Ayaneo Pocket Ace

[native vessel]

https://tenor.com/view/predator-arnold-schwarzenegger-hand-shake-arms-gif-3468629

[sterile shard]

Jesus christ

[daring ridge]

I have close to 20

And I already think it's too much

[native vessel]

https://tenor.com/view/rookie-numbers-gif-26135237

😅 i joke. I just have a bad addiction

[dusty pumice]

Was the pics a backlight screen bleed seen earlier a one off or is there issues.

[native vessel]

Stubbs device seemed fine. Looked like a photo from a china user. Hopefully just a one off. Guess we won’t really know till in hands of more people

[blissful mirage]

I have 7 handhelds, currently

Miyoo Mini
Miyoo Mini+
Miyoo Flip
28xx
35xxSP
RP5
Odin 2 Mini

Make that 8 because I'm planning to get the Helegaly Action Pi

I try to limit myself to one handheld a month lol

[gleaming oak]

see this one is fairly smart, there's hope 😄

[daring ridge]

I mean
One handheld a month is basically every new release

It adds up quickly

[blissful mirage]

Yeah but I generally don't get anything significantly over $60 most of the time

Especially now that I have the Odin 2 Mini

[daring ridge]

Yeah
Hopefully with the ace I'll buy less

Cause it will be harder to justify a purchase in my mind

[sterile shard]

I just sell or give away what I won't use. Just have gcloud, Ayn portal, miyoo mini plus

If I get something past that something has to go

No exceptions

If you are adding corpo handhelds I got a switch and some Gameboys I modded

[daring ridge]

I love really small devices
RG nano
Miyoo Mini

These are the ones I want to buy more often

I wanted a zero28 from magicx but it wasn't on AliExpress just yet

It's quite a novelty to see something that could be on a keychain running console games

[blissful mirage]

I also love micro devices

But I realised recently that I strain my eyes playing on them

So I can't keep doing it

[daring ridge]

I need to enjoy it now that my eyes are still good enough for that

[muted dirge]

I... stopped counting a long time ago

[dapper rivet]

you don't have an excel list?

[muted dirge]

that's actually genius

I need to up my handheld management game

anyway yeah, I feel like the Ace sits solidly in the "maybe my addiction can sit this one out for a change" territory

[jade ridge]

I ordered one cause I have no self control.

It’ll be my 21st handheld.

[native vessel]

https://tenor.com/view/nick-girl-same-eye-roll-sassy-gif-17493564

For once im not listening to the little devil on my shoulder

[daring ridge]

https://tenor.com/view/path-that-rocks-lead-kronk-devil-satan-gif-16926991

[high valve]

If this out before the micro I would of been all over it but now it just seems redundant

[dapper rivet]

1inch more screen real estate tho

[high valve]

Not worth the asking price if I already own a micro but yeah, I get your point.

[high valve]

Aaaand the dweeb video is now giving me fomo 🤣

I'm so weak for these things.

[magic cargo]

Performance will be very different from the micro

[spice quiver]

For me, I’ve got RP mini and I’m happy enough with that.

I’d get a micro before the ace

[muted dirge]

but then again you can just get an rg34xx which gets you 95% of the way there

[daring ridge]

Yeah
I'd say an Ace has more value in this case cause at least it has more power

Micro is the same price as a rp mini

For weaker hardware

Mostly form factor

There are cheaper 3:2 devices if you want one for gba

[daring hornet]

Absolutely

[magic cargo]

The RG34XX and Micro are very different though unless you’re talking about the fact they can both integer scale GBA. The Micro is amazingly premium feeling and powerful enough to run whatever shaders you want. The RG34XX is a big blob of plastic but feels quite nostalgic for playing GBA

I have both, they’re really not that similar, particularly in terms of how they feel.

[high valve]

Ok I'll give you that, spec wise it's a noticable difference

[magic cargo]

Definitely agree with this, PPI is pretty much the number one thing I look for in a new device now.

[daring hornet]

Absolutely not

[daring hornet]

Buy a tone35

[magic cargo]

?

[muted dirge]

fair, but if the GBA is your primary interest I find the rg34xx pretty satisfactory

[magic cargo]

Oh yeah definitely. It’s a great way to play GBA and obviously is lazer focused at doing that. It’s not a bad device, just quite a different device from the micro

[blissful mirage]

Touch One 35, or just Touch One. Upcoming device by MagicX

Supposedly releasing next month, but MagicX have had delay after delay of this thing

[magic cargo]

Nice, hoping it’s not Android without a touch screen again. Having to enter the Konami code every time I want to turn off the zero 28 got old pretty quickly

[blissful mirage]

Yeah it's using the same screen as the Aya Pocket Micro, so no need to worry about that

[magic cargo]

Oh nice, that could be really interesting

Any news on their clamshell? I feel like I see a lot of renders for MagicX devices but never the actual device

[daring ridge]

I'm waiting for their weird vertical screen one

[night furnace]

I’m already getting it to replace the Pocket Micro with something that fixes the issues I have with that device.

Beyond that though, I wouldn’t recommend getting it in the current scenario, just wait until people stupid enough to get it like me can report back on it not having issues.

[desert hawk]

Well for what ever reason I just ordered one myself. Wanted to get in before the gift box was up. Can always change my mind and refund.

[night furnace]

Yeah same. The grip looks nice.

[desert hawk]

Yeah, I have the Pocket S with the grip and it is nice.

[daring ridge]

At least the engineering samples are looking fine

Minus that one on weibo with the backlight bleed

[night furnace]

Oh dude, my Micro already had Light Bleed and that was an issue I barely heard anyone else having with the device.

As long as it’s nowhere near as bad as what I got in the Cube, I’m honestly fine.

[desert hawk]

I think my Micro has maybe the slightist bit of lightbleed.

[daring ridge]

If it's not too much is fine

Display is always kinda hit or miss

A bit of a lottery

I have an rg556 from ambernic and the OLED on it had a lot of uniformity issues

A bunch of vertical stripes on the screen

Looked terrible

They sent me a replacement screen that still had a bit of the same issue, but much less noticeable

Rg557 has the same screen

[desert hawk]

Yeah my 556 screen has the vertical banding.

[daring ridge]

Mine looked completely awful

They just shipped me a replacement screen and I had to swap it myself

[desert hawk]

I can only really see it on the Android menus and if the screen is mostly gray tones while gaming.

[daring ridge]

This is how mine was

[desert hawk]

Yeah I would say that is worse than mine.

[daring hornet]

I mean the name touch one 35 should clue you in

[daring ridge]

https://tenor.com/view/cerebro-explosion-mind-blown-gif-8141811

[magic cargo]

You must be fun at parties, but yeah fair point.

[jolly rock]

Pretty sure they said they were ditching the ‘touch’ part from their naming convention too

[magic cargo]

Getting back to the Ace, I was almost tempted to cancel my preorder but that techdweeb video really sold me on this again

[livid jackal]

He’s very original, funny, I really like a lot of his videos. But knowing a device like the Miyoo Flip having so many poor QC issues, iirc he barely mentioned it. That made me think, need to remember his optimism in future reviews)

[magic cargo]

Yeah indeed I take all reviews online with a pinch of salt, generally techdweeb loves everything and Joey hates everything. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Stubbs’ livestream was pretty balanced though

[daring hornet]

Nope, that's made up by progamer. Mini is being ditched. Also dricmeister only mentioned its name as the touch one.

[desert hawk]

Seeing some posts in the Retroid Discord this morning from Reddit on the DHL charges people are getting notified of I am now really considering cancelling.

[magic cargo]

How much are the charges?

[gleaming oak]

short version: a fuckton 😄

[dreamy orchid]

It was $400 on top of their $270 order. Pure insanity

[daring ridge]

Aya said they would get around it
But maybe wait for some of the orders to be shipped before

[gleaming oak]

believe that when you see it as im skeptical they'll get around it guaranteed

[daring ridge]

The igg price hike is probably lower than the taxes

I live in Brazil so everything here is double the price due to taxes
Be it from china or not

So I'm already desensitized lol

[gleaming oak]

fair 😄

[magic cargo]

At the moment Chinese suppliers can ship via Macau which still has the $800 exemption

But I thought retroid said they were doing that anyway

But yeah that is painful

[dapper rivet]

Lol

[desert hawk]

Well this might be promising regarding tariffs. These are from an Ayaneo employee on their Discord. Assuming they are doing something to work around to make it not look as being shipped from China.

John Nee — 4/30/2025 4:51 AM
Our shipping agent said they can take care of tariffs, so don't worry about it.

John Nee — 4/30/2025 5:10 AM
We are shipping AYANEO 3 orders. Our shipping agent said they can take care of tariffs by some methods. Maybe they would use a very special route. The special route could take longer time (10-15 days) . That means the shipping agent will be responsible for the tariffs and end-users will not pay it. It is good news for all gamers.

John Nee — 4/30/2025 9:40 AM
No tariffs for all Pocket ACE, our shipping agent said

[muted dirge]

https://tenor.com/view/the-secret-ingredient-is-crime-jbone666-mouthful-building-walking-the-street-gif-16400025

[normal bear]

Idk if that means no duty taxes, too. If not, you could still end up with either a $200 fee or a 120% fee

[wheat iron]

https://youtu.be/mqFSQAiH7B0 i don't see the lightbleed in dweebs console

[native vessel]

Maybe a batch issue 🤷🏻‍♂️ i’m not getting one myself but hoping this won’t have any issues out the gate 🤞

[wheat iron]

seems like it, as happens with new console launches sometimes

[daring ridge]

Only one I've seen with the light bleed was that one weibo post

None of the videos on youtube show one like that

[magic cargo]

In Stubbs livestream he specifically tested for light bleed and didn’t have any

Or at least a very tiny amount

[dapper rivet]

now I'm kinda glad I threw money at this

[daring ridge]

https://tenor.com/view/money-mr-crabs-mr-crabs-money-money-money-money-gif-17898965555957458464

I can't wait for it to be shipped
As long as there isn't any egregious issues I'll be pretty happy

[wheat iron]

it might actually be my next console. might replace my pocket micro for much longer trips

[daring ridge]

Very good little device

[dapper rivet]

I mean it's redundant either way, as I already have a Odin 2 Portal, Odin 2 Mini, RP5 and Flip 2 for the higher end stuff, but oh well... it's neat and only 400bucks

[wheat iron]

16/1 is def the best way to go here.

for me

[dapper rivet]

which is actually insane considering that I got my Ayaneo Slide for 450

[daring ridge]

My ceiling was 16/512

Didn't want to spend 100 dol more for double storage and colors

[dapper rivet]

12/256 is enough, holy hell throwing money for the 16/512 or even 1tb SKUs is insane

[daring ridge]

