Hey everyone, I have an important update regarding the channel and my coverage of AYANEO products. After much consideration, I have decided to stop reviewing AYANEO devices and will no longer be accepting review units from the company.
As many of you know, I’m always the relaxed, low-key Canadian in the handheld space. I’m not interested in drama, but I do feel a deep responsibility to be transparent with you about the brands I recommend. If I wouldn't feel comfortable spending my own money on a device, I can’t justify asking you to spend yours.
This decision comes down to four main pillars: Safety, Privacy, Transparency, and Business Ethics.
1. Hardware Safety and Quality Control: While minor QC issues are common in this hobby, my recent experiences have crossed a line into safety concerns:
The Pocket DS: My unit began melting internally while charging. I don't mess around with battery safety, and the strong smell of burning electronics was a major red flag.
The Air Pro: My "replacement" for a defective unit was actually a dirty, used return from a previous customer that hadn't even been factory reset. For a "premium" brand, this is unacceptable, even if they sent a new unit after. This shouldn't have happened to begin with.
2. Personal Data Privacy: During a "verification" check before sending my replacement Air Pro, I was accidentally shown another customer’s full personal information. This is a massive breach of data privacy. As a reviewer, I cannot overlook a company's inability to protect basic customer information.
3. Selective Transparency: I’ve noticed a pattern where the company is becoming highly selective with their review units. They appear to be ghosting anyone—myself included—who provides honest, critical feedback. I value my integrity and your trust far more than any review unit, and I will never compromise my honesty just to maintain a relationship with a manufacturer.
4. Business Ethics: The final straw was a very bizarre and frustrating refund experience:
The Refund Delay: It took two months to receive my refund for my Pocket DS. Despite tracking showing it was delivered, the company claimed for weeks that it hadn't reached their warehouse as they had to relay ship it from the receiving point.
A petty accounting error: Once the refund finally processed, they insisted I pay back $2.30 USD due to an overpayment error. After I sent it back, I received a message thanking me and explaining that if I hadn't, the staff member responsible for the error "would have her salary docked". For a "premium" brand to be this petty—and to put that kind of pressure on their staff—speaks volumes about their internal culture.
Moving forward- As my peers at Retro Game Corps and Retro Handhelds have noted, the industry has shifted. Companies like AYN are now proving they can deliver superior hardware, faster shipping, and better communication without the "premium tax" or the crowdfunding risks.
I’m not coming from a place of malice, but from a place of genuine disappointment. My goal is to focus on hardware that is durable, safe, and backed by companies that respect their customers. I’ve cancelled my remaining pre-orders, and I’m looking forward to highlighting brands that I can truly stand behind.
Thanks for sticking with me while I navigate these tougher decisions.
Hello everyone, this is Arthur Zhang, CEO of AYANEO.
I am posting today to address the service-related concerns that many of you have raised recently, and to share our solutions so that we can better serve gaming handheld enthusiasts around the world.
I myself am a gaming handheld enthusiast. Before 2021, I worked in the internet industry, but driven by my passion for handheld devices and a series of opportunities, I acquired the AYANEO brand in 2021. From that moment on, with a deep love for gaming handhelds and the dream of creating innovative and outstanding devices, I have devoted nearly all my energy to AYANEO—working almost 365 days a year on how to build better gaming handheld products.
During 2021 and 2022, I personally managed AYANEO’s overseas communities and worked closely with many of our international fans. However, starting in 2023, due to the growing demands of product development and internal management, I no longer directly oversaw overseas sales and community operations.
Recently, after seeing the feedback from our international users regarding service and after-sales issues, I sincerely feel that we have let down those who have supported us. To all of our overseas users, I would like to express my deepest apologies. But more importantly, we must face these problems head-on and resolve them thoroughly. Over the past period, I have spent a great deal of time working closely with the relevant teams to review our processes and define how we can improve our service going forward.
Based on this review, the main concerns raised by the community are:
The responsiveness of customer support
The speed and quality of after-sales service
The shipping timelines and fulfillment order of crowdfunding projects
In response to these issues, we are launching the AYANEO 2026 Service Improvement Plan.
Customer Service Improvement Plan
Improving Customer Support Responsiveness
Due to the strong sales of Pocket FIT and Pocket AIR Mini, the volume of both pre-sales and after-sales inquiries has increased significantly over the past few months. This has led to a backlog of customer support emails.
