AYA NEO- AMD Ryzen Handheld Gaming PC

Aya Neo Handheld gaming PC- Models

Design and Features

The Aya Neo is a fascinating handheld gaming PC in a variety of ways. The design is reminiscent of an oversized Nintendo Switch. Everything from the button and joystick placement to the headphone jack and lower USB Type-C port reveals where the company (also known as Aya Neo) got its design inspiration. The Aya Neo Next is significantly larger than its console counterpart, with a 7-inch screen and a thicker body to allow for more ventilation. This isn’t a pocket PC by any means, but it’s small enough to fit in a bag and carry with you throughout the day.

While not the most creative, the familiar layout and larger size make it very playable. In comparison to the Switch, it provides an experience that is much more similar to holding an actual controller. The thicker controller grips and extra space in the layout result in fewer hand cramps, even after several hours of use. The joysticks, shoulder buttons, triggers, and D-pad are all designed to be roughly the same height and size as a standard gamepad, so first-person aiming with these sticks still has a learning curve.

The Aya Neo, like any gaming PC, is much more than its inputs. This is a full-fledged handheld gaming PC with the necessary specifications.

And, make no mistake, by purchasing the Aya Neo Next handheld gaming PC, you are also purchasing better hardware. The extra cost gets you a faster, higher-core-count CPU. The Steam Deck is powered by a custom AMD APU with four cores and eight threads that run at 3.5 GHz. The Next is powered by a powerful Ryzen 7 5800U with double the core and thread count and a 4.4GHz peak speed. The GPU portion of that processor is also faster, peaking at 2 GHz rather than the Steam Deck’s 1.6 GHz. Valve’s portable. The Aya Neo, on the other hand, has much better memory, with 16GB of cutting-edge LPDDR5 memory clocked at 5500 MHz, whereas the However, the Next outperforms the Deck in terms of battery capacity, with a 47-watt-hour capacity to the Deck’s 40-watt-hour capacity.

In comparison to the previous generation of the Aya Neo handheld gaming PC, the Next adds a slew of new features. The new joysticks and triggers are the most noticeable. The analog inputs of the Next are driven by magnetic sensors rather than traditional mechanical components. There are no mechanical contacts within either that will wear out over time, and they both feel clean and smooth to use with satisfying tension and resistance.

Controls and Buttons

The D-pad and ABXY buttons are all made of standard rubber membranes beneath the surface, but they’re well-made and satisfyingly tactile. They’re not as nice as the triggers or joysticks, but they’re not mushy and return to their original position after each press. The D-pad is a single unit rather than the split-directional design of the original Aya Neo, which feels like a step back, but it works fine and didn’t cause any confusion with my presses.

Other changes have been made since the previous generation, all in the name of streamlining the experience. The original Aya Neo handheld gaming PC had four extra buttons on each controller to navigate Windows, but the Next reduces this to half and instead relies on Aya Space software and quick access commands. When tapped, the large button on the right opens the Aya Space quick menu (a pop-up menu with frequently used commands and options) and, when held, the full application. The smaller button is used to launch the keyboard or take a screenshot. The buttons on the left controller correspond to the Xbox’s Guide and Change View buttons.

You might think that navigating Windows with fewer buttons is a disadvantage, but the effect isn’t as severe as it appears. Aya Space’s quick menu has three immediate shortcuts that you can access by tapping and six more if you tap to open its mini-menu. Common functions include launching the mouse pointer (via the left joystick), the Escape button, taking a screenshot, putting the device to sleep, switching desktops, and more. The D-pad is also used for navigation, with four shortcuts that can be launched by holding the right bumper and trigger. These are currently restricted to core features such as launching the Task Manager or using the on-screen keyboard, but with Aya Space in active development, it’s possible that these will be unlocked in the future.

Even with those shortcuts, navigating Windows on the Aya Neo without a mouse and keyboard is difficult. The touchscreen works well in most situations, but tapping drop-down menus on such a small screen isn’t always easy. In these cases, you can move the mouse cursor around the screen with the joystick, but it feels sluggish. Text input is handled by Windows’ on-screen keyboard, which does the job but is limited to short inputs. If you intend to use the Next as a regular PC, you should consider purchasing the Super Power Docking Station or a good Bluetooth mouse and keyboard.

Display and Ports

The Aya Neo Next’s display is quite nice. It has an 800p resolution (1280×800), which, while low, looks sharp on the 7-inch display. It also means that games will run faster because the integrated GPU will not have to push as many pixels. In moderate sunlight, it’s plenty bright for gaming, and it appears exceptionally bright indoors. Because the touchscreen is so responsive, chicken-pecking away at the touchscreen keyboard isn’t as painful as it could be.

The screen, however, lacks the premium feel of smartphone glass and smudges easily. My fingers dragged noticeably more when moving icons around on the desktop and left fingerprints almost immediately. Although I’m not concerned about scratches, I did order a tempered glass screen protector for the smoother, fingerprint-resistant coating.

Sounds

The speakers, combo audio jack, volume buttons, power button, fingerprint reader, and top-mounted USB Type-C port are all located on the device’s top. The fingerprint reader is one of the fastest and most dependable I’ve used, allowing me to log into the system in record time. It’s a minor difference that makes using the device feel more natural.

Surprisingly good speakers are also included. Because of the increased thickness of the handheld, Aya Neo has been able to use more powerful stereo speakers that manage to sound full—for a handheld, at least. They can’t compete with a good gaming headset, but they’re adequate for hearing everything you’ll need for quality portable gaming and even binge-watching Netflix.

