While the Switch is selling briskly, there are many who feel the hardware is in need of a power boost – which is why rival handhelds like Valve's Steam Deck have attracted so much interest. While these portable PCs cost more than Nintendo's machine, they offer impressive technical specs – and this has predictably led some people to ponder what a Switch successor could look like.
Chinese firm Aya Neo has already released other Windows-based portable PCs, but its latest effort is notable for being much smaller than other products of this kind; in fact, it's around the same size as the Switch Lite. Our sister site Time Extension has gone hands-on with the device – which is currently doing the rounds on the crowdfunding circuit – and has come away suitably impressed by it, with some caveats.
On the plus side, the design is easily the best to come out of Aya Neo so far, with fancy LED lights and superb build quality. The analogue inputs are based on 'Hall effect' sensors, which means there are no moving parts inside to wear down – so, in theory, controller drift won't happen. The OLED panel is also fantastic, although Time Extension notes that its 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution is rather wasted as you'll need to play all but the least demanding games in 720p to avoid draining the battery too quickly.
Alas, stamina is the Aya Neo Air's biggest weakness; if you're super careful about what games you play then you could potentially get somewhere close to three hours on a single charge, but most of the time you'll be rushing to the wall socket after just over an hour of gameplay. This illustrates one of the key sticking points of portable gaming right now; it's hard to make a handheld console more powerful than the Switch because battery life is going to suffer as a result. The Steam Deck also has the same problem, to a much lesser extent than the Aya Neo Air. Nintendo's handheld may be less powerful than its fancy competitors, but it strikes a good balance between power and battery life thanks to its mobile-focused Tegra chipset.
So, is the Aya Neo Air a rival to the Switch? Perhaps not, especially with its lofty price tag of around £500 / $600, but if you're in the market for a Steam Deck-style device but want something more portable (with an OLED panel to boot), then it is perhaps worth a look.
[source timeextension.com]
Comments 51
This is what has me on the fence about buying a Steam Deck. I really want one but I'm afraid the Switch Lite battery life has spoiled me.
I am always interested when I come across these Windows handhelds, but the battery is always the worst weakness. As they stand in 2022, the best use case I could think of for these handhelds would be a bedside gaming device...but that's about it.
Handheld PCs have definitely come a long way since the likes of the GPD Win and Win 2, but they all still carry caveats like bulk, heat generation, short battery life, etc.
These devices are continuously improving but more time is definitely needed, I'm hoping for better efficiency over power at this point as these devices are capable of running a lot of things.
Interesting if only for a more fully compatible/easier to deal with emulator console.
The little chinese things are ok but something more robust/running a real OS with better support is something I might be interested in eventually.
Battery life is a big sticking point for sure.
@sketchturner with the steam deck, if you have the right settings/games, the battery life can last. Ie hades with high graphics, can last 4hrs+. But if you're playing GoW, expect somewhere less than 2hrs. As with the switch-lite, you're not really playing graphic intensive heavy games, like hzd or spiderman, etc. So if you play similar style games on the deck, as you would the switch(hollow knight on the switch, probably has the same amount of playable time, on the deck), I'm sure the battery can last.
@sketchturner this device and the WinMax 2 have my questioning my Steam Deck preorder. Especially when Valve releases SteamOS for the WinMax and GPD's devices, so Valve has gotten some fierce competition one year later. However, they're embracing it, that's why GPD and OneXPlayer will be offer SteamOS for their device, once they clear Valve's quality assurance tests.
Personally, I'd rather have less battery life to have a better performance-capable handheld. And as was mentioned about the Deck, your battery life really depends on the game you play.
To be honest, at this point I can't excuse the Tegra still being used for any reason. The fact that the switch struggles to run its own e-shop is sort of a breaking point for me...
The LED lights are only there to hog batteries usage, not sure why anyone would want those. Just get GPD Win 2 or Steam Deck instead.
@Wordbonder NVIDIA still uses it for their Shield TV. I would imagine they're working on a new Arm SOC for Nintendo and themselves, plus Samsung/AMD have an alliance for one too.
