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.

SOURCE

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

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.

Uhh...there were plenty of "in-betweens". The PSP says hello, released in 2005, and could output to TVs allllll the way back then. Phones could do this since 2015 (technically earlier, but we'll say first USB-C devices to be generous), which by extension means any Android tablet/gaming device after that point totally could (which actually doesn't even count devices like the Shield Portable from 2013 or the Shield tablet from 2014, with mini HDMI built in).

As for form factor, there were "tablet with controllers on the end" since like 2012, it certainly wasn't a new "form factor" beyond maybe having removable controllers. Beyond that, Nintendo didn't "innovate" anything, they just took something already available elsewhere and added a dock they could overcharge for because why not?

 

[Axido]

Man, am I glad that I didn't buy the AYA Neo, even though I was definitely interested. Good luck to them standing a chance against the Steam Deck, though. Maybe the competition will benefit the market in the long run.

 

[Paccc]

Well, only microsoft, sony and now valve can buy an AMD APU with RDNA2 and decent amounts of GC.

These guys can't buy it and neither can any of us and demand from the above will be enough for what AMD can produce in more than a year... Lets hope that AMD brings a laptop/consumer chip to the market, but I predict that those will target other than gamers and have relatively puny GPUs

 

[DKB]

1300 for some nobody company. Yeah, alright.

 

[ZeroFX]

Wow 1300 dollars, they just can't compete.

 

[Kioku]

Oh.. Oh no.. AYA.. What are you doing?

 

[NyaakoXD]

Sheesh, that's nearly twice the cost of the highest tier model of the Steam Deck.

 

[Xzi]

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 :/

It's very likely to have the USB-C port on the bottom for the final design. The units we've seen hands-on videos of so far are basically dev kits.

As for this move by Aya Neo, it confuses me. They'd be better off releasing a less-powerful model at a lower price, especially if they can get it out six months ahead of Steam Deck's launch.

 

[Kioku]

The specs are great for an ultra book, but for a device marketed toward gaming, with work advertised on the side? They're absolutely batshit crazy for this move.

I am, however, even more curious to see just how the Steam Deck handles work related tasks compared to this.

 

[SuperDan]

Steam Deck that's crazy over priced....

 

[the_randomizer]

Do we really need another one of these?

 

[CoolMe]

Looks like companies are starting to jump in the handheld bandwagon.. 1300$ is bloody too much for a handheld device, even with these specs.

 

[Kioku]

Looks like companies are starting to jump in the handheld bandwagon.. 1300$ is bloody too much for a handheld device, even with these specs.

Except this isn't even their first product...

 

[NyaakoXD]

Looks like companies are starting to jump in the handheld bandwagon.. 1300$ is bloody too much for a handheld device, even with these specs.

Starting? They've been trying to jump on the bandwagon for some time now thanks to the success of the Switch (and it's still selling like hotcakes).

I'm actually waiting to see how much the 2TB model costs and seeing if it's an absurd $100-200+ increase.

 

[Kioku]

Starting? They've been trying to jump on the bandwagon for some time now thanks to the success of the Switch (and it's still selling like hotcakes).

I'm actually waiting to see how much the 2TB model costs and seeing if it's an absurd $100-200+ increase.

I mean.. A 2TB NVME drive ain't cheap..

 

[NyaakoXD]

I mean.. A 2TB NVME drive ain't cheap..

Well, never said they were cheap. Just thinking the possibility that they'll increase the price too much for considering how much the 1TB model already is.

 

[xdarkx]

Don't know why people are comparing this to Steam Deck since this device was crowdfunded months ago. Heck, even GBAtemp covered this crowdfunding new back on Jan.

 

[Kioku]

Well, never said they were cheap. Just thinking the possibility that they'll increase the price too much for considering how much the 1TB model already is.

Depends on the model they use I guess. Still, adding on at least $150 wouldn't be surprising.

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Don't know why people are comparing this to Steam Deck since this device was crowdfunded months ago. Heck, even GBAtemp covered this crowdfunding new back on Jan.

The Pro version?

 

[xdarkx]

The Pro version?

I suppose that wasn't mentioned in that news post. My main point is this is just an upgrade to the original device. But reading some of the comments here sounds like they think this is a company copying Valve's Steam Deck.

 

[NyaakoXD]

I suppose that wasn't mentioned in that news post. My main point is this is just an upgrade to the original device. But reading some of the comments here sounds like they think this is a company copying Valve's Steam Deck.

It's more that they're comparing the Aya Neo Pro to the Steam Deck, not saying it's "copying" the Steam Deck. The Aya Neo Pro's specs still kinda falls short of the Steam Deck's considering it still uses VEGA and not RDNA2 (which is what the Steam Deck is using). And the price to performance is laughable for the Aya Neo already. It's more on the Steam Deck's favor since Valve is working closely with AMD for it.