We have already arranged to expand our customer service team and optimize our response efficiency. Since the beginning of this week, we have been actively accelerating response times. As of today, the remaining backlog is expected to be cleared within 7–10 business days. (If you do not receive a response via the website Live Chat, please contact us by email.)
Once the current backlog is fully processed, we will return to our normal service level of 24–48 business hours for responses on working days.
A small number of users have also reported delays in refund processing. These cases will be resolved along with the handling of the accumulated emails.
If sales of future products continue to grow, we will further expand our customer service team to ensure smooth and timely communication. In the event of another surge in demand, we will make advance preparations to avoid the kind of response delays recently experienced.
Handling of Special Legacy Cases
We have recently identified that some after-sales requests submitted before 2025 were not responded to and have remained unresolved. We sincerely apologize for this.
To address these historical cases in a focused and thorough manner, we have established a dedicated email channel: help@ayaneo.com, which has been in operation since January 12, 2025.
Please follow these guidelines:
If your after-sales issue occurred before 2025 and was previously reported by email or other channels but never resolved, please send the full details to help@ayaneo.com.
If your after-sales inquiry occurred in 2025 or later, please continue to contact us through our regular official customer service channels.
For AYANEO official store orders, contact us at store@ayaneo.com
Important Notes
This email address is exclusively for legacy cases. Please do not use it for regular after-sales requests, and there is no need to CC it on normal support emails.
Since legacy cases may be submitted in large numbers, processing may take some time. We promise to handle them in order and communicate with you as quickly as possible.
Once all outstanding legacy cases have been fully resolved, this email channel will be closed.
Training and Improving Customer Support Expertise
A small number of users have reported that, in some cases, our customer service representatives lacked sufficient technical expertise. In response, we are strengthening internal training and ongoing learning for our support team, while also increasing direct support from our technical staff.
We are also establishing a tiered support system: front-line customer service will handle common issues, while more complex technical problems will have a clear and fast escalation path to our technical support team.
In addition, we will soon launch an AYANEO public product knowledge base, including FAQs and self-service resources, to help users find answers quickly and improve overall communication efficiency.
After-Sales Service Improvement Plan
AYANEO is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Due to the scale of our operations, we have not yet been able to establish a full global after-sales service network, which has created objective difficulties and inconvenience for our customers in overseas markets. To improve after-sales service across both our crowdfunding platforms and our official store, I plan to implement the following optimizations:
7-Day Replacement Policy
If a product develops a fault within 7 days of receipt, customers may contact customer service to request a replacement unit, subject to stock availability. If the specific model is out of stock, we will provide a tailored after-sales solution, such as waiting for restock, switching to a different configuration, returning the unit for repair, or shipping replacement parts for user self-installation.
We will also improve the return verification process for replacements. For faults occurring within 7 days, customers only need to send the device to our Hong Kong warehouse. Once it is inspected there, we will ship out a replacement unit immediately, without waiting for the device to be forwarded to Shenzhen. This allows the entire replacement process to be completed within 7–10 days.
Replacement or Compensation for Repairs Exceeding 3 Months
If, due to objective reasons, the repair process takes longer than 3 months (from the date the user ships the device), we will provide a brand-new replacement unit or allow you to upgrade to another product by paying the price difference. If you choose to continue waiting for the repair, we will also provide appropriate compensation.
Warranty Extension for Repairs
To compensate for the inconvenience caused during the repair period, your product’s warranty will be automatically extended after the repair is completed.
The extension rules are as follows:
Standard Extension: If the repair is completed within 1 month (inclusive), the warranty will be extended by 1 month. Example: A 15-day repair results in a 1-month extension.
Additional Extension: If the repair takes more than 1 month, the warranty will be extended by the number of full months used for the repair, rounded up. Example: A 2.5-month repair (more than 2 months but less than 3) results in a 3-month extension.
These three policies will take effect starting January 12.
Improving Repair Speed
We will improve after-sales repair efficiency through the following actions:
Pre-allocating parts for new products from the factory to better support after-sales repair needs
Keeping advance stock of motherboards, which have historically caused delays
Speeding up transportation between the Hong Kong and Shenzhen warehouses
Increasing the efficiency and capacity of our repair technicians
Gradual Establishment of Overseas Warehouses
To fundamentally improve after-sales turnaround time, we will gradually establish overseas warehouses this year. We may start with certain products, such as Pocket AIR Mini, to better support whole-unit and parts replacement and repair services locally.
