Review of the Ayaneo Air 1S: "air" on the side of caution

We spend most of our time together playing games on my Nintendo Switch while curled up on the couch, but sometimes I want to play one of my many awesome PC games while we're still together. Since my PC is located in a separate part of the home, this is usually rather hard. For this Ayaneo Air 1S review, I was really thrilled to check out a portable PC. Playing PC-level games while lounging on my couch seems like the ideal mix. Let's see whether this potent piece of equipment lives up to my hopes.

There are many other portable PCs available besides the Ayaneo Air 1S. If you're looking for something a little different, check out our in-depth guides to the best portable gaming consoles and our in-depth analyses of some of the top choices in our Steam Deck review, Aokzoe A1 review, and Ayaneo 2 review. Additionally, visit our dedicated website to learn more about how we test these devices.

Alright, buckle up for what might be a rough journey as we set off on this Review of the Ayaneo Air 1S.}

Cost and accessibility

Ayaneo's Indiegogo website is presently offering the Ayaneo Air 1S for purchase with a gift package and a slightly reduced MSRP as a "early bird" incentive. Despite its potential, this gadget has a cost. An overview of all the many versions is provided below:

• 16GB+512GB – $799 early bird/$899
• 32GB+1TB – $955 early bird/$1,099
• 32GB+2TB – $999 early bird/$1,129
• 32GB+2TB Ayaneo Air 1S Thin – $999 early bird/$1,129
• 32GB+2TB Ayaneo Air 1S Retro Power – $1,029 early bird/$1,179
• 32GB+4TB Ayaneo Air 1S Retro Power – $1,099 early bird/$1,259

According to our observations, every ad on Indiegogo offers free international delivery and is fulfilled by a warehouse located in China. Depending on where you are situated, you may be charged customs fees; nevertheless, we had no problems with that. The Asus ROG Ally, which may start at little under $600, is one of the rivals of the Ayaneo Air 1S, even if it is not nearly as expensive as the Aokzoe A1 or Pro. Although the Steam Deck is even less expensive than this, its Steam-specific OS prevents you from having the same freedom as the Ayaneo.

Details

Create

The moment I cracked up the Ayaneo Air 1S, I was impressed. I own the Retro Power version, and even if the design isn't my first pick, I really like how it looks like the original Game Boy. At 450g, it weighs somewhat more than a Nintendo Switch, but even yet, it's really light and feels fantastic in my hands.Since I don't get the same wrist tiredness as I may while holding my Switch for extended periods of time, the curved rear of the device allows for a very ergonomic design. Another wonderful feature of the joystick ring is the modest RGBs that illuminate red when the battery is about to run low.The triggers and all of the buttons have excellent tactile qualities. Although I don't normally like matte finishes, the Ayaneo looks great with them, particularly when paired with the Retro Power's beige-brown color scheme. It's also enjoyable to use the Hall sensing joysticks, particularly when you use one to move the cursor instead of a mouse. Misread inputs haven't caused me any problems yet, and if you manage to wear out the caps, you can replace them.The Ayaneo has two USB-C connections on its top and bottom, so you can use a docking station to charge it while using it, and you can replace the handheld controllers with a Bluetooth controller or mouse and keyboard. For more information, see our evaluation of the Syntech docking station. Unfortunately, the Ayaneo does not come with a docking station by default; however, you can get one for an additional $89 (yikes). Nonetheless, it ought to work with the majority of third-party models available thanks to the USB-C connector.