The other tier increases are 80 dols more for double storage and more ram

A bit more justified

The retro power version should have at least 20 gb of ram

The evo offers 24 gb with the retro power

[dapper rivet]

tho I'm kinda annoyed by how Ayaneo still pulls the 12/256 SKU crap after Odin 2 Portal did 12/512

[daring ridge]

For just 10 dol more than the tier increase from the ace

[daring ridge]

Ideally storage and ram would be decoupled

The only difference is soldering one more or one less chip

Not like there is a huge design change

[dapper rivet]

I mean, kinda, on the other hand upgrading from the measly 8/128 SKU to 512 should give a RAM increase either way, 12gb is honestly fine for everything one would do with an Android device tho

[daring ridge]

Yeah

12gb is definitely the good middle ground

Went with 16gb for a bit of future proofing as ps3 and pc emulators get more stable

But for the current reality 12gb is enough

[dapper rivet]

fair enough, but I honestly don't really care about those, so the upgrade would have honestly only been for the double internal storage, which is nice to have, but not incredibly important either

I was debating the 8/128 SKU for a bit at first, given how most realistically I will only play up to PS2 stuff on it anyway

[daring ridge]

Yeah
The base sku is enough for 99% of the stuff

Just some more demanding switch emulation that would be bad

[dapper rivet]

well, the base model uses the shittier USF3.1 tho

[daring ridge]

I don't really think the slower storage does any different tbh

Probably just quality of life

[dapper rivet]

not really no, still ehhhh

it's expensive anyway, so what are 70bucks more

[daring ridge]

It's nearly at third of the base model pricing

Quite a bit if you barely have enough money

But it is worth it for those who can afford it

[dapper rivet]

given how I have 70 retro handhelds by now, money ain't exactly the issue, but the diminishing returns on the higher end SKUs just feel like burning it

[daring ridge]

The device will heat up your hands just like the cozy fire of money burning

[dapper rivet]

maybe if you push Winlator to the max

[daring ridge]

Playing firefighting simulator on it gotta be really immersive

[dapper rivet]

I kinda doubt this will burn up, but the fan will probably get audible

the Odin 2 Mini stays fairly cool at the least

[daring ridge]

Yeah I'm just kidding
The hottest I've seen this device get was 40 degrees on the middle of the back

But the sides where you hold were 35

Warm but not that bad

[dapper rivet]

we will never find out

given how this will be used for GBA mostly

[severe aurora]

The real stress test is Atomic Heart on Winlator... I'm totally gonna do that just because I can lol

[daring hornet]

I expect we'll see the same from Russ

[daring ridge]

Russ said on Twitter that he probably won't cover the ace

Cause his relationship with ayaneo isn't that good after the dmg video
So they don't contact or send him review units anymore

So he would have to buy it himself to only receive after the early bird stuff has ended

I wouldn't expect a video from him for this device unless it becomes a huge hit so he decides to bite the bullet to join the hype train

[dapper rivet]

what did he even say in his video that pissed them off

[daring ridge]

I personally think it's more about the way he delivered on the video about the white model plastic than the opinion itself

But who knows

Hopefully things turn around at some point

[muted dirge]

he complained about the plastic coating not feeling good

that was it, the rest of his DMG coverage was positive

[daring ridge]

It was a bit overreacted
He said he felt betrayed due to this difference and that it even felt shady

So a bit more than just complaining about the plastic

I don't think it was enough reason to cut him out

But aya doesn't really like to supply review units for YouTubers that give negative press

So not surprising

But we don't really know the backstage of this stuff
It's mostly assumptions

We were discussing a bit about it on the ayaneo discord server but no conclusion can be taken

Just that we get one less good reviewer doing coverage

Sadly

[dapper rivet]

I don't even watch 90% of his review content and just skip to the part where he shoves it into his pockets

[daring hornet]

Wdym dweeb did

[daring hornet]

Loved the bringus video

Called them out

[rough iron]

Do you have the Ace? If so how is the dpad? I saw TechDweeb gave it a good review but was looking for some more details

[daring ridge]

I bought it but they didn't start shipping yet

But I hear only good comments regarding the dpad

People say if feels like the ones in their x86 handhelds

So maybe it's a good reference to see videos from if you want to

[severe aurora]

The Spanish review video was a great showcase of the d-pad. Dude was obviously a big fan of fighting games and played through a large variety. I don't do fighting games but Fatal Fury allegedly has pretty tight timings and he was pulling off special moves with ease. So at least the diagonals are good and precise.

[rough iron]

Do you have a link to it?

[daring ridge]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rESv0VQntM0
Probably this one

[remote marlin]

I’ve never seen tech dweeb not like a device tbh. I do like his videos though 😅

[severe aurora]

Anybody know what game this is?

[sweet light]

《Aero Gauge》 N64

[severe aurora]

Thanks! Shame it seems to not be a great game, but I might check it out regardless.

[severe aurora]

Was looking around to see what games I might want to play with Winlator and ran across this thread with some good recommendations.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OdinHandheld/comments/1k968lh/what_are_you_guys_playing_on_winlatorgamehub/

[bold glade]

Hi I'm new to handhelds and am looking for a compact/portable Android one capable of playing Hoyo games like Zzz and still able to emulate up to PS2 games. I don't mind the screen size of Pocket Ace and I really like the looks of it, is there any downsides of getting Ace instead of say the Retroid Flip 2 in your opinion?

[daring ridge]

Ace is a lot more powerful
Has more battery
More compact for carrying in your pocket
Better haptics
Better materials
Is more expensive
Will only be shipped by the end of the month

Flip 2 has a better display
More compact for carrying in a backpack
Has a hinge, which is always a point of failure

But the flip 2 is probably enough for hoyo games and ps2

Some size comparisons

[bold glade]

Thanks for the size comparison🙏🏼

What do you think about Ace's chipset? I'm veering away from Flip 2 as I've seen ppl mentioned running ZZZ lately on latest patch has been laggy and needs to downgrade graphics

So I'm wondering if Ace's newer chip will be more future proof

[daring ridge]

https://www.reddit.com/r/ZZZ_Official/comments/1iavzru/anyone_having_problems_in_zzz_stutteringlagging/?show=original

Seems to be just a game issue

Reinstalling apparently fixed

But I didn't really look too much into it

Ace is certainly more powerful
But the flip 2 snapdragon should be plenty

I don't think the game will ever get to a point it becomes unplayable in this level of hardware

But yeah, the ace can future proof you a bit more

[magic cargo]

Ace’s chip is definitely more future proof and will better handle PS2 and GC at upscaled resolutions. Flip 2 has an oled screen though but by all accounts the Ace screen is very vibrant

[bold glade]

Yeah I don't mind the IPS screen since it looks really vibrant and still gets really dim in video reviews

A bit peeve that the Ace I can afford is the base unit, the retro power color looks so damn good but they just had to price lock it🫠

[bold glade]

Ohhh I thought no wonder it lags in my iPad m2 as well, it makes sense in this case

[round epoch]

Go the flip2 (or rp5), you’ll be much better off. Worth it for the screen alone and will do everything you need. Then, just upgrade to the rp6 or flip 3. Will end up costing the same as the ace and you’ll have something new next year 😊

[bold glade]

Here's hoping rp6 won't come out so soon then regardless of which one I pick, feels like I might FOMO

[muted dirge]

RP6 no, but Anbernic is apparently cooking a 4.7 4:3 handheld that could give this one a run for its money

[daring ridge]

Just buy everything on credit then disappear for a couple of years
Eventually you will receive debt forgiveness

BUY everything you WANT with this one SIMPLE TRICK

[muted dirge]

but only works once

like what if you want to keep buying shit next month

and the month after that

[daring ridge]

Identity theft 👌

[muted dirge]

https://tenor.com/view/silicon-valley-this-guy-fucks-sex-gif-4276042

[dapper rivet]

okay, I gotta buy a bunch of houses on credit and then claim bankruptcy, can I keep them?

[daring ridge]

You can stay living and collecting rent for them as long as an official doesn't kick you out 😆

[bold glade]

In my country, highly unlikely

[bold glade]

Would be surprised if they did, didn't they just launched the RG557 not too long ago?

Tho I don't mind a 4:3 screen device, am enjoying my RG34XX even when playing PSP or PS1

[muted dirge]

Are you new here? This is Anbernic we are talking about

[daring hornet]

It's been 4 months

Cubexx or whatever to 557 was months

[daring ridge]

Anbernic is all about creating multiple versions of the same core product

A bunch of devices that are mostly the same, with different form factors

At least people get to choose what they like more

[daring hornet]

Magicx is the opposite in all ways

Anbernic is Linux first

Magicx is android first

[round hinge]

this is too rich for me, but I love the number of customizable extra buttons

[night furnace]

Depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re only talking about Android, then arguably the Odin 2 Portal or Odin 2 Mini (only if you’re fine with MiniLED with local dimming not having a toggle) would be even better since those actually use chipsets that most Android game devs work on supporting.

If you mean stuff like GC/Wii and PS2, then the Flip 2 should be more than fine for running most games at a 3x upscale, and it’s just gonna be a few problematic games that want way more power than what honestly should be necessary, specifically due to the emulator itself having weird optimization issues with some games (like Metal Gear Solid 2 on PS2, where it actually does technically run fine on the RP Flip 2 even at a small 2x upscale, but it has a really weird stutter that doesn’t show up on SD8Gen2, and while it could be strictly performance alone, I’m still of the mind that it might just more likely be due to an optimization issue in SD865’s drivers, where the fact we can’t switch the GPU driver in AetherSX2 or even NetherSX2 makes it way more of a problem than on other devices).

Hell, the above example I used doesn’t even take into account the fact that there are some GC and PS2 games that outright don’t run well even on the Odin 2 due to the aforementioned optimization issues, so “more power and/or newer chip/drivers” isn’t even a perfect solution for that either.

[muted dirge]

https://tenor.com/view/stng-picard-too-long-i-decline-to-read-it-i-decline-gif-4994404

[daring ridge]

TLDR g3x has less compatibility so even if it is more powerful it might perform worse over time due to lack of optimization from game/emulator developers

[night furnace]

TLDR: Odin 2 will arguably be better than AYANEO’s current stuff for Android games due to better support, and for PS2 and GC/Wii the Flip 2 is actually fine for most games at an upscale, with only a few games having issues, and only some of that few are “solved” with more power.

[night furnace]

Even then, AYANEO already has a duct tape fix for that in their spoofing options, but that can risk getting your account for some Android games banned, and it doesn’t really help with situations where there’s an actual hardware dependency in the 8Gen2 that the G3X Gen 2 might not have.

[muted dirge]

just shitposting, I agree with your take

[daring ridge]

They have been working in better drivers with qualcomn as well
And for regular android games I assume it will be fine
And emulators either have turnip or are old so the processor can brute force it

So it will probably be okay

[night furnace]

Of course, I’m much less knowledgeable about stuff in the G3X Gen 2 that would cause that type of incompatibility since, well, I didn’t have any of the devices with it so there wasn’t much need, but since I’m now actually getting the Ace, I’m gonna start having to read up soon.

