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AyaNeo Handheld Updates to AMD Ryzen 7 5800U and 32GB RAM
AyaNeo, a developer of handheld Windows-based game console, has announced its next-generation portable gaming machines with up to 32GB of LPDDR4x. The AyaNeo Next range consists of the AyaNeo Next, Advance and Pro and is based on AMD's 'Cezanne' accelerated processing unit that provides higher performance compared to 'Renoir'. Along with additional performance, the new consoles will feature a revamped design, which will make it more competitive with Valve's upcoming Steam Deck.
The AyaNeo Next range use the same 7-inch IPS LCD touch-enabled display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, and are powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 5800U with eight Zen 3 cores as well as Radeon RX Vega 8 GPU. The new APU will bring in higher general-purpose performance due to Zen 3 cores and higher clocks, but its graphics performance will be very similar to that of the Ryzen 4800U, which powers existing AyaNeo consoles. The AyaNeo Next Pro will expand LPDDR4-4266 RAM capacity to 32GB, double the 16GB of the other two models. All models feature a M.2-2280 NVMe SSD with capacities all the way to 2TB.
From hardware point of view, AyaNeo's Next will offer better CPU performance compared to Valve's Steam Deck since the APU which powers the latter has four Zen 2-derived cores, but it will fall behind Steam Deck when it comes to graphics since Valve's handheld will use an RDNA 2-based GPU.
AyaNeo's Next game console is not exactly the second-generation handheld from the company, its CEO admits, but rather a revamped version of the first one as well as an exploration of the future. In general, the upcoming handheld is equipped with the same analog sticks, a D-pad, and other game-specific buttons as the existing one, though there are some differences with input buttons.
Using AMD's Ryzen 5000-series 'Cezanne' APUs instead of Ryzen 4000-series 'Renoir' APUs is relatively easy because the platforms have much in common. Of course, using AMD's Ryzen 6000-series 'Rembrandt' hardware would have been even more beneficial, but these parts will only be available later this year, so if AyaNeo wants to offer the fastest Windows/PC console on the market, it has to stick to the Ryzen 5000-series instead.
"When I took over the AyaNeo brand, I spent a lot of time revamping the official version of AyaNeo and finally managed to upgrade it to AyaNeo 2021," said Arthur Zhange, CEO of Aya Neo. "Although there were many improvements, I thought there was still room for improvement […] The AyaNeo 2021 with AMD 4500U and the AyaNeo 2021 Pro with AMD 4800U were the more powerful handhelds at the time of their release, but this is not the limit of our capabilities[…]. My definition of Next is that I want it to be available to gamers as soon as possible, without having to wait more than six months. AMD's 6000 series APUs will be released soon and, not surprisingly, availability may take until the end of the year."
