It has only been on sale for a few months, but it is already obvious that the Steam Deck has changed the course of the market for portable consoles . Less than a year ago, the idea of launching a console based on PC components instead of an ARM device seemed far-fetched to us. But Valve has changed everything, and since then, several brands are flooding the market with consoles similar to the Deck. These are some of the most interesting, both those that are already on sale and those that will be released in a few months:
Alternatives to the Steam Deck that are already available
These are some of the most interesting consoles that are already competing with the Steam Deck.
OneXPlayer Mini (AMD)
It features a 7-inch IPS screen with a 1920 by 1200 pixel panel. Inside beats an AMD Ryzen 7 5800U with 8 cores and 16 threads along with a Radeon Vega 8 and 16 GB of RAM. The entry model has a 512 GB NVMe SSD storage, and it comes with Windows 11. We don’t know if this console fits in your pocket or not, but what we do know for sure is that you are going to have to scratch it to get this console, well, it’s worth $1,259.
GPD WIN 3
This console is somewhat more compact . It has a built-in keyboard, and visually it is not as attractive as the OneXPlayer Mini or the AYANEO, but it has several configurations regarding power and storage. Its basic model is equipped with an eleventh generation Intel Core i5, Intel Xe graphics and 16 GB of RAM. It is sold at a price of around 1,000 euros .
AYANEO Next Advance
This other alternative starts at $1,345 , although it also exceeds the Steam Deck in its entire specification sheet. It has an AMD Ryzen 7 5800U CPU , Vega 8 graphics, 16 GB of RAM and 2 TB of SSD. Its screen is 7 inches and its main attraction is that it is a generation ahead of Valve, since the Deck has not yet released this range of AMD processors – probably, because the price of the console does not increase.
Alternatives coming soon
A very promising future awaits us in the market for laptops with x86 processors. Let’s take a quick look at some of the consoles coming to market in the coming months.
AYANEO Air Plus
It promises to be the Steam Deck killer because apparently, it will start at $289 . The brain of this model will be an AMD Mendocino chip , a somewhat humbler alternative to what we already know from the Valve console, but which would allow a low-cost product to be placed for those who want to play PC games on their portable consoles. but they don’t need as much power.
ayn loki
AYN Loki is a whole family of consoles that will be coming out in the coming months, but the most interesting is the AYN Loki Mini , which is another one that promises to make it difficult for Valve. This console will start at $299 , and will have Intel Alder Lake processors.
On the other hand, the standard and Max models will carry AMD Zen3+ chips with RDNA2 graphics . Each of these variants will start at $499 and $799 respectively.
AYANEO 2 Geek
The AYANEO brand is in the right place at the right time, so it’s not wasting its opportunity by introducing new products. The AYANEO 2 Geek will feature a 7-inch screen and AMD Zen3+ family chips with AMD RDNA2 graphics. The model with Ryzen 5 will start at $699 , and will launch on November 28.