Nintendo jumping to an X64-86 SOC would be a HUGE mistake at this point, especially if the PC industry moves away from it. Apple Silicon is tempting for many PC manufacturers, not only does it save on footprint, but they could make one without Intel and AMD if they choose to do so. Nintendo was smart to use an Arm-based SOC, it's the dominant architecture across the world due to smartphones and tablets.
@PhhhCough Yeah it's just that I wouldn't buy a Steam Deck to play games I already play on my Switch. The only reason I would get it would be for Elden Ring, Sekiro, and Dark Souls 3.
@progx I don't think Valve considers other x86 handhelds to be "competition", since they're all potential devices for Steam OS to be installed on, and they bring more users to PC gaming, which in turn brings users to Steam.
Similarly, Microsoft and Google doesn't really consider other Windows or Android devices to be competition to their hardware, since they bring users to their software ecosystems.
I think Valve are trying to bring back the Steam Machines idea, but this time with handhelds, and with a flagship device of their own. I think we will even see these other x86 devices advertised directly on Steam itself.
@sketchturner well, at that point the comparison is moot. Because the steam deck, regardless of battery life, CAN do something the switch or switch lite cant. Eldenring or dark souls 3, for 2.5hrs on the deck, is better than 0hrs of it on the switch
'While these portable PCs cost more than Nintendo's machine, they offer impressive technical specs' ... Actually the 64gb model steam deck is the same price as the switch oled
This is one of those interesting Steam Deck alternatives that is really only appealing to people who want to do the kind of emulation that cheaper handhelds can't handle, but then again the battery life makes it questionably useful.
@Would_you_kindly if you subtract $50 from the deck price
@Gofixmeaplate okay now it's abit cheaper but when it originally launched it was the same price as what the steam deck is
@Gofixmeaplate or maybe I've just got $ & £ mixed up lol
Ya I only got my steam deck monday and battery is an issue but atleast you can do tweaks like lower the graphics and lock the fps to 30 to help improve it.
@PhhhCough
0 hours of Elden Ring or Dark Souls sounds like a selling point to me.
I love my Steam Deck, the combo of custom hardware and the software work really well.
@Would_you_kindly exactly and it can emulate Switch perfectly. It’s a beast.
As someone who currently has COVID and stays downstairs all day, I can confirm, the Switch has a low battery life in handheld ):
Honestly, for portable PCs: Smaller isn't always better. Especially for battery size. The Steam deck is nearly perfect here.
For those concerned about Steam Deck's battery life - I can say as an owner, they provide so many options to stretch game time it's a non-issue for me.
You can either play a highly demanding game with ultra graphics at 60FPS for 1.5 hours or you can lower FPS to 30, lower graphical settings and possible internal Deck settings (like FSR) to stretch the same game to 3+ hours. Most of the games I play are PS3-era games like Elder Scrolls Oblivion, and I average about 4-5 hours of battery with those kinds of games.
The great thing about the small screen is that even with lower graphical settings, all you have to do is boost sharpness with FSR (built into Steam Deck) and it still looks gorgeous because it's not stretched across a big TV or monitor. Some people even use tiny resolutions under 720 in portable mode and say they can't notice a difference visually, but lower resolution increases performance.
Consoles like Switch provide a more stable yet less flexible experience whereas Steam Deck provides a bunch of customization and tinkering options that some console gamers may not understand or enjoy because it's still a PC and these are PC games.
I wouldn't recommend it to a casual console gamer that has no experience with PC unless they're excited to tinker.
@PhhhCough That's actually a great point, and frankly that might have been the push I needed to order a Steam Deck.
@Wordbonder The eshop being laggy on the Switch is not because of Tegra; that's all on Nintendo. There are plenty of devices equipped with older Tegra SoCs that don't chug so much on the web.
The eshop we access from the Switch is nothing but a webpage, and not a special app, as mentioned here: https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/7ryj0k/you_can_view_the_eshop_on_your_pc/dt14nrm/
It just goes to show there's no such thing as a perfect handheld. If it has a good battery the horsepower will suffer. If it has more horsepower the battery will suffer (not to mention the price will be sky high). Pick your poison.
Maybe I'll get this...
