You'd think after the run it's been on recently in releasing/announcing new emulation-based handhelds that AYANEO would potentially slow down, take stock, and see what worked and what didn't. But that clearly doesn't seem to be the company's style.
During the recent livestream for the AYANEO Pocket Air Mini, the handheld manufacturer, for example, unexpectedly announced that it is working on yet another emulation-based handheld, called the AYANEO Pocket S Mini, suggesting the company won't stop until its created a handheld to everyone's tastes.
The Pocket S Mini, according to the description AYANEO provided as part of the broadcast, is a new "high-performance retro 4:3 handheld" that will feature a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 chipset and seems to be a revised take on AYANEO's previous Android-based handheld the Pocket S that released last year, judging by the name and its design.
The original Pocket S was one of the company's first Android-based releases (alongside the Pocket Air), and previously got an 8/10 from us when we first reviewed it back in May 2024.
In that review, Damien praised the handheld's "Switch Lite-style design, pin-sharp display, raw processing grunt and sheer versatility", while also suggesting that "if AYANEO can fix the few small issues we have relating to stamina, software and price, it could be onto a winner with this family of devices". In that case, it will be interesting to see what improvements the Pocket S Mini will carry over the original in these regards.
Sadly, as of this moment, we don't have any information on how much the Pocket S Mini will cost, but according to the slides presented in the livestream, we know that the device is being slated to release in March 2026.
As always, we'll endeavour to keep you posted when more information gets released, and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!