Since the arrival of the Steam Deck, most major handheld manufacturers have simply opted to follow in both Valve and, to an extent, Nintendo’s footsteps in designing their devices. However, Ayaneo, is taking a different approach with its new Flip device by taking inspiration from a classic handheld of old, the Nintendo DS.
As the tug of war for the title of best handheld gaming PC rages on, with the Steam Deck firmly on top at the moment, the Ayaneo Flip represents a potential change of pace for the space. Gone is the tried and tested single-screen slab design, and in its place is a cute clamshell with, not one, but two displays.
The Ayaneo Flip will come in two flavors, the Flip KB and DS. The Flip KB, as its name suggests, features a full keyboard, a first for the company, in addition to the usual assortment of thumbsticks and face buttons. The Flip DS, however, replaces the keyboard with a 3.5-inch secondary touch screen. These differences aside, both devices each sport a 7-inch 1080p IPS display, with a native refresh rate of 120Hz.
Inside the Ayaneo Flip is the brand-new AMD Ryzen 7 8840U, which the company claims will mark the first appearance of the APU when the device arrives later this year. It packs eight cores, 16 threads, and the same AMD Radeon 780M iGPU found on the recently launched Ryzen 8000G desktop CPUs, such as the Ryzen 7 8700G. Suffice to say, it should run circles around the now aged Steam Deck silicon.
Pricing for the Ayaneo Flip starts at $699 for the KB and $739 for the DS, but this is with the older AMD Ryzen 7 7840U APU. You’ll need to spend an extra $40 ($739 /$779) to get the 8840U. To further complicate matters, this is just ‘early bird’ pricing for people who back the device on Indiegogo. You can learn more about the Ayaneo Flip
Sadly, once these devices hit retail, you can expect to pay a minimum of $899. For context, that’s more expensive than every mainstream handheld, including the Steam Deck OLED and Asus ROG Ally.
While the dual-screen design is novel, I’m skeptical about its usefulness. All the same, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was dying to get hands-on with it, arguably more than I am for the MSI Claw.
You can learn more about the Ayaneo Flip on its product page. Alternatively, if you’re hungry for a new handheld, check out our Lenovo Legion Go review to assess all your options.