There are plenty of handheld gaming PCs on the market, from the Steam Deck to the ROG Ally, but Ayaneo seems hell-bent on producing more than any other company out there. The Ayaneo 2S is a slight design revision of the older Ayaneo 2, aiming to fix the devices' issues with heat dissipation and other points of user feedback.
While the Ayaneo 2S certainly fixes some issues, it comes up with all new problems of its own, yet still offers a compelling true handheld gaming PC experience. The Ayaneo 2S isavailable to preorder from Indiegogo. While we would normally offer a disclaimer about crowdfunding projects here, Ayaneo has a history of delivering and we think there’s little risk involved with this campaign.
AYANEO 2S Handheld Gaming PC
The AYANEO 2S is a Windows-11 handheld gaming PC that packs a big punch in terms of performance, allowing gamers to install even AAA modern titles that aren’t necessarily playable on the devices' biggest competitor, the Steam Deck. It also has a whopping 2TB SSD, and 32Gbs of RAM, all powered by AMD’s new Ryzen 7 7840U AMU. With improved heat dissipation and new access ports on the side to facilitate repairing the unit at home, this is certainly a handheld gaming PC to watch out for.
What’s Inside?
The Ayaneo 2S is the slimline revision of the original Ayaneo 2, and comes packaged with Windows-11 installed as standard. This gives it a distinct advantage over its biggest competitor, the Steam Deck, as the Windows OS allows the installation of pretty much any PC game going, rather than ones that Valve has given official handheld support to via a Linux wrapper.
The 2S also packs a punch from a hardware perspective. The device has an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U Accelerated Processing Unit(what is an APU?), which packs 780M graphics straight onto the chip. It’s also rocking a 13050mAh battery to power those high-performance components. It’s also seen a bit of an internal redesign to increase heat dissipation and make the unit much more comfortable to handle.
It’s also worth noting that the 2S is considerably less bulky than the Steam Deck, with its dimensions clocking in much closer to a Nintendo Switch, albeit with a bit more weight and bulk to it. That’s a bit of a shock too, since this thing is carrying more powerful hardware and a 2TB Solid State Drive (SSD). The reduction in weight and size is possibly part of the reason for the increased price, and also might have something to do with those fancy trackpads Valve put on its handheld.
The controls that the 2S is packing are also top-notch. From the face buttons to the analog sticks, all the controls are responsive and accurate; they even managed to include the gamer’s best friend, RGB, on those control sticks. Even without the trackpads, you have a built-in touch screen as part of the 7" 1080x1200 display, and Ayaneo’s included software—AYASpace—has some fantastic mouse emulation. You can even plug a mouse in through a USB-C to USB-A adapter, so Starcraft is still on the table.
Operating System and User Interface
Speaking of AYASpace, this is Ayaneo’s graphical front-end for the device. It launches when you boot the device and you can, supposedly, sync all of your PC-gaming platforms to the front-end and install/run games from there. In practice, it technically works, but is a little clunky to get running, and once you do, is a little fiddly in execution. For example, whenever you install and update, it changes the default language to Chinese.
Even if you do link your accounts, you’ll need to manually install storefronts and games to actually get them to show up, at least in my experience. At the very least, once you have games installed, AYASpace is not a bad way to get straight from boot-up into a game, and it does give you some extra features too, such as control over the RGB settings and two customizable buttons you can use for various functions.
The big problem for AYASpace is that it just feels a bit superfluous. Remember that the Ayaneo 2S runs a full version of Windows 11, and Microsoft has been designing UI since 1987. There is no reason why you wouldn’t just want to use the normal operating system since it allows you to install pretty much any regular Windows software. Not only does this make using the device a doddle, but it basically means you can carry a full desktop PC around, without breaking your back to do it.
Whether you’re installing games or changing OS settings, it all works great whether you’ve got an external mouse attached or not. Windows 11 is, at least partially, built around touchscreens, and when combined with AYASpace’s mouse emulation feature, you’ll be using the OS like a pro in no time.With that in mind, there’s little reason to use AYASpace outside its ability to emulate a mouse, especially since it seems to cause the entire display to rotate if you plug in an HDMI while the software is open.