Performance

This is unfortunately when things start to get a bit rough. To begin with, the good news is that everything seems stunning while operating on the Ayaneo. The AMOLED screen's high pixel density and brightness combine to create a vivid, colorful display that dwarfs my PC monitor. The problem is that this is a temporary situation. Since that was how Honkai Star Rail came configured, I started my testing with it on the maximum settings, which produced an amazing visual experience and lag-free performance.Before the whole bottom half of the screen started to visibly glitch, rendering everything fuzzily and illegible, I was only able to play for about 10 minutes. In addition, the screen seemed like it might melt any second due to its extreme heat. Although the console didn't feel very warm, the heat coming from the screen was horrifying. Since then, I've adjusted the fan settings a bit and turned down my graphics settings to medium, but after playing for more than twenty minutes, I still get this visual glitch.Compared to other handhelds with specific OSs designed for gaming, such as the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch, the Ayaneo is more complicated to use since it is effectively a little PC running Windows 11. The distinctive AyaSpace 2 from Ayaneo is a very useful application that allows you to quickly switch between games by gathering all of your games from Battle.net, Epic Games, Steam, and other launchers in one location. In theory, however. I found myself starting games using their desktop shortcuts, much as I would on a PC, since I couldn't get the Ayaneo to identify every game I had downloaded and organize them into the AyaSpace.When playing a game, you can also use the Aya button to explore the console. It provides you with button shortcuts when you're not using a keyboard and allows you to instantly change the FPS and fan speed. Here, I experimented with the fan settings in an attempt to resolve the HSR issue, but as someone who is not very tech-savvy, I found the whole thing really confusing. The Ayaneo comes with very little in the way of an instruction guide, so I've found myself having to learn by trial and error, which isn't exactly how I want to learn when I'm working with a piece of equipment that costs more than $1k.Think of the convenient taskbar on the Aya button as the equivalent of a plumber's tool belt—it has everything you could possibly need, right when you need it. However, I've found using it to be almost difficult. My character or the cursor in the game I've picked keeps moving whenever I use the directional pad to traverse the Aya menu and change the FPS or fan settings. Likewise, I've created a taskbar shortcut to end the game I'm playing and return to my desktop, but for some reason, it doesn't function. I'm not sure why! I have to use the window button to basically Alt+Tab out of the game and then put my finger on the melted screen to forcibly end the game, which is very annoying.Although the screen size is perfect for playing games, it is not the best for using an on-screen keyboard or passing a captcha. If your fingers aren't the thinnest in the world, typing will be challenging due to its slight undersize. The Ayaneo is a tablet computer, so I attempted to use my partner's Microsoft Surface Pen to check if it would work, but it didn't work. All I could do was struggle to type. Turning the gadget on its side to make the screen longer rather than broader and typing on it like a smartphone has proven to be the simplest approach for me to work around this problem.Additionally, the battery life isn't very good. I can play games for a good ninety minutes before my battery runs out nearly completely. However, it seems that this is a very typical issue with portable PCs, so it's not like the Ayaneo is doing worse than its rivals in that area. My primary concern with the battery is that I'm hesitant to use it while it's charging for fear of damaging the already-scalding console by applying further heat.Additionally, the Hyper Sound dual speakers provide a tinnier sound than my iPhone, indicating poor audio quality. The sound is excellent using wired headphones, so fortunately it seems that the problem is with the speakers rather than the audio processing. However, I don't want to spend all of my time wearing headphones while attempting to play games and interact with my girlfriend.I do appreciate that you have more than enough space for your complete game library with 2TB of storage and enough for an SD card, particularly because I play a lot of games that have large file sizes (Genshin Impact, look at you). Unfortunately, however, this does not make up for all the other drawbacks.

Judgement

For someone who is more tech-savvy than I am, the Ayaneo Air 1S has a lot of promise, in my opinion. I like how many different providers offer games to choose from, how great the display is, and how effortlessly games work on it until the screen begins to flicker. To make this the best portable console for me, I just believe that much more could be done.To board the Astral Express or play Overwatch 2, I would like to use a device with less power and a less open operating system that doesn't make me feel depressed and let down every time I turn it on. For me, this is further supported by the price point since I'm not receiving the extra advantage that I would be paying for.The Ayaneo Air 1S could be right for you if you don't mind making a few tweaks to your device before it works properly or if you're simply searching for something very lovely to play some light-hearted games on. It has left a little sour taste in my mouth, but I'm not ruling it out entirely.Check out our guides to the best gaming iPhone and the best gaming phones if you'd want to maximize your phone's gaming experience. To assist you in choosing, we've also included an excellent analysis of the contentious iPhone vs. Android discussion.