I don’t need Ayaneo’s new Nintendo DS-style Steam Deck rival, but I want it

While the hype surrounding the Nintendo Switch 2 might have occupied most of my attention for the last few months, there’s one other handheld I’ve been keeping my eye on: the Ayaneo Flip 1S DS. The Chinese gaming brand first started teasing the handheld gaming PC with a similar form factor to the iconic Nintendo DS a couple of months ago, but now, it’s finally available to order, and the only thing stopping me right now is the price point.

For those who don’t know, the Ayaneo Flip 1S DS is a follow-up to last year’s Flip DS, which, in my opinion, was one of 2024’s best handheld consoles. Sure, the ergonomics needed a little work, and the software had its moments, but the form factor and performance were both fantastic, as I made clear in my 8/10 Ayaneo Flip DS review. Now its successor is here, and as far as I can tell, it looks even better than the original.

In terms of specs, the Ayaneo Flip 1S DS should be something of a performance beast, no matter whether you pick up the version with the state-of-the-art AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU or the model with the slightly older Ryzen 7 8840U processor. Either one of those CPUs has more power than the Steam Deck OLED, so this thing should be more than capable of running all the best Steam Deck games. It also comes with a minimum of 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, offering plenty of space to store your games and, presumably, pretty rapid load times.

Moving onto screens, both the top and bottom displays of the Flip 1S DS are as tempting as you’d expect from such an expensive handheld. The main display is a 7-inch 144Hz OLED, which should mean you’re getting vivid colors and super smooth gameplay, while the 4.5-inch IPS bottom display is more than good enough for running secondary tasks while gaming on the top half. If all that wasn’t good enough, it also comes in lovely colorways, including Shadow Black, Starry Yellow, and Retro Power. It’s not obvious from the name, but Retro Power is a light grey, reminiscent of the PS1.

While the Flip 1S DS sounds pretty impressive, you might want to hold onto your hat for this next bit. The cheapest possible configuration costs $799, which is considerably more expensive than the Steam Deck OLED and the Nintendo Switch 2, while the priciest option would set you back a whopping $1,559. Let me also note that those are early bird prices, but if you want to check out all the options, head over to the official Ayaneo Indiegogo campaign for all the details. If you do decide to pick one up, don’t expect it to arrive just yet, with international shipping not kicking off until September 2025.

That’s all the latest on the Ayaneo Flip 1S DS following its official launch. For more great hardware, be sure to check out our guides to the best gaming phones and the best gaming tablets while you’re here. Or, if you’ve already picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 and want to know what games you have to look forward to, see our list of all the upcoming Switch games.