While bigger players like Valve are entering the handheld gaming PC market with competitively-priced devices like the Steam Deck, it seems like smaller companies still want to be a viable alternative in this space. A few weeks after Valve announced its own handheld, AYA NEO came up with a new device of its own: the AYA NEO 2021 Pro. Their first device based on the AMD 4500U APU, which we previously reviewed, has been rebranded as the AYA NEO 2021. The China-based company released some information about its new handheld over the last weeks and we now have a better idea about its specs and pricing.

While it packs a similar look to its predecessor, the Pro 2021 model has upgraded internals on practically every front. It is based on the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U with an APU of 8 cores and 16 threads and a maximum frequency of 4.2GHz. It comes with 16 GB dual-channel LPDDR4X RAM at 4266MHz and an NVME M.2 SSD, available in 1T and 2T. The AYA NEO 2021 Pro features a 47Wh battery and with the new AYASpace software, users can quickly adjust TDP on-the-fly. For network connectivity, the devices comes with a built-in Bluetooth 5.0 module and a WiFi 6 module. The triggers are also been upgraded to analog ones and there are three color schemes for the console: Retro Power (which comes with a similar, retro-themed dock), dark star and light moon.

As for the dock, it is said to support up to 4K 60Hz Ultra HD and up to 10 Gbps data transfer. It also has up to 8 expansion ports and PD 1.4 fast charging support.

On the official AYA NEO website, the 1TB model of the AYA NEO 2021 Pro will sell for $1,315.00 (excluding shipping) while the price for the 2TB model has yet to be announced (it's not an option on the website either). It is expected to ship in mid-September.

Other themed accessories have also been announced like the mechanical keyboard, the GaN PD charger with 108W fast charging and a mini docking station. More details about these can be found on the official store page or the Indiegogo campaign's updates. However, pricing for these accessories haven't been announced yet.

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Speaking of the Indiegogo campaign, an update from the company's CEO mentions that those who have backed the first generation of AYA NEO 2021 but haven't had their orders shipped yet can upgrade to the Pro version at an extra cost as shown below (more details in the campaign update):

While the AYA NEO 2021 and Pro versions are pricier than the Steam Deck, hopefully such competition can drive innovation in this space further and it's promising to see that the new management of AYA NEO to come forth with new products and software.

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[HellGhast]

Steam Deck for me please. Can't wait.

 

[Jiehfeng]

Well I would imagine these smaller companies want to continue given that it's their only real business haha.

It seems the GPU is still not close enough to the Steam Deck though which is the most important thing for gaming, but honestly once they get their hands on similar or better specs they should still be able to make sales.

With the Steam Deck's announcement, there's now a large amount of users who now know there are such handhelds and users who now know they love the idea. That publicity is enough for people to look for alternatives that are even priced higher if they boast better specs and whatnot, especially given that availability is an issue.

 

[Bladexdsl]

this is what the switch should have been

 

[Spider_Man]

if only nintendo could open their eyes and see that everyone does better than they do and its fans call them "innovative".

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

TBH this was a terrible business move at the price point they're targeting with the Steam Deck as a new competitor. I literally can't think of a single reason whatsoever to spend the at best 2x this thing costs over the more powerful Steam Deck, not a single one that makes any sense besides maybe "it'll be here sooner I guess?".

Oh well, good luck AYA team I guess.

 

[Foxi4]

Well I would imagine these smaller companies want to continue given that it's their only real business haha.

It seems the GPU is still not close enough to the Steam Deck though which is the most important thing for gaming, but honestly once they get their hands on similar or better specs they should still be able to make sales.

With the Steam Deck's announcement, there's now a large amount of users who now know there are such handhelds and users who now know they love the idea. That publicity is enough for people to look for alternatives that are even priced higher if they boast better specs and whatnot, especially given that availability is an issue.

It might end up being a closer match than you'd think once Direct Storage becomes more commonplace. We're talking about fairly comparable TFLOPS (on account of clock differences), but the AYA Neo Pro offers exposed PCIe lanes and fast NVMe storage expansion whereas the Steam Deck has to rely on a slower SD memory card or its limited built-in memory. RDNA 2 is obviously a more powerful architecture, that much is true, but there are other bottlenecks to consider in an all-in-one system like this. Still not worth double the price tag of the Steam Deck, mind.

