Finally a worthy rival to Valve’s Steam Deck?
Chinese outlet, AYANEO have announced two cost-effective handheld portable PC’s in the form of the “NEXT LITE“.
The Next Lite is an affordable portable PC that comes with either the AMD Ryzen 5 4500U or the Ryzen 7 4800 APU, both are outdated by modern standards however AMD “Renoir” processors featuring Zen 2 cores and Vega graphics are still quite capable in affordable low power devices.
For instance, Valve’s Steam Deck handheld PC features a custom AMD SoC known as “Van Gogh” / “Sephiroth” in the revised OLED variants. These two processors feature just four cores based on the Zen 2 architecture with 8 Compute Units of RDNA 2 graphics.
While the AYANEO Next Lite will feature 6 cores but only 6 threads as the 4500U doesn’t come with SMT multi-threading, and the 4800U offers 8 cores and16 threads.
In terms of hardware, on the processor side of things these cheap Chinese handhelds have the advantage over the Steam Deck but in terms of actual graphical prowess, the Steam Deck has a commanding lead, which incorporates 8 CU cores based on the RDNA2 architecture versus the ancient GCN based Vega graphics.
But that’s not the only variance, the graphics core architecture present inside these AYANEO devices is much more outdated and inferior in terms of performance and efficiency, however the Ryzen 5 4500U only comes equipped with 384 Stream Processors, or in other words just 6 Compute Units, the differences in graphical performance between the lowest spec Next Lite versus the Steam Deck is quite steep.
While the Ryzen 7 4800U comes featuring 8 Compute Units of Vega graphics, but even still the performance gap is still outrageous.
While Valve’s offering is undoubtedly faster where it matters most, gaming, perhaps the Chinese outlet could steal away precious sales providing that they can provide what other manufacturers cannot, affordability.
The base model, featuring the Ryzen 5 4500U with an inadequate 128GB of internal storage starts from $299 USD, bumping that up to 512GB will run you $349 USD.
If you’re going to spend $349 on a flimsy Ryzen 5 4500U, you may as well upgrade to the 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 4800U which comes packing an additional 2 CU’s of onboard graphics which boosts performance for $399.
Such a figure is the very starting point for the 256GB LCD variant of Valve’s machine, which might have an inferior CPU inside of its APU however its graphics potential far eclipses anything the GCN based Vega graphics could ever deliver, while the cheapest 512GB option will cost you $549 in the form of Valve’s new OLED Steam Deck.
You’re getting better value for your money with the AYANEO Next Lite while simultaneously you aren’t, you’re getting an immensely inferior product when it comes to gaming performance for marginally less money.
If you were going to choose a Next Lite to purchase I’d probably recommend the cheapest base model which only comes packing a miniscule 128GB of storage and the Ryzen 5 4500U processor for a decent $299 price point, it’s a much slower and less capable machine however if you’re strapped for cash and seemingly cannot spare the additional hundred dollars in buying the 256GB Steam Deck, the AYANEO is a solid option.
An inferior option, but an option nevertheless.
The Next Lite features the same 7-inch 800p IPS screen as AYANEO’s non-LITE counterparts, which are priced at around $1300. However, those come with superior CPU options. The console includes a built-in 47 Wh battery, hall effect joysticks, and hall effect triggers, ensuring there are no concerns about stick drift.
Honestly, given how AYANEO are trying to charge $1300 for a 1TB machine featuring a AMD Ryzen 7 5825U processor, featuring eight Zen 3 cores and 8 CU’s of Vega graphics, it’s clear that they don’t want your business because I cannot imagine a single individual who’d gladly pay $400 for what’s effectively a four year old APU that is vastly inferior versus Valve’s Steam Deck.
Even the base model containing 128GB of onboard storage and 6 CU’s of Vega graphics for $300 is still considered overpriced, it’s probably the cheapest handheld PC on the market but regardless it’s not what you’d consider to be “well priced” considering the specifications, it would serve quite well for the purpose as a cheap emulation box but that’s probably about as much as you’d get out of the machine as it’s immensely outmatched by the already outdated RDNA 2 derived graphical offerings that Valve provide for not that much more.
So no, this isn’t a worthy contender to the Steam Deck, this is merely just AYANEO overcharging for their products as they’re basically known to do. The $300 base model might be up your alley for emulation purposes but only if you’re immensely strapped for cash and absolutely cannot afford to buy a base model Steam Deck.