People complain about the Switch, but we all know good and well if Nintendo released a 600 dollar handheld with a 2 hour battery, they'd be bashed to no end for it.
It's the ayn Loki that's grabbed my attention. Thier Odin model has been pretty good as an emulation machine so far but I wanna see how far I can take it.
I really don't have the urge to play AAA "home console" / PC games designed for long sessions with a large screen on a small screen device with a super limited battery life. Games with modest specs and great gameplay suit the Switch well, and it means you get a good balance of gameplay and battery life. Some games are for pushing the boundaries of what's possible, but they're always gonna destroy batteries because they're so hungry and not suit a true hybrid console.
There's clearly a high demand for gaming on the go (/on the sofa) and this sort of form factor, but suspect that people will keep trying and failing to get this "Switch but it's actually powerful" stuff to take off before Cloud gaming matures and the concept of owning consoles starts feeling a lot more retro
@Would_you_kindly
Steam Deck 64GB is £349
Switch OLED is £309
So relatively close, but there is a £40 differential between them, putting Steam Deck at a +13% higher price than the Switch OLED.
I'm sure things will improve with hardware over time, but my experiences with Steam Deck have been mostly positive. I'm not ready to call it a full Switch replacement yet. But it's a nice alternative with different options from the Switch...especially with mods and emulators (I personally don't emulate any currently-available games on it, but old school titles play beautifully on it.) Battery life is rarely a concern as I don't play too many 'big' games on it. The most demanding game I've played on it is probably Bloodstained, and that gets me around three hours or more of playtime if not docked to the TV.
1-3 hour battery life is dismal. Even the SteamDeck comfortably outperforms that.
@farrgazer Fair enough. But I don't think I have to explain that the Switch has major performance issues and that the current Tegra is quite old. We are long due for an upgrade. That's the only point I was making.
@tatchy Isn't it a little bleak to say any portable console that attempts to surpass Switch's performance is a failure because more power = more battery while also saying owning a console will be a thing of the past and that Cloud gaming is the future?
Is there no room for technological advances like, say, more efficient hardware or more capacious batteries? Switch may be using old hardware, but the technology we have today in modern consoles and PCs isn't going to just stop advancing.
A great benefit of PC games is you have total control over graphics/performance settings, which is often absent in console games. The Steam Deck allows you to cap FPS at 30, 60, or unlimited and even change the refresh rate right in the middle of playing a game, which has a very large impact on improving battery life.
I hope this knowledge improves your outlook towards the future of gaming. I don't want to live in a world where Cloud gaming is all there is.
I was going to get this for all my 18+ eroge needs since I'd grown tired of the all ages versions on the Switch but instead got a Samsung Galaxy Book Flex2 Alpha which comes with a nice QLED touchscreen. I may still get one in the future though.
@Serpenterror You need a good QLED or OLED is if your purposes are for eroge.
Cool but I'll stick with my Switch and wait for whatever the successor is instead of grabbing one of these or a Steam Deck.
An 1-2 hour battery on a portable is laughable and makes it lose some of the appeal of a portable system.
What's the point in having a portable PC of I'm sat with it plugged to the wall most of the time, I have the same issue with the Steam Deck.
@Would_you_kindly I bought an OLED at launch for $350 usd
I put down a deposit on a Steam Deck the day it opened up for orders in Hong Kong. By the time I get it, I expect there to be better handheld options...possibly a Switch Pro, but I doubt it.
Since this is related to Steam Deck (being a SD alternative), for anyone interested but turned off by the huge waiting times, it’s worth knowing that Valve has greatly increased production lately and the wait looks to be much, much shorter now. Personally, I have reserved the EU 64gb version June 4 2022, I was 7% in the waiting list Monday and it jumped from that to 64% in a single week; all versions and regions had significantly ramped up productions and delivery.
Hopefully it’s not off-topic, but completely understandable if it is. Kind regards.
Edit, spelling
@Astral-Grain maybe I didn't put what I meant very well. Battery life is the acceptable compromise for people looking for performance in a handheld gaming PC, but it does make them a hard pass for a lot of people who don't want to actively optimise their console just to get 2 hours of play out of it.
