There may be plenty of gaming handhelds out there, but there aren’t many horizontal options that let you play childhood favorites in the native 4:3 aspect ratio. To address that gap, Ayaneo launched a premium option with the Pocket S Mini. As a “true 4:3 retro handheld”, the Pocket S Mini won’t have those dreaded vertical black bars whenever you’re emulating video games of the CRT television era.
Handhelds like the Anbernic RG405M and even Ayaneo’s own Pocket Air Mini already offer a 4:3 aspect ratio, but the Pocket S Mini presents a more high-end construction with a full metal frame and a glass front panel. The 4.2-inch LCD screen has a resolution of 1,280 x 960 and is surrounded by RGB lighting, Hall Effect triggers, and a Hall Effect joystick with “crystal-textured” buttons. Inside, the Pocket S Mini runs on the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 chip and is powered by a 6,000mAh battery.
Unlike most of Ayaneo’s other devices, the Pocket S Mini is not being financed through a crowdfunding campaign. It is already available on Ayaneo’s website with a starting price of $319 for Obsidian Black or Ice Soul White options with 8GB of memory and 128GB of storage. As always, the Retro Power colorway will only be available with the highest specs of 16GB memory and 512GB storage, with pricing starting at $479. We’re not sure when Ayaneo will end introductory pricing, but prices will eventually reach between $399 and $559 for retail pricing.
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