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The AYANEO Air is a 5.5 inch 16:9 Windows handheld that plays everything up to Wii U well. It came out in August 2022 at $499. Inside is the AMD Ryzen 5 5560U with 8 GB of RAM.
Who it's for
Buy it if
- You want to play everything up to Wii U, plus some Switch.
- You want a 5.5 inch screen and carry it in a bag or a jacket.
Skip it if
- You want something light: it weighs 410 g.
- You only play up to PS1: handhelds under $60 do that.
AYANEO Air videos
What it plays
Plays up to: Wii U. Chip: AMD Ryzen 5 5560U.
Scores out of 100. 100 means the system runs at full speed with no known issues on this device. 80 or more plays well (green), 50 to 79 plays partly (yellow).
What the specs mean
16:9 screen
PSP and Switch games fill it. 4:3 home consoles show bars at the sides, and Game Boy games look small.
Based on: Display math: native screen shapes of each system
Sharpest fit: GBA
At 6x, GBA fills 67% of the screen with even pixels. Filling the rest means stretching, which some people smooth with a filter.
Based on: Display math: largest whole-number scale that fits the screen
Big battery for its class
Only 6 of 59 Windows handhelds in our database have a bigger battery than this 7,350 mAh (the middle one has 65 mAh).
Based on: Our handheld database: battery of 59 Windows handhelds
DS on one screen
DS games show both screens shrunk side by side, or one big screen you swap. The touch screen stands in for the stylus.
Based on: Layout data: single screen with touch
Rating
How we score: what it plays 30%, how many players own and recommend it 20%, screen 15%, price compared with handhelds that play as much 10%, controls 10%, size and weight 10%, battery size for its chip 5%.
Good
- Plays everything up to Wii U well
- OLED screen with deep blacks
- Hall effect sticks, so no stick drift
- Video out to a TV
- Big 7,350 mAh battery
Not so good
- Heavy at 410 g
- High-end price
Screen fit
Screen: 5.5 inch, OLED, 16:9, 1920 x 1080.
| System | Original | Sharpest scale | Screen filled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Boy | 160 x 144 | 7x (1120 x 1008) | 54% |
| GBA | 240 x 160 | 6x (1440 x 960) | 67% |
| NES and SNES | 256 x 224 | 4x (1024 x 896) | 44% |
| Genesis | 320 x 224 | 4x (1280 x 896) | 55% |
| PS1 and N64 | 320 x 240 | 4x (1280 x 960) | 59% |
| DS, one screen | 256 x 192 | 5x (1280 x 960) | 59% |
| PSP | 480 x 272 | 3x (1440 x 816) | 57% |
Whole-number scales keep every pixel the same size. Screen 1920 x 1080.
Size
224 x 89.5 x 17 - 26.7 mm, 410 g. Too big for a jeans pocket
- AYANEO Air (224 x 89.5 mm)
- iPhone 15 (71.6 x 147.6 mm)
True scale, front view. Jeans pocket = front no bigger than an iPhone 15 Pro Max in a case (160 x 82 mm).
Specs
| Performance | |
|---|---|
| Chip | AMD Ryzen 5 5560U |
| CPU | AMD Zen 3 |
| Cores | 6 |
| Clock speed | 2.3 GHz - 4.0 GHz |
| GPU | AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 |
| RAM | 8 GB LPDDR4X |
| Cooling | Yes |
| Screen | |
| Size | 5.5" |
| Type | OLED |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz |
| Pixel density | 400 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Touch screen | Yes |
| Dual screen | No |
| Controls | |
| D-pad | Cross, Lower placement |
| Analog sticks | Yes |
| Stick layout | Double, asymetrical |
| Hall effect sticks | Yes |
| L3 / R3 | Yes |
| Shoulder buttons | Stacked |
| Analog triggers | Yes |
| Rumble | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Yes |
| Connectivity | |
| Storage | 128 GB |
| SD card | Yes |
| Wi-Fi | Yes (6e) |
| Bluetooth | Yes (5.2) |
| USB-C | Yes |
| Video out | Yes |
| Headphone jack | Yes |
| Build | |
| Form factor | Horizontal |
| Dimensions | 224 x 89.5 x 17 - 26.7 mm |
| Weight | 410 g |
| Battery | 7350 mAh |
| Shell | Plastic |
| Speakers | Bottom |
| Software | |
| Operating system | Windows, Linux |
| Windows version | 11 |
| Custom firmware | UnofficialOS |
| PortMaster | Yes |
Questions
Can the AYANEO Air play PS2 games?
Yes. PS2 scores 100 out of 100 on our emulation scale.
Is the AYANEO Air good for GBA?
GBA runs at full speed. At 6x it fills 67% of the screen with even pixels.
Does it have a headphone jack?
Yes.
How big is the battery?
7,350 mAh. The middle Windows handheld in our database has 65 mAh.
Can it connect to a TV?
Yes, it has video out.
How much does the AYANEO Air cost?
It launched at about $499 in Aug 2022. Prices on the used market change, so check current listings.
Price and newer models
$499 at launch $250 and up
Newer in the same line: the AYANEO Air Plus (Jun 2023) and the AYANEO Air 1S (Jul 2023). Compare before you buy this one new.
Compared with
Similar handhelds
Specs and emulation scores from the retrocatalog.com handheld database. The score out of 10 is our own.