It’s been a while since Nintendo officially retired the last of its dual-screened 3DS handheld systems, but that hasn’t stopped third-party manufacturers from trying to replicate what the Big N did with its highly-successful DS line. With that in mind, handheld and retro gaming giant AYANEO recently teased its new Pocket DS handheld, which aims to provide a similar gaming experience to the original DS, while improving on the hardware aspects, as well as integration with Android.
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Let’s go over the hardware—the Pocket DS’ primary display features a 7-inch OLED panel, with a decently-sharp resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Like a lot of other modern Android smartphones, it supports a pretty high refresh rate of up to 165Hz, although brightness is capped at around 800 nits, which we imagine should be decent for most situations, unless you’re playing under direct sunlight. As for its design, the Pocket DS features a hinge that can open up to 180 degrees, similar to the range of motion on Nintendo’s older handhelds. As for the bottom display, you’re getting a secondary 5-inch LCD screen with a 1024 x 768 resolution and a 4:3 aspect ratio, as well as 550 nits of peak brightness.
Under the hood, the AYANEO Pocket DS is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 processor, a chipset which is designed for gaming handhelds, unlike most of its lineup. AYANEO hasn’t confirmed the exact RAM capacity, although it states that the device uses LPDDR5X hardware. As for internal storage, the Pocket DS will support UFS 4.0, although there’s a 128GB storage variant that uses UFS 3.1 instead. Powering the device is a pretty massive 8,000mAh battery, which supports PD fast charging. As for software, you’re getting Android 13 on here which features a custom skin and launcher designed by AYANEO.
The Pocket DS also comes with Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth 5.3 support, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port and a microSD card slot for expandable storage. AYANEO has also included a power button with an integrated fingerprint scanner, and you do get a full suite of controls which include TMR Joysticks with a 1000Hz polling rate, Linear Hall-effect Triggers, a dedicated Dual-screen Key, and a Navigation Key. Additional features include dual X-axis linear motors for haptic feedback, a 6-axis Gyro for motion sensing, and a cooling system that consists of a fan, copper heat sink and cooling fins.
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It should be noted that AYANEO still hasn’t revealed when it would be releasing the Pocket DS, or a launch price for that matter. The device is still up on Indiegogo for interested backers.