 

[LightyKD]

Steam Deck for me please. Can't wait.

Agreed, I just wish the Steam Deck's dock was similar to the Aya Neo. Having to plug into a USB-C port at the top is just damned odd :/

 

[diggeloid]

Maybe they'll manage to beat Valve to market and actually survive for at least a few more years?

What would be interesting is if they were to start shipping devices with Steam OS and try to differentiate the way Android OEMs do, with better hardware or gimmicky features. Switching to Steam OS (or another Linux distro) would at the very least save them the licensing fee from Microsoft.

It would be a shame if the Steam deck ended up killing all these other handheld PCs, especially considering how slow/shitty/unproductive Valve is as a business in general.

 

[MikaDubbz]

We're gonna see so many of these kinds of devices in the near future. Gonna be like VR, lots of choices, and unclear which is truly the best.

 

[Jiehfeng]

It might end up being a closer match than you'd think once Direct Storage becomes more commonplace. We're talking about fairly comparable TFLOPS (on account of clock differences), but the AYA Neo Pro offers exposed PCIe lanes and fast NVMe storage expansion whereas the Steam Deck has to rely on a slower SD memory card or its limited built-in memory. RDNA 2 is obviously a more powerful architecture, that much is true, but there are other bottlenecks to consider in an all-in-one system like this. Still not worth double the price tag of the Steam Deck, mind.

Yeah benchmarks really tell all and would be the only way to know for sure. But for the time being I assume them to be pretty far apart. This Aya Neo seems to have a GPU close to something like an MX250 or a GT 1030, whereas the Steam Deck seems to have something akin to a GTX 1050 according to the tflops of it, which are pretty far apart. Even accounting for the other bottlenecks both may have I think it's safe to say there would still be a big enough gap.

Though yeah I understand the pricing, but it may not matter to some people in the end as this is entering the PC mindset territory. It would be more viable though once they get their hands on RDNA2 or the likes.

 

[eyeliner]

The price is just right for laughs.

 

[smilodon]

this is what the switch should have been

A 1300$ device with a CPU that would have been unveiled 3 years after its initial release date? Did you forgot your irony tag?

 

[MrSandstorm]

They're announcing a device with a Vega GPU when the gabe gear is confirmed to have an RDNA2 chip? Kind of badly timed, isn't it?

 

[Rahkeesh]

If you try to buy a Steam Deck now you'll be waiting till mid next year. Although maybe you can get them scalped for about the same price as this Neo and still end up with a better product.

 

[McPringles]

It might end up being a closer match than you'd think once Direct Storage becomes more commonplace. We're talking about fairly comparable TFLOPS (on account of clock differences), but the AYA Neo Pro offers exposed PCIe lanes and fast NVMe storage expansion whereas the Steam Deck has to rely on a slower SD memory card or its limited built-in memory. RDNA 2 is obviously a more powerful architecture, that much is true, but there are other bottlenecks to consider in an all-in-one system like this. Still not worth double the price tag of the Steam Deck, mind.

Even in this case, I think the Steam Deck still wins out. Valve's said they'd really like for the end user not to mess with them, but the Steam Deck also uses NVMe SSDs (aside from the basic model, which uses slower eMMC storage that can still be replaced by an M.2). DirectStorage is also reliant on memory speed, and since APUs make use of the system RAM (making the benefits of DirectStorage questionable in the first place), the Steam Deck's high-bandwidth LPDDR5 memory still blows the LPDDR4X RAM in the NEO out of the water.

 

[linkchidori]

this is what the switch should have been

They really couldn't while selling at profit, i suppose.

 

[TheZander]

Not cheap I can tell you that. I'm pick it up for the exclusives but besides that i have a 3ds, a switch and a laptop for everything else.

 

[Deleted member 473940]

Far too expensive

 

[CompSciOrBust]

if only nintendo could open their eyes and see that everyone does better than they do and its fans call them "innovative".

Nintendo can't upgrade the Switch's GPU without breaking comparability with all existing games because shaders are precompiled. The most they'd be able to do this generation for a Pro would be a beefier CPU and more ram. Fwiw I think the Switch is innovative. In 2017 how many portable hybrid gaming machines were there? Your only choices were a gaming laptop or a Vita, there was no Inbetween. All these devices are copying the Switch's form factor and dock idea. That doesn't make Nintendo better but it does make them innovative.