Aya Neo Next: too late and too expensive
The NEXT console has just been unveiled by Aya Neo.
The 3rd generation of Aya Neo handheld console finally received a new architecture. The console relies on 8-core and 16-thread Ryzen 7 5800U “Cezanne-U” APU based on AMD Zen3 architecture. It is, therefore, not based on Rembrandt with Zen3+ and as a result, features (now bit ancient) AMD Vega graphics architecture.
The company announced as many as four different models, featuring from 16GB up to 32GB LPDDR4x-4266 RAM and either 1TB to 2TB of storage:
- AYA Neo Next with 16GB RAM and 1TB storage for $1315 retail / $1265 at launch
- AYA Neo Next Advance with 16GB RAM and 2TB storage for $1465 retail / $1365 launch
- AYA Neo Next Advance Signature Edition with 16GB/2TB for $1465 / $1345 (only 300 units)
- AYA Neo Pro with 32GB RAM and 2TB storage for $1565 / $1465
Price-wise, we are looking at a device that is more than twice as expensive as Steam Deck. Even though Valve’s console has newer GPU architecture, faster memory, and a lot larger ecosystem.
Despite the company’s close collaboration with AMD, it did not succeed in securing a stock of just announced Ryzen 6000U APUs. However, the Aya Neo promises that as soon as they become available, they will begin the development of a successor.
The Aya Neo Next will enter crowdfunding sites in February, which means that it will ship after Steam Deck. Below is the full launch video which has an English narrator.
| Handheld Gaming Consoles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VideoCardz | Aya Neo NEXT PRO | Aya Neo NEXT | Aya Neo 2021 Pro | Steam Deck | One XPlayer | Nintendo Switch OLED |
| Picture |  | |  |  |  |  |
| Architecture | AMD Zen3 | AMD Zen3 | AMD Zen2 (Renoir) | AMD Zen2 & RDNA2 | Intel Tiger Lake | ARM Cortex |
| SoC | Ryzen 7 5800U | Ryzen 7 5800U | Ryzen 7 4800U | AMD Van Gogh | Core i7-1185G7*** Core i7-1165G7** Core i7-1135G7* | NVIDIA Tegra X1 |
| SoC CPU | 8C/16T @ 4.4 GHz | 8C/16T @ 4.4 GHz | 8C/16T @ 4.2 GHz | 4C/8T @ 3.5 GHz | 4C/8T * 4.2*, 4.7**, 4.8*** GHz | 4x A57 + 4x A53 |
| SoC GPU | AMD Radeon Vega 8 @ 2.0 GHz | AMD Radeon Vega 8 @ 2.0 GHz | AMD Radeon Vega 8 @ 1.75 GHz | AMD RDNA2 8 CUs @ 1.6 GHz | Xe-LP (Iris) 96 EUs @ 1.35 GHz | NVIDIA Maxwell 256 CUDA |
| Memory | 32GB LPDDR4X-4266 | 16GB LPDDR4X-4266 | 16GB LPDDR4X-4266 | 16GB LPDDR5-5500 | 16GB LPDDR4X-4266 | 4GB LPDDR4-3200 |
| Storage | 2TB NVMe | 1TB – 2TB NVMe | 0.5TB – 1TB NVMe | 64GB eMMC (PCIe Gen2x1) 256GB/512GB NVMe (PCIe Gen3x4) | 512GB*, 1TB **, 2TB *** NVMe | 64GB |
| Display | 7″ 1280×800 IPS | 7″ 1280×800 IPS | 7″ 1280×800 IPS | 7″ 1280×800 IPS | 8.4″ 2560×1600 IPS | 7″ 1280×720 OLED |
| Connectivity | WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, USB 4.0 x2 | WiFi 5, |
| Battery | 47 Whr | 47 Whr | 12,300 mAh | 40 Whr | 15,300 mAh | |
| Weight | TBC | TBC | 650 g | 669 g | 820 g | 420g |
| Dimensions | TBC | TBC | 25.5 x 10.6 x 2.0 cm | 29.8 x 11.7 x 4.9 cm | 28.8 x 13.0 x 2.1 mm | 24.2 x 10.2 x 1.39 cm |
| OS | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Windows 10 | Steam OS 3.0 (Arch) | Windows 10 | Custom |
| Release Price | $1,565 | $1,315 $1,465* | $1,215 | $399 (64GB) $529 (256GB) $649 (512GB) | $1,059 * $1,158 ** $1,599 *** | $349 |
| Release Date | February 2022 | February 2022 | September 2021 | February 2022 | December 2021 | October 2021 |
| * Advance with 2TB storage | * Standard Edition ** Pro Edition *** Ultimate Edition |
Source: Liliputing