The company behind the AYA Neo handheld gaming PC is getting ready to launch a next-gen model.
An announcement is scheduled for December 28, 2021, but according to teasers, the upcoming AYA Neo Next will be a next-gen Windows gaming handheld featuring “high performance AMD cores.” Update: The announcement has been rescheduled for January 4, 2022.
There’s no word on which AMD processor the handheld computer will use, how much it will cost, or when you’ll be able to purchase one.
The original AYA Neo features a 7 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel IPS LCD touchscreen display, built-in game controllers, and an AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor. It was announced last year, began shipping to customers in China in late 2020, and went global through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that ended in April, eventually shipping to customers this summer.
In August the company introduced a higher-performance AYA Neo Pro model with a Ryzen 7 4800U processor.
At this point it’s unclear what changes AYA has in store for its next-gen model, which may or may not actually be called the AYA Neo Next when it launches (that name screams placeholder, as it would likely feel pretty dated a year or two from now).
An upgrade to AMD Ryzen 5000U processor options seems likely. Rival One Netbook already offers its ONEXPLAYER handheld gaming PC with up to an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U processor (or up to an Intel Core i7-1195G7 chip for folks who prefer Intel over AMD).
But AMD is also expected to unveil its Ryzen 6000 series mobile processors in the coming weeks, so there’s at least a sleight chance that AYA’s next handheld will use an even newer processor.
AYA may also be tweaking the physical design of its handheld.
While the original AYA Neo and AYA Neo Pro are tapered inward at the left and right edges, a teaser image posted to Facebook suggests the new model could have a slightly larger grip area that extends beyond the bottom edge of the handheld – although there’s also a possibility we could be looking at a tablet with removable Nintendo Switch-style controllers.
via AYA (1)(2), Weibo, and NotebookCheck
What’s the company’s name? AYA, AYA NEO or AYANEO?
Also, what’s up with them and One Netbook using all uppercase? AYANEO NEXT or ONEXPLAYER MINI. Looks weird. They also sometimes mix and match the upper/lowercase.
Makes them look unprofessional/amateurish. Not really good marketing.
Let’s get this straight: AYA NEO is a small fry company. Unless they suddenly got tapped on the shoulder by a larger manufacturer, I remain highly skeptical that this is going to amount to much more than baseless hype tripe. AMD would very unlikely not opt to reveal their next-generation Rembrandt Ryzen 6000 series through a small-fry company that pushes out only 1,000s of units annually. The teaser says “new generation of AMD cores.” AYA NEO is only on Ryzen 4000 series. So, logically speaking, the “new generation of AMD cores” for them would be Ryzen 5000 series. Mystery solved. Second, some may be mistakenly believing the second statement “Innovations never seen on a Windows gaming handheld” to also refer to the processor. This is an independent clause and a separate statement from the previous one about the processor. It is quite possible that these “innovations” are something like removable, Switch-style controllers or whatnot having nothing to do with the processor.
To be clear, Brad actually is on point on evaluating this and presumes it is Ryzen 5000 series so I am not referring to his excellently written (as always!) article. 🙂 I am calling out the fanboys who think AYA NEO is suddenly going to gain the clout of a megacorporation like Valve and has somehow convinced AMD to allow them to reveal Rembrandt on their next low-volume handheld gaming PC. That without any hesitation I highly doubt.
There is definitely a comprehension problem. Its says featuring new generation AMD cores. 5000 would be meaningless if Aya intends to sell any units since one X Player is already available in 5700U and they have this segment covered and it wouldn’t make a lot of sense considering 4800U and 5700u are not much different in terms of performance in real world gaming scenario. Who would want 6-8 FPS increase. Those who wanted this performance already have enough power on their hands with 4800u and those who want a little better already jave one X Player mini. It is a strong hint that Aya Neo meant 6000 series and now rescheduling their reveal dare invalidates the above statements anyway which were nonsensical anyway. Aya Neo managed to make it a reality. They can do it again.