New Ayaneo 2S handheld could compete with the Asus ROG Ally

Ayaneo’s latest handheld, the Ayaneo 2S could compete with the Asus ROG Ally. The company has also announced a refresh to its more budget handheld, named the GEEK 1S.

It seems each week we have a new handheld to talk about in some way. Ayaneo is back again with a new handheld running AMD’s latest Ryzen 7000 laptop chips. The Ayaneo 2S is not alone though, as it is being joined by a lower-tier model, the GEEK 1S.

Following AOKZOE, Ayaneo has outfitted the upgraded 2S with an AMD 7840U, which sports Radeon 780M graphics. The APU is not too dissimilar to the Z1 Extreme found in the Asus ROG Ally.

We’ve yet to get our own hands on a system with the chip. However, if the Z1 Extreme is anything to go by, it’s going to power through nearly anything you throw at it. In our testing, we found it decimated Forza Horizon 5 at various settings and was only boosted further through supersampling.

However, the Z1 Extreme, while similar to the 7840U, still requires its own specific patches, firmware, and drivers. Like with Valve’s AMD Van Gogh APU on the Steam Deck, these custom makes take some time for games to settle in before running flawlessly.

With a more generic APU onboard, the Ayaneo 2S could potentially pull the rug from under the ROG Ally in terms of performance once it launches.

The other system, the GEEK 1S, is a “budget-friendly” option. While it still packs the same APU as the 2S, it will top out at 32GB of RAM and 512GB SSD storage. Meanwhile, the 2S will start at 16GB and 512GB SSD storage, before ramping up to support 32 and 64GB RAM.

Ayaneo 2S and GEEK 1S pricing

Ayaneo has launched the two new handhelds onto its Indiegogo page. They’re offering multiple versions starting at early bird pricing of $949 for the Ayaneo 2S, which tops out at around $12, 552 Hong Kong dollars, or around $1600 USD.

When launched, the 2S will cost from $1139 USD, and end up at $1999. These expensive versions also come in unique designs. The most expensive model comes with 4TB of storage, as well as 64GB of RAM.