Ayaneo's New Handheld Has Bigger Screen and Battery Than Steam Deck

Ayaneo Kun handheld gaming PC
(Image credit: Ayaneo)

Ayaneo's CEO has just completed a live stream session about an upcoming 8.4-inch screen-equipped gaming PC handheld. Dubbed the Ayaneo Kun, behind the device's 2.5K screen, you will find the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U 'Phoenix' processor (no surprise). Perhaps afforded by the larger form factor, another attractive specification of the Kun is its 75 Wh (19,500 mAh) battery inside. These specs and boundary-pushing handheld dimensions aren't going to come cheap though, with Ayaneo boasting that the Kun is a "high-end masterpiece."

At the time of writing, with the Ayaneo Kun in pre-launch and pre-Indiegogo campaign stages, we don't have a full set of specifications for the device. However, there are enough specs and features that have already been shared to make this device very interesting.

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Ayaneo Kun handheld key features

Screen

8.4-inch diagonal IPS screen with 2.5K pixels

Processor

AMD Ryzen 7 7840U 'Phoenix' with 8C / 16T Zen 4 CPU cores and integrated Radeon 780M RDNA 3 GPU

Battery

75 Wh (19,500 mAh) battery

Controls

Dual intelligent touchpad, Four back buttons, 8-way D-pad, Hall sensing joystick and Hall trigger

Dimensions

312.4 x 132.5 x 21.9 mm

Other features

Built-in kickstand, Face recognition, Windows Hello, stereo speakers, AyaSpace 2 UI

Colors

White silk, black feather, silver wing

(Image credit: Ayaneo)

In its pre-launch materials Ayaneo spends quite some time highlighting the Kun's controls, talking-up the variety and quality of the gaming control array. Being one of the biggest handhelds should also make it a comfortable hold (despite the probable extra heft) for adult hands.

Probably the best thing about offering a larger handheld is the opportunity for adding a beefier battery and more capable cooling system. These may be the biggest weaknesses with existing / rival handhelds, so it is good that Ayaneo has grasped the opportunity to improve in these areas.

(Image credit: Ayaneo)

Considering battery life first, the new 75 Wh cell sounds impressive. Remember that's nearly double Valve's Steam Deck battery and is approaching the limit of 99 Wh for laptops that are allowed on airplanes. Sadly, though it boasts about this battery, Ayaneo is remaining tight-lipped about expected gaming run times on this device.

(Image credit: Ayaneo)

Recent headlines about the Asus ROG Ally have been focused on an issue with its cooling system, resulting in fried MicroSD cards. Such bad publicity should focus device developers minds on adequate system-wide cooling, and Ayaneo's Kun hopefully makes use of its extra chassis capacity for bigger / better cooling components. The firm says that the Kun has "perhaps the strongest heat dissipation of Windows handhelds to date." Moreover, we learned that the cooling system uses a large main fan coupled with a trio of copper heat pipes.

As mentioned previously, the Ayaneo Kun is still at a pre-launch stage. Therefore the firm is keeping some powder dry with respect to offering the full specifications. Details like pricing, configurations, and availability are also being held back. Today the Ayaneo CEO said we should expect all these details "at the end of August." We expect the Ayaneo Kun to be quite pricey, but there will be early bird pricing alongside the Indiegogo launch, and a special gift box for those among the first adopters, too.

A fortnight ago Ayaneo was in our headlines for preparing what might be the thinnest and lightest AMD Phoenix handheld yet seen. The Ayaneo Air 1S Ultra contrasts with the Ayaneo Kun by featuring a relatively small 5.5-inch screen, measuring 18 mm (0.7 inches) thick, and weighing 405 g (0.89 pounds).

Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

  • BloodLust2222
    I don't see why anyone would buy this. The Anyaneo systems are VERY expensive for what they are and the only upside was having a Windows handheld portable. Now with the Asus Ally, There would be little reason to spend the premium price for an Anyaneo product when you get basically get the same for half. I have a Steam Deck, Asus Ally and Ayaneo 2. I will say IMO the Asus Ally is the best of them all.
    Reply
  • A Stoner
    BloodLust2222 said:
    I don't see why anyone would buy this. The Anyaneo systems are VERY expensive for what they are and the only upside was having a Windows handheld portable. Now with the Asus Ally, There would be little reason to spend the premium price for an Anyaneo product when you get basically get the same for half. I have a Steam Deck, Asus Ally and Ayaneo 2. I will say IMO the Asus Ally is the best of them all.
    I would kind of agree with you on the price. I just looked and they want $1099 for 16 GB with 512GB on the Aya Neo 2 you have... But there will certainly be others who will find the upgrades worth the price.
    Reply
  • purpleduggy
    Why no Thunderbolt 3/USB4? Its a $15 chip.
    Reply
  • hushnecampus
    Hmm, the ergonomics of those touchpads looks even worse than Steam Deck's, which is already far from perfect, but at least they have them

    I'm not sure how to feel about that though. On the one hand lack of trackpads is a dealbreaker for me, so I'm glad they're proliferating, but I'm slightly concerned that those ones are so bad they'll actually make people think trackpads are a bad idea and will stop other systems adopting them.
    Reply
  • Mr.Vegas
    BloodLust2222 said:
    I don't see why anyone would buy this. The Anyaneo systems are VERY expensive for what they are and the only upside was having a Windows handheld portable. Now with the Asus Ally, There would be little reason to spend the premium price for an Anyaneo product when you get basically get the same for half. I have a Steam Deck, Asus Ally and Ayaneo 2. I will say IMO the Asus Ally is the best of them all.

    I been waiting for this and you say "why would anyone buy such a thing".

    Rog is castrated, a device made of compromises, unlike the KUN which is the opposite.

    1. Screen, i like them big, 7inch is too small, for me 8is minimum but i rather have 9 or 10 inch
    2. RAM, 16GB for a shared system is nothing, I also want to use it as mini PC
    3. SSD: 2230 is trash, its a compromise, they all Single package, and have no space for DRAM, because they dont have space fo NAND chips, everything from actual speed to longevity is affected, all the 2230 devices come with 200-400tbw, compared to 2280 models that can go above 1000 easily
    4. Battery, ROG does 45 minutes at max speed and with passing months when battery life decreased youll get less
    5. Having 7500Mhz RAM is a plus for shared Ram system
    6. USB ports, single USB 10Gbps is nothing, all chinese devices come with x3, one of them is USB4, another one is usually YSB 20gbps or second USB4 and USB-A 10Gbps
    7. Proprietary graphical port for EXTREMELY expensive eGPUs
    8. no Thunderbolt/USB4 or Oculink
    If ROG had 32gb of RAM, i could try and use it with 7inch and 2230 and the battery i don't care about since i never take it outside
    The only thing ROG has for itself is 120hz+VRR+BFI and that you can buy it locally
    Reply
  • Mr.Vegas
    purpleduggy said:
    Why no Thunderbolt 3/USB4? Its a $15 chip.

    It has USB4, all AMD based asian consoles come with USB4, sometimes dual USB4
    KUN has USB4 guaranteed, it doesnt have Oculink thou
    Reply