- AYANEO plans to ship its high-end handheld internationally by late July, but escalating RAM and SSD costs have driven prices up significantly.
- The base price surged by $1,000 across setups, pushing the highest-spec model to a staggering $5,299 before taxes and shipping fees.
- It features AMD “Strix Halo” processors, offering up to 16 cores and advanced Radeon graphics that far outclass standard handheld chips.
The AYANEO NEXT 2 is back in the spotlight because this time it could become the most expensive Windows handheld console on the market. The high price is due to rising RAM and SSD costs, which have made the device more expensive than expected. After months of delay, AYANEO has confirmed that the international shipments of its flagship Windows handheld are set to begin at the end of July.
The ongoing situation with the AYANEO NEXT 2 is unusual in the handheld console industry, yet this was predictable. In March, the business ceased sales of the device, citing rising memory and storage costs that had driven the product’s overall cost to nearly double the initially announced price.
AYANEO informed customers at the time that it would keep producing for existing customers while suspending new sales until the situation improved. So it’s surprising that they’ve continued to release more devices for new consumers.
Following the statement and the new prices, AYANEO is in an even more difficult position to justify. Regarding the first published costs, we’re talking about a $1,000 price increase per configuration, since the top-of-the-line version had a recommended price of $4,299 in February, compared to $5,299 today.
The problem for AYANEO is that the price rise is not for a low-cost device, but for an ultra-premium product. The AYANEO NEXT 2 competes not with a Steam Deck, a ROG Xbox Ally, or an MSI Claw, but with full-fledged gaming laptops, mini-PCs with AMD Strix Halo APUs, and even high-performance desktops. Furthermore, the official store warns that the final price excludes taxes and customs charges, so the true cost for some foreign buyers may be much higher.
The AYANEO NEXT 2 is unique because of its AMD Ryzen AI Max “Strix Halo” APUs, which deliver significantly higher performance than the standard AMD Ryzen Z1 or Z2 Series found in other models. The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 has 16 Zen 5 cores, 32 threads, a maximum frequency of 5.10 GHz, 64 MB of L3 cache, and a configurable TDP of 45-120W.
Of course, on a laptop, the issue is not dissipating that 120W to achieve the APU’s peak performance. It’s the device’s battery life, which, depending on the game, does not even last an hour. This also required using an additional battery.
The most fascinating aspect is the graphics card: the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 has a Radeon 8060S with 2,560 RDNA 3.5 cores, while the Ryzen AI Max 385 has a Radeon 8050S with 2,048 cores.
This explains why the NEXT 2 is so ambitious in terms of performance, but also why its cost, cooling, power consumption, and size differ from those commonly associated with a portable console.
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[Editor-in-Chief]
Sajjad Hussain is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Tech4Gamers.com. Apart from the Tech and Gaming scene, Sajjad is a Seasonal banker who has delivered multi-million dollar projects as an IT Project Manager and works as a freelancer to provide professional services to corporate giants and emerging startups in the IT space.
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