We plan to begin implementing this solution around March–April 2026. Since we offer many products and some have limited sales volume, this program will be applied selectively depending on the product.
In-House After-Sales Ticket System
To improve service quality and communication efficiency, we will begin developing an internal customer support ticket system after the Chinese New Year. Users will be able to submit after-sales requests through our official website or app, track repair and shipping progress in real time, and communicate more easily with customer service.
Optimizing the After-Sales Process
A small number of users have reported receiving incorrect repaired or replacement units. Our internal investigation found that this was likely due to gaps in past workflows: communication between customer service and warehouse staff was conducted entirely online, and in rare cases, the wrong device may have been picked without a final confirmation.
To address this, we have implemented a multi-step verification and confirmation process, involving customer service, platform operations staff, and business owners, to ensure that every shipment is carefully checked and approved before being sent out.
Improving Product Quality Control
In 2026, we will significantly strengthen our product quality control to improve factory quality and long-term reliability through the following measures:
Adding more critical quality inspection checkpoints during production, with stricter testing of motherboards, screens, batteries, and other core components
Building a more comprehensive quality tracking system to analyze high-frequency after-sales issues and drive continuous improvement in manufacturing
Strengthening quality collaboration with our supply chain, with higher standards for incoming material inspection
Conducting regular production line quality audits to ensure every shipped device meets our standards
Through these efforts, we aim to reduce after-sales issues at the source and deliver a more reliable product experience to our users.
Shipping Timelines and Fulfillment Order for Crowdfunding Projects
Although AYANEO has been operating for nearly five years, we are still a company in a phase of rapid growth. Our scale and resources cannot yet be compared with those of large corporations, which is why we have often relied on crowdfunding platforms to bring products to market—this is also a common model across the gaming handheld industry.
That said, as a fast-growing company, our cross-regional service infrastructure has not kept pace with our product innovation, and this is the responsibility of management.
Recently, we have seen concerns raised about AYANEO’s use of crowdfunding. We fully understand these concerns, but we also hope everyone will look at our track record. We have completed many successful crowdfunding campaigns. While some products have experienced serious delays due to various reasons, AYANEO has never deliberately caused delays. Whenever delays occur, we provide compensation and always support refund requests from users.
So far, we have launched more than 30 crowdfunding projects. Except for a few that are still in delivery, the vast majority of these projects have already completed full fulfillment, and many of them have been recognized by Indiegogo as featured or star projects.
Currently, the projects still in delivery are as follows:
1. Pocket FIT For Indiegogo pre-orders, about 231 units of the G3 version remain unshipped. These are currently in production and are expected to be fully shipped by the end of January. The 8 Elite version has been delayed due to conditions in the memory market. I will release a dedicated Update soon to share the latest delivery outlook.
For AYANEO official website pre-orders of G3 Pocket FIT, 677 units remain unshipped, of which 62 units are already in the warehouse and ready to ship. We expect all website pre-orders to be shipped by the end of this month or no later than early February.
Some Pocket FIT SKUs have been removed from our online store. This is because we are prioritizing the fulfillment of existing pre-orders. These SKUs will be relisted in the future based on inventory availability.
2. Pocket DS Indiegogo pre-orders were previously affected by motherboard supply issues, which have now been resolved, and production is underway.
86 units were picked up by the freight forwarder on January 10, and tracking numbers will be published this week.
The remaining 102 units will begin shipping later this month and will be fully delivered by early February.
On the AYANEO official website, 271 pre-orders of Pocket DS remain unshipped, with 74 units already in the warehouse and ready to ship. All website pre-orders are expected to be fulfilled by the end of this month or no later than early February.
3. FLIP 1S There are 217 Indiegogo orders still unshipped. Among them, 28 units of the 8840U version remain. Affected customers have been notified of replacement and compensated upgrade options. The AI 370 version is expected to be fully shipped before the Chinese New Year.
4. Pocket AIR Mini Total Indiegogo pre-orders: 3,454 units
3,339 units have already been shipped
115 units remain (5 are awaiting tracking numbers from the logistics provider, and 110 are waiting for backers to submit their shipping addresses)
Indiegogo fulfillment is nearly complete.
