Handheld gaming PCs have been around for longer than their recent boom might indicate, even if the Steam Deck blew the doors off of the market by making a model that the average person could actually afford. While Valve may lay claim to being the “best value” portable PC with its loss-leadingly low price, if you’re in the market for comfort, sheer performance, or the functionality of having Windows right out of the box, there are plenty of more capable Steam Deck alternatives available to those with bigger budgets. It’s in this space where Ayaneo has traditionally operated, offering full-fledged Windows gaming PCs with high-performance components and instant compatibility across Steam and every other launcher’s full library.
Premium is kind of the direction you have to go in if you don’t also own some kind of store that lets you subsidize low cost products for the mass market. To enthusiasts, Ayaneo’s sometimes four figure devices have been mouthwatering, but even a boutique manufacturer can’t ignore the Steam Deck forever. Valve is now the elephant in the corner of every handheld PC manufacturer’s room.
Launching alongside the flagship Ayaneo 2, the Ayaneo Geek (available on IndieGoGo) maintains a premium status but is the first of the company’s full power handhelds to at least get within spitting distance of the Steam Deck’s price (there’s the Ayaneo Air, but it’s intended for less demanding games than the Deck). It features more in common with the Ayaneo 2 than it doesn’t, including its excellent Hall Effect joysticks and a powerful AMD Ryzen 7 6800U processor. But it starts $150 cheaper than the Ayaneo 2, at $849. That will still set you back more than even the most expensive Steam Deck ($640). But if you’re just looking to spend less than $1,000 for a genuine Windows gaming PC that’s more powerful than the Deck and isn’t much bigger than a Nintendo Switch OLED, it’s a great choice, especially compared to gaming laptops. Finally, we have a “budget” boutique Steam Deck competitor. Or, if it helps to think of it this way, a somewhat affordable “Steam Deck Pro.”
The Ayaneo Geek offers impressive gaming performance for less, but will still set you back more than a Steam Deck.
The Ayaneo Geek offers impressive gaming performance for less, but will still set you back more than a Steam Deck.
Despite its Nintendo Switch-like design, the Ayaneo Geek is a full-fledged gaming PC and has the specs to match. The most affordable model comes with 16GB of DDR5 memory clocked to a rapid 6,400MHz and includes a 512GB NVME SSD. The SSD can be upgraded to 1TB or 2TB for another $150 and $250, respectively. The top tier model is currently priced at $1,199 and includes 32GB of memory and a 2TB SSD, but if all you need is storage, it also supports MicroSD cards for a cheaper alternative (albeit at a slower 300 MB/s speed). The Geek is also available with 800p or 1200p screens, even if this is slightly unclear on the current IndieGoGo campaign.
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As the budget counterpart to the pricier Ayaneo 2, the Geek is remarkably similar and really just feels like a slightly pared down version of the flagship model. You’re getting the same fast Ryzen 7 6800U processor, so gaming performance is the same between both models. It uses the same outstanding Hall Effect triggers and joysticks, which feel great and are immune to the joystick drift. Both units have bright 7-inch touchscreen displays. The layouts and control schemes are the same, though the Ayaneo 2 offers more customization options for the buttons and triggers. They’re nearly identical in shape, size, and weight. Both offer a 50.25 wHr battery.
There are a handful of differences, but they’re overall small and feel like fair scale-backs for the lower price. The biggest difference is that the Ayaneo 2 features an edge-to-edge display while the Geek has thin bezels on all sides. There are other smaller differences too. The Geek has a single gyroscope for motion aiming while the Ayaneo 2 has two. The Geek has a linear vibration motor instead of the 2’s HD motor, which Ayaneo says is identical to the one in the Nintendo Switch. The Geek also ships with a PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD instead of the newer PCIe 4.0 drive that comes with the Ayaneo 2, though the impact on load times is small enough that you may not even notice. The flagship model also comes with a full glass front while the Geek just has a glass screen.