I have no issues spending a bit of time getting high end PC games set up (they've gotta suit infinite hardware combos after all!) but it's not really what I want out of a handheld at all. I either want to get playing quickly without much fuss or have something comfortable to hold and play for a decent amount of time without searching for a plug.
Nintendo did the math with the Switch and it even took them a few iterations to get the battery life long enough. Sure, the chip is objectively crap, joycon drift is rubbish and the estore is rubbish, but it says a lot that something derided as a toy seems to have disrupted the PC gaming market a fair bit.
I'm not saying one approach is better or worse, just that going for performance over balance and charging 2x as much as a Switch limits you a bit customer wise.
When I talk about cloud gaming, I mean the general idea of remote hardware / VMs handling the heavy lifting and you basically just control it remotely and see the output. I'd happily use a handheld console (steam deck) that has a great screen and battery and accesses my (permanent) collection remotely. The internet has to get a ***** load faster for that to be feasible to get there but I don't really see that as bleak at all! I agree that if some of the recent ***** (/cash cow) efforts become the future of gaming it'd be bleak.
I live in China, and picked up the Aya Neo Next Pro, then receieved a steam deck from family in the US later. If you have never played with a hall-effect joystick, this will change everything. Even the $150 The Xbox Elite controller had a deadzone in the middle of the stick - the same problem all analogue controllers up to now have. But a hall effect joystick has no discernable dead zone. You get the precision of a mouse, but with the benefits of holding position to the right that make things like 3D platformers worse with a mouse and keyboard. On windows, I can select desktop icons and move them accurately with the hall-effect sticks. I cannot do that with an older gamepad.
There's still some genres I prefer the Steam Deck on - Age of Empires 2 feels better on the Deck's dual trackpads than Aya Neo Next Pro's dual sticks, even with the hall effect sensors. But I have barely touched my steam deck because the Aya Neo system feels so much better. This new $600 version is about half of what I paid, but if it has the same sticks....it's worth it for the improved controls. These things have ruined all console gaming for me. Also, with no friction between the parts necessary to use magnetic field controls, stick drift should be physically impossible with them.
I am following this scene quite keenly - right now there seems to be 3 main problems with these products. 1. Battery life 2. Too many models coming out too frequently 3. These being produced by newish companies are somewhat unreliable - supply chains are not so robust, longer waiting times, etc. I believe in a couple of years it gets better and I will ditch my Switch for one of these. I have a decent PC library anyway, so no need to start afresh.
@tatchy One of the Switch's greatest aspects is how easy it is to jump right into a game with no hassle.
The reason I got a Switch back when it launched was actually to get rid of the hassle of constant updates, audio issues, graphical issues, and generally issues that don't even happen on consoles.
Thankfully, time has passed and the Steam Deck is like a hybrid PC-Console, in that the UI can work like any other console, but with such a massive library, you're bound to run into a game you need to actually tinker with.
I'm used to this though, because I was a PC gamer before and can appreciate that this experience is way less tedious than managing a Windows gaming PC. It makes sense most people would be frustrated if they downloaded a game and had to configure it first before playing. Switch definitely has mass appeal because of this.
I guess this can become a "portable" game console if you pair it with a 20k mAh powerbank 😅
About battery life
My Nintendo Switch = 3,5 hours playing Shadowverse offline/online.
My Steam Deck = 4,5 hours playing Street Fighter V offline / 3,5 hours playing Street Fighter V online
Depends on the game.
I have Horizon Chase on Steam and on Switch: the battery duration is similar, but the game runs better on Steam Deck and the games are cheaper on Steam Deck/Steam ecosystem. I paid U$4,90 on Horizon Chase (+ all DLC) on Steam.
These windows handhelds might be worth it after 10 years. Now, no way. 1 hour battery life? it is portable but you have to be plugged on a charger all the time. Waste of money.
It's to see you guys covering one of these handheld PCs because I have been following them for awhile and it's usually really small hobbyist sites tend to cover this type of thing. That said, the review gets the weaknesses pretty well the terrible battery life and the price; although this one seems better than a lot of them I have seen, which are more in the $800-1000 USD range.
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