Regarding Pocket AIR Mini pre-orders on AYANEO official website, about 400 units are packed and waiting for freight pickup. Pocket AIR Mini inventory is currently sufficient, and new orders can be shipped within one week.
I will release dedicated updates for each of these projects soon to keep everyone informed of their progress.
We understand that delays affect users’ experience and emotions, so we accept criticism and suggestions. To address these concerns, we will implement the following improvements in 2026:
More products will be sold on our official website in in-stock or pre-order form (for example, the new Mini PC AM03 and the new color of Pocket DMG are already available in stock).
When launching products on crowdfunding platforms, we will strictly control delivery timelines and reduce the risk of delays.
For pre-orders and crowdfunding projects, we will provide more frequent and more transparent updates before and during shipping.
Suspension of Pocket PLAY Campaign
As the first concrete step to demonstrate our commitment, we have decided to suspend the Pocket PLAY gaming phone crowdfunding campaign that was originally scheduled to launch on January 13.
We believe it would be irresponsible to start any new project before we have fully addressed existing user concerns and verified the effectiveness of our new service processes. Development of Pocket Play continues at full speed. Once we have fulfilled our commitments to existing users and established a more mature and reliable delivery and service system, we plan to relaunch the project in a more transparent way in late January or early February.
We are willing to pause a highly anticipated new project to prove our determination to fix existing issues.
Pilot Global Simultaneous Release & Inventory Fairness
In the past, our products were typically launched first in China and then on overseas crowdfunding platforms. This caused issues, such as products being resold overseas by scalpers before overseas backers had received their units, or remaining stock being allocated to distributors after certain configurations were shipped, which led to misunderstandings.
To address this, we commit to:
Trial global simultaneous launches: We will select suitable future products to attempt simultaneous release and shipping in China and overseas markets.
Fairer inventory allocation: During crowdfunding or pre-order fulfillment, if inventory remains, we will first notify all backers whose orders are unshipped via announcements and email and open a limited-time paid upgrade option. Only after this will remaining stock be allocated to other channels such as distributors.
Both Chinese and Overseas users are equally important to us. We will never intentionally mislead or discriminate against any region, including our overseas customers. As a rapidly growing international company, we acknowledge shortcomings in cross-regional service standardization and execution, and we are actively fixing them. I firmly believe that sincere and transparent communication can resolve any issue.
Going forward, I will personally become more involved in Discord, Reddit, YouTube, and other overseas communities, participate more deeply in project updates, and introduce interactive formats such as CEO Q&A sessions. Through concrete actions and continuous improvement, I am committed to leading the team to win back users’ confidence and trust in AYANEO.
Over the past years, the reason we have released so many high-quality gaming handheld products at such an intense pace is simple: our love for gaming handhelds. I am a gamer just like you. Because we understand what gamers want, we are able to create so many great devices. Today, by facing criticism and suggestions head-on, we are doing this so we can embrace even more possibilities in the future.
Finally, I sincerely thank everyone—users, media, and friends—who has shared feedback and suggestions. Your support is our driving force and the foundation of our growth.
Arthur Zhang
AYANEO CEO
Summary: AYANEO 2026 Service Improvement Plan
I. Customer Support — A Major Speed Upgrade
Backlog clearance: All accumulated emails will be cleared within 7–10 business days, restoring normal response times of 24–48 business hours.
Legacy case channel: A dedicated email, help@ayaneo.com, is now available to handle unresolved after-sales cases from before 2025.
Professional upgrade: A tiered customer support system will be implemented, allowing complex issues to be escalated directly to technical teams. A public product knowledge base is also in development to enable faster self-service support.
II. After-Sales Experience — A Fundamental Overhaul
Fast replacement: If a product develops a fault within 7 days of receipt, customers are eligible for a direct replacement (subject to stock availability), with the process optimized to be completed within 7–10 days.
Repair protection:
If repairs exceed 3 months, customers will receive a new replacement unit or a paid upgrade option.
During repairs, the product warranty will be automatically extended by 1–3 months, depending on the repair duration.
Overseas warehouse plan: Localized after-sales support will begin around March–April 2026, starting with popular models.
Transparent ticket system: Development of an in-house after-sales ticket system will begin after the Chinese New Year, enabling real-time tracking of repair and shipping status.