[daring ridge]

It's basically an 8 gen 2 boosted up

So we probably benefit from optimizations for the main chip

[night furnace]

Isn’t it specifically the 8Gen2’s cpu and then the GPU from one of their newer chipsets?

Where the main issue is that there isn’t any other APU with that specific combo of CPU and GPU for Android game devs to have done work with, but it essentially only requires them to actively just make sure the games at least treat it as an 8 Gen 2?

[daring ridge]

I do believe we benefit from general optimizations for the main line of products

Even if minimally

But I'm not completely sure about it as well

At least kimchi, the turnip guy, has a G3x gen 2 device as his main unit I believe
So we can count on that for some turnip optimizations

[daring hornet]

My goat vortek

[daring hornet]

I think he's the porter

Freedreno does all the work

Starve

[glacial kraken]

Has anyone seen ds/3ds video footage of the ace using internal + external screen ?

[wheat iron]

this seems so incredibly niche.

[glacial kraken]

Yes, it is

[broken venture]

https://tenor.com/view/yuimetal-gif-2236335851178412850

[wheat iron]

lmk if u find something though I'm curious what that looks like

[glacial kraken]

That's why I'm asking in case anyone has

[broken venture]

Onexsugar

[glacial kraken]

Its broken on ayn Odin 2 and odin2 mini

[daring hornet]

No

[heady temple]

bit the bullet on the 12gb version

the price difference for the top spec is too much

[muted dirge]

are there any good size comparisons of this one yet? would like to get a better sense of where it fits

[native vessel]

Now on retrocatalog website. Looks very similar sized to odin 2 mini

[daring ridge]

A bit smaller than the odin 2 mini
A big bigger than the rp mini

Odin 2 mini and ace difference is mostly due to the aspect ratio

[jade ridge]

Wild. I hope they hurry and ship them!

Guess a few more weeks at the earliest.

Hopefully it goes by fast.

[muted dirge]

see, this is what I don't get, it's not meaningfully smaller than the RP5, so why not get an rp5 instead?

[magic cargo]

Because it’s significantly more powerful?

[daring ridge]

Much more powerful
And I appreciate the smaller size

4:3 content won't look too bad on 3:2

[magic cargo]

Agreed. Also has a significantly larger battery

[daring ridge]

While on 16:9 would be a bit more bothersome

[magic cargo]

So more performance, larger battery life, better screen ratio, better ergonomics

We could make a pretty long list

[daring ridge]

It's mostly up to the buyer
There are an infinite amount of reasons to buy
And there is also an infinite amount of reasons not to buy

So it is ok if this device doesn't appeal to you

Rp5 is cheaper, has a better screen
Better for android native stuff

For video streaming

[magic cargo]

Oh yeah of course it’s not mandatory to purchase it, even if I think it should be 🤣

[daring ridge]

It really depends

[magic cargo]

I just mean in every important area it’s very different to an RP5

[muted dirge]

see, none of those arguments seem compelling to me; power is nice but GC/PS2 already run well on a sd865 and Switch is always going to be limited by software; larger battery life seems like a moot point when something like the rp5 can already do 10 hours of SNES or something; 4:3 content is still going to look bigger on a 5.5 16:9 screen, ergonomics are basically going to be the same as the RP5, which is to say ok for dpad centric games, so-so for stick centric games

don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, just trying to figure out what niche does this fill that another handheld doesn't already do

[daring ridge]

It might not appeal to you, but it can appeal to other people
Especially if they don't have a device like this already

If you already have an rp5 I'd say it doesn't really make sense

Won't be that big of an improvement

[magic cargo]

I disagree on that if you want portable switch emulation

The difference between rp5 switch performance and the evo / dmg is night and day

[daring ridge]

Regarding 4:3
It might look bigger
But the sheer distance between where the content is being displayed and the controllers on a 16:9 device makes it feel worse

[magic cargo]

Switch is ultimately software limited but the 865 gives up long before you hit those limits

[daring ridge]

3:2 doesn't have as much pillarboxing

While 16:9 is still acceptable

Plus the size gets smaller because of that

Both due to the aspect ratio and the smaller screen

I'd say the key points of this device are
3:2 screen
Powerful chipset
Compact size
Big battery

[muted dirge]

It is (I have an Odin 2) but Switch emulation on Android sucks no matter how much power you throw at it - it sucks less on a more powerful chip, but it still sucks; random crashes and incompatibilities galore

[daring ridge]

Which can overlap with other devices like the odin 2 mini

Which is fine

This device isn't meant to be an upgrade from these devices

Is an option aside from those

[magic cargo]

I haven’t experienced that on my portal, I’d recommend Sudachi and the latest turnip drivers. Switch emulation is definitely not perfect but with enough power you can brute force good results often enough

[magic cargo]

Exactly this is Ayaneo’s Odin 2 Mini

[daring ridge]

Switch emulation in general became really confusing with all the fragmentation after the Nintendo crackdown

It's quite a mess

There is a new yuzu fork claiming to be it's true sucessor every month lol

[magic cargo]

Including Eden released yesterday

I’ve not found any which work more consistently than Sudachi though

[daring ridge]

Yeah

Regarding the ace
You don't really need to search for a reason or appeal to buy it
If you can't see it, you probably don't need it

There is no reason for someone with an odin 2 to buy this aside from the novelty of a new hardware to play with

It is mostly for someone who wants to buy their first powerful android dedicated handheld

Just like the pocket S, the evo or the dmg
They are just form factor variants

You choose what you like more

My only complaint with the ace is that it should probably have arrived with the G3 gen 3 rather than G3x gen 2

Its releasing so close to the pocket s2

Quite a late addition

[dapper rivet]

because we already have RP5s and need the next new shiny toy

[magic cargo]

Exactly

[dapper rivet]

I have Odin 2 Portal, Odin 2 Mini, RP5 and Flip 2, that are certainly enough higher end emulation devices, but why should I not buy this too

[magic cargo]

None of those are 3:2 so it’s actually impossible for you to play retro games

You might think you can

But you can’t

[dapper rivet]

exactly

[daring ridge]

Use each device for a single system for nostalgia sake

[dapper rivet]

this and the RP Mini are the only more powerful devices which don't have 16:9 screens

[daring ridge]

It's all about immersion

[dapper rivet]

I kinda hope someone pops out a powerful device with a 4:3 screen as well at some point

[muted dirge]

fair

[magic cargo]

Give me two 4:3 screens, someone needs to come out with a good DS clone

[muted dirge]

presumably Anbernic is making one (4.7 inch 4:3 high end)

[dapper rivet]

I mean the rg406h/v are both fine enough, as I don't REALLY care too much about PlayStation, but a bigger panel than 4" would be nice

[dapper rivet]

I have a Microsoft Surface Duo, that will have to do

[magic cargo]

I’ve been tempted, I have a 3DS which is pretty good for DS though

Do you use touch controls or a controller on the surface?

[dapper rivet]

telescopic mobile controller, BT tho, as the USB-C port isn't centered

[kindred kestrel]

Yeah the Duo is excellent for DS and 3DS content

[magic cargo]

For a while there were really cheap ones available on Amazon but those seem to have dried up now

[kindred kestrel]

Yeah a lot of us realized they're excellent emulation devices and snatched them up, and since they're discontinued it's not easy to find anymore

[muted dirge]

I would put the blame on these going up in price squarely on @brisk bridge lol

[heady temple]

there's actually a long list of reasons to buy this, but they are offset by the 1) price and 2) ayaneo

as someone who did buy it, the wallet still hurts

and because it's ayaneo there's a high chance something might go wrong or they just drop support to announce the hot new thing barely six months later

[ancient fable]

I was very surprised they released an Evo OTA update the other day

They were talking about it for like a month at least, didn’t know if they would actually release it

[magic cargo]

What products did they drop support for? I hadn’t heard about that

[jade ridge]

Hopefully they ship soon.

I wonder if they changed plans now that the tariff situation changed.

[dapper rivet]

They already said the tariffs are your problem, if it ships when thex are back to 150%, it's still your problem

[jade ridge]

Shit did they say that?

I only ordered because I saw them say it would be covered lol.

[daring ridge]

They said their agent could avoid the taxes somehow

They didn't go into too much detail

But I guess if something goes wrong that would be on you

[jade ridge]

Oof. I’d have to pay an extra $180.

Definitely not worth it for me then.

I will wait and see what they say but I might cancel.

[magic cargo]

What? They didn’t say that at all. They said they will be covered.

[dapper rivet]

Well, still your problem if they shipping agent fails to smuggle them in

[magic cargo]

Well no that’s not quite true either. Firstly they have said they will handle them. Secondly if you refuse to pay customs charges the item is usually rejected and returned to the sender or destroyed if it’s something perishable.

[jade ridge]

I need to get a job in customs. I’d “destroy” all of them. 🤐

[dapper rivet]

You ordering via IGG really think Ayaneo would give a shit about refunding you for refusing to pay tariffs?

[magic cargo]

I think they will cover the tariff as they said they will. What evidence do you have for them saying the ‘tariffs are your problem’?

[daring ridge]

I don't trust that ayaneo or any company will cover tariffs really

They will try to avoid it or make it smaller

It makes no sense for a company to sell a product for X and them they themselves pay the equivalent of the product price to pay tarriffs for users

Where is the profit in that?

[jade ridge]

As much as they charge there’s prob quite a bit of profit still.

[daring ridge]

Tariffs as they were before would be more than the price of the entire device

There is no profit

It would be a loss

Makes no sense

[magic cargo]

I don’t think they will end up paying the tariff, retroid did the same

I wonder how they handle it

[jade ridge]

Pretty sure my flip 2 was smuggled in.

[daring ridge]

Yeah

[magic cargo]

It’s more likely that they will ship it via a third country to avoid the tariff. Which sounds dodgy but isn’t

[daring ridge]

They will illegally import it and them deliver and then pay a lowser tariff

It is dodgy

[magic cargo]

Again to be clear shipping via a third country isn’t illegal

How do you think half the world has been buying Russian oil since sanctions? They buy via India

[daring ridge]

They sending from china to a third country to purposefully dodge taxes is bad

[jade ridge]

Honestly Idc if they smuggle it in some guys ass. As long as I get it.

Maybe disinfect it first.

[daring ridge]

Nvidia has been punished for selling gpus to china

Doing exactly that

If a company intentionally avoid a form of sanction it is bad for them

Not for us tho

😄

[magic cargo]

Its not quite like that, its more a logistic challenge of shipping via a number of countries which each have different agreements between each other to avoid the tariff that would be imposed if you shipped directly

Its not hiding the devices in someone’s (presumably pretty large) anus and sneaking through customs….

[jade ridge]

Ayaneo prob.

