It’s only been a few months since the developers of the Aya Neo handheld gaming PC starting showing off prototypes of their little computer with an AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor. Now the lead developer of the project says a first batch of Aya Neo “Founder Edition” devices will launch in October.
It’s unclear how much they’ll cost, where they’ll be available, or how many will be produced though.
Update 10/31/2020: Now that October is almost over, the developer has shared an update – the Founder Edition has been slightly delayed, but pre-orders will begin November 7th and the company will show off prototypes at a game show in Shanghai in mid-November.Â
You can find more new details in our article examining the latest Aya Neo prototype.Â
Update 11/09/2020: The AYA Neo is available for pre-order in China and may be eventually become available internationally through an crowdfunding campaign.Â
The Aya Neo features a 7 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel IPS touchscreen LCD display surrounded by game controllers on the left and right sides. While the developer, who goes by “Uncle A” online, has been considering making the controllers detachable like those on a Nintendo Switch, the Founder Edition protoype will have built-in controllers in order to:
- Avoid any legal/patent disputes
- Offer a more compact device
- Feature a sturdier design
The Founder Edition model is also said to be a little smaller than earlier prototypes, measuring about 10 inches (255mm) across, down from 11.1″ (282mm).
Here are the last-known specs for the Aya Neo:
Display | 7 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel IPS LCD |
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 4500U 6-core/6-thread |
GPU | AMD Radeon Vega 6 |
RAM | 16GB DDR4-4266 LPDDR4X |
Storage | 512GB PCIe NVMe |
Battery | 47 Whr |
Other | WiFi 6 Built-in game controllers 10-point multitouch Accelerometer |
Below you’ll find are a few recent pictures of an Aya Neo prototype compared with a Nintendo Switch, plus a recent video showing the prototype in action. Note that it’s unclear whether this is the Founder Edition or an earlier version though.
There’s been a little bit of behind-the-scenes tension in the development of the Aya Neo in recent days, with two of the people who had been helping Uncle A with public relations have departed the project over creative differences. But it sure looks like Uncle A is hoping to bring the gaming handheld to market soon.
Very excited about the Aya. Folks should check out the Discord and YouTube videos. Lots of great info on both.
This is one of the few small handhelds to go with AMD embedded graphics instead of waiting for Tiger Lake. It will be interesting to see these systems compared to each other.