AYN Thor Dual-Screen Handheld Now Available for Worldwide Orders
AYN Technologies officially launched their first clamshell gaming handheld, the AYN Thor, for worldwide orders, thus marking its entrance as an equal competitor to the Ayaneo Pocket DS- both featuring dual displays and several options for processors but at a price point far lower than that of the Ayaneo Pocket DS.
AYN Thor Lite Entry-Level Model
The AYN Thor family begins at $249 with the "Lite" version, which undercuts the Ayaneo Pocket DS's price starting at $399. Important features of the Thor Lite include:
- Processor: Snapdragon 865 same chip as Retroid Pocket 5.
- Memory: 8 GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128 GB UFS 3.1 storage.
- Displays: 6-inch primary and 3.92-inch secondary, with both at 1080p AMOLED.
- Battery: 6,000-mAh.
While the dual AMOLED screens are nice, the old Snapdragon 865 could limit its performance in high-end emulation due to its capabilities on other handhelds that struggle beyond PlayStation 2 emulation.
Upgraded Performance Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Variants
For more power, the Thor is available in Base, Pro, and Max models with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, the same SoC as used in AYN`s Odin2 series. This puts them in competition with the Ayaneo Pocket DS, which uses a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2.
Despite synthetic benchmarks suggesting little difference between the two chipsets, in practice, AYN Thor's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 holds an edge due to greatly improved third-party GPU driver support, which can dramatically boost performance in software such as Nintendo Switch emulators.
Pricing and Configurations
Being configuration-dependent, the pricing for this product implies great value compared to its competition:
- Current Price Range: $249 (Thor Lite) to $429.
- Top Configuration: $429 for a model with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 16 GB RAM, and 1 TB UFS 4.0 storage.
- Future Pricing: AYN Technologies stated that future "Retail Pricing" will go up, capping at $459 for the top model.
Additionally, the official accessories can be bought separately or together in a combined "Accessories Pack" for $50. Check out the AYN Technologies website for more details.