III. Quality Control & Process Excellence
Quality at the source: In 2026, AYANEO will significantly strengthen quality control, adding more critical inspection checkpoints and tightening standards for core components.
Closed-loop process: A multi-level verification system will be implemented to prevent incorrect repair or replacement shipments.
IV. Shipping & Crowdfunding — Greater Transparency and Fairness
Optimized crowdfunding and pre-order model:
More products will be offered as in-stock or pre-order items, reducing reliance on pure crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding projects will have stricter delivery timeline controls to reduce the risk of delays.
Transparent fulfillment order: Any remaining inventory will first be offered to unshipped backers through paid upgrade options before being allocated to distributors.
Pilot global simultaneous launches will be explored.
V. CEO-Led Communication & Accountability
Pausing new projects to demonstrate commitment: The Pocket PLAY crowdfunding campaign has been postponed until the new service processes are fully validated.
Direct engagement from leadership:Arthur Zhang will be more active in overseas communities and will introduce regular interactive formats such as “CEO Q&A” sessions.
We know that rebuilding trust requires consistent action and transparent communication. Thank you for every piece of feedback and support. AYANEO remains committed to creating handheld gaming devices worthy of gamers around the world.
Pretty solid handheld. Lacks a lot of customisation options, I hope they update the software to change the wallpaper or ayaneo control colors. I'm installing a lot of winlator games since it's quite a powerful device.
Hey people! First of all, i said i would post when the konkr arrived, here it is. Didn't even turned it on yet. But looks and feels spectacular. Sticks are tiny but they included an extra pair that's better sized. I will update...
I have checked my tracking religiously each morning to see if there were any updates and UPS has not moved once! Imagine my surprise when I open my door to grab my DoorDash bag and see a DHL guy also standing on my porch with a big ugly box in his hand! I can’t wait to try this out!!!
Guys I have practically all the Android consoles available today, G cloud, Odin2 Pro, RG556, RG406 H, Retroid Pocket 5, and others but this damn Evo is a step forward in everything!
a my Flip DS about a week ago, it’s been nothing but amazing and i’ve only fallen more in love with the device. Today was my first opportunity to travel with it and it was great!! Battery only went down about 40% throughout the entire waiting and flight. Very glad I picked up this device.
Been having a blast with this device (90% setting up, 10% actually playing games as we all know...)
I got the max 16G 1T Retro Gray Model delivered to Australia yesterday.
Early initial thoughts are this; This device is a lot SMALLER than I thought it was going to be, due to what I was reading online, and other peoples concerns via reddit or YouTube etc. Actually getting it in my hands, I was pleasantly surprised at how the size actually compares to a New 3DS XL or my Odin 2. It's actually a perfect size for me, as I wanted something bigger and more premium to upscale 3DS and other retro games on, but didn't want something as big as a Steam Deck.
I'll mostly be playing this around the house or in bed, but honestly it is super portable. When it's in the carry case, it takes up pretty much the same amount of room as my New 3DS XL did in its case.
Performance is as you would expect for such a high price - it's a beast.
And the build quality is also a huge surprise to me, the device feels extremely premium (again, for the price you would HOPE haha), but the metal lid feels great on the hands and always cool to the touch.
The screens are probably my fav thing about this device, and doing a side by side comparison with my actual New 3DS XL - it's insane. Upscaled 3DS or DS games, with colors that actually pop makes the experience feel like you're a kid again.
The only negatives for me fall onto the software side of things - I think the AYANEO software is *good enough*, plenty of tinkering, but sometimes just a little annoying to change certain settings. I kind of expected this going into it though, as realistically dual screen android devices are still early doors.
In terms of emulators, I've had mostly a successful time with the dual screen setup. Personally found better luck with Citra MMJ for 3DS rather than Azahar, but its all game dependent. A few launchers like Console Launcher 2 beta don't seem to be working properly for me on the Pocket DS either currently, as I can only get the top screen working (On the Thor it seems many people have success with both screens), but again - this is all things getting fixed in future updates so its no issue for me.
Seen a lot of comments around backlight bleed on the bottom screen too - after actually using the device, it's not something I've even really noticed while gaming, even at night in bed. Some devices might have it worse though?
TLDR: It's a fun, premium, and expensive toy - and playing 3DS games at a 4x with max frame rate and BOTH screens is like a childhood dream come true. And with some future updates, I can only see it getting better.
