ayaneo3 review – Disappointing with strong performance and great design Windows

ayaneo 3 It is highly effective, fashionable, and most significantly, modern. From modular controls and OLED screens to adjustable system reminiscence and improved Ayaspace software program, virtually every thing on the Ayaneo 3 seems like a Steam deck-like handheld at entry degree. Sadly, it is also an annoying machine that you simply use every now and then, however I nonetheless suggest it for anybody taken with coming into the world of handheld gaming PCs, or searching for main energy upgrades from a steam deck.

The Ayaneo 3 is definitely among the finest handheld gaming PCs in comparison with its rivals, that are different Home windows-based units. The extent of freedom I’ve on this handheld is refreshing, and if classes are discovered from some shortfalls that Ayano 3 has, future units may actually abdicate the valves, steam decks, and maybe even steamers within the handheld market.

specification

design

The design of the Ayaeno 3 could be very primary at first, however with an in depth inspection and, extra importantly, the significance of delicate design decisions shines by means of. One such instance is rear grip molding. As a substitute of utilizing the inflated designs most handhelds use, creating occasional clunky grips in your palms and fingers to latch into the console, the Ayano 3 as an alternative has two distinguished humps, permitting the hand-held to take a seat extra naturally like a regular Xbox controller.

My index finger naturally sits on the curvature of the left and proper triggers, with clicks of the left and proper mouse over straightforward attain. Down the again of the hand-held, it is simple sufficient to regulate the grip and let both your middle or ring finger sit on the rear button. The 690g weight would not really feel too heavy, and there are not any weight imbalances or biases on both facet of the hand-held.

On the entrance of the Ayaneo 3, the massive matter is modular management. On either side of the Ayaneo 3, the controls are included in a small unit that may come out of the machine, change, and even change with an alternate management unit. That is the primary Home windows Handheld to supply such options and works very nicely.

The Ayaspace Fast Menu has a devoted tab for the management, and whenever you contact a button, you possibly can pop up one or each management modules. New modules are put in and you will note when they’re related by gently urgent them into the slots that opened them utilizing Audible Click on. All of this primary yelled me the “gimmick” however in actuality it is a terrific function.

I’ve discovered that I usually desire uneven controls in most video games, however have a symmetrical thumbstick to drive the sport. And I do know that it’s definitely handy that you would be able to have this function that you would be able to activate Ayano 3.

My one criticism is that most often the magic modules are offered individually. Because of this there might be extra prices along with already giant preliminary spending to realize full entry to options closely used to advertise handhelds.

Thumbsticks are Corridor Results, which considerably reduces stick drift and makes use of triggers which can be listed as “restricted Corridor Results”. Nonetheless, there is no such thing as a additional readability when offered about what’s exactly restricted about it. There may be additionally a change that converts every set off right into a microaction one-click change, which is rapidly activated to hurry up the full journey distance of the set off. Magnetic suspension motors are used to energy vibrations, however aren’t overwhelmingly highly effective, however supply the suitable kick when activated and that energy may be adjusted within the Ayaspace menu.

Elsewhere within the Ayaeno 3, the highest and rear followers do critical heavy lifts to maintain the console cool below heavy masses, however they’re very giant when working at 100%. This shouldn’t be an enormous deal for those who desire gaming with a decrease TDP, because the sensible fan function ensures you solely kick in whenever you want it.

For enter, there are two USB-C ports, one on the high and the opposite on the backside of the console. The ability button has a built-in fingerprint sensor, sitting facet by facet with the amount management on the high of the console, with the Oculink enter rounding the highest I/O. On the backside, along with the USB-C port, there’s a 3.5mm jack and a coated microSD card slot. There may be additionally a button to modify management profiles. This button has a helpful LED that signifies which profile is chosen.

