3 Minutes
Tiny device. Serious intent. Ayaneo quietly dropped the Pocket S Mini, a small handheld built around one idea: play classic games without compromises.
The headline is the screen. A 4.2-inch LCD with a 1280×960 panel and a true 4:3 aspect ratio — the shape many retro titles were designed for. No stretched sprites. No cropped scenery. What you see is how it was meant to be played.
Under the hood sits Qualcomm's Snapdragon G3x Gen 2, a 4nm chip with Kryo CPU cores and an Adreno A32 GPU. It sounds modern because it is. The Pocket S Mini supports up to 16GB of LPDDR5X memory and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage, plus active cooling to keep sustained sessions smooth when emulation gets demanding.
Build quality leans premium: a single-piece toughened glass front meets a CNC-machined metal frame. The unit measures 167.1 × 77.85 × 18.5 mm and weighs roughly 305 grams — light enough to tuck into a jacket pocket, substantial enough to feel well-made in your hands.
Controls are clearly aimed at people who care about input fidelity. Hall-sensor RGB joysticks and Hall-effect linear triggers promise minimal drift and consistent travel. There’s a six-axis gyroscope for motion-enabled titles, crystal-textured ABXY buttons, and a rubberized D-pad that refuses to be an afterthought. Ayaneo also offers button remapping and system tweaks through its own software suite — AyaSpace for game management, AyaHome for desktop personalization, and AyaSetting for performance tuning and on-the-fly translations.
If you want pixel-perfect retro play in a pocket-sized chassis, this might be the most polished option yet.
Battery life is handled by a high-density 6000 mAh cell with PD fast charging. Ports include a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 jack with DisplayPort 1.4 output, a microSD slot, Bluetooth 5.3, and fast Wi‑Fi. A fingerprint reader doubles as the power button, and Android 14 runs the show out of the box.
- Display: 4.2-inch LCD, 1280×960, 4:3 aspect
- SoC: Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 (4nm) with Adreno A32 GPU
- Memory & Storage: up to 16GB LPDDR5X, up to 512GB UFS 4.0
- Battery: 6000 mAh, PD fast charge
- Controls: Hall joysticks, Hall triggers, 6-axis gyro, textured ABXY, rubber D-pad
- Ports & Connectivity: USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 w/ DP1.4, microSD, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi‑Fi
- OS: Android 14; AyaSpace, AyaHome, AyaSetting included
- Dimensions & Weight: 167.1 × 77.85 × 18.5 mm; ~305 g
- Colors & Pricing: black, white, light blue. Starts at $319 (8GB/128GB); up to $479 (16GB/512GB)
This is a machine made by people who remember how those classic games felt, and who want those feelings preserved on modern silicon. It won't replace a living-room rig for new triple-A titles, but for anyone chasing authentic retro vibes in a pocketable form, the Pocket S Mini is a compelling offer. Ready to dust off your favorite ROMs?
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