It felt like magic. The Steam Deck performed virtually every little thing when Valve launched the hand held in 2022. By toggling to low graphical settings, even Elden Ring ran on the diminutive display screen. However in 2025, gaming’s newest visible spectacles — together with crucial darlings Indiana Jones and Dragon’s Dogma 2 — gained’t boot on Valve’s now-aging {hardware}.
Enter the Ayaneo 3, some of the highly effective (and costly) handhelds to seem within the wake of Valve’s hit. For over two weeks, I’ve been testing a preview construct of the ridiculously highly effective handheld. Each of the aforementioned titles run on the Ayaneo 3, as do a number of embargoed AAA video games that shall be launched within the coming months — operating on medium settings, no much less!
However the place the Steam Deck miraculously match the most effective of desktop PC gaming on a handheld that price $399 and labored out of the field, Ayaneo’s PC energy comes with prices on all fronts.
The {hardware} is way more costly, beginning at $799 should you pre-order early on Indiegogo and go for the much less highly effective CPU. Need an Ayaneo 3 much like the one I examined, that includes the extra highly effective AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU? The pre-order value begins at $1,399. The construct I examined, with a retro-inspired exterior, a group of modular handles, and 4TB of storage will set you again $1,999 should you order on Indiegogo (and can retail for an eye-watering $2,099).
Photograph: Chris Plante/gamexplore
It’s possible you’ll marvel who would pay almost 3 times the value of the most effective Steam OLED for a console that may play an additional handful of latest video games. Contemplate the broader PC gaming ecosystem, the place these with the means will calmly drop $2k each time NVIDIA launches a brand new top-of-the-line GPU to run the identical video games at ever-higher resolutions and body charges. It ought to be no shock, then, that the “extra energy irrespective of the fee” mentality of desktop PC gaming tradition would migrate into handheld gaming, turning that new panorama into an analogous arm’s race.
And it’s PC avid gamers who could have persistence for the Ayaneo 3’s quirks. Don’t count on the “it simply works” ease of the Steam Deck. Put together for the kind of tinkering that’s lengthy been required for gaming on Home windows. I spent my first two hours struggling to get the Ayaneo 3’s controls to be interpreted as a controller relatively than a keyboard and mouse. After which I bumped into points with the HDR settings.
Ought to I blame Ayaneo’s bold however flawed UI or Home windows 11? I’m nonetheless not fairly positive, however in all probability each?
However when it really works: magic!
After the primary couple of days of frustrations, my time with the Ayaneo 3 has been a pleasure. I really feel, as I did with the unique Steam Deck, like I’m holding the long run. The {hardware} itself is decadent: cozy Corridor triggers, forceful haptics, a 7” 144Hz OLED display screen with 800nits HDR, and shockingly wonderful sound — besting one of many Deck’s strongest shock options. Although the modest battery — like with many handhelds — virtually requires you to hold an industrial-grade energy brick for prolonged on-the-go gaming.
Photograph: Chris Plante/gamexplore
In a real act of overkill, the hand held is the primary of its sort to function modular controls. In idea, with the faucet of a button, the 2 ovals housing the joysticks, D-pad, and buttons will pop from the hand held, permitting various modules to take their place. I examined an unfinished preview unit — with specifics relating to the modules beneath embargo — so I can’t communicate to the function’s longterm reliability, however I can say it’s novel to play a preventing sport on a handheld utilizing a customized combat pad module.
Is that novelty price the fee? No. However that’s irrelevant. The Ayaneo 3 isn’t for somebody who needs to stretch their greenback. It’s for whoever who needs probably the most highly effective handheld on the planet, irrespective of the fee on their pockets and their time — the gaming equal of steroids that construct muscle quick however break the bank and have, nicely, let’s simply say unwanted side effects.
For now, barring any surprising complications, the Ayaneo 3 has usurped the Steam Deck OLED and the Asus ROG Ally as my go-to handheld. However because it continues to get updates, I’m left questioning what sort of magic I’m wielding.
I hold speaking about magic, which calls to thoughts pictures of wizards and sorceresses. But when I had been to roll a D&D character for my Ayaneo 3, the higher match can be a barbarian, a category with unimaginable energy. When it hits, it obliterates the competitors. However it will also be clunky and awkward. Sometimes, getting it to do what I would like appears like arguing with a brick wall. Then, WHAM, the Ayaneo 3 runs a contemporary sport at 60 fps with out breaking a sweat.
If the ultimate product “simply works” just like the Steam Deck does, its bounty of high-end options could justify the value tag. And if not? Because the Indiegogo pre-sales already present, a contingent of PC avid gamers gained’t let some complications get in the best way of horsepower.
The Ayaneo 3 is obtainable for pre-order on Indiegogo. It was examined utilizing a pre-release unit supplied by Ayaneo. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media could earn commissions for merchandise bought through affiliate hyperlinks. Yow will discover extra details about gamexplore’s ethics coverage right here.