I am reviewing the black mannequin of the starry sky for the Ayaneo 3, however protecting fingerprints and filth clear is a little bit of a nightmare. The entrance of the machine is sort of shiny and the again is matte. On either side it feels very straightforward to go away marks along with your arms, and whenever you clear the machine it feels ineffective contemplating that you’re prone to make it once more the second you choose it up. Ayano additionally made obtainable Sky White and Retro energy colours, each appear to handle this subject significantly better than what I’ve seen.

working system

That is the one part of my ayaeno 3 take a look at, and that is virtually unfavorable, primarily as a result of Home windows will not be a handheld pleasant working system. It is the simplest and least expensive working system for builders to make use of, and more than likely to supply the widest vary of suitable video games, however whereas it is minor, it is irritating, however opens the door to too many points and habits.

For Ayaneo 3, the sport typically doesn’t permit fullscreen to increase the chosen decision throughout the native 1080p show. Because of this when attempting to benchmark at 720p it seems to be like a small field of 720p in a 1080p show. The best way round that is easy, simply decreasing the default decision of the hand-held, however why ought to I do that for one thing so simple as altering the decision?

Additionally, Home windows will not be kindly needed for overlays or further software program programs that must be accessed recurrently within the handheld. So loading the Ayaspace Fast Menu is usually a delayed course of. That is the tactic of Rog Ally’s Armory Crate and nail MSI Middle. In different phrases, the standard denominator is Home windows. So far as I do know, the truth that Microsoft has but to deal with a streamlined, handheld-friendly model of its flagship OS is baffling.

One specific concern with Ayaneo 3 is that it’s not potential to place the machine to sleep by way of Home windows. This selection doesn’t exist whenever you first begin the console. Trying additional into this, it turns into clear that this isn’t the primary time that Ayaneo Handheld has had this downside. Nonetheless, the correction is straightforward. Simply head to Home windows’ Energy and Sleep Settings and alter them and the “When Energy Button is Pressed” possibility will change from hibernation to sleep. It is very annoying to have to do that. How many individuals overlook this repair and assume that they lack sleep perform?

Show and Sound

The Ayaeno 3 comes with a 7-inch 144Hz OLED show with 800 knit world brightness and true HDR colours. I beforehand talked about in my Rog Ally X assessment that I pack extra particulars into the 1080p show on the Steam Deck OLED’s 800p display than offsetting the colour accuracy and readability of the show.

Nonetheless, with the Ayaneo 3, the 1080p OLED display is an enormous addition, and the standard of this show is when the sport is nice because of the true blacks, extra vibrant colours, and excessive distinction ratios. The 7-inch show is a limitation in relation to show high quality. Whereas having native 1080p decision, it may really feel compact, and normally darkish video games may require a little bit of brightness and gamma adjustment to profit from them.

The system is ready to scale 175% as default, however I discovered that the candy spot is 125%.

In the meantime, the Ayaeno 3, which has two entrance Heiser Sound 2.0 panoramic audio system all have to supply on the audio entrance, is filled with unimaginable punch. This can be a very giant handheld, and even the built-in audio system on my gaming monitor are competing, however most notably, the preservation of high quality even in giant portions.

That is most notable in video games resembling Crew Motorsport. There’s something very satisfying to revive the engine of the 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429, and the Ayano 3 sensory overload kicks with crystal clear audio and tactile suggestions from the set off and vibration motor.

At a distance of 30cm, the Ayaneo 3 peaks at 86.5dB and sits at a mean of 81.1dB when enjoying crew motorsports. In a typical media take a look at, film playback hit comparable numbers with a peak of 85.1b and a mean of 79.9dB. That is in comparison with the 76.1DB Max and 74.9dB common on the MSI Claw 8 Ai+ when enjoying the identical sport.
Storage

The Ayaneo 3 comes with 512GB to 4TB of SSD storage. I am getting a PCIE 4.0 M.2 2280 SSD whatever the storage possibility I purchase. You will want to reinstall Home windows fully. This can have a replica of Home windows on Flash Drive.