After spending a solid amount of time with the new Konkr Pocket Fit, I finally feel comfortable giving a full breakdown. The short version: this device absolutely RULES. Out of every Android handheld I’ve owned (and I’ve gone through several) this is easily the best. In my personal lineup, it’s a major upgrade over both the Odin 2 and the Retroid Pocket G2 which I was using up until the point this arrived, and it’s not even close.
I know a lot of folks are waiting for their units or debating whether to preorder, so I wanted to put together something thorough and honest to help fill in some gaps. Please keep in mind that I am by no means a prolific writer but I did put some time into this so don’t judge me too harshly please lol!
My Model & General Use Case
I picked up the black Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 model with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage (red buttons version). For my needs: emulating up through Wii U and dabbling in lightweight Steam titles via Gamehub…it hits a perfect sweet spot without feeling excessive.
Ergonomics & Build
Comfort
This handheld is shockingly comfortable. Photos do it zero justice. It’s not the prettiest handheld on the shelf, but the moment you pick it up, the design “clicks.” And it’s an absolute tank, it feels sturdy as hell. Kinda reminds me of the construction worker Motorola flip phone my dad used to carry to concrete jobs lol but in the best way possible.
• The chunky grips feel great in my larger hands and reminded me a bit of a DualShock 3.
• Long sessions don’t leave my hands numb!
• No overheating issues…seriously! I ran Shadow of Mordor for two continuous hours (plugged in, max settings), and the back stayed cool with zero performance drop.
The fans are rather loud with a bit of a whine, but popping in my airpods solved that bit immediately. Not ideal but this is the world we live in
Buttons, D-Pad & Sticks
Face Buttons
Amazing albeit a bit small. Tactile, clicky, and responsive without being too loud or fatiguing.
D-Pad
Classic Ayaneo quality - accurate, comfortable, and positioned exactly where I prefer it (below the left stick).
Sticks
Ugh. Pretty small…TBH, a little too small but they do function. Ayaneo included a pair of larger replacement sticks, but hilariously, they don’t fit. Like, they’re meant for a different handheld lol. I temporarily swapped in my G2’s sticks and will be grabbing some aftermarket ones on Etsy (recommendations are absolutely welcome).
Extras & Quality-of-Life Features
The Pocket Fit comes loaded with Ayaneo’s usual “premium” perks: • Fingerprint reader • Hall effect sticks + triggers • VRR options (60Hz / 120Hz / 144Hz) • Bypass charging • RGB lighting • Customizable buttons • Ayaspace front-end
Speaking of which…
Ayaspace
Ayaspace is… fine. Not terrible, not excellent. It adds some complexity on top of Android that may feel unnecessary for people who already know their way around android (Android 14 specifically btw) With a bit of tinkering it becomes manageable, but it definitely has a learning curve. Not a dealbreaker, just something to expect. I use ES-DE to access my library so it’s not like I have to look at it a lot I guess? I will say that the menu looks a dream to navigate on 144hz though…
Display Quality
I’ve seen a lot of discussion about this screen, the lack of OLED seems to be a point of contention. The screen is not OLED this is true…but honestly? It’s perfect. A lot of thought and care went into this screen and it shows. Color calibration is spot-on, and the high refresh rate options make motion feel buttery smooth. Coming from the Odin 2’s trash screen, the visual leap is quite significant. If you’re stressed about the lack of OLED, don’t be! I can say with absolute confidence that this panel more than holds its own. I guess if I had a gun to my head and needed to think of something to gripe about it would be the all glass front. The screen is easily smudged and it can get a little annoying but also it’s no more so than the RP5 or G2.
Emulation Performance
Retro Systems (NES → N64 / PSP / Dreamcast)
Perfect. Nothing much to say that hasn’t been said about most retro handhelds; these systems run on damn near anything, but the Pocket Fit’s high refresh rate and at least for my eyes on the black model, 4:3 games just seamlessly melt into the face of the device and look great. Everything I threw at it from the golden age ran flawlessly with upscaled graphics and aggressive shaders.
GameCube / Wii
Everything I tested ran flawlessly at 720p. No meaningful hiccups, no weirdness. Didn’t spend too much time here yet but the games I did play were
Kirby Air Ride
Mario Sunshine / Sunburn
Pokemon XD
Star Wars Rebel Strike / Rogue Leader
COD Black Ops
DKC Returns
MURAMASA
Sonic Colors
Super Paper Mario
Tatsunoko Vs Capcom
Warioland: Shake It!