[daring ridge]

If the product is manufactured in china
But imported through other country
It still counts as a china import

For this to work they have to mask it somehow

Packages needing to stop in other countries happens all the time
For it to be considered a import from another country they need to do shady stuff

Origin of Goods:
Customs authorities primarily focus on the country where the product was manufactured or substantially transformed. This is crucial for applying the correct tariff rates and regulations.

Tariff Application:
Tariffs are usually based on the country of origin, not the country from which the goods are shipped. If a product is made in China, it will likely be subject to China-specific tariffs, regardless of whether it's shipped directly from China or through a third country.

Transshipment:
Sometimes, goods are shipped through a third country for various reasons, such as logistical convenience or to avoid certain tariffs. This is known as transshipment, but it doesn't change the origin of the goods. Customs authorities are aware of this and have mechanisms to ensure tariffs are applied correctly.

Example:
If a product is manufactured in China and shipped to the US through a third country like Canada, it will still be considered a China import for tariff purposes, even though it may have been labeled as being from Canada

Results from AI so take that as you will

[magic cargo]

Maybe they are indeed coming in hidden in assholes then

Remind me to disinfect mine when it arrives

[jade ridge]

They should hire Mr slave.

[rotund vector]

So this device is just scratching all the itches for me. As I dont intend to do much Switch emulation, I take it the base model is more than enough?

[dapper rivet]

if you truly only want to emulate up to PS2, yeah

but Switch, Winlator and Android games profit from more RAM

[rotund vector]

Winlator is tempting i wont lie, and some future Android games too. It does feel like an “in for a penny, in for a pound” situation…

I’ve read there have been some light bleed issues on early units. I’d assume as much those should be ironed out before actual release, but its concerning to hear.

[willow sonnet]

I feel like most of the Android games have some sort of graphic settings that can be adjusted. At least for ones that are really taxing like Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero.

I know Fortnite does as well, and I'm pretty sure COD Warzone does too.

Yeah I would be pretty upset to pay that asking price and get a system with Lightbleed.

[muted dirge]

maybe an unpopular opinion here but I have to say after messing around with all of those for a while I'm convinced that 8gb is actually fine 99% of the time even for high end

for switch in particular people like to say that you need more than 8gb but I don't think anyone has found another game that eats >8gb RAM other than totk, which runs poorly anyway

Winlator you could have it eat more than 8gb if you attempt to run a modern AAA, but then again the experience of running a modern AAA through Winlator is gonna be ass anyway, you'll want a handheld PC for that once the novelty is over

[magic cargo]

I don’t think the light bleed will be any worse than any other lcd device but there will definitely be some, they have said they will comment on it

There was a post on their IGG about it

In the meantime I’ve been testing a few of my lcd devices that I never even thought about light bleed on and they’re all terrible 😀

Here’s the analogue pocket with the screen that everyone raves about

Vs the oled in the pocket DMG

[rotund vector]

Ugh-o. That is a bit rough ngl. Sure makes the pocket dmg look good.

[magic cargo]

Every lcd screen is basically like this, some better some worse but that’s why I think this is being blown out of proportion

Dark content on an lcd screen in a dark room will always look like that

[dapper rivet]

QLED does a damn fine job at pretending to be OLED tho

[magic cargo]

Apart from local dimming issues

But yeah

[sturdy mulch]

There is a difference between light bleed and just typical low contrast (black not looking black enough) of ips screens though, maybe harder to tell in photos .
The analog pocket doesn't look like light bleed except maybe a tiny bit at the top right corner.

[magic cargo]

I suppose you could be right about that, the photos I saw of the Ace looked pretty similar though. Let me find them again

[daring ridge]

It will be fine
The difference won't be nearly as noticeable as in photos

Especially in a regularly lit room

If you are playing your handheld in pitch black darkness you probably should put it aside and go to sleep

[blissful mirage]

Nuh uh

[daring ridge]

But the way our eyes capture the light will still be different than from a camera

[blissful mirage]

Rax is a bedtime enforcer!!!

[magic cargo]

Yeah indeed my point was that all my lcd devices look terrible when photographed but when playing them I’ve never noticed

In fact games look great on all of them

[night furnace]

Yeah, from what I’ve used, the only games I’ve ever used that required more than 8GB of RAM was Final Fantasy IX with the Moguri Mod.

The only game changing reason to get more than the base model is for the 256G and above Internal Storage.

[signal canyon]

Does FFIX Moguri mod work on Android ? I got it on PC but never heard about any port of it

[dreamy orchid]

Yeah it works with winlator. It's the only reason I have winlator on my Portal 😅

[signal canyon]

good to know thank you

[night furnace]

Winlator, the game runs fine with 12GB, but it runs poorly on the RP5 and Flip 2. The annoying part being that the game runs fine when you disable the Moguri Mod’s upscaled textures specifically, and Swap RAM only works barely enough to not crash in more open areas that have larger background textures.

It’s basically hard gatekept by RAM to require 12GB Onboard if you want to run well, and 8GB Onboard RAM plus 4GB Swap RAM isn’t a good alternative.

But that’s pretty much the literal only game I’d want to play on a smaller device than the Odin 2 Portal that is actually unable to play it solely due to RAM, everything else is fine.

The only limitation I’ve dealt with that’s more of an issue IMO is instead Internal Storage, where I like using hd texture packs for GC/Wii and PS2 games, but they aren’t exactly small in the storage they take up. So I would personally understand why someone would get the 12G+256G option.

[heady temple]

I canceled my order after a few nights of sanity I've realized I can wait to see if the RP6 has screen options that aren't 16:9 and no glass front

for the price ayaneo wants for this it needs to be essentially everything i want and this is really missing a headphone jack

the back plastic also seems to pick up finger oils very quick from what i've seen in the videos of people getting hands on

i suppose i can always grab this secondhand later

[muted dirge]

I just wish someone made an in-depth review of this one

[magic cargo]

Stubbs had a review and 2 hour livestream?

[muted dirge]

yeah, I watched that, no shade against Stubbs, I like his stuff, but it's usually more casual in nature compared to other reviewers

Same goes for TechDweeb, good stuff but casual, I'm looking for something more technical that gets into the nitty gritty

It's a pity that Aya is stingy with review units

[dapper rivet]

Russ should have been nicer to them

(jk)

[winter turret]

I have a more in-depth review coming, but they are sending a retail unit for that. What kind of technical details are you looking for? I might be able to add in some extra testing, depending.

[ancient fable]

I don't do reviews, but I will be doing a teardown when I get mine

[rotund vector]

I havent ordered yet but I feel similar. Its hard too that theres the switch 2 on the eventually-in-stock-for-the-masses horizon. These things add up… There’s not a must play for it yet for me, but when a Fire Emblem gets announced…

[severe aurora]

One major weak point of the Ace seems to be the speakers so a speaker comparison would be very interesting. I'm also curious how the analog sticks perform with prolonged gaming such as with FPSes and how the overall weight and ergonomics influence that experience.

[bold glade]

personally just wonder if a 4.5" screen is practical for modern games especially the text heavy RPG types

[muted dirge]

for me my main thing would be comparisons against other current contenders in its size/power category, e.g. the rp5, RP Mini and RP Flip 2 in regards to ergonomics, button feel, and in general strengths and weaknesses vs each

and then more generally, where does this handheld fit for someone who already has a bunch of them? what niches does it excel in, what does it do better than the alternatives, etc

[dapper rivet]

Honestly this is rather an alternative to the Odin 2 Mini rather than the Retroids IMO

[night furnace]

And unless the screen is still being weird like it was in the KT-R1, I’d argue it’ll be even better than the O2Mini’s screen since it wouldn’t be a MiniLED stuck with Local Dimming enabled by default.

(Plus, if there’s one thing I’ll give the KT-R1, it’s that the screen was pretty good outside of that refresh rate thing).

[muted dirge]

I wish there was an OLED 3:2 screen like this

now that would be a killer

somebody ask Retroid's CEO if he has any spare houses to mortgage

[heady temple]

i really like the form factor but again, I think this glass screen trend should go ><

not hugely attached to the ergo grip retroid and anbernic do now either

3:2 screen would be ideal yes

[dapper rivet]

Not at this resolution tbh, it's high enough to not need integer scaling, but ehh

[magic cargo]

That’s how I see it too. It’s Ayaneo’s Mini

[muted dirge]

Have any of the reviewers commented on the ergonomics of the sticks?

I imagine it's similar to the RP5, which is to say not great, but would be curious

[severe aurora]

I asked Stubbs to go over that specifically for his upcoming retail unit review

The RP5 looks clearly better than the Ace for analog feel but strangely some reviews seem to say otherwise. That said I think Stubbs wasn't too hot on them.

[stiff mural]

Grumms?

[severe aurora]

Gah! I always get Grumms and Stubbs mixed up lmao

An error so egregious I'm gonna nuke this all now...

They both entered my headspace the same time so yeah.

[weak aspen]

If I were Stubb's I'd do a bunch of work to not share the same mind space as grummz 🤮

[severe aurora]

Hopefully just a me problem. Sorry Stubbs.

[stiff mural]

or breakroom fridge space

[blissful mirage]

https://tenor.com/view/grummz-gif-2747639456500579080

[gleaming oak]

only place that guy belongs is on a long downloadable snuff video

[muted dirge]

well, the sticks on the Ace look like they are eeever so slightly inset

that might or might not help compared to the sticks on the RP5 which have zero inset at all

Personally I can say that the sticks on the RP Mini feel better to use than the ones on the RP5 mainly due to inset

it's a minor thing but it matters

[stiff mural]

still think the 405/406v has the best stick ergo for a dpad top device

[blazing hare]

And hope it’s eventual revision doesn’t change those like they did with the RG557, holding off buying anything new until I see what Anbernic is cooking up with the next 406V/H series and in honesty all they have to do is use the D8300 and leave everything else relatively the same

[stiff mural]

I’d be fine with the smaller sticks on an eventual 407 (477?)

But also if it is 407 and not 477 I have no real reason to upgrade

T820 is good enough for me

[muted dirge]

I kind of want this one

but my brain says I shouldn't

[dapper rivet]

listen to your heart 👀

[muted dirge]

my main concern is the sticks

I like how much power this packs for how compact it is, but

if it's going to be the same situation as the RP5 where stick centric games are kinda awkward to play on here, idk

if this was stick top I think I would have caved already

[dapper rivet]

should be fine due to the fact alone that you can shift hands a bit easier on that candy bar form factor than on the grips of the RP5, but I will see when I get mine, I guess

[remote marlin]

You’re correct. There’s a lot of tariff misinformation out there, at least for USA

[muted dirge]

https://youtu.be/AZ2jErnCniI?si=8G3NlehymXgRBh6G

because I know y'all were waiting for this one

[rotund galleon]

https://tenor.com/view/smh-50cent-nah-nope-oh-god-gif-10041247

[blissful mirage]

Do people hate Retro Dodo?

