The Switch Lite clone that no one wants to be

The Ayaneo Pocket S wants to impress as a mobile handheld for games like Honkai: Star Rail. (Source: Ayaneo via YouTube)

The market for gaming handhelds continues to gain momentum. In addition to the well-known brands such as Valve, which recently released a new version with the Steam Deck OLED, there is one provider in particular that has a wide product range: Ayaneo.

The company, founded in 2020, already has three high-priced models in its portfolio: the Air Plus, Geek and Ayaneo 2 – the Pocket S will also be added in the near future, as the company explains in a showcase on YouTube.

Link to YouTube content

However, Ayaneo doesn’t provide a lot of technical data about the Pocket S in this video. Only the processor is precisely determined: This is a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2, which is an eight-core processor with an Adreno A32 GPU.

Qualcomm itself promises a performance that should be sufficient for FHD+ resolution with up to 144 frames per second. In the Ayaneo video, the Pocket S also shows itself to be quite smooth with Honkai: Star Rail running, but of course the clip cannot replace a real and objective benchmark.

Whether the new handheld from Ayaneo can also utilize the entire Full HD resolution is unclear, as are possible refresh rates or maximum brightness – we’ll have to be patient here before the manufacturer provides concrete information.

After all, the company promises a “robust cooling system at the X86 level” so that the device does not overheat when playing supposedly more demanding games. It is also clear from the processor that the Ayaneo Pocket S is equipped with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity.

Visually, the Ayaneo Pocket S is reminiscent of Nintendo’s Switch Lite. This is ensured not least by the fixed controllers on the side with the standard buttons for operation.

However, despite its appearance, it is probably not really a clone of the Switch Lite mentioned. Ultimately, Ayaneo wants to target the Pocket S more at the target group of smartphone gamers than classic console gamers, if the video is any indication.

Especially since the manufacturer advertises the handheld on the official website as a “benchmark for Android handheld performance”. The choice of Honkai: Star Rail, one of the more popular mobile games of the year, for the promo video is no coincidence.

It is still unclear at what price and when the Ayaneo Pocket S will come onto the market. If the new handheld actually wants to position itself as an Android alternative to the Switch Lite, a price around 200 euros would have to be a corresponding declaration of war – otherwise we’ll be like Maxe, who suffered with his Ayaneo handheld and not just because of the price :

Now the question is: Does the Ayaneo Pocket S look like an alternative to the Switch to you or do you see other gaming handhelds as more interesting? Do you even play games on your smartphone or is mobile gaming not relevant to you? If so, what do you play on your cell phones? Let us know in the comments!