AYANEO Pocket DS dual-screen Android handheld game console hits Indiegogo for $400 and up

The AYANEO Pocket DS is a dual-screen handheld game console with a Qualcomm Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 processor, a 7 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel OLED primary display with a 165 Hz screen refresh rate, up to 800 nits brightness, and 16:9 aspect ratio. There's also secondary screen in the base, which is a 5 inch, 1024 x 768 pixel LCD display with a 4:3 aspect ratio and up to 550 nits brightness

First unveiled in July, it's up for pre-order for $400 and up through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign and the AYANEO Pocket DS is expected to begin shipping to backers in October.

The dual-screen design is obviously ideal for playing Nintendo DS games in emulation, but could also come in handy in a variety of other situations. For example you could use the second screen to view a chat app, maps, or a web browser for walkthroughs, hints, or other guides while playing games. You can also view system status or settings on the second screen while using the primary display for gaming.

AYANEO used a similar design for the discontinued AYANEO Flip DS and upcoming AYANEO Flip 1S DS handheld gaming PCs. But those systems are higher-priced handhelds that function as full-fledged PCs thanks to AMD Ryzen processors and Windows 11 software.

With a $400 starting price the Pocket DS is kind of expensive for an Android-based handheld game console, but even without the second screen it would be one of the most powerful options around thanks to its Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 processor and support for up to 16GB of LPDDR5-8533 RAM and 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage (although entry-level models have just 8GB and 128GB of UFS 3.1, respectively).

Other features include an 8,000 mAh battery, "PC-grade cooling" with a copper heat sink and dual cooling fans, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port and microSD card reader, and support for WiFi and Bluetooth. There are stereo front-facing speakers.

To the left and right of the second screen you'll find a set of gaming controllers that feature TMR joysticks with a 1,000 Hz polling rate, a D-Pad, and plenty of buttons. There are also linear triggers with hall effect sensors, a 6-axis gyroscope, and dual-axis vibration motors.

The AYANEO Pocket DS ships with Android 13 and features AYASPACE and AYAHome software.

While a dual-screen handheld will likely consume more power than other devices with similar hardware if you're using both screens at once, the company notes that you can disable either screen if you're not using it. But I can't help wishing that AYANEO had figured out how to give this clamshell-style handheld a 360 degree hinge for the top cover rather than a 180 degree one.

That's because if you turn off the bottom screen and you'll basically just have a large empty space between the game controllers, but if you disable the top screen so you can focus on the 4:3 seconds screen only, you've basically got a useless large appendage hanging out on top of the device.

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