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After releasing the AYA NEO 2021 and the AYA NEO 2021 Pro last year, handheld gaming PC startup AYA NEO is back with another product: the AYA NEO NEXT. It will pack an AMD Ryzen 7 5800U APU, bear a new form factor with integrated handgrips and interchangeable joystick. The latter also feature Hall effect-based joysticks from GuliKit that bypasses the notorious stick drift. More spec details can be found below:

The company is calling it the "next-generation" of Windows handheld as it is the first gaming handheld to pack the 5800U APU. The closest competitor is the ONEXPLAYER (AMD Ryzen 7 5700U) which retails for $1,419. The NEXT will actually be a family of devices made of the AYA NEO NEXT Advance, AYA NEO NEXT and AYA NEO NEXT Pro. The AYA NEO NEXT starts at a launch price of $1265 and its retail prices will go up to $1315. The AYA NEO NEXT Pro has a launch price of $1465 and a retail price of $1565. More details about the models can be found below:

While AMD revealed the promising 6000 Series mobile processors at CES yesterday, these won't be available till later during the year. So the edge that AYA NEO is taking with the NEXT is a device that can be shipped sooner. To that effect, they plan to launch an Indiegogo campaign in February and ship backer units in March. While the NEXT is still considerably pricier than the Steam Deck, it's interesting to see smaller companies still investing in this niche market and will be worth keeping an eye on what this competition will bring in terms of innovation as each company attempt to stand out from the rest.

UPDATE:

Shortly after the announcement, the AYA NEO NEXT Advance was sold out and the company updated the specs details of the other two models to specify that they will use the AMD 5825U chips instead of the 5800U. You can see the new specs details on the website and on the screenshot below:

AYA NEO NEXT Official Website

 

[The14thfly]

> $1265

LOL, no.

 

[Axido]

Tbh, the Steam Deck killed any interest I ever had in Aya Neo products and will have for the next three years. What a shame, since they could have been the goto solution, but Valve does a better job for a way better price here.

 

[subcon959]

Why are they persisting with that Vega crap?

 

[dragonmaster]

what a joke, prices of these are the same as a mid entry gaming laptop

 

[Deleted member 194275]

...but Valve does a better job...

They might do, and I believe they will, but they released nothing yet

Also, we don't know how many Decks can be produced. Right now few countries can actually pre-order, the scalping effect will be absurd since day one. In the end, competitors may have room to sell even scoring lower in everything on paper.

 

[SuperDan]

How Much.... ummm no!

 

[eyeliner]

Well, it's feature porn...
Useless "features" like that wake up sensor (why? no double tap on the screen?), Hall effect joystick (whatever that means), and lest we forget, a certificate and a nameplate for being financially stoopid.

Sorry doods, you lost this round.

 

[Deleted member 42501]

Hope the Chinese manufacturers get in on this style and start outputting lower end/spec machines for around £350 instead of recycling that same old tired Android chipset they have been.

Its a great idea but the prices they want for the high end specs are ridiculous whilst most of us just want better portable emulation via faster speeds and better supported Windows emulation apps.

Make it happen Chinese devs, I know you read this forum.

 

[XDel]

It's going to be a while before anyone is going to be able to compete with Valve. They have the best unit for the best price, hands down.

 

[_v3]

OOF, that price tag. I preordered the highest capacity deck and it costs half as much as this. Plus I'm pretty sure Valve will deliver a much better experience because of Steam OS. Seriously though, for this price point, why not just get a gaming laptop and enjoy much better performance than this???

 

[K3Nv2]

They might do, and I believe they will, but they released nothing yet

Also, we don't know how many Decks can be produced. Right now few countries can actually pre-order, the scalping effect will be absurd since day one. In the end, competitors may have room to sell even scoring lower in everything on paper.

Hmm hopefully I'll be able to at least scalp my base model for double the price come mid-July when I'll probably get mine lol

 

[Axido]

They might do, and I believe they will, but they released nothing yet

Also, we don't know how many Decks can be produced. Right now few countries can actually pre-order, the scalping effect will be absurd since day one. In the end, competitors may have room to sell even scoring lower in everything on paper.

Valve at least took some measures to protect their userbase from scalpers as much as possible by making preorders exclusive to long-time Steam members. Funnily, though, this system lead to me only getting the base model and my gf getting the premium one, even though my account is older and my purchase history is much larger.

That being said, you might still encounter scalpers, but not the ones hoarding dozens of units.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

Hmm hopefully I'll be able to at least scalp my base model for double the price come mid-July when I'll probably get mine lol

You happened to be on a region that the pre-orders are available, also you happened to be early on reserve list. You will not be scalped. On July when you got your unity hands on, many people will not be able to do the same, so potential customers will try to buy something else, and that's where the weak competition hardware may sell. It all depends on how much the Deck will cost on free market obviously, but seems that AYA NEO team is betting on deck's scarcity, and I can't tell right now that they're wrong.

 

[djpannda]

yea, over $1,000, when Valve is offering "current Gen. Gamning" Seamless on native Steam, at haft the Price? At this Point I don't think AYA NEO even cares about sales numbers. They just want to up Valve.

 

[peteruk]

very nice indeed, great specs, but those prices though

 

[K3Nv2]

You happened to be on a region that the pre-orders are available, also you happened to be early on reserve list. You will not be scalped. On July when you got your unity hands on, many people will not be able to do the same, so potential customers will try to buy something else, and that's where the weak competition hardware may sell. It all depends on how much the Deck will cost on free market obviously, but seems that AYA NEO team is betting on deck's scarcity, and I can't tell right now that they're wrong.

I could be wrong but I think I remember reading something where Ebay banned scalp prices or something.

 

[Dax_Fame]

This makes me sad I didn't just go for the highest tier Deck

Good luck, AYA...

 

[The Catboy]

Those price tags make me glad I never got into PC gaming.

 

[G33ksquad]

Well, it's feature porn...
Useless "features" like that wake up sensor (why? no double tap on the screen?), Hall effect joystick (whatever that means), and lest we forget, a certificate and a nameplate for being financially stoopid.

Sorry doods, you lost this round.

Ah the Hall effect joysticks is actually a really nice thing to see. They use magnets and are basically contactless, meaning they won’t wear out over time like other joysticks we see from Nintendo. Sony , and Microsoft. I think they price is high but seems interesting.