What's his deal?

[magic cargo]

I’ve never heard of him but I hate him already just based on that thumbnail

[blissful mirage]

Yeah that's fair lmao

[weak aspen]

why he isnt loved is in the channel name lol

hes a dodo half the time

cant trust a review because he doesnt bother to actualyl learn half the shit he needs to to properly review

[magic cargo]

Yeah but the Wulff den guy is the same and he’s actually great

He is uniquely shit when it comes to setting up devices

But still entertaining

[weak aspen]

but wulf KNOWS hes shit at setting them up

[gleaming oak]

yeah dodo is a bit of an idiot

[solid loom]

he is smarter but also annoying imho

[dapper rivet]

not as bad as dweeb

[solid loom]

hey, Dweeb is awesome!

[remote marlin]

Dweeb is promoter just like ETA, but he doesn’t get the flack ETA does because ETA is a non stop well oiled content farm. I like watching both btw, I would just never buy a device based on their recommendations

[night furnace]

Wulff at least knows better than to actively recommend using malware/spyware apps like PPSS22 or DamonPS2, much less actively ranking them better than AetherSX2/NetherSX2.

Reminder to all that this is still a thing, and the only thing they changed is updating AetherSX2 to instead be named NetherSX2, alongside using images with devices that were released after this article was first posted.
https://retrododo.com/best-ps2-emulators-on-android/

[night furnace]

Hell, a lot of the “clueless” moments he has are usually kayfabe for the sake of showing how the device would be frustrating to people who aren’t handheld addicts part of the hobby.

[magic cargo]

I thought that too but when he’s setting up stuff on a livestream he seems genuinely confused by the same setup process he’s done 10000000 times before

[night furnace]

I think some of the only times he’s shown himself to be genuinely clueless about something on camera have mostly been in livestreams.

[magic cargo]

But again, he’s entertaining to watch

[night furnace]

…Yeah, was a bit late in mentioning that part.

[magic cargo]

Hah yeah seems we were typing the same thing at the same time

[muted dirge]

we tend to forget that most YouTubers are entertainers first, reviewers second

there's nothing wrong with that, but just something to keep in mind

[winter turret]

https://tenor.com/view/are-you-not-entertained-maximus-gladiator-aren't-you-amused-am-i-not-funny-gif-2396413337976800815

[blissful mirage]

https://tenor.com/view/principal-principal-skinner-seymour-seymour-skinner-no-gif-19095068

[solid loom]

Aren't most of tech youtubers like this though? 😛 Taki was sometimes overly critical and he got banned by both Anbernic and Retroid (I think now he is in good terms with Retroid again though).

[magic cargo]

There’s always Joey who provides the balance the other way by hating absolutely everything

[solid loom]

I think he loves Miyoo Mini though ;D

[honest acorn]

Depends. I buy, review and post my videos so I get to say whatever I want without fear of getting banned.

[muted dirge]

gets banned from YouTube

[honest acorn]

I always follow my corpo lord YouTube rules

[high valve]

Dude lost me when I visited his discord and made me feel like I was delusional to comment that the Odin 2 Portal had clacky face buttons. Like, bruh.

[solid loom]

Only Joey can criticize xD

[ancient fable]

they're so loud...

[odd venture]

He loves the Odin line.

Not an Ayn shill though, he hated the Loki's.

[solid loom]

He also hated on some Retroid devices so he can't be an AYN shill 😄

[odd venture]

[solid loom]

Its a shame about the LOKI line, I would really like an update to it, pocketable windows handhelds are hard to get

And I doubt AYN will ever touch it again 😦

[odd venture]

My dude.....the Loki was a lot of things, but I am not sure pocketable was one of them

Maybe, at a push, I could be vaguely convinced the win mini was pocketable ish. But no other x86's.

[solid loom]

unfortunately both Loki and Win600 weren't good 😦

[odd venture]

Unless you had a very specific usecase, ergo and slightly smaller than usual for the Loki, dpad top for the win600....yeah, I agree.

That said, the 8gb ram win600 is going for about $250 Inc shipping right now.

If you just want something for indies/older pc games, and emulation up to Wii U....I mean it's not an awful deal I guess.

Make it your GC/PS2 machine and live your best life

[blissful mirage]

Apparently the Loki has huge problems with the deadzones of its sticks?

[odd venture]

Deadzones of the triggers, yeah.

Ayn stopped supporting them a few months after launch, so it never got fixed.

[high valve]

Decided to go against my judgement and pick this up but gonna use Droix over Ayaneo directly. Bit of an upcharge but the warranty is a nice peace of mind.

[daring ridge]

Loki is being sold in Brazil now
Ayn sold the rights to a company called Tectoy
It is now called Zeenix

They are selling the equivalent of the loki zero with some improvement already

And the equivalent of the loki max is planned to be released this year

They didn't update the chipset tho

[blissful mirage]

I don't think Loki uses a chipset, but that's just semantics

What improvements does the Zeenix have?

[daring ridge]

True

[daring ridge]

For the loki zero the new one has a better screen, more ram and more storage. Sticks are hall effect

Loki max I don't think they changed much from what they announced at this moment

[gleaming oak]

i think they are traumuatised by how rough the development process was for the Loki so they won't go near them in future. Fair

[odd venture]

Oh, interesting, I didn't know that.

Do they still have the massive deadzones on the triggers?

[daring ridge]

Haven't heard of anyone complaining but I'm not sure

[muted dirge]

wouldn't it be nice if more people reviewed this

hint hint wink wink @winter turret

[winter turret]

I want to! I'm waiting on ayaneo to send the official review unit, I had to make a more basic first look video with the engineering sample.

They didn't yell about the more detailed livestream though, so that is my review in the meantime. 😆

I also haven't heard from them since then though

Welp, we'll see

I'm still enjoying it though, I don't have any major complaints beyond what i've already shared. The small screen is my least favorite part, but it looks great and does everything I want it to. I'm still surprised at the multiple PS3 games i'm able to play on it.

[rotund galleon]

Still that's crazy

[daring ridge]

I'd love to see some more ps3 emulation on this thing

[blazing hare]

Isn’t it incredibly expensive though ?
When I first seen pricing you could buy a ROG Ally for less

[daring ridge]

Brazil has a lot of taxes
So the price is normal in our standards
Ally X costs 1400 USD around here for instance

Not worth it for someone outside Brazil to import it

[muted dirge]

oh dang, thanks for the update, thought these were already retail units

[winter turret]

It's pretty close as far as I can tell. The screen will have a different coating for one thing.

They want me to mail this one back to review the final, so must be some worthwhile changes. Im not sure.

[high valve]

Month is about to end, curious to see if they'll ship them out by then. Droix has July. 💀

[daring ridge]

I'm expecting a delay announcement soon
But I'd like to be surprised

[dapper rivet]

if they finally ship it

[high valve]

Droix has July as their ETA date, sure it's a guesstimate but I'll be impressed if ayaneo is able to send these out to backers before the end of the month

[odd venture]

Droix often gets things later.

[night kiln]

We usually put the date a little later than expected due to potential delays etc. So they may arrive sooner than what we state. We get some stock around the same time or just after launch, it varies between products.

[high valve]

Thanks Dave! Makes sense as I figured that may have been the case.

Better to provide a date that can be fulfilled sooner than one that gets passed over. Much ❤️ to you and the team.

[night kiln]

Thanks. BTW: The Pocket ACE is awesome! Our review video may be online this week, also includes a card magic trick (Ace card) by our resident magican 🙂

[muted dirge]

https://youtu.be/NnBSr5EN3Os?si=HApqruxiFwjOVLqw

[muted dirge]

I still can't make up my mind if I want this one

life is hard

[winter turret]

Nice work @modest rampart 🔥

[modest rampart]

Thanks Stubbs!

[high valve]

I shouldn't have purchased this but I did. I'll regret it until it's in my hands.

[glacial kraken]

Let me know if you regret it, we can make a deal to make it into my hands

[high valve]

noted

[tough yarrow]

Owl Dibs

[muted dirge]

https://youtu.be/tckvHJcnpPg?si=ZR2r3uoGZDpIrvbq

[muted dirge]

depending on the chip of the rg slide it might have smoked this

bigger screen + more compact form factor

[gleaming oak]

i mean it's not going to beat the chip in the ace, this is anbernic 😄

[muted dirge]

no but I don't know, if it's good enough to do full GC/PS2 and some switch it might be just be enough

[daring ridge]

I wouldn't count on it

Probably the same soc as the 34xx

Or the one from the 556 that can do most ps2 at 1x with the aid of some hacks

[modest rampart]

Yeah that G3X Gen 2 is incredible

[oblique granite]

The 557 chip is fully ps2/gc upscaled capable.

[daring ridge]

Yeah
I just don't expect that they will put that chip on the slide

Device is tiny
And with the slide mechanism they lose a lot of vertical space while still being chunky

So I don't think they can cram sufficient cooling for the one in the 557

[gleaming oak]

557 is a pretty hot chip so yeah, i cant see the slide will have it in

[daring ridge]

Ace will still have better performance and much better ergonomics even if it does have it
Screen is mostly the same
The slide will just be a bit taller reaching 4:3 if rumors are correct

So I don't think it would kill this one

(but it might be another device for me to buy as I love the psp go form factor )

[modest rampart]

The Ace has better performance for sure, even cpu wise.

[muted dirge]

it doesn't kill it, but if you have to choose between the two...

[ancient fable]

I will never pick an Anbernic over an AYANEO

[rotund galleon]

I would

[daring ridge]

Why not go into debt and get both

[dapper rivet]

it's summer, holiday bonus will prevent debt

still not paying more than $160 for the Slide

Anbernics over $200 don't sit right with me

[daring hornet]

Anbernics don't sit right with me

Too much fuckery

[cinder night]

I got my shipping info today 😄 but I’m surprised it is ups and it says it’ll be here this sunday. Feels too quick. Anyone got theirs super fast after the shipping info popped up?

[night furnace]

Anbernic’s over $100 don’t sit right with me.

Shit, Anbernic’s over $50 don’t seem to like me either, I feel like I’m cursed at this point, I’ve never gotten dead pixels from any other handheld company, and now I’ve had them pop up twice on Anbernic stuff (albeit one of them was from a reseller and I can’t really blame Anbernic specifically for what’s potentially the reseller’s fault, I’ll just be annoyed at the fact it was one of their handhelds that it happened to).

[night furnace]

…Actually wait, no I had the same issue with the Trimui Brick. Alright, Anbernic’s clean again on that one, but I’m still suspicious about it being a curse.

[ancient fable]

Wouldn’t put dead pixels on a reseller, that’s Anbernic’a fault

[night furnace]

Last I checked, Anbernic adds stickers to secure the box.

