AYANEO NEXT 2: The Steam Deck Killer Is on Its Way!

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AYANEO has just made a massive announcement on its upcoming handheld gaming device. Since the initial release, the devices from AYANEO aimed to surpass the glorious Steam Deck. And while they made huge progress in defeating other gaming systems such as OneXPlayer and AOKZOE, they could not close up with Steam Deck. Well, that might change with the AYANEO NEXT 2!

According to the announcement, the newest handheld device from AYANEO will offer a sleek design and an upgrade in most of the crucial factors. But the real question is, how will the NEXT 2 stack up with the Steam Deck? Will it actually be able to surpass it, or is it going to be just another average handheld gaming device?

A Better Overall Design

The AYANEO NEXT 2 retains a similar design as the previous generation. However, that is not a bad thing. The design of NEXT focused a lot on ergonomics, which is a crucial point for handheld gaming devices. And as the NEXT 2 utilizes a similar body, it means that the gaming handheld will be extremely comfortable!

However, AYANEO made some tweaks on the NEXT 2. It took some notes from the Steam Deck, allowing the NEXT 2 to compete better with Valve’s king of gaming handheld devices.

Furthermore, AYANEO has improved the thumbsticks, which makes them more embedded into the frame. They are also swayed from the cross-design of the directional pad. That will offer the thumbsticks a better circular design.

You have two thumb pads on the bottom part of the front of the AYANEO NEXT 2. These are pretty similar to the ones present on Valve Steam Deck. There are other aesthetic changes on the NEXT 2, which aim to further optimize your gaming experience.

AYANEO NEXT 2 Will Come With a Discreet GPU!

The design is not the biggest selling point of AYANEO NEXT 2. Instead, the core components make the device a seemingly great alternative to Steam Deck. To start with, the NEXT 2 is set to come with an 8-inch screen, which will definitely be a step up from the 7-inch display found on Steam Deck.

Secondly, the NEXT 2 will be powered by a “next-gen” AMD Ryzen 7000 CPU. Note that AYANEO is not using an APU. And this hints at a discreet GPU inside the gaming handheld, which was confirmed with the tweet stating “new discrete graphics.”

Nonetheless, there is no specific information about the CPU at the moment. Also, AYANEO did not offer any information about the GPU that it will pack in the NEXT 2. Now, if you do further analysis on the mobile lineup of AMD Ryzen 7000 mobile CPU, you will find that they feature anywhere from Vega to RDNA 3 and RDNA 2 GPU cores.

But the “new discrete graphics” statement is making us believe that the AYANEO NEXT 2 will boast a newer and more enhanced RDNA 3 chip. And this might be the same chip that will be featured in the Ryzen 7045 ‘Pheonix’ lineup.

More Details About AYANEO NEXT 2 Will Be Unveiled Soon!

With the announcement of AYANEO NEXT 2, the tweet shows two images. Both of them have the wording KUN. And in case you don’t know, this wording is considered to be a gender-neutral name in some Chinese cultures. The literal meaning of the wording is “earth.”

There is a chance that the wording suggests that there could be two different colorways. It could be hinting at other things. No matter what the case is, we will soon be able to learn more about the AYANEO NEXT 2 once the company officially announces it.