Meet the Ayaneo 2: A portable gaming powerhouse

The Steam Deck isn’t yet available in Australia, but Ayaneo’s handheld PC gaming device may be a better, more powerful option anyway.

The Ayaneo 2 is available from major stores with a starting price of $1699 for the Geek variant which comes with an 800p display and 512GB of internal storage. Picture: Supplied.

Ever since the debut of Valve’s Steam Deck last year, the handheld PC gaming market has exploded, with boutique companies such as Ayaneo, GPD and Onexplayer looking to satiate growing demand.

The most impressive of the bunch is the Ayaneo 2, a power packed and feature rich 7-inch handheld gaming PC that significantly outperforms the Steam Deck in almost every respect. While Valve has yet to officially release the Steam Deck locally, the Ayaneo 2 is widely available in retail stores, making it a tantalising proposition for Aussies looking to get their portable PC gaming fix.

Design and build

The Ayaneo 2 is an attractive gaming handheld that feels well built. A glass panel covers the front of the unit and the bezel-less 1920x1200p resolution LCD panel looks almost as good as an OLED with its deep blacks and vibrant colours.

The Ayaneo 2 also boasts some of the best analog sticks and triggers. Not only are they comfortably sized, they use Hall Effect magnetic sensors to track movement, eliminating any potential dead zone or stick drift issues that plagued the Nintendo Switch. The triggers have plenty of travel making them a great fit for racing games.

Ayaneo hasn’t skimped on connectivity with three USB-C ports, two of which are capable of USB 4.0 speeds of up to 40Gbps. This means that you can connect high powered accessories such as an external graphics card (eGPU) as well as a high resolution external monitor, effectively turning the Ayaneo 2 into a desktop class gaming PC when docked.

The Ayaneo 2 supports fast charging going from flat to 100 per cent in 60 minutes. Ayaneo has also managed to squeeze in a large 13,050mAh battery, more than double the capacity of the Steam Deck, all while maintaining a notably smaller footprint.

The Ayaneo 2. Source: Supplied.

Software

Unlike the Steam Deck which uses a custom-built operating system, Ayaneo 2 is a native Windows 11 machine. As such, you can download and install games from any store available on PC whether it be Steam, Epic Games Store, GoG, Xbox Gaming or EA Play. This means that popular titles such as Fortnite and Apex Legends run just fine as do the selection of emulators available on Windows enabling you to play games from classic consoles.

Performance

The Ayaneo 2 uses the new AMD Ryzen 7 6800U with 8 cores and 16 threads clocked at 4.7GHz as well as 680M graphics based on RDNA2 architecture. These are essentially laptop components crammed into a handheld and the custom cooling solution does an excellent job of keeping the device running at full tilt without compromising on performance. On average, the Ayaneo 2 delivers gaming performance that is 50 per cent faster than the Steam Deck, but it requires a higher power draw to get there resulting in lower battery life.

While the Steam Deck is limited to a peak power draw of 15W, the Ayaneo 2 can be cranked all the way up to 33W, delivering some stellar framerates. We tested games at 15W, 22W, 28W and 33W and found 22W to be the sweet spot for portable play on demanding titles while wattages beyond that mark are best reserved for docked play.

Switching to arcade racer Forza Horizon 5, the Ayaneo 2 turned in impressive results, achieving a locked 30fps experience on high graphic settings. Dropping the resolution down to 1280x800 netted a super smooth 60fps experience which still looked impressively sharp on the 7-inch display. Similarly, Ayaneo 2 had no issues in delivering a smooth 60fps experience with the Doom Eternal on high visual settings.

Overall, the Ayaneo 2 delivers the most impressive performance we have seen from a gaming handheld, wrapped up in a slick package that is sure to turn some heads. The controls are second to none and the unit is more portable than Valve’s Steam Deck.

Although the Steam Deck isn’t officially available in Australia, you can still import one through some online retailers. A 512GB Steam Deck will set you back $1349, making the Ayaneo 2 $350 more expensive. That’s a premium worth paying when you consider that the Ayaneo 2 delivers 50 per cent better gaming performance while also delivering a superior display and controls.

The Ayaneo 2 is also more scalable thanks to the inclusion of two full bandwidth USB 4.0 ports that effectively turn the handheld into a desktop class gaming PC with the aid of an external GPU and monitor.

Pricing and availability

The Ayaneo 2 is available from Amazon, Big W, EB Games, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and The Gamesmen with a starting price of $1699 for the Geek variant which comes with an 800p display and 512GB of internal storage.