There are clear quality of life improvements that come with the more expensive model, but the Geek really doesn’t feel like much of a step down at all, especially if you’re comparing it to the Steam Deck. I’ve used both extensively and the most noticeable difference is the screen, which you quickly get used to and won’t notice at all if you don’t have both models side by side. If you have the money for the Ayaneo 2, it delivers the better experience over all, but the Geek is the rare tech purchase that doesn’t feel like you’re making a big sacrifice by opting for the cheaper model.
The Ayaneo Geek is what would happen if the Nintendo Switch and a gaming laptop had a baby. The Geek is a touch larger than the Switch OLED but has a very similar layout. The Geek adopts a much more curved design than Nintendo’s console, however, which has an ovular face and deep, curved grips Ayaneo says are based on a baby’s sleeping position. The controllers are also non-removable, so you’ll need to hold it in your hand unless you plug in peripherals and a docking station.
Despite the similarities, the Geek is far nicer to actually use. The grips are thick and contoured, tapering toward the top to guide your fingers toward the triggers. The sticks are bigger, smoother, and have more throw. The triggers have a deep, controller-like pull. The buttons are snappy and more crisp than the Steam Deck’s. Like any handheld, everything still feels slightly compressed: the right joystick in particular feels just a hair too low for even my medium-sized hands. Even so, I would take the Ayaneo Geek over either the Switch or Steam Deck any day of the week when it comes to comfort and ease of use. Even if the Geek is ever so slightly heavier than the Steam Deck, at 680 grams vs the Deck’s 669.
Ayaneo has outfitted the Geek with an array of extra buttons to navigate Windows and access its different options. There are View and Menu buttons below the D-pad on the left (mimicking an Xbox controller, and generally fulfilling the same role as Start and Select on more old-school devices). Two more extra buttons are positioned below the right joystick. One can be mapped to a custom command while the other, the Aya button, can be clicked to access a quick settings adjustment menu or held to draw up the full AYASpace settings software suite. There are bumpers and triggers on the top, as well as a pair of shoulder buttons that can be tied to custom commands, like raising the on-screen keyboard or Task Manager.
This isn’t a full laptop, so I/O is limited. There are three USB Type-C ports total here: two on top and one on bottom, and each can be used for power or data. There are two USB Type-C to Type-A adapters in the box for connecting peripherals, but you’ll need a docking station to connect the Geek to an external monitor if you plan to use it as a full PC. There’s also a power button with an integrated fingerprint reader for biometric login, a volume rocker, headphone jack, and a MicroSD card slot for expandable storage.
Like the Ayaneo 2, the Ayaneo Next, and the Ayaneo Air before it, the Ayaneo Geek uses Hall Effect triggers and joysticks. As the axiom goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and this design is anything but broken. Rather than use mechanical potentiometers for its triggers and joysticks, the Geek uses magnetic sensors to detect movement. The lack of mechanical wear and tear all but eliminates the chance for joystick drift and makes these inputs some of the smoothest you’ll find on any gaming controller. With the right software tuning, you can even nearly eliminate deadzones (the parts of a joystick that your controller doesn’t read, to avoid small random movements).
While all of the Geek’s inputs are smaller than what you’ll find on a normal controller, they still feel closer than you might expect. The added throw on the triggers and joysticks, while not as deep as on an Xbox or PlayStation controller, feel much closer than you might expect and are noticeably deeper than on the Steam Deck. The triggers especially feel at home in my console-acquainted hands, yet all the better for their added smoothness. The sticks have a bit more of a learning curve due to their reduced height and are less accurate than a full-size controller because of it. Using the built-in gyro helps to fine-tune aiming; however, the Geek requires installing an applet to enable motion controls while the Ayaneo 2 has them built in from the start.
The face buttons are snappy and tactile. There’s no mushiness to them at all, which is great for button heavy games like platformers. The D-pad is a bit less crisp, with a slight wiggle to the cross, but it worked for a casual like me, even in fighting games. Each is a big improvement from the Steam Deck’s somewhat mushy inputs, however, and all in all, make the Ayaneo geek surprisingly great to game on.
The Geek’s 7-inch screen is bright and colorful. Even Source: Gizmodo