Valve has hit the nail on the head with their Steam Deck . Handheld consoles with portable PC hardware have gone from non-existent to becoming a trend. Proof of this is the number of consoles that are coming onto the market lately to compete against the portable Valve. One of the most interesting alternatives to the Steam Deck is the AYANEO, with multiple configurations and a much higher power than the Steam Deck, only at a price that is beyond most pockets. And a new option seems to be the Ayn , a console that promises a lower starting price than the Steam Deck.
The reign of the Steam Deck is in danger with the Ayn Loki range
Ayn’s boys already surprised a while ago when they launched their Odin console with Android. But it seems that all the hype around the Steam Deck has given them enough motivation to take the next step. The brand is preparing three new consoles with PC hardware: the Loki Mini , the Loki and the Loki Max . The consoles’ spec sheets haven’t been fully released, but what the brand has announced is that the Mini will retail for under $300 .
Ayn also wants to bet on the x86 architecture in her laptops. The Loki Mini will use an Intel Ander Lake CPU , although we don’t know the exact model yet. Next to it will be an Intel Iris Xe graphics card, and the storage will be 64 GB , although depending on the brand, the user will be able to expand it without problems.
On the other hand, the other two variants will equip AMD hardware . The standard Loki will have a Ryzen 5 6600U inside , while the most powerful version will have an AMD Ryzen 7 6800U CPU and AMD Radeon 680M graphics. The Loki will start at 64GB of storage, while the Loki Max will come standard with 512GB of memory.
The rest of the specifications such as the amount of RAM memory or the resolution of the screen remain unknown for the three models, however, it is speculated that the screen of all consoles will be identical to that of Odin, so it would count with a 5.98-inch panel with Full HD resolution.
The affordable Steam Deck?
Regarding prices, the Ayn Loki Mini would start at $299 , thus becoming the cheapest portable Windows console on the market . The standard Loki will start at $499 for its 64GB version, rising to $599 for the 256GB model and capping at $699 for its 512GB storage version. With that same capacity will Loki Max , which will have a starting price of 799 dollars .
On a visual level, in the teaser we have been able to see that Ayn’s Loki range will look very similar to what we saw a few months ago with the Odin. Ayn Technologies has not yet formally presented these consoles, but everything indicates that the presale will begin this week.
