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Indiegogo staffers are placing crowdfunded merchandise to the take a look at in our new sequence of sincere critiques. On this version, our very personal e-mail advertising and marketing and lifecycle strategist Karisa Hunt tried out AYANEO SLIDE, the brand new handheld gaming PC that our crowdfunding neighborhood is speaking about. Does it reside as much as the hype? Learn on as we put it to the take a look at!
I really like video video games, however don’t love their largely non-portable nature. And whereas the Nintendo Swap is nice, it’s sufficiently old now that it has bother with newer video games, and the choice out there to play is proscribed. I figured that I used to be just about caught with what I had, limitations and all.
However then handheld gaming PCs turned a actuality, and I obtained . I’ve been eager to attempt one out for some time, and when AYANEO launched their new SLIDE mannequin, I knew it was time for me to attempt it out.
Unboxing
I wish to give the AYANEO workforce a number of credit score right here, as a result of I used to be enchanted by this product the second I took it out of the transport field. I imply, take a look at how nice this packaging is!
Positive, this packaging is focused to a sure age vary who will each perceive what it’s and be nostalgic about it… however because it occurs, I’m proper in that age vary. I’m nonetheless delighted by the enormous VHS field.
Setup
Every thing you want is within the field, which is nice… as a result of as excited as I used to be to ry it out, I wanted to cost it first.
The AYANEO SLIDE isn’t like a recreation console, the place it has its personal working system and method of doing issues. As an alternative, it’s a real handheld PC, so it runs Home windows and some other applications you obtain to it. Setting it up was fairly easy, as Home windows walks you thru the method the whole method.
The primary concern I hit was when launching the AYANEO software program. It saved crashing on me, so I made a decision to bypass it totally in the meanwhile and obtain Steam. (It comes preloaded with Xbox gaming entry, however I’m largely a Ps individual, so I went a special route.) No issues there, or with some other program loading, so I’m chalking the AYANEO software program concern as much as this system itself as a substitute of a difficulty with the console.
Use
The AYANEO SLIDE that I obtained has 64GB of RAM in it, so it really works ultra-fast. I needed to check it out by taking part in Ori and the Will of the Wisps, a recreation I tried to play on my Swap however needed to cease as a result of it glitched an excessive amount of to get pleasure from it.
Once I let you know that it was an utter pleasure to play on the AYANEO SLIDE, I’m not exaggerating. Ori has attractive graphics and a seamless stream, which makes for a stunning play expertise when it’s performed on a machine with the processing functionality to deal with it. I used to be completely delighted by the expertise.
In fact, I couldn’t cease there. The AYANEO SLIDE dealt with Resident Evil 4 with ease (at about 50 FPS, too). It performed a number of totally different first-person shooters with zero glitching. It even performed Baldur’s Gate 3 like an absolute champ, and I used to be in a position to carry it with me in every single place I went, as a substitute of being tied to a particular location like I’d have been at house.
There are a number of different smaller options that actually enhanced my expertise as nicely. The sliding display tilts up, so I’m in a position to maintain the console at a cushty angle whereas nonetheless having the ability to see. The customization can be unbelievable – you may change each little factor, from most popular gaming settings to totally different shade background lighting for the keyboard and every joystick. It’s additionally so extremely quick, and with a 4TB SSD in it as nicely, it’s by far probably the most superior laptop I’ve ever used.
Cons
Whereas I really like the way in which the AYANEO SLIDE handles video games, there are a number of drawbacks. First, and most significantly, the battery life isn’t nice. On a full cost, I can play about an hour and a half of Baldur’s Gate 3 earlier than it dies. Granted, that’s a recreation that chews up a number of battery, however that’s nonetheless not an awesome runtime. (It is a downside with a number of comparable units, although, and I don’t assume the AYANEO SLIDE is any worse than common right here. It’s simply one thing to concentrate on.)
Second, whereas the slide keyboard is neat (and makes typing in my incomprehensibly lengthy passwords so much simpler), there simply aren’t that many locations the place it feels mandatory. It’s additionally form of an odd dimension, which is smart, however makes it somewhat powerful to make use of. My palms aren’t sufficiently big to achieve the center keys whereas holding the console two-handed, but when they shrank the buttons to make it smaller, the keys can be arduous to hit precisely (and the display dimension would shrink, which might be unhappy).
Third, it’s heavy. Whereas it’s not unimaginable to make use of because of the weight, it’s in all probability two and a half Switches in weight. It doesn’t begin getting actually uncomfortable till the battery is about to give up, so there’s no level the place I felt I wanted to place it down for my wrists’ sake, but it surely’s noticeably heavier than a number of different handheld PCs and Steam decks on the market (possible because of the keyboard).
Conclusion
Total, the AYANEO SLIDE is a really, excellent gaming PC, and the power to take it anyplace is nice. Its largest differentiator – the keyboard – ended up being much less of a draw than I’d initially hoped, however it’ll in all probability be extra helpful for shopping the online and chatting on apps like Discord than it has been solely in gaming contexts. Nevertheless, the way in which it handles heavy video games like Baldur’s Gate 3 will maintain me fortunately coming again to it for a very long time to come back.
To be taught extra, try the marketing campaign for AYANEO SLIDE!
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