There was no sticker on my box, only sticker residue that shows it was there before it got to me (I’m thinking it was likely them trying to “do good” by investigating the quality of the device to avoid an RG Cube deal, only for something like this to happen, or they just didn’t bother to check carefully enough and it was Anbernic’s fault).

[ancient fable]

Well I'm saying that dead pixels are a manufacturing issue. Sure maaaaybe the reseller is opening packages and seeing which ones have dead pixels, but idk. I'm saying it's not the reseller's fault that there is a dead pixel on your screen.

[high valve]

406h/v and 556/557 have me ok spending $100+ but I get why others wouldn't.

[muted dirge]

how's it going here, are they shipping these?

[dapper rivet]

only first 100 units of the most expensive one

[daring ridge]

They shipped some more
Some 12gb and 8gb black ones

Only retro and black models for now

[gleaming oak]

would be good to see these in the flesh

[jade ridge]

Got mine earlier in the week. Still haven’t set it up though.

[daring ridge]

I admire your self control

I'd probably put all my responsibilities aside to play with the new thing

Also
Your neighbors have some funny wifi ssids

[jade ridge]

Haha yeah. I started it when I moved here a few years back. Every time we get a new neighbor they make theirs something funny now. I randomly change mine just for the laughs and to piss off my partner.

[daring ridge]

Love it

[magic cargo]

My black 16GB arrived today, what a great little thing this is

I never realised that what I really wanted was a "dense" handheld. This thing feels like it's made of antimatter.

[daring hornet]

Anyone got a PSP to compare yo

[muted dirge]

that's not selling it to me after the rg slide debacle

[jade ridge]

Sure. It’s thicker than a 3000 on the top part by the triggers but thinner on the bottom. Thinner than the go with power mod. Screen looks about the same length wise as a 3000 but more vertical. Quite a bit longer and heavier in total size. More comfortable to hold though. Even compared to the mh 3000 which is my favorite grip wise for a psp.

[daring hornet]

I should buy a rgb50 then

[dapper rivet]

this is honestly more of a Odin 2 Mini competitor

[modest rampart]

Exactly. Kinda how I see it too. In the same "mini" arena alongside the RP Mini and Odin 2 mini.

[magic cargo]

Haha it's not big, in fact it's small

small but significant

like my....

[signal canyon]

https://tenor.com/view/a-little-bit-michael-che-saturday-night-live-lil-bit-a-bit-gif-24583307

[daring ridge]

I wish people made mh shell clones in other colors / without the artworks

Considered buying one of those shells a couple of times but I rather have one without drawings

The yellow rail is also quite something
But I could buy a separate rail at least

The rg slide is quite the chunky boy

I was under the impression it was going to be something close to the psp go in size

I was not ready for that size

[night furnace]

Yup, they’re already shipping more batches after the first 100. I definitely know mine just shipped.

[dapper rivet]

seems like it, also got a shipping mail 4hours ago

[magic cargo]

Mine took about 5 days to Europe after the tracking number was generated

But I live in a country where I can turn up at the warehouse and ask them to search for my package

I guess in Germany it’s more organised 😀

[gleaming oak]

let us know how yours is when you get it 🙂 im curious how this shapes up

[night furnace]

I’m not even joking when I say the main reason I got this was to replace my AYANEO Pocket Micro and because I was legit curious about the chipset.

[gleaming oak]

fair 😄 it does look nice

[dapper rivet]

it's just a 8g2 without Linux and worse compatibility for emulators

and why would you replace the micro with this

both, both is good

[night furnace]

3:2 handheld and I already prefer the ZPG A1 Unicorn as a G99 handheld.

Plus, if I’m not gonna have a headphone jack, I’d rather be able to at least use a USB-C dongle as opposed to not being able to use one at all.

[gleaming oak]

that much power in this form factor is nice

[magic cargo]

It’s amazing. Playing switch on this feels like it shouldn’t work

But it’s flawless

Or as flawless as Android switch emulation ever is anyway

[cinder night]

This thing is absolutely magical

[modest rampart]

It's incredible to see so much power and the cooling capacity in such a small device.

[cinder night]

That. The extra buttons. The size of the dpad and main face buttons. It’s amazing. And with the grip it’s perfect

This is the first android gaming device that leaves me with zero regrets and makes me want to play on it.

Rp mini was great but the screen scaling issues were ugh. And it doesn’t feel as solid

My Odin 2 mini was great in feeling, but the screen always felt wrong. It should’ve had the rp 5 screen

[bold glade]

Which version did you get? Base or the higher spec ones?

[night furnace]

I first got the base model, but then after some deliberation I decided to say fuck it and upgrade to the 256GB internal storage option because it would only be like $80 more and I had the extra money, so I’d rather have the extra internal storage (the 12GB of ram I could take or leave, but it could potentially also be the very thing that leads to FFIX with Moguri working on the thing, so it’s not like it offers zero benefits for me).

Now, whether I’ll get that, or I’ll be getting a refund(or even chargeback if I have to) for that extra $80 due to them shipping the wrong version remains to be seen.

[cinder night]

Higher version. Not the retro power, mostly cause I wanted a black one

[bold glade]

Do any of you own a Retroid Flip 2 as well? what do you think, comparing both of them?

[night furnace]

I have the Flip 2 and frankly really love it, but I don’t have the Pocket Ace at all yet (still waiting for it to get delivered), so I can’t really compare it yet.

[bold glade]

Hope I get myself to make a decision before the indiegogo discounts end

[cinder night]

I had a chance to use a flip for a bit cause I customized it for a friend, just like the rp 5 and imo this is better in general, but the rp 5 screen is amazing. That’s why I got the rp second screen. That plus this will be perfect.

[bold glade]

you know wat, that is a great idea, kinda tempted now

[ancient fable]

Just got confirmation from support, the next batch of RP units will ship this week, and if you ordered accessories they will all be shipped as well

[viscid shell]

?? Why in ayaneo pocket chat?

[daring ridge]

Retro power
Not retroid pocket

[viscid shell]

What is "retro power"?

Nvm. Figured it out.

[magic cargo]

Ayaneo devices generally come in retro, black and white and the retro colourway is called “retro power”. Luckily they chose a different naming scheme for the other two….

[gleaming oak]

huh there's a couple aces already on ebay here 😄

well one 😄

[high valve]

Ayaneo and eBay don't mix well. The prices are sadly insane. $1200+ for a mid-tier 8840u 1s, yikes.

[gleaming oak]

that too 😄 theres a retro power ace on ebay uk for around £420ish, i think thats cheaper than from IGG for that model

still a lotta money hell thats deck territory lol

[next abyss]

oh man i'm tempted to get this + the retroid second screen

anything widescreen I could just play on the top screen

[high valve]

Discord

[magic cargo]

I’ve got the Ace and waiting for my second screen to turn up. However widescreen stuff stretched to 3:2 looks great anyway, my ace is basically a dedicated switch handheld at the moment

[next abyss]

What emulator/turnip drivers do you use for switch on the ace?

I just got the EVO which has the same soc as this and I'm actually getting notably worse performance than the odin 2 mini for switch emulation

[magic cargo]

I’m using Eden but performance in Sudachi was the same in most games. Haven’t noticed a difference in performance between this and my Odin 2 Portal.

One moment whilst I check the driver version

Turnip 25.2.0-r9

Which games are you getting poor performance in? I’ll test one

And which power mode are you using?

[next abyss]

13 sentinels opening seq + first battle

[magic cargo]

Let me give it a try. I’ve played a lot of Unicorn Overlord and that runs perfectly

[next abyss]

on o2mini perf mode it's 60 except for some parts in the cutscene, on pocket evo even on max bunch of fps drops to 40/50 on cutscene/battle

i tried w 25.2.0 r9 and some older turnip version on sudachi/eden/citron

oh and during the first "vn" portion it's constant 40 fps on the pocket evo

while on o2mini it's smooth 60

[magic cargo]

One moment whilst I redownload my legally backed-up copy of the game and I’ll test

[gleaming oak]

"legally" 😄 jk

[heady temple]

You're laughing. That person is talking about his legally backed up copy and you're laughing

[next abyss]

ok I just had to enable "lock gpu at max freq", at default high perf mode that's 680mhz, identical to the sd8gen2 on the odin 2. I think performance is identical if not better

[night furnace]

Welp, just got the confirmation from UPS on when they’re expecting to deliver mine (they’re expecting to deliver it by Wednesday).

[lethal atlas]

Does the screen bleed

[daring ridge]

https://tenor.com/view/batman-superman-batman-v-superman-do-you-bleed-bleed-gif-19089630

Same vibe

[night furnace]

Not sure, I didn’t get it yet.

[muted dirge]

only once a month

ayyy lmao

I'll see myself out

[lethal atlas]

I want to order before Indiegogo campaign ends, but I am afraid of any defects.

[magic cargo]

So I’ve tried this and no matter what I do the game is locked at 30fps in cutscenes and gameplay. That’s the same whether I’m in docked or undocked mode. It does play really smoothly though and for a game like this a locked 30 doesn’t feel bad at all.

[magic cargo]

No light bleed on mine, and no one seems to be complaining about it in the Ayaneo discord either

[lethal atlas]

Thanks, I am ordering now 👍.

[magic cargo]

It’s a great device, honestly my favourite of the 20ish I own.

[pliant seal]

Any comparisons to a pocket 5/mini?

[next abyss]

you gotta set accuracy to high

also see this: #1349629205620457514 message

[ancient fable]

I have a RP Mini V2, I can do a comparison when I get mine

[magic cargo]

I’ve got the RP5, the Ace is significantly more powerful and comfier to hold. RP5 of course has that great screen but the 3:2 screen of the Ace scales everything better than the 16:9 of the RP5. Ace screen is very vivid and high PPI so I prefer the look of games on the Ace. Controls on the Ace are in another league entirely, particularly the dpad and face buttons. Sticks on both feel pretty similar.

If there’s anything specific you want me to test or take photos of just let me know

[magic cargo]

Oh nice I didn’t see your update. Yeah it feels ridiculous to have this amount of power in something so small

[willow sonnet]

https://www.youtube.com/live/QQ5IDAYUPnk?si=lfp-E5HJHz9VmhSP&t=1654

Stubbs does a size comparison with the RP5 in this video.

[regal wharf]

Just impulsively ordered this based on this thread so I hope you guys are right that this is great 😄

[dapper rivet]

most of us haven't even gotten one

[regal wharf]

Yeah, I figure I might have to wait a while

I paid even more than I should because... I liked the color of the fancy one 😄

[jade ridge]

It’s alright.

[regal wharf]

gotta replace my stolen (by my own kid) steam deck, which I basically only ever used to play super mario world on the snes anyway 😆

I do like that this is linux, I'll have to figure out how to build/compile stuff for it but that's ok

(or is it? maybe it's just android)

even less work then

[jade ridge]

Yeah it’s android.

