Ayaneo wants up to $4,299 for its Next 2 flagship gaming handheld. I'll give you a moment to let that sink in, as that's the price of its top-end model, and even the cheapest version costs almost two grand. Keep in mind the portable was previously suspended due to high production costs, but it feels like the boutique device maker is now hoping early bird discounts will save its campaign.
Over at the freshly re-launched Ayaneo Next 2 IndieGoGo page, the best gaming handheld contender now starts at $1,799.99. That's the version with 32GB RAM and 1TB storage with an early bird discount applied, meaning if you wait until after the launch, you'll pay next to two grand. It's also armed with a lower-spec AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 chipset compared to the two other models, but those will make even the steepest portable prices blush.
If you're gunning for at least the mid-tier Next 2 model with 64GB RAM and an A1+ 395 APU, you're looking at $2,299.99 with discounts applied. Even with the Steam Deck OLED sitting way too high for its own good thanks to RAMageddon, you could still grab almost three of those, and I'm pretty sure I have less funds in my life savings account right now.
I'm half poking fun at the 64GB version price, but I can't quite compute why the top-end 128GB/2TB combo is a thing at $3,499. Again, that's with an early-bird discount serving as a saving grace, as the top Ayaneo Next 2 comes with a $4,299 MSRP. I've been working with handhelds and analysing the scene for decades at this point, and I can't grasp who that model is actually for.
Just to be clear, you are getting a premium handheld for your money. The Next 2 is rocking a massive 9.06-inch 165Hz OLED display with a max 2,400 x 1,504 resolution, adjustable TMR thumbsticks, and dual touchpads. While a chunk of the cost is sunk into inflated RAM and storage prices sparked by AI data centre demand, Ayaneo's portable was always going to be pricier than its competition thanks to its feature set.
Believe me when I say I'm not being flippant, as I can't see even ultra-enthusiasts paying over $4,000 for a handheld given their nature. There's a reason we've continued to get waves of portables this decade, and it's due to how quickly next-gen contenders succeed chipsets.
Unlike with consoles that use custom silicon, even the "top" portables like the ROG Xbox Ally X with its AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme are finding themselves quickly outpaced thanks to new Intel Arc G3 Extreme and Ryzen AI+ models. Don't get me wrong, I love testing newcomers to see how much further they can boost fps compared to last year's model, but the current price situation makes it solely feel like a banana-swinging exercise.
Sure, the Ayaneo Next 2 might end up being the beefiest handheld gaming PC out there, and the company certainly knows how to make a punchy portable. I'm not uncomfortable with the way buying a handheld now feels like investing in something like a car, and yearly spec changeups mean that players will likely only hang onto their devices for a couple of years before trying to trade them up for a hotter model.
There's an anxiety goblin telling me that things will go the way of the PlayStation Portal and the pricing situation will prompt the handheld scene to embrace a cloud streaming future as a solution. We're already set to lose access to physical media, and if playing on the latest hardware comes with a tariff in the thousands, actually owning capable hardware at home could soon become a thing of the past.
Check out the best retro handhelds if you'd rather stick with the classics.