Though I did not hit a bottleneck with sport downloads, the in-game loading instances are similar to gaming PCs that home comparable types of SSDs. You may as well develop your storage utilizing a MicroSD card. 4.0 MicroSD playing cards and above can run at obtain speeds of as much as 300MB/s.

efficiency

The common body price for all the sport examined doesn’t totally convey all the story. That is touched on in 1 second, however general these efficiency numbers are very spectacular contemplating the potential of extra energy that may be squeezed out of the Ayaeno 3 in case you are imagined to optimize clock velocity and modify CPU core utilization. As a substitute, I used profiles and settings that present the perfect quick efficiency at a number of TDP ranges.

What makes the Ayaeno 3 shine in its efficiency is its body price stability. Whereas testing the MSI Claw 8 Ai+ alongside this handheld, I typically seen that the utmost and minimal body charges are far aside within the claws than the Ayaneo 3. For instance, in Murderer’s Creed Mirage, 900p, Excessive Settings Benchmark returned a mean body price of 63FP on Ayaneo 3 and 55FPS. Nonetheless, the utmost body price for the nail is 80fps, with a minimal of simply 5, whereas the Ayaneo is as much as 91 and a minimal of 15fps.

This stability is necessary in graphically demanding video games just like the Cyberpunk 2077, with the nails capable of outperform Ayaeno in lots of common body price exams, however visually, there was much more stud and ghost as you grabbed Ayaeno’s a lot smoother efficiency.

The Ayaneo 3 show is beneficial sufficient to allow AMD FSR within the high quality settings. It’s because it merely reduces the native decision to 720p earlier than returning to 1080p. This can end in little or no distortion within the picture whenever you use it. Because of this most often it is higher to stay to 1080p with upscaling fairly than decreasing the decision. Because of this the steam deck will allow upscaling with a default 1,280 x 800 show, so it implies that the rendered decision might be eliminated to about 1,040 x 650.

I examined these video games on Ayaneo 3 utilizing a customized energy profile. I’ve seen methods to hold CPU and GPU clock speeds within the default settings, go away the CPU increase possibility off, go away the fan auto and handle warmth distribution below weight. Moreover, the system reminiscence has been cut up to permit for 16GB of devoted graphics reminiscence. I had chosen 12GB, however the AMD Adrenaline Version software program solely allowed 8GB or 16GB.

Exterior of benchmarks, Ayaneo 3’s core gaming efficiency will attain strong 50-60fps with triple-A video games resembling Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Warhammer 40,000 Area Marine 2, Tsushima’s Ghost and God of Battle Ragnarok.

Optimization settings for Ayaneo 3 are quite simple. That is largely very best for consoles with medium graphics profiles of 25W or larger. I not often needed to fine-tune particular person settings for finest efficiency. Older video games like Skyrim and Fallout 4 can simply be pushed into the next graphical setting if needed. Observe that the battery will not final too lengthy.

Elevated graphical constancy will naturally scale back efficiency, however as seen within the benchmarks above, it’s totally playable and Cyberpunk 2077 runs at 30fps with Extremely Settings and AMD FSR 3.0 set set to high quality. Once more, for those who push the Ayaneo 3 above its consolation degree, however the stuttering and frames aren’t torn aside, the flexibility of this efficiency have to be seen stay to be appreciated.

In the event you run large video games on Steam Deck OLEDs otherwise you’re always making compromises to fine-tune minor settings in MSI Claw 8 AI+ to maximise efficiency, this is not the case with Ayaneo 3. Drop decision and push the FSR into efficiency mode, or take care of customized {hardware} profiles, whether or not you are coping with customized {hardware} profiles or not, whether or not you are getting a customized {hardware} profile or not.

Then again, on the cooling entrance, the automated fan setting works nicely, however the followers set it up a bit preemptively and completely with the next TPD setting. This prevents the Ayaneo 3 from getting too scorching and too quick.

In abstract, the Ayaeno 3’s efficiency can also be wonderful by way of common body charges, against the likes of the MSI Claw 8 Ai+ and the Asus Rog Ally X, however what’s interesting is its efficiency stability.