[regal wharf]

Worst part is there's no decent apple2 emulators, maybe kegs will be enough, I'm not looking for anything sophisticated, failing that maybe I can kludge retroarch into working and do it via mame

[night furnace]

Sort of? There was a video showing Linux running on the first AYANEO Pocket S, but there hasn’t been any official statements on the matter from AYANEO.

[night furnace]

Alright, my Pocket Ace is gonna get delivered a day early, it’s looking to be in my hands today.

[regal wharf]

\o/ hope we get a mini review, I probably got a few weeks on mine

What model did you get @night furnace ?

[night furnace]

I got the 12GB-RAM and 256GB-Storage option for the internal storage (if I have a choice, I honestly would prefer more internal storage, even in the scenario where the RAM was lopsided so 128GB-Storage was the 12GB-RAM).

For color, I got the Black one since I just like the color scheme more.

[regal wharf]

nice! do you have plans on what to do with it first or just gonna play around?

[dapper rivet]

Put it on the shelf and never touch it again

That's the way of the Retrohandhelds server

[high valve]

this is the case with my pocket dmg 😦

i just dispise setting up android devices.... ugh

[regal wharf]

I also got a cheapo linux device coming and I am a lot more excited to setup rocknix than I am android, I gotta admit

[high valve]

reminds me how I recently picked up a trimui model s and am in love with it. Controlsd are mediocre at best, but there is something charming about it

[night furnace]

I’m gonna be messing with mine for the most part.

[muted dirge]

pro tip: don't set everything up from day one

just load up a system emu, a game you feel like playing, and take it from there

gradually set things up as you feel like playing them

don't aim for a 100% perfect build from the get go

[gleaming oak]

^

[regal wharf]

pfft, actually spend 4 days compulsively setting everything up to be perfect then immediately quit playing the first game within 3 minutes and then abandon it

also my approach to modding games 😄

[regal wharf]

@night furnace you holding it yet?!

[night furnace]

Nah, UPS is taking their freaking time.

[regal wharf]

any time I am waiting something impatiently UPS shows up at like 7pm

any other time they are done by 2pm

[night furnace]

Welp, just got the Pocket Ace in the mail.

[dapper rivet]

gimme

[regal wharf]

oh la la! hope it's great

[granite ginkgo]

oh hell yeah

mine is still not on the shipping list

im getting ptsd from previous ayaneo shipping spreadsheet waits but im just gonna be patient lol

[muted dirge]

thoughts so far? how do you like it?

[night furnace]

Haven’t really gotten much of a chance to test it yet, but so far I do unironically like the UI and system settings options way freaking more than the Pocket Micro and Pocket Air.

Only annoyance currently is there’s a bit of a weird issue where the buttons take in a controller input multiple times, similar to the ZPG A1 Unicorn.

[granite ginkgo]

i've noticed that with the micro classic actually

unfortunate, hope they fix that up somehow

[night furnace]

Anyways, since I’m just about almost done with setting everything up, anyone have the link to one of the GPU drivers that’s recommended for the G3X Gen 2? I’ve never used a device with this chipset, so I’ve never really looked into which works best with the Adreno A32.

[regal wharf]

The turnip ones?

[night furnace]

Yup. I also asked Kei and he said he’d check what he uses once he gets back to his home.

So this is currently a bit outdated for now as I’m mostly just messing with retroarch for now.

[regal wharf]

Ohh, any chance you can fire up a crt shader with something so I can see what that looks like?

[ancient fable]

https://github.com/K11MCH1/AdrenoToolsDrivers/releases start from the latest, and download a few of the older ones if you run into issues, really depends on the game/emulator

[dapper rivet]

my ACE arrived, shame I don't have time to mess with it right now

[muted dirge]

send it to me then, I also don't have time but I'll make it company

[granite ginkgo]

dang still no update on the list

which models did you guys get?

if you dont mind saying anyway i know pricing is a bit of a sore spot lol

[regal wharf]

slacker!

[dapper rivet]

Black 12+256 like RNS

DPD also successfully smuggled it in

Anyway, now that I have mine, this channel can be moved from upcoming

[regal wharf]

😆

[dense heart]

Are these sticks just joycons? Or do they have more range to them?

[night furnace]

Nope, definitely not the Joycon sticks. They’re the same as the Odin 2 and Retroid Pocket sticks.

[hot marsh]

How do you like the position of the sticks? They look really far to the bottom of the device. Is it comfortable?

[night furnace]

It’s pretty good to me. Not perfect, but it’s not bad either.

[dense heart]

Damn thats nice

[modest rampart]

Pretty good actually. I find it decently comfortable.

[dense heart]

Gd might have been interested in this if it wasnt ayaneo

[hot marsh]

That screen is pretty nice If you overscale 240p Content you can almost use the full screen

[granite ginkgo]

Oh sweet, that's the one im getting

I always get unlucky and pick the one that is shipping the least out lol

Hopefully it'll be with the next batch whenever that is

[dapper rivet]

You got a grip, caps and screen protector too?

[night furnace]

Yup.

[regal wharf]

So what’s your favorite thing on it so far @night furnace ? Hopefully you’re enjoying it

[night furnace]

I in fact am. It’s pretty much what I was originally hoping for out of the Odin 2 Mini, except this isn’t using a MiniLED screen with no toggle for Local Dimming (so it having IPS is great, a genuine positive).

[regal wharf]

Nice!

[night furnace]

Only annoying bits is the quirk with the controls on inputs (but that’s not too much of an issue for the most part) and the fact it’s a good bit picky on the GPU drivers you use and most emulators don’t work well with the default drivers (but once you find the right alternative drivers, the games work just fine).

[regal wharf]

You’d think they would be better with the drivers, it’s crazy there’s third party drivers that make emulation work better in a device dedicated to emulation

[high valve]

It's what has me sus about the "new" chip on the S2 handheld. It's only as good as the driver support.

[regal wharf]

Yeah, I am always a little dubious about the latest and greatest because of that, learnt my lessons with Linux laptops

You need to be like a year behind for everything to work right

[high valve]

It's why I loved getting a Samsung S9 plus tablet on sale as it has the same chipset as the Odin 2, emulation beast with a g8 galileo controller

[daring hornet]

Not how the chips or the wider android ecosystem works

read up

its interesting

[desert hawk]

Mine is supposed to be here this coming Monday.

[regal wharf]

Read up where tho? I don’t even know where to start

[daring hornet]

usually at google

[regal wharf]

I'm not trying to be a jerk but that's an incredibly vague thing to google - "hey why don't devices ship with faster gpu drivers for emulation when they are designed as emulator devices" - anyway, it's not important, but if it was an easily googleable question I wouldn't have asked in the first place.

[rough iron]

Mine is set to shop tomorrow!

[daring hornet]

So Google the specific term

What do emulation handhelds have to do with it

Try the general term first

Android gpu drivers

[granite ginkgo]

I've seen you be like this on a few different channels but it's really not necessary =/

Using "android gpu drivers" doesn't really answer his question aside from linking to turnip drivers where it states "i build these"

That being said if they apply to your chipset they generally can get you a nice performance boost, the specific one you'll want to use can vary though

[daring hornet]

Interesting

Bunch of redditors who don't know anything is the only result

So basically third party drivers are the only option because chipmakers don't care about competent drivers

Android devs just suck it up

Mali is missing key features on a hardware level like bcn

And vulkan extensions

Qualcomm is just incompetent

There's no point in the handhelds guys making stuff because turnip exists neither do they have the software teams or experience

But they can choose qualcomm which has turnip

Ah the Google search term was how does adreno tools work sorry

The mishaal Rahman article is particularly illuminating

[daring hornet]

I've only done this once before

[regal wharf]

I don’t even understand this argument. Ayaneo makes this device specifically for emulation. Why wouldn’t they preinstall something like turnip if it’s open source or have a setup app that is capable of auto downloading this kind of stuff. They aren’t making a generic android phone, they make a specific device for emulation so why not preoptimjze as much as possible.

I understand how and why mainline chipset manufacturers are lazy as hell - but why isn’t ayaneo filling the gap themselves.

[daring hornet]

You asked why they needed third parties I answered

That's perfectly reasonable

But not what you asked initially

[abstract oar]

My 2cents. Handheld makers are mostly hardware based and they dont have software talents. This is evident by all the janky roms/software you see in Anbernic/Powkiddy preloaded SD cards.

[night furnace]

The reason is that they actually are designed to be faster, but the issue is that the emulators themselves usually aren’t designed for the drivers, so in the case of stuff like Snapdragon you need to use alternative drivers that effectively act as a translator for the GPU and the emulator.

This isn’t something they themselves can reliably make as the default for their device because, as we’ve seen before, emulators can literally live and die, or be rendered useless, in the time it takes from a device’s announcement to its release and delivery to others, and any of those emulators could get replaced by a different fork or alternative emulator that works less well with the built-in driver they could have used.

On top of the more obvious issue of “what if the emulator just gets a major update that breaks support of the Vulkan version the GPU driver uses, and the emulator needs you to use a new driver because they don’t like the current one”?

[night furnace]

As is, using a default driver that is inoffensive and won’t completely fuck with native Android games or the few emulators that don’t allow alternative drivers (NetherSX2 as an example) and will just be needed for specific emulators like Yuzu is the best solution since it’s better to “require different drivers for the few emulators that can support alternative drivers”, than to “use a default driver that might not work well with the many other games and emulators that can only
use the default driver”.

[night furnace]

Like, could you imagine the chaos that would’ve unfolded if they did do this, and the alternative turnip/adreno driver they made into the default just so happened to not work well with Retroarch?

[regal wharf]

that makes sense! Being specifically tied to the emulator so there's never anything standard enough you can pre-install

And plus, as we all know if you pre-install it nobody will ever update it or know it exists and get themselves into worse trouble when it's outdated and breaking with the latest self-updating emulators

[daring hornet]

the emulators are designed to use vulkan. the implementation of vulkan by stock drivers sucks. third party drivers fix this.

theres no pandering to drivers they work with vulkan

[regal wharf]

glad I bought the pocket ace because I already started to get annoyed with limits of the tiny anbernic I also got

[daring hornet]

Shoulda bought a super sp

[night furnace]

The one that doesn’t exist in a state of matter that we can actually purchase and hold in our hands?

The one that only exists semi-loosely as a concept dreamed from hopium-induced fantasy?

[daring hornet]

heresy

[night furnace]

Welp, I’ll admit it. For all the complaints and shade I had previously given the G3X Gen 2, I actually am really freaking enjoying my AYANEO Pocket Ace currently for the exact same reasons I loved the Odin 2 Mini and tried so hard to get over how much I hated and couldn’t handle the MiniLED screen.

This thing is a smaller Odin 2 level handheld that has a screen that doesn’t make my eyes bleed from “whatever is wrong with my vision that specifically makes local dimming legit painful, but doesn’t really bother me for much of anything else”, and I just got word from the guy that makes flip-grip cases that they got theirs in the mail, so they should be able to make something for it by the end of next week.

