I’ve been a big fan of AYANEO over the last few years and their ability to keep creating these handhelds that serve different audiences with fantastic devices that nobody is creating is second to none, and the AYANEO Pocket DMG is a great example of that.
This is a high-end Android handheld that looks retro in design, but is high-end in absolutely every way with a range of features that I haven’t seen on any other handheld.
The first thing that will catch your eye is that gorgeous 3.92″ OLED display that is one of the best displays that I’ve seen on any handheld. It makes all games look fantastic and if you’re using this to play retro games, it’ll breathe a whole new life into them with how vibrant they look.
It has a 1240 x 1080 resolution which makes it good for most retro games which need a tiny bit of stretching but it’s so minimal that you’d never know. The touch-screen is also super accurate whether it be navigating or playing Android games that require the touch screen.
THE CHEAPEST PRICE: $629.95 FROM THE GAMESMEN
In terms of the console design, this is extremely premium feeling. It weighs just 278 grams but has a metal design that feels super high-end. It’s roughly the same size as the original Gameboy and it has a solid feeling D-Pad, shallow but great feeling face buttons, as well as a handful of shortcut buttons on either side of the handheld. There’s also four analogue sticks on the back of the handheld which feel great to use, and there’s also a MicroSD slot for extra storage as well.
As you’ve probably already noticed, there is only one analogue stick and it is a hall effect analogue stick that feels great, but on the right side, you’ve got a trackpad which is designed to mimic that second analogue stick (and also mimic swiping for Android games).
It works a lot better than expected, and as long as you’re only using it to control camera and not in an FPS game, it does as well as expected. For instance playing Ape Escape it was more than fine, and even playing Call Of Duty Mobile, it was a bit fickle at times but still fine. I’d absolutely rather a second analogue stick, but as far as touchpads go, I commend AYANEO for trying something different.
Every AYANEO device comes with own little surprising feature, and here it’s the MagicSwitch which is absolutely genius. This allows you to quickly change functions such as volume, brightness, control shaders and power modes with a simple push letting you go between them, and a scroll of the wheel letting you go up and down within each function.
The AYANEO Pocket DMG has a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 processor which is pretty much top of the top when it comes to current Android processors, and it runs every Android game extremely well even on balanced mode. Playing the likes of Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile, all ran like an absolute breeze.
You can easily map controls to each of the sticks/buttons on the handheld as well for games that are designed around the touchscreen. It’s a little bit finicky to setup, but you do it once and then it’s a fantastic experience.
If for whatever reason you do want to go up into that Extreme mode, the fan does kick in quite a bit, but I never found myself having to do that.
When it comes to emulation, you can play anything up to GC and PS2 at 3x with ease (which matches the resolution of the display perfectly). It’s a fantastic way to play retro games and whilst there’s probably other handhelds that can do the same for a less, this is easily the best experience I’ve had with these Android handhelds that deliver the best of both worlds.
Similarly, the battery life thanks to the 6,000 mAh battery as well as Android are fantastic with anywhere between 8-15 hours of battery life depending on the mode and what you’re playing.
As with all other AYANEO handhelds, AYASPACE comes pre-installed on the handheld, and it’s a great way to manage updates and settings for your DMG. When it comes to frontends for emulation, there’s probably better ones on the market, but it’s come a long way since it was introduced.
The AYANEO Pocket DMG is just another example of AYANEO going above and beyond the competition and even if it means that it costs a little bit more making the audience a bit more niche, I love that they throw everything into these handhelds with every single one offering something that you won’t get anywhere else.
This review as written using the Retro version of the handheld (available at Indiegogo HERE), but the Black/White version are both coming exclusively to The Gamesmen in Australia. The White 128GB version will cost $629.95 AUD and the black 512GB version will cost $849.95 AUD.