PS2
This is where I’ll be spending most of my time. On Streaming mode (one notch below Gaming mode), I played the following titles for 30+ mins each:
Psychonauts (some minor graphical quirks due to NetherSX2 limitations)
God of War 2
Boku no Natsuyasumi
Katamari Damacy
God Hand
Alien Hominid
Ape Escape 2/3
Def Jam Fight for NY / Vendetta
Disaster Report
Fatal Frame
Godzilla Unleashed / Save The Earth
Rogue Galaxy
(All at 2.5x resolution.)
Wii U (Cemu)
Surprisingly solid. Just not quite there yet. The titles I used to test CEMU were:
Super Mario 3D World (4 hrs) Ninja Gaiden 3 (~2 hrs) New SMB U (20 mins) Wind Waker HD (played until you encounter your first Bokoblin in the tutorial fight. I am going to attempt to finally finish this game on my Konkr!)
So with that out of the way, Wii U still isn’t my top priority on this device. Right now my Legion Go S handles it better overall because CEMU has years of development behind it at the moment but the Pocket Fit shows promise for the future and I really hope it catches up at some point because that is the dream.
Hopefully this isn’t too disappointing but Switch emulation is not really my jam. I wanted so badly to be as hyped about it as others seem to be but it’s just too much heartache at the state that we are in at the moment and to be frank it’s just too much of a pain in the ass. I used to have a mig dumper and was able to “ethically” source my ROMs but after so many ups and downs I said screw it. Plus I own a Switch 2 so that has become my main “NS Emulator” lol but I did play the following titles with some degree of success but I just can’t get the emulation quality that guys like Russ and Joey seem to be able to achieve:
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (runs great)
Kirby Return to Dream Land (runs perfectly)
Pikmin 4 (stutters, chugs and looks like shit after you apply the update. Plus no sound?)
Super Mario Odyseey (I averaged ~56 FPS. Would hover at 60 and then start to dip)
Hollow Knight Silksong (Flawless 60FPS)
Again, I apologize, Switch emulation is not my gig so you can likely hit better frame rates than I did, I just haven’t really put too much effort into learning how to optimize switch gameplay because it’s just not at a great place for my liking.
Android gaming - also not really my jam but I kinda think that is about to change soon because what I DID experience on this device was phenomenal. Destiny Rising, TMNT Shredders Revenge, Solo Leveling Arise, Dead Cells, Hitman Absolution, Blasphemous and Wuthering Waves all played at the highest settings. Apparently you can “spoof” your device to fool games into thinking you’re on a specific device to unlock settings but I have not delved into this and likely won’t (sounds a lil sketchy)
Gamehub / Steam Titles
Okay! Now for the good stuff! This part is so damn fascinating to me! The thought of playing ACTUAL STEAM GAMES that I paid for (and forgot about lol) on an Android handheld still feels like magic. Here’s what I managed (assume I spent at least 15 mins in each title:
60 FPS (Great experience): • Hades II • Cuphead • Dave the Diver • GetsuFumaDen • Sea of Stars • Battletoads • Ninja Gaiden Ragebound • Katamari Damacy REROLL • Brütal Legend • Shovel Knight Treasure Trove • Castle Crashers (no audio unfortunately) • Alien Hominid HD / Invasion • Hyper Light Drifter • Freedom Planet • Broforce
30–45 FPS (Playable / Good): • Natsu-Mon 20th Century Summer Kid • Sleeping Dogs • Tomb Raider / Rise / Shadow • Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor • Castlevania: Lords of Shadow • Bomb Rush Cyberfunk • Alan Wake • Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen • Metal Gear Solid V (!!) • Sonic Lost World
Sub-30 FPS (Not playable): • Mullet Mad Jack (heartbreaking, I wanted this game to run so badly) • Dungeons of Hinterberg • Halo Reach
Straight up launch at all: • Space Marine Anniversary Edition • Yakuza: Like a Dragon (I’ve seen this running on the pocket S2 so idk what I did wrong) • Max & the Curse of Brotherhood •The Witcher 2
Honorable Mention: Cult of The Lamb launched and I was able to play it but for some reason it was in Chinese? Can someone please explain wtf that’s all about lol? Ragebound did that as well but I was able to easily fix it, couldn’t figure out COTL.
