AYANEO 3 First Impressions - Incredible Power With Fantastic Modular Capabilities

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The AYANEO 3 was provided to us by AYANEO for review. Thank you!

The way handheld PCs have evolved has been pretty amazing, and have really come a long way. The Steam Deck may have revolutionized the market to make it viable for consumers to find a way in, but there are increasingly more and more options of handhelds to choose from. While we have the ROG Ally X from ASUS and Legion Go from Lenovo, no other company feels as creative as AYANEO.

Their newest handheld, the AYANEO 3, is an absolute beast. It sports the newest APU from AMD, which has the newest architecture for both its CPU and GPU, a gorgeous OLED screen, and a fantastic modular gamepad unlike anything I have seen before in a handheld. From my time so far, I am becoming more convinced that this could be a solid upgrade over the current most powerful handhelds like the ROG Ally X.

So, here are some impressions on the AYANEO 3 ahead of our full review coming soon. And for full transparency, we were provided this device by AYANEO for the purpose of review. The version given to us has an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU, 32GB RAM, 1TB of storage, and an OLED screen:

It May Be AYANEO's Most Comfortable Handheld To Hold

One of the most important aspects of any handheld is how comfortable it is to actually hold in your hands, and the AYANEO 3 may be the most comfortable handheld from AYANEO that I have ever held. My hands contort around the handles perfectly and it doesn't make the handheld that much bigger in comparison with others like the Ally X and Steam Deck. The two back buttons are also placed nicely so my ring fingers can easily hit them.

The Modular Gamepad Is Amazing

One of the biggest gimmicks for the AYANEO 3 is the modular gamepad, and it is one of my favorite features as well. Being able to swap out the joystick and ABXY buttons for a combination of trackpads, 8-directional Dpads, and even a SEGA Saturn-esque six-button pattern is wonderful. It's also super easy to take out and put in the buttons, with a Nintendo Switch-esque clicking sound when you push them in all the way. You can even change the joystick caps to one of three different styles to see which fits your finger best.

I was also worried that the modular parts may be a little loose or move around at all, but the mechanism inside pulls them down and holds them tight. Other than the discoloration, it feels like the modular components are just a normal part of the controller. Paired with the extra configurable buttons on the top and back of the device, we have more than enough inputs. And yes, we do have a 3.5mm headphone jack, two USB-C ports, and an Oculink.

The one thing that concerns me and needs more investigation is configuring the different controller modules. Most of them are pretty self-explanatory and work as intended without issue, but I didn't see any specific way to configure each module. This was mainly an issue with the SEGA Saturn-style module. There may be an option for this that I missed in my initial search, so this could be a non-issue.

But The Start/Select Buttons Are Hard to Reach

While I do find the button placement and size of the AYANEO 3 to be wonderfully sized, the buttons for Start/Select and to bring up AYANEO's management software to be uncomfortably out of reach. With them being so far down, I had to stretch my thumbs a bit too much to reach them. It isn't the end of the world, since I rarely use these buttons often, but it would have been nice to find an easier to reach spot for them.

AYASpace Is Still Pretty Great

Of all the management software on handhelds, AYANEO's AYASpace has always been one of my favorites, and I am happy to say it's still one of them. The amount of control I have to play the way I want to with the framerate and TDP limiter, solid performance overlay, and fan configuration is nice. The layout of the application isn't that confusing either, and I was able to find where I needed to go to assign certain functions to the extra buttons on top and on the back.

There are also some quick functions that can be assigned that I feel should be standard. These include minimizing screens, hibernating the device, multitasking, and the ESC button. There's also a quick menu to go to different Windows screens like the Task Manager, Device Manager, Controller Panel, File Manager, and Display Settings. Quick access to these make the experience a bit easier, and it's something I love AYASpace for.

However, if I could change one thing, it would be how fan configuration works. I have been enjoying being able to input specific fan percentages on my GPD WIN 4, and I would love to have that kind of control here. It doesn't change how much I like AYASpace, but I do wish I could have more control.

The HX 370 APU is A Gaming Powerhouse

The AYANEO 3 has two options for APUs that power it: The AMD Ryzen 7 8840U or the more powerful Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. I really wanted to see how the most powerful chip right now, the HX 370, performs against the last generation chips we see in devices like the ROG Ally X and Legion Go. Our model has this HX 370 APU, and I was pretty amazed by the performance it can hit for some of the biggest games.

Avowed

Avowed was also showing some impressive performance. I was hitting around 30 FPS on a mix of low and medium settings, FSR 3 at Quality, 1080p resolution, and ray-tracing turned off. This is much better when compared to the Deck in the same area with lowest quality settings, FSR 3 at Performance, and 800p resolution.

Final Fantasy 16

I was also impressed by Final Fantasy 16's performance on the AYANEO 3. From a glance, I was able to play at 30 FPS on medium quality settings with XeSS upscaling at Quality in 1080p resolution. Seeing as how, in the same parts, the Steam Deck couldn't hit 30 FPS on the lowest settings with ultra performance upscaling at 720p, I would consider this a major boost.

Marvel Rivals

At FSR Quality with Medium settings, I was able to play Marvel Rivals at an average 35 FPS - 40 FPS. This is at 1080p resolution as well, so everything was looking crystal clear and sharp.

Monster Hunter Wilds

This is easily the best way to play Monster Hunter Wilds on the go. I was able to hit 30 FPS with lowest quality settings using FSR 3 Ultra Performance at 1080p resolution, while also being able to hit 30 FPS at Low quality settings and FSR 3 at Quality at 720p resolution.

Returnal

With low-quality settings, FSR on Quality, and at 1080p resolution, I was getting around 38 - 50 FPS. The game looks and feels fantastic this way, and I feel like this is most definitely a premium experience for handheld play. 720p was bringing it closer to the 45 - 60 range.

Silent Hill 2

Similarly to Final Fantasy 16, I was able to get Silent Hill 2 running at 1080p with medium settings and XeSS upscaling at Quality to a decently stable 30 FPS. It is possible that later areas may experience some drops, but compared to the Steam Deck, it looks and feels smoother.

But Battery Life and Temperatures Aren't Great

The AYANEO 3 sports a 49Wh battery, just slightly below the Steam Deck OLED's 50Wh battery. While that's not terrible, it doesn't come close to the battery life on it. With a full charge, pushing the device as hard as it can go, it's possible the battery would only last an hour to an hour and a half. Windows handhelds usually push more power, which is why it took the 80Wh battery of the ROG Ally X to come close to the Steam Deck's battery life. However, there's only so much we can ask for while still keeping size and weight down.

It Gets Hot, But You Can't Feel It In The Handles

When I was testing games, I pushed the device the hardest it could possibly go. Because of that, it would get very hot. The back of the AYANEO 3 was scorching and definitely getting close to too hot. However, I never felt the heat in the handles. So, unless you are putting your hands on the back of the device, you won't feel the immense heat. I have my worries about temps getting so hot personally, but if the device isn't throttling or shutting down, and I can't feel it in the handles, I am okay with it.

And those are my thoughts so far! I am loving the device more than I expected, and I am overjoyed with how games are running on it. I am not surprised that it's better, but with Monster Hunter Wilds being playable and the OLED screen, it feels like a premium experience. I will have more thoughts on it soon with an official score in my full review, but it's definitely going to be a handheld worth checking out.

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