Battery life

The Ayaneo 3 has a battery lifetime of at most within the center. That is primarily as a result of the truth that it’s too sturdy for a modest 49WH battery, particularly in comparison with the 80WH batteries on the Rog Ally X and MSI Claw 8 Ai+.

After I benchmarked the Cyberpunk 2077 with 30W, the perfect TDP with out plugging in, the battery lasted about 40 minutes. In a extra reasonable gaming situation, the battery lasted practically three hours in a situation the place I used to be enjoying two factors campuses at 18W TDP at the perfect settings. It at all times results in TDP settings and energy requests for video games you loaded.

A battery bypass possibility is now obtainable. This lets you set up solely the included 65W charger with out having to make use of a battery. If you don’t allow battery bypass, the battery will run out even in case you are utilizing the Ayaneo 3 at 25W or larger. This could harm the long-term well being of the battery.

Though there is no such thing as a efficiency profit, I at all times used the battery bypass possibility when docking the Ayaneo 3 or utilizing a 35W machine to forestall battery hurt. Contemplating how the Ayaspace Fast Menu works, it is also very straightforward to search out and activate choices.

value

The Ayaneo 3 configuration I examined prices $1,499/£1,185. The mannequin ranges from $699 to $2,099 with controls included, with no further modular controls. The fee additionally is determined by the display you choose, system reminiscence, storage, and APU. All fashions can be found for early entry funding campaigns by way of Indiegogo, with $200-$300 per mannequin obtainable.

There is no such thing as a way this price may be intimidating. Particularly, the one handheld I recognized as near the Ayaneo 3 is the MSI Claw 8 AI+ for $899/£899. Nonetheless, the distinction between energy, show, sound high quality, storage choices, and even modular controls provides by way of worth (though it is nonetheless fairly ridiculous that it is not included in most fashions).

Alternate options

MSI Claw 8 Ai+

MAMMOTH machine, MSI Claw, is the second closest to the Ayaneo 3 in relation to Home windows handhelds. It’s powered by Intel and in some circumstances limits its means to totally handle energy and reminiscence in the way in which potential utilizing AMD units, however it’s nicely tuned from the beginning, and its AI engine is an enormous win for first-time handheld homeowners. Efficiency-wise, the Claw 8 Ai+ can outperform the Ayaneo 3, however typically have a extra unstable body price, however its large 80WH battery and AI engine efficiency administration are an enormous win for the hand-held.

Steam deck

If there’s one factor the Ayaneo 3 has bolstered for me, Steam Deck is a good way to get began with the gaming handheld, however its limitations are very clear, particularly on the Energy Entrance. In the event you’re searching for a easy, handheld introduction to handheld, the steam deck is good and might be considerably diminished compared, however you will not be enjoying the most recent Triple A sport with setting of 1080p.

verdict

The opposite handhelds I used have been both impressed with me or did not make me as irritated as a lot as Ayano 3. However, when the Ayaneo 3 is in form, there is no such thing as a handheld that approaches it as a result of steady efficiency by way of body price and graphical viewpoint.

The OLED show is nice, the audio system are very noisy and, extra importantly, very clear, the overall really feel is ideal for being too heavy or awkwardly sitting in your arms.

That innovation is greater than a gimmick. Management modularity will not be one thing that I believed was necessary on a handheld gaming PC till Ayaneo introduced very nicely within the 3. This can be a disgrace that the perfect spec fashions will add an extra price that may get nearer to the eye-catching $2,000.

Although it is not the right gaming handheld, the Ayaneo 3 is an enormous assertion that’s starting to saturate the market. Most of the fixes required for Ayaneo 3 are software program or OS associated. Because of this future updates may probably place this handheld in its personal class.

Ayaneo 3 won’t deny Excessive A steam deck with efficiency and its show. Nonetheless, the central ease of use and compatibility of the working system is a actuality examine that Steamos is admittedly good and the way Home windows can obtain its full potential.