We now have the primary take a look at the Ayaneo Pocket Vert, a vertical “Sport Boy-style” handheld able to emulating retro consoles from the Dreamcast, GameCube, and PS2 period. What a time to be alive.
However first, the {hardware}—it appears to be like fairly strong. Eagle-eyed gadget nerds will already know that the Pocket Vert shouldn’t be Ayaneo’s first handheld formed like a Sport Boy. The handheld maker launched the Pocket DMG final 12 months. Whereas succesful, the Pocket DMG was fairly expensive, beginning at $450. Ayaneo hasn’t introduced official international pricing for the Pocket Vert but, however based mostly on its 1,699 Chinese language yuan beginning value (about $241), it’s speculated that the hand held might price round $250. This could make the Pocket Vert simply barely costlier than the $220 Analogue Pocket.
Talking of the Analogue Pocket, the Pocket Vert shares many similarities. It’s obtained what seems to be the identical 3.5-inch LTPS LCD touchscreen with an similar 1,600 x 1,400 decision at 615 pixels per inch (ppi). The Pocket Vert even has the identical 60Hz refresh fee and 450 nits of brightness.
In comparison with the Pocket DMG and the Analogue Pocket, the Pocket Vert has some main variations. It’s nonetheless an Android 14-based handheld, so that you’re gonna be working software program emulators to play retro video games. In contrast to the Analogue Pocket, the Pocket Vert doesn’t have a cartridge slot for Sport Boy video games. The Pocket Vert can also be manufactured from extra premium supplies—steel as a substitute of the plastic on the Pocket DMG and Analogue Pocket.
From YouTuber ETA Prime’s thorough first impressions video above, you possibly can see that the Pocket Vert is mainly a hybrid between the Pocket DMG and Analogue Pocket. The entire buttons appear to be tactile and satisfying. The specs—Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip with 8GB or 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and both 128GB or 256GB of storage, a microSD card slot, and a 6,000mAh battery—appear greater than succesful sufficient for emulation. And even the “Magic Contact” touchpad under the D-pad and face buttons, which helps you to management video games that require a joystick or twin joysticks, appears useful sufficient for 3D video games. As a cherry on prime, the Pocket Vert has a fingerprint sensor embedded in its energy button.
On the entrance of video games emulation, the Pocket Vert seems to have the ability to deal with beefy retro consoles just like the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, and Sony PlayStation 2 fairly nicely. Utilizing the default AYASpace launcher, ETA Prime says they had been in a position to get a constant 60 fps in GameCube video games equivalent to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, and Resident Evil 4 at 3x the unique decision. Identical factor for PS2 video games equivalent to Metallic Gear Stable 2: Sons of Liberty, Okami, and Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando. Dreamcast video games are much less demanding, however in addition they run with very playable body charges.
As a Game Boy guy, the Pocket Vert appeals to me in a manner that horizontal-shaped retro handhelds don’t. No phrase on when precisely Ayaneo will launch the Pocket Vert—someday in early 2026—however it’s one machine I’m very a lot wanting ahead to. That’s assuming the present RAM and flash storage shortage doesn’t fully wreck launch plans.
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