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AYANEO has started teasing a follow-up to the AYANEO Pocket Micro on social media, promising "enhanced ergonomics", "greater performance", "more comfortable controls", and a "longer battery life" compared to the device's predecessor (h/t: Retro Dodo).
Released in 2024, the original AYANEO Pocket Micro was an Android-based retro-inspired handheld, whose design admittedly conjured memories of the Game Boy Micro for us.
As Damien noted in his review, it was capable of running pretty much anything from the Sega Dreamcast era or earlier, but, as he discovered, really shone when it came to the Game Boy Advance, noting that the 3.5-inch IPS screen made titles like "Super Mario World, Gunstar Super Heroes and Golden Sun really sing."
As a result, we ended up calling it "one of the most compact and aesthetically appealing attempts we've seen so far when it comes to fusing Android with a retro gaming focus," awarding it an 8 out of 10 when all was said and done.
One year later, AYANEO released a revised version of the device, the AYANEO Pocket Micro Classic, removing the sticks and cutting the price to make it one of the company's cheapest handhelds at the time, but since then, the AYANEO Pocket Micro and the AYANEO Pocket Micro Classic have been discontinued, paving the way for a true successor.
The news was shared on Twitter/X via a series of teases, and sadly, it doesn't yet include any images of what the device might look like, or whether it will keep the sticks or go with the "Classic" design. What we do know, though, is that the device is being referred to as a "Gen 2 powerhouse," with AYANEO calling it "a major leap forward for retro gaming performance." Whether more power is something people really want from a successor, we'll let you decide.
In fact, we'd love to know your thoughts in the comments! What do you personally want to see from the Pocket Micro 2? And are you for sticks or against? Let us know!