There’s a reason those speakers need to be louder: they’re competing with the powerful fan in charge of cooling the system’s APU. The Aya Neo Next will not outperform your gaming laptop in terms of overall volume, but it is not quiet. You can clearly hear the fan begin to spin up, and when it reaches full speed, you may find yourself reaching for a pair of earbuds, as I did.

Connectivity

This AMD handheld gaming PC supports the most up-to-date WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Because the Next lacks an ethernet port, Aya Neo has equipped it with WiFi 6E connectivity for ultra-fast wireless. Although I do not have gigabit internet, it easily exceeded my 200 MB/s connection. It supports Bluetooth version 5.2 for improved reliability and power savings. I had no trouble connecting my earbuds, as well as a mouse and keyboard.

Battery

The battery life is much more variable and depends on how you use the device. Aya Neo claims that its 47Wh battery will provide 2–6 hours of gaming time. How much you see depends on how demanding your games are, the TDP you select (how much power the CPU is allowed to draw), screen brightness, and other factors. I was able to play Forza Horizon 5 for 2-3 hours on the Balanced Power setting. Which is magnificent for a handheld gaming of this caliber. Playing less demanding indie games and lowering the brightness allowed me to extend that to 5 hours. But your mileage may vary. I was relieved to see USB-C charging and data ports on both the top and bottom. Allowing me to charge on either side.

Overall, Aya Neo has created an impressive Ryzen handheld gaming PC. I was worried about how difficult it would be to navigate Windows, but once you learn the shortcuts and get used to combining touch with mouse movement, it’s really not that bad. It’s a high-quality package that feels worth its high asking price.

Aya Neo Handheld Gaming PC- Gaming Performance

Now we get to the important part: how well does it run games? It’s easy to forget that the Aya Neo Next is a full-fledged computer, and a powerful one at that. Because it looks so much like a game console. Its Ryzen 7 5800U processor, 16 GB of memory, and NVMe SSD are powerful enough that you could use it as your primary computer with a docking station. That’s incredible for a device of this size.

I ran dedicated PC benchmarking software for this review. And switched between MSI Afterburner and Nvidia Frameview for real-time monitoring, watched Netflix and YouTube, typed emails with a Bluetooth keyboard, and even kept Discord open to chat with friends while browsing and playing games. However, I played regular Steam rather than Big Picture. And enjoyed the snappy performance that only fast hardware and a responsive touchscreen can provide. All of this is on a device that resembles a Nintendo Switch.

As someone who has an RTX 3090 on his main PC. I am concerned about the performance of the integrated GPU. Whether I’d be able to play my favorite games at low settings. Squeezing a full-fledged gaming PC into a handheld form factor comes with unavoidable trade-offs, with graphics and performance at the top of the list.

I didn’t have to be concerned because this device excels at PC gaming. Aya Neo Next handheld gaming PC can deliver playable frame rates. Even in modern, demanding games, thanks to its 1280×800 resolution and powerful APU. Red Dead Redemption 2, Forza Horizon 5, Hitman 3, and Borderlands 3 were all playable and looked great on Next’s 7-inch screen at low settings. The low resolution and graphics settings would be much more noticeable on a full-size gaming monitor. But at 800p on a 7-inch screen, I was surprised by how good they looked and how smoothly the games played.

Here’s how they fared using the highest 20-watt TDP mode, with games set to Low:

For Unigine Heaven, it achieves 60 fps, for Borderland 3, it achieves 47 fps. While, Gears of War: Tactics, achieves 93 fps. Similarly, The Shadow of the Tomb Raider gives 38 fps, Forza Horizon 5 gives 54 fps, and Rocket League scores 170 fps.

What really surprised me here was some of these games. Even offered the option to increase graphics settings if you don’t mind playing at less than 60 frames per second. Forza Horizon 5 averaged 43 frames per second on low settings and 56 on medium settings. It was a little more difficult to achieve the same results with other games’ stock presets. However, removing shadows and anti-aliasing makes those higher graphics options available. It could often customize to work with the Aya Neo Next handheld gaming PC. Using the “Wild” fan setting, the CPU reached a peak temperature of 74 °C during all of this testing. That’s impressive given that it had been subjected to multiple hours of gaming load at the time.

It’s also worth noting that older games and less demanding indie games are no match for it. I tested a slew of smaller games anecdotally to see how playable they were. They are not present in the above section. Super Meat Boy, Pillars of Eternity, Disco Elysium, Hades, Divinity: Original Sin, and Portal 2 are all games. That easily exceeds the 60Hz refresh rate of the display.

AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution can save the day in games that are “on the edge” in terms of performance. For games that do not have FSR coded in by the developer. A driver-based version that can toggle on and off. It should work with any game that can launch within Aya Space. I say theoretically because I did run into some issues. Where it wouldn’t work at random, such as Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein: Youngblood.

This version differs from the version used with desktop graphics cards, Whereas it has a similar effect on improving frame rates by upscaling lower resolutions to the display’s 1280×800 default. You can run games in windowed mode at a lower resolution. If they are too demanding to run at the Next’s native resolution (similar to what normal FSR does). FSR can enable via the quick menu. Upscaling the game and keeping it as close to 60 frames per second as possible. This model has no quality presets to balance graphics and performance. The rendered mode’s resolution primarily determines its quality. The lower the resolution, the poorer the results. The results aren’t as sharp as desktop FSR, and I noticed more flickering of background objects when using it. But it’s a quick way to play almost any game, even if it’s normally unplayable on the handheld.

Final Thoughts!

The Aya Neo handheld gaming PC has its drawbacks, but overall, the experience is hard to beat. It’s a good handheld. But whether it’s worth the much higher price depends on how important Windows is to your gaming PC. If you do, there is nothing better than the Aya Neo handheld gaming PC.