The AYA Neo Air is a handheld gaming PC with an AMD Ryzen 5000U series processor, Radeon Vega graphics, and a compact design. With entry-level models weighing less than 400 grams, the AYA Neo Air is lighter than a Nintendo Switch.
It’s also the first modern handheld gaming computer to feature an OLED display. First unveiled earlier this year, the AYA Neo Air is now up for pre-order through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign with early bird pricing starting as low as $499.
That starting price represents a $50 discount off the expected retail price for a model with an AMD Ryzen 5 5560U 6-core, 12-thread processor featuring Radeon Vega 6 graphics, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. With just a 28Wh battery though, this model is only expected to offer around 1 – 2.5 hours of battery life.
Higher-priced configurations come with a 38 Wh battery for additional run time plus higher-performance specs including support for up to a Ryzen 7 5825U 8-core, 16-thread processor with Radeon Vega 8 graphics, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 2GB of storage. But those specs will cost you: top-tier configurations sell for $1249 and up.
All models feature a 5.5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel OLED display, support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connectivity, a microSD card reader, 3.5mm audio jack, and USB Type-C port. And all models have a set of built-in game controllers, a fan for active cooling, and Windows software with a custom user interface focused on gaming (although AYA also plans to release a Linux-based OS called AYA Neo OS).
AYA offers a bunch of different pricing/configuration options for the AYA Neo Air. Here’s an overview, although I left out some of the special edition color options like the B.Duck Yellow and NES-inspired “Retro Power” designs just to save space:
| AYA Neo Air Lite 5560U | AYA Neo Air 5560U | AYA Neo Air Pro 5560U | AYA Neo Air Pro 5560 | AYA Neo Air Pro 5825U | |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 5 5560U 6-cores / 12-threads 2.3 GHz base / 4 GHz boost | AMD Ryzen 7 5825U 8-cores / 16 threads 2 GHz base / 4.5 GHz boost | |||
| Graphics | Radeon Vega 6 | Radeon Vega 8 | |||
| TDP | 5-15W | 5-15W | 5-18W | 5-18W | 5-18W |
| Memory | 8GB LPDDR4x-3200 | 16GB LPDDR4x-4266 | 32GB LPDDR4x-4266 | ||
| SSD | 128GB | 256GB / 512GB | 512GB /1TB | 512GB / 1TB | 512TB / 1TB / 2TB |
| Display | 5.5″ 1920 x 1080 pixels OLED | ||||
| Wireless | WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 | ||||
| Battery | 28 Wh 7,350 mAh | 38 Wh 10,050 mAh | |||
| Fingerprint reader? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Colors | White | Black | Black, White, Pink | Black, White | White, Black, Silver (32GB / 2TB only) |
| Dimensions | 224 x 89.5 x 18-26.7mm | 224 x 89.5 x 18-26.7mm | 224 x 89.5 x 21.6-26.7mm | ||
| Weight | 398 grams | 398 grams | 450 grams | ||
| Price | $549 (retail) $499 (early bird) | $629 (retail) $569 (early bird) | $649 (retail) $599 (early bird) | 16GB / 1TB – $799 (retail) / $749 (early bird) 16GB / 512GB – $699 / $649 | 32GB / 2TB – $1399 (retail) / $1299 (early bird) 16GB / 1TB – $1099 / $999 16GGB / 512GB – $999 / $899 |
| Shipping (estimated) | Early August 2022 | Early September 2022 | |||
And when it comes to AYA’s roadmap for the coming year, the AYA Neo Air is just the tip of the iceberg. The company also plans to launch the bigger, higher-performance AYA Neo 2 and AYA Neo 2 Geek, the entry-level AYA Neo Air Plus (which will sell for $249 and up), and the AYA Neo Flip and Slide with unusual form factors.
They’ll go head-to-head with other current and next-gen handheld gaming PCs from companies including Anbernic, AYN, GPD, and Valve.
Aya showed a Slide prototype. One of the screenshots:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/974876113543249991/989879343524241438/mmexport1656076022164.jpg
Next to the Air:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/974876113543249991/989882900767977513/Screenshot_20220624-091811.jpg
There are also some fancy shots. The screen can tilt. Supposedly at various angles:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/974876113543249991/989893027935944714/IMG_20220621_232749_polarr.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/974876113543249991/989893028426698822/IMG_20220621_232802_polarr.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/974876113543249991/989893027529105499/IMG_20220621_232720_polarr.jpg
Too bad the bottom slot isn’t a SIM slot (it’s an SD slot) like how it seemed to look like in the first renders.
It was nice to see. It was just a mockup with a working slide mechanism. Probably not worth an article.
It’s pretty thick though. Doesn’t seem to be as pocketable as the renders made it look.
Also, what looked like a SIM slot in the render doesn’t seem to be one in the mockup. Looks also have addition buttons on top.
I skimmed through their stream that showed the Slide. It didn’t seem that thick when it was being handled. Unless he has big hands.
To me, the Slide is the most interesting handheld that’s coming out this or early next year among the current small competitors.
I wonder how much they’ll charge the Slide for + shipping.
I hope they don’t charge as much for shipping for the SLIDE somehow. Especially if they’re trying to target the “inexpensive” category. AYN charged $33 USD for the Loki.
Yeah, when in comes to the total cost/price war that was going on, AYN won against AYANEO.
I bet the AIR Plus will have high shipping costs too. Would totally kill the whole inexpensive/value marketing thing.
Here’s hoping shipping isn’t so expensive on the Slide or the total cost isn’t overly expensive (intentionally not specifying a price I’m good with in case Aya reads these articles/comments).
Anyone know when the SLIDE will be up for pre-order/order?
Yeah, now that the AIR is behind us, when’s more SLIDE info coming?
Now that the IGG started for the Air, I hope we see more info on the Slide. Outside the Deck, I’m not really interested in purely bar/slate handhelds nor ones that’re awkwardly large.
The Flip could be interesting if it has a keyboard. Although at the size a 7″ screen implies and controls supposedly on the sides, it might be too wide for a thumb keyboard (at least for many) and too narrow for a touch type one. A second screen seems to be of limited utility.
The Slide and maybe the Flip are what I’m interested in too. The other upcoming devices from Aya and other companies are just meh to ridiculous based on what’s known so far.