Ayaneo unveils retro sci-fi themed external GPU dock — handheld PC maker expands to another new category

Ayaneo, known for making high-end handheld gaming PCs, is shifting into the external GPU market. The company released a teaser of its first upcoming GPU dock on X (Twitter), dubbed the Ayaneo AG01 graphics dock and featuring an 80's retro sci-fi aesthetic.

Ayaneo is leaning heavily into the aesthetics of its new GPU dock — much more so than its competitors. While competitors have gone with simplistic, stealthy color schemes, Ayaneo wants to make its GPU dock a spectacle. The AG01 features a retro-style spaceship design with a two-tone matte black and maroon finish. A circular design on the edge of the dock sporting an RGB ring light makes the dock look sort of like a Star Wars spaceship.

Because this is just a teaser, Ayaneo did not release any specifications — including the GPU inside. We don't even have details on what sort of I/O the dock will be packing. That said, if Ayaneo is targeting its closets competition, the GPD G1, we can assume the specs will line up similarly. The GPD G1 is a highly compact GPU dock sporting a mobile AMD RX 7600M XT with 8GB of GDDR6 that can be used with Thunderbolt 3/4, USB 4, or Oculink-compatible devices.

The main purpose of the AG01 is to bring additional graphical horsepower to Ayaneo's existing lineup of handheld gaming PCs. A mid-range mobile GPU might not sound like a lot of GPU horsepower when many eGPU docks can house full-blown desktop graphics cards — however, a discrete GPU of any kind is a massive upgrade for handheld gaming PCs, which come strictly with integrated graphics (save that one Razer tablet from over a decade ago that came with a GT 640M LE GPU).

Ayaneo will be releasing more details on the new AG01 GPU dock in 10 days on May 18, during its Remake Sharing Session.