I have no issues spending a bit of time getting high end PC games set up (they've gotta suit infinite hardware combos after all!) but it's not really what I want out of a handheld at all. Battery life is the acceptable compromise for people looking for performance in a handheld gaming PC, but it does make them a hard pass for a lot of people who don't want to actively optimise their console just to get 2 hours of play out of it. Sat 20th Aug maybe I didn't put what I meant very well.
I wouldn't recommend it to a casual console gamer that has no experience with PC unless they're excited to tinker.
Some people even use tiny resolutions under 720 in portable mode and say they can't notice a difference visually, but lower resolution increases performance.Ĭonsoles like Switch provide a more stable yet less flexible experience whereas Steam Deck provides a bunch of customization and tinkering options that some console gamers may not understand or enjoy because it's still a PC and these are PC games. The great thing about the small screen is that even with lower graphical settings, all you have to do is boost sharpness with FSR (built into Steam Deck) and it still looks gorgeous because it's not stretched across a big TV or monitor. Most of the games I play are PS3-era games like Elder Scrolls Oblivion, and I average about 4-5 hours of battery with those kinds of games. You can either play a highly demanding game with ultra graphics at 60FPS for 1.5 hours or you can lower FPS to 30, lower graphical settings and possible internal Deck settings (like FSR) to stretch the same game to 3+ hours. Nintendo's handheld may be less powerful than its fancy competitors, but it strikes a good balance between power and battery life thanks to its mobile-focused Tegra chipset.įor those concerned about Steam Deck's battery life - I can say as an owner, they provide so many options to stretch game time it's a non-issue for me. The Steam Deck also has the same problem, to a much lesser extent than the Aya Neo Air. This illustrates one of the key sticking points of portable gaming right now it's hard to make a handheld console more powerful than the Switch because battery life is going to suffer as a result. Image: Nintendo Life / Damien McFerranĪlas, stamina is the Aya Neo Air's biggest weakness if you're super careful about what games you play then you could potentially get somewhere close to three hours on a single charge, but most of the time you'll be rushing to the wall socket after just over an hour of gameplay.
The OLED panel is also fantastic, although Time Extension notes that its 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution is rather wasted as you'll need to play all but the least demanding games in 720p to avoid draining the battery too quickly. The analogue inputs are based on 'Hall effect' sensors, which means there are no moving parts inside to wear down – so, in theory, controller drift won't happen. On the plus side, the design is easily the best to come out of Aya Neo so far, with fancy LED lights and superb build quality.