANEO. The company's handhelds are rather expensive compared to competitors, but AYANEO experiments with its devices to provide unique experiences, such as the AYANEO Slide, which literally has a full keyboard under the screen (see my AYANEO Slide review for more info). Then there's the previously mentioned AYANEO FLIP DS, which offers two screens rather than one. As long as AYANEO continues to give us new choices for handheld gaming, I'll be interested to see what it comes up with. However, the flagship AYANEO 3 has too much competition to really make it stand out from competitors.