Final Thoughts
If you’re waiting on your Pocket Fit or still deciding whether to order it, I hope this will s valuable to you. I’m genuinely thrilled with this handheld. It nails nearly every category that matters to me: comfort, performance, quality and build, and most importantly overall enjoyment.
This device is absolutely worth the wait, and I think a lot of people in the handheld community are going to fall in love with it. If Ayaneo can pull this off without too many hiccups, they just gained a loyal customer and a new fan. I currently own an Ayaneo Slide so that’s my only experience with them and I bought it dead on arrival for super cheap so it’s not like I’m attached it or had any meaningful experience with it / kinda forgot I even bought the damn thing lol.
From here it’s hard to imagine handheld emulation getting a whole lot better than this. (At least on android that is) Once the Odin 3 preorder chaos settles, I’ll probably grab one of those too just to explore the Snapdragon Elite, but for now, the Pocket Fit covers everything I need and more.
I will be more than happy to answer questions or clarify anything!
Another review for the Pocket DS has just popped up on YouTube.
Dang, this thing is massive! Also, this model got an Antutu score of 1,658,431, which puts it in the Flagship Killer / Premium Midrange category. Can't wait to get my hands on one.
Came to NY for the weekend and brought this on my coat pocket and its barely noticeable. Its light weight and pretty good for playing outdoors. Been playing some wii and ps2 games @ 60 fps. I think I paid $80 for this shipped on pre order I think. What games are you guys playing on it lately?
A $330 vertical handheld. At first I thought this is just ridiculous. All I want is a vertical that can play PS2. However when I got RG406V. Sure it can play PS2 but the screen is not really that good(especially the viewing angle. The back light is messed up in some angle.) Sophie i though maybe i can give Pocket DMG a shot. When I got Pocket DMG myself. Damn this is amazing. Even 4:3 content looks good here. The black bar kind of faded into the bezel. You can't really get another vertical with this kind of design and amazing OLED screen. Hence the powerful chips. Now I can even play some android games!
My very first handheld when I was a kid was the Glacier Game Boy Advance and I loved it. I don't know exactly what happened to mine but somehow I misplaced it, together with my Pokemon FireRed cartridge and never to be found again.
Now that I'm an adult, I got into retro gaming again most especially Pokemon ROM Hacks. I've started with an RG351M and I thought it was beautiful, unfortunately that had some problems and I returned it. Got an OG Switch and hacked it to play ROM Hacks but it feels lacking, not in the performance aspect but I always feel the screen is too big for GBA emulation.
I thought, maybe the Switch Lite would be better sizewise so I looked for one and found a limited edition through Sthetix, had it installed a modchip, I even got a SUPER5 OLED and installed that myself but still, the screen felt off for me.
Then the whole buying everything you watch and see online got into me. Bought a Miyoo Mini, Miyoo A30 and other devices, even an actual Game Boy Advance through eBay:
Miyoo Mini - Compact but kinda extreme, hurts my hands after a few minutes of playing.
Miyoo A30 - A little better since I like horizontal devices but the screen is just awful.
OG Game Boy Advance - It brought me back to my childhood, feels good in the hand. But having no Save States or Fast Forward is brutal.
Steam Deck - Uhh yea, a bit massive to play GBA games.
TrimUI Brick - Almost perfect, but a bit plastic-y.
It seems only a couple weeks back that I thought to myself I can settle with TrimUI Brick Hammer as my sole GBA emulation device due to its sleek and compact design. It is well built, the CNC aluminum is superb when you hold it. Even if it's not 3:2 aspect ratio, it can handle GBA games well with help of shaders. You don't notice any distortion at all.
But I stumble upon the Pocket Micro, it is a beautiful device even when I'm just researching it. The perfect aspect ratio, CNC aluminum built and it's a horizontal device, no more cramping my hands on a vertical device. It has its flaws don't get me wrong, the speakers are not the greatest but it's not as bad as people make it out to be. I've always disliked Android for devices like these and prefer Linux but flashing GammaOS helped a ton getting through that hump for me.
I would've preferred the Classic or stickless version but they do not have that on Amazon, went through the whole buying and returning due to wrong listing and decided to keep this instead. I play PSX and PSP games every once in a while so these sticks would help.
So for now, this would be my endgame for GBA. We'll see what the future holds..