Gaming Performance
When it comes to any PC, handheld or otherwise, the first factor that catches most peoples' attention is the performance. In terms of raw power, the Ayaneo 2S is a high-end machine. It ran almost everything I threw at it, either as good or better than I expected. Modern games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 get a solid 60-75 FPS both online and single-player using recommended settings. Even something like Dying Light 2, which runs like butts on the best machines, runs with a relatively consistent 30 FPS on low settings.
The results I’ve mentioned so far use the system’s default balanced power mode. This caps your power usage to around 15 Watts an hour, but it also caps your performance right along with it. Elevating the battery plan to power mode will give you an extra 10 or so FPS, but it also has the horrible side effect of making a specific spot in the top-right corner of the screen get insanely hot. This spot is also dangerously close to the right thumb stick, making power mode a double-edged sword at best.
There’s not much of a reason to use power mode, as games run fantastic on balanced mode, and it won’t burn a hole into your hand either. Although, it is probably going to be a turn-off for some people that this otherwise premium device doesn’t allow you to use the most powerful settings for fear of melting. At the very least, we only found a couple of games that wouldn’t run, and in these cases, it was mostly due to issues that are persistent on other Windows machines, rather than issues related to the Ayaneo device specifically.
Another great reason to stick to balanced mode is the battery life. The 2S has comparable battery life to the Steam Deck, around 2–3 hours of running an intensive game, and even longer if you’re using less powerful software. Even after I spent most of an afternoon playing Modern Warfare 2, I tabbed out and was pleasantly surprised to find there were loads of time left to actually plug the device into the wall before it died on me.
Benchmarking
When it comes to benchmarking software, the use of the balanced power plan does have an impact on the scores. You’ll get decent scores out of the machine running3DMarkeven on the balanced power mode, putting it comfortably ahead of the Steam Deck by a sizable margin. If you run on power mode, that margin will increase even further, but that’s only advisable if you enjoy setting your thumb alight.
When running it through the standard TimeSpy benchmark we achieved a Graphics score of 2225, a CPU score of 6443, and an overall score of 2467. Compared with the Steam Deck results of the same benchmark ran byReddit user u/scawp, the Ayaneo 2S blows the Steam Deck out of the water. The SteamDeck clocked graphics of 1578, a CPU of 3581, and an overall of 1722, giving an overall difference of around 745, though it should be stressed that the Steam Deck results are probably from a non-standard Windows 11 installation.
I also took the opportunity to runPCMark 10Professional Edition performance benchmark and achieved some good results as well. Our overall score hit around 5000, with essential clocking in at 8344, Productivity at 6427, and Digital Content Creation at 6133. Overall, these scores are pretty much on par with a mid-range desktop PC running an 11th Gen Intel processor and a 20-series RTX card, so not bad utility scores for a handheld gaming device.
Non-Gaming Uses
While the Ayaneo 2S is a gaming device, it is more than capable of handling more productive uses when the occasion arises. It should be obvious that with the level of power included, the 2S can handle photo editing, whether you’re using PhotoShop itself, orone of the amazing free alternatives you can get instead. The same goes for video editing, with free software like DaVinci Resolve putting out impressive results, assuming you have a keyboard and mouse plugged in.
you may also get more mundane tasks, such as documents and spreadsheets, done relatively easily. Of course, in most cases, this business and productivity software is designed around having a keyboard and mouse available to use, since the controls are designed around gaming. It’s worth remembering that you can have a plug-and-play desktop solution on your hands with very little effort, so any commuters who want power on their side might have a field day with this one.
Should You Buy the Ayaneo 2S?
The Ayaneo 2S has achieved many of the goals that it set for itself. Not only are the controls fantastic, but heat dissipation has been revised, and it’s now a lot easier to open it up and fix issues for yourself, rather than having to replace or send the unit away for repairs. Despite these fixes and changes, there are still some minor issues. Running the device on the most powerful mode is a great way to start a fire, and AYASpace is clunky as hell, but when you sit back and think about it, this is a premium handheld-gaming PC that delivers where it matters: performance.
Not only can it run most AAA modern games without issue, but you don’t even have to wait for Valve or developers to supply proper support to use it. If you’re looking for a high-power PC gaming solution that will also give you a full desktop experience then it may be worth splurging on the premium price tag. The only question is whether you thinkthe $1200 price tagis worth paying for compared with the $650 that even the most expensive Steam Deck will run you. For my money, anyone who wants to be sure they can play their favorite PC games on the move would be better off saving up for the S2 over the Deck.