[daring hornet]

Now cancel the rgb50 and make it a meaningful strength improvement

[gleaming oak]

glad to see you're liking it 🙂

[muted dirge]

how do you find the stick placement? It's the one thing holding me back, Odin 2 power with stick bottom just seems like an odd choice

[night furnace]

Eh, I personally like it since I usually prefer stick on the bottom anyways, even for PC games (my preference is nowhere close to the same level as the “D-Pad on top” cult’s outright evangelical worship for the concept, but I still prefer it), but even ignoring that I’ve found that it feels pretty good to use casually even without the grip.

[dense heart]

hows the pocketability on this device?

[dapper rivet]

Vita sized, maybe a lil thicker

actually, it's pretty much as thick

so yeah, basically a PS Vita

[modest rampart]

Very pocketable. Feels just slightly thicker than a phone.

[cinder night]

I'd say it is about as big as a couple of iphone max stacked on top of each other.

[regal wharf]

I hope their "shipping in early july' means real soon, it's july!

[dapper rivet]

what are you talking about, I already have mine

[regal wharf]

😩

where are my fancy pics with all the best crt shader stuff turned on?!

i dont even believe you got it!

[muted dirge]

I don't think he turned on his yet lol

[dense heart]

I might regret it but I ended up getting the white one

Was also wondering how long it took to ship, my guess is a month or so from when your order

[pearl arrow]

I'm in the 600s of CID and I expect mine to probably come somewhere around the 15th of July or so

[regal wharf]

they keep talking about early july for pretty much everything left so I expect they got like one last big batch brewing then they all ship

[dense heart]

I havent seen anyone review/get the white model yet weirdly

[echo ginkgo]

I think they just started shipping the white one last week. All previous ones were either black or retro power (white order here…)

[dense heart]

Yea im in the 750s lol just ordered it a few days ago but never dealt with ayaneo before

[granite ginkgo]

All the CIDs immediately above and below mine got sent out, fingers crossed black 12GB gets another batch soon

[bold glade]

Same🙏🏼

[opal lark]

Same here too 🤞

[dense heart]

What's the benefit of 12 and 16 ram versions? Is that mostly for switch emulation?

[night furnace]

And Winlator, by this point I’ve just come to the conclusion that it is legit just Moguri for FFIX requiring 12GB of on-board ram. Although funny enough I’ve mostly been playing Deltarune on Winlator, so I haven’t gotten the chance to properly test my usual Winlator games yet.

[dense heart]

Thanks for the info, yea I went for 8 because it didnt seem super necessary for ps2/light wii games which is prob what ill cap out at

[night furnace]

Welp, for anyone who wanted something like this for the portability, this just became an option.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/4329511557/

[dapper rivet]

I will pass, those are more than double with shipping and while it's fine to clip them to a budget device like my rgb30, I don't want to do it to something as expensive as the Ace... btw anyone got any case recommendations for it yet? like not buying any Ayaneo case ever again, because they are all so-so at best

[blissful mirage]

I'm surprised Russ never reviewed this

[willow sonnet]

He mentioned on the RGC channel that Ayaneo had not been sending him anything for months. And didnt think a review that came out after retail units wouldn't be as beneficial as the usual review right around pre-order time.

[dapper rivet]

he got the Pocket S2 tho

[willow sonnet]

He says in that video, that's the first device they've sent him in like 6 months

[dapper rivet]

not like the Ace needs any reviews tbh, all known parts, overall great device and very solid alternative to the Odin 2 Mini

[dapper rivet]

fair, didn't listen close enough to catch that

[willow sonnet]

After I saw Dweeb's review on it I was looking forward to Russ' thoughts on it. But I guess Ayaneo stopped sending him devices for a while because they didn't like one of his reviews or something.

[dapper rivet]

I mean, if he is bad for business it's an understandable decision

and it's honestly not like any of the Ayaneo I have are bad, just more expensive than more reasonable alternatives

[willow sonnet]

Yeah, and I don’t think Russ is overly negative about their devices. But I think he always makes it a point to mention that you really a paying a premium for their devices. So maybe he was making those people with FOMO second guess snap ordering devices. Which could really damper their whole model of IGG/Early Bird pricing to get people in as quick as possible. So maybe they will have their device by the time the next one drops . So they can do it all over again

I’ve only had a handful of devices. So it’s hard for me to justify the Ayaneo price on things because I’m not fully sure what I would like enough that I would drop that kind of money on it.

[muted dirge]

I would have appreciated his thoughts on this one, most reviews didn't go very in depth into 1) ergonomics and 2) comparisons with other devices for different uses cases, both of which are Russ's strengths

[dapper rivet]

I have the SLIDE, MICRO, MICRO CLASSIC, DMG and ACE
and aside from the Slides sticks being ass due to the low range of motion and preferring the Micro Classic due to not having sticks, the DMG and ACE are very nice

not much to go into with the ergo, given how the ACE is a flat slab tbh

which I honestly way prefer over some stupid grips

it's thick enough to be comfortable to hold, kinda like an rgb30

[muted dirge]

being flat is fine, but the position of those sticks I'm not quite convinced about

[dapper rivet]

it's definitely not a stick centric device, which makes it kinda unique tbh

like I would call it the most over the top GBA, while the DMG is the most over the top Gameboy

if you want to play stuff like PS2 on it, a Odin 2 Mini imo makes more sense

tho the whole ergo definitely is better than the RP5

arguably if you only want a nice GBA the Micro (Classic) is way more reasonably priced

[dense heart]

Oh im def playing ps2 on here

[willow sonnet]

I’ve finally delved into PS2 emulation with my Flip 2 and I don’t want to go back to not having it lol

I’m okay with having PS1 and below on my 35XXSP and it being my just throw in the pocket and go device. I wouldn’t pocket the Flip 2 but I have enough slings around that I don’t mind tossing it in. I think I’d really enjoy the slide and the Ace, but not sure if I see a need when I have the Flip 2. Although I could see myself making room for the Slide in my pocket. Ace I would only carry in a sling like I do my Flip 2.

[remote marlin]

Ayaneo delayed Russ’s Micro and people were denying they would do that and it was just a shipping mix up. I guess now they are not attempting to hide it anymore. Btw, please do not make a purchase decision based on TechDweeb. He has fun videos good for entertainment but he tries to push sales same as ETA prime. I like both of these creator’s content btw.

[high valve]

But they're the same person /s

[bold glade]

I saw an owner use the official ayaneo grip case as screen cover with no big issues, just hard to snap in unless the top part is cut off

Personally I'll just use a soft case so their official soft case accessory should work for me, imma dump mine in my sling/bag anyways

[night furnace]

So in other words he’s off the blacklist. That or he never was on one and AYANEO just decided to skip him for the Ace?

[left widget]

They skipped me for seven device releases. When they contacted me again they said they had a change in marketing personnel, so my guess is they decided to reset their list of potential reviewers.

[night furnace]

Wait seven? Weren’t their last devices the Ace and 3?

Or are you talking about devices where they shipped them out long after others got theirs delivered?

[left widget]

There were a bunch, and a couple stuttered starts (like before their EVO launch) where they skipped me -- mini PCs, eGPUs, stickless Micro, and so on. Some I specifically reached out for and asked about and was ghosted

[dapper rivet]

well, working for Ayaneo I would also ghost you, given how you always tell us that their stuff is too pricey

[left widget]

For a while I had reviewed every single AYANEO device since their Advance back in 2021, and then I started getting skipped over, and then there was a seven-month gap where I didn't get anything at all. They are totally in their own right to skip me, I was just clarifying that it wasn't just the ACE that was skipped for me.

[left widget]

I wouldn't necessarily say that I think their stuff is too pricey, it's just that there are often alternatives that are much cheaper, and that sometimes the high price point is in direct contrast with some of the less-than-premium aspects and components of their products. "Too pricey for me" is probably a better wording 😄 😄

[night furnace]

Ah, got it. Hmm, honestly maybe that kind of stuff was part of the reason for changing marketing personnel? Like, they definitely have the right to decide whether or not to send devices to specific people, but if they do it in a manner that makes the reasoning too directly obvious (not sending devices to a YouTuber with one of the largest number of subscribers among handheld reviewers due to them not giving favorable reviews), that would arguably be an issue in marketing.

[dapper rivet]

I wouldn't call it "not giving favorable reviews", the devices I have are all pretty neat... the price point is just lunatic for 90% of the people interested in these retro doodads

[night furnace]

Like, if they stopped sending you the highest end models and specifically only sent the cheaper base models, that would make more sense than completely ghosting you. (Plus it would arguably be better overall since you’d be able to review the devices based on what the average buyers are more likely to order).

[blissful mirage]

I really respect you not changing your tune about Ayaneo devices to appease them even when they stopped sending you review units, Russ

[night furnace]

Yup, can agree on that. Any and all praise I’m giving for the Ace is in direct contrast to the quality of their previous devices, and I’m pretty sure I’ve posted the Bringus video on the AYANEO 2 more than most others on here. (Hell, only reason I even got the Ace is because I was honestly impressed with the Pocket Micro).

[left widget]

Yeah I've always considered myself to be a part of the company's refinement process. I take pride in showing off the things I like about their stuff, and also pointing out where improvements could be made -- hopefully a step in the journey towards a perfect product. A lot of people thing I am "anti-AYANEO" but I'm really just rooting for them like anyone else.

[willow sonnet]

Yeah I never got the vibe that you didn't like them. I always took it as that you have an expected level of quality for that price range and you wanted them to acheive that level of premium that most of the market doesn't bother with.

[pearl arrow]

I'd really like to actually try the ace but it looks like the version I picked keeps getting pushed back.

[granite ginkgo]

same lol

well im not too sure about pushed back

batch 2 was two weeks after the first

and it's only been one week since batch 2

so maybe im on schedule of not getting it yet

[ancient fable]

Yea you gotta know what you’re getting into with AYANEO, but they’re still my favorite devices of all the brands

[crystal mantle]

Do people still buy AYANEO devices?

[night furnace]

I mean I literally just talked about having bought and actually currently liking the Pocket Ace.

[high valve]

I love their pocket like up, otherwise I have zero interest in their products such as the 3 or their mini PCs

[granite ginkgo]

I always enjoy it when it gets here

Problem is wondering when it will get here haha

[dense heart]

Yea their smaller devices seem better

[night furnace]

Yeah, definitely pretty funny that they’re Android lineup unironically seems to have gotten way better than their pc lineup (well, everything after the Pocket Air at least).

[high valve]

Hands down agree, only x86 device I wanted from ayaneo was the air 1s and after I did get one I never care for anything else. 😅

[dapper rivet]

their Slide is definitely the worst compared to the Android stuff I have, if only for the sticks being ass compared to the newer ones