TL;DR
- The AYANEO Pocket S2 will feature a Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 and a huge 8,000mAh battery.
- It may be the most powerful gaming handheld ever released.
- No pricing yet, but the device will launch in mid-June, likely via a crowdfunding campaign.
Update: May 28, 2025 (11:35AM): The Indiegogo page is now live, but it doesn’t reveal any new details. Sign up to get notified when the device is available for pre-order. Backers who pledge in the first week will receive a special gift from AYANEO.
Original article: May 28, 2025 (11:25AM): AYANEO is the most boutique brand when it comes to retro gaming handhelds, and it finally revealed more details about its upcoming flagship Pocket S2 model in a livestreamed session earlier today. We already knew the chipset from Qualcomm’s event in March, but now the device is closer than ever to reaching your fingertips.
The Pocket S2 will be one of the first handhelds to feature a Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, the most powerful of Qualcomm’s new handheld-focused chipsets. So far, only the cheapest Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 is commercially available on the Retroid Pocket Classic, but we were very impressed by what it could handle on a tight budget. If the G3 Gen 3 shows similar improvements, it could be one of the most powerful Android handhelds ever launched.
AYANEO also announced that it’s working more closely with Qualcomm on drivers and game support. The new chipset will have the same level of game compatibility as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This was an issue with the previous G3 Gen 2 chipset, although compatibility has improved in recent months. It will also support turnip drivers out of the box, which should improve performance for high-end use cases such as Switch and Windows emulators.
Keeping all that running is a massive 8,00mAh battery. That’s a big jump up from the 6,000mAh battery on its predecessor, and it should provide solid battery life, even on the highest 20W TDP setting. Despite the size of the cell, it maintains a slim 15.9mm thickness.
The screen is a bright 6.3-inch 1440p IPS panel with a borderless finish on an all-glass front. The rest of the body is premium CNC’d metal, with a flat back and a new air-intake vent on the back. AYANEO claims the new model has dramatically improved cooling performance, which should also help extend battery life. A 3.5mm headphone jack makes a welcome return to the bottom of the device, next to the USB-C charging port.
In terms of controls, the Pocket S2 has new medium-sized TMR electromagnetic sticks. TMR sticks use similar magnetic technology as Hall Effect sticks, but they have better precision, resolution, and battery efficiency, at the cost of a higher price. They’re widely considered the next generation of sticks, although they’ve only been around for a few years.
The Pocket S2 might be the most powerful Android gaming handheld ever released.
AYANEO also briefly showed off its upcoming tablet, the Gaming Pad. It will feature the same Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 chipset and an 8.3-inch 1440P 120Hz LCD display, but no further details have been revealed as of yet.
The company also stopped short of revealing pricing for the Pocket S2, but you won’t have to wait long as it’s slated to launch in mid-June, likely via a crowdfunding campaign. There should be considerable early bird discounts, as well as extras and accessories.
One particularly interesting accessory shown in the demo is a new grip, which adds ergonomic handles to the back of the device. It can also be removed and placed on the front of the device to protect the sticks while traveling.
