1.Pricing & specs2.Design & build3.Performance & thermals4.Displays5.Battery life6.Microphone & speakers7.Competition8.Scorecard-Should you buy it?
Here’s what I discovered.
This review was made possible thanks to a review unit provided by AYANEO.
It’s easier to travel with the Flip DS because of the protective clamshell design.
The company did not see the contents of this review before publishing.
you might learn more about AI processors by visiting ourNPU guideandTOPS guide.
As always, the higher the capacity options, the more the rig costs.
The AYANEO Flip DS comes with a universal adapter, a wall charger, a USB-C to USB-A cable, two USB-C to USB-A adapters, and alternate grips.
you’re free to get the Flip DS in either a black or a white casing.
As is usually the case for AYANEO, the Flip DS can be purchased at Indiegogo.
What’s in the box?
For best performance, you want to get the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor.
Most people will also be served well with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.
If you tend to play a lot of different games, you might want to increase storage, though.
The Flip DS has a few extra buttons that you don’t often see in a gaming handheld.
It weighs roughly 1.4 pounds and is about 1.5 inches thick when the clamshell is closed.
That’s roughly the same weight as the Steam Deck but about half an inch less thick.
However, it’s possible for you to customize these buttons to perform other functions if you like.
There is a microSD card reader, a USB4 port, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port and a OCuLink port on the top of the device.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The circular power button above the secondary screen doubles as a fingerprint reader.
The OFN is activated by pushing the button in.
I was honestly surprised by how convenient the OFN is to use.
There are plenty of buttons and triggers to make the handheld more convenient to use.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
Alternatively, the joysticks also act like a mouse when used together.
The left joystick navigates the cursor, while the right joystick acts like the scroll wheel.
Overall, this is an intuitive way to interact with windows and programs.
There is a large intake vent on the back of the Flip DS.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The left joystick navigates the cursor while the right joystick acts like the scroll wheel.
A slanted volume button resides on the top left side of the machine for quickly adjusting sound.
I’m happy it’s located inside rather than on the outside of the gadget.
There is a fingerprint reader that doubles as a power button. Next to it is as an Optical Finger Navigation button.
Next to the volume, there is a button with ellipses on it.
Pressing this button brings up Steam, thus making it a lot easier to access your Steam game library.
Next to the ellipses button is another button that toggles the secondary screen function on or off.
The D-Pad and various buttons are extremely flat to accommodate the clamshell design.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
To be clear, this doesn’t turn the screen off.
That’s something that is done by interacting with the secondary screen itself.
To accommodate the clamshell design, the inside buttons, including the D-Pad, are all very flat.
The joysticks are inset, which makes it so debris can easily gather inside.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
Additionally, the joysticks are inset into little pockets.
AYASpace 2.0 works well overall, but you do need to update it before it will display in English.
The display holds itself at three positions roughly 90 degrees, 135 degrees, and 180 degrees.
Eventually, the plastic around the display hinge popped out and prevented me from being able to push the display back fully.
Immediately, I attempted to push this plastic back into place, but it wouldn’t budge.
Instead, it began to warp, exacerbating the problem.
However, there currently aren’t any emulators of that sort designed to work with dual screens.
During a Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark at Steam Deck graphics settings, the Flip DS averaged 50FPS.(Image credit: Windows Central)
This opens up a ton of multitasking possibilities that aren’t possible on other gaming handhelds.
Similarly, the CPU’s rendering capabilities weren’t quite as good as those mainline Windows 11 handheld competitors.
So what are you to take away from all this?
The Flip SD averaged 45FPS when on Ray Tracing: Low graphics settings.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Basically, the Flip DS isn’t the most powerful gaming handheld out there.
However, its CPU and GPU are solid enough to provide decent gaming sessions.
This is warm but not overly hot.
The Flip DS also averaged 45FPS when on Low graphics settings.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Additionally, it’s at an area you aren’t as likely to touch.
It also helps that I’m usually just tapping the secondary screen rather than resting my finger on it.
Just check that you don’t block the vents, and the gadget will run well.
The Quick Assistant menu gives you access to important controls without having to reduce a window on the main screen.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The same cannot be said for the smaller screen, though.
These devices are technically small gaming laptops, which also don’t run for very long when unplugged.
It only lasted roughly an hour.
The secondary screen’s Performance menu lets me determine TDP, performance, modes, and overclocking settings.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
This means that holding the system amplifies the sound off of your hands and directs it back toward you.
The speakers are… fine.
They definitely get ridiculously loud, but they also feel distant and less clear than I’d like.
The default monitor menu shows how well the various components are performing.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The microphone is located on the bottom of the Flip DS near the headphone jack.
When attending meetings or playing online multiplayer with others, my voice came through clearly and without distracting artifacts.
The Flip KB is$904 at Indiegogowhile the Slide has a starting price of$699 at Indiegogo.
I was able to add a number of useful programs to the Application menu.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
There’s also a more expensiveOLED version, which is prettier to look at.
The base Steam Deck has a starting price of$399.00 at Steam.
We can help with ourWindows 11 guidesif you need them.
I was able to get Cyberpunk 2077 running on the small screen and Netflix running on the main screen.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
Alternatively, you might get the newROG Ally X, which has double the battery capacity.
It has a starting price of$799.99 at Best Buy.
AYANEO Flip DS: Scorecard
AYANEO Flip DS: Should you buy it?
I ran the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark a few times with different graphics settings.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
You should buy this if…
You should not buy this if…
So, if that sounds like something you’re interested in, I definitely recommend getting the Flip DS.
Additionally, it doesn’t have the best battery life, which is true of most gaming handhelds.
The Flip DS can run Cyberpunk 2077, but it isn’t the smoothest experience.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
Horizon Zero Dawn ran better than I expected it to, but it did end up crashing a couple of times.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The Flip DS does especially well with less graphically intensive games like Moonstone Island.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
It’s easy to accidentally flip the main Flip DS screen if you tilt the device too far.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The Flip DS SSD produced faster read and write speeds than the ROG Ally.(Image credit: Windows Central)
This PCMark 10 benchmark shows that the Flip DS has solid CPU performance, but isn’t as powerful as ROG Ally or Legion Go.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Once again, Geekbench 6 shows that the Flip DS CPU isn’t quite as powerful as an AMD Z1 Extreme.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The Flip DS has respectable system performance, but doesn’t have the best gaming handheld results.(Image credit: Windows Central)
This shows us that the CPU rendering abilities are good, but not the most impressive.(Image credit: Windows Central)
When it came to GPU performance, the Flip DS scored similarly to ROG Ally and Legion Go.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The hottest part of the Flip DS is on the device’s right side.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The back center of the gaming handheld reached a peak temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The backside portion that got the hottest was near the exhaust vents.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The hottest area of the Flip DS are the vents which peaked at 119 degrees Fahrenheit.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The right side of the secondary screen gets significantly hotter than the left side.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The buttons and joysticks themselves didn’t get hot to the touch.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The intake vent on the back is much cooler than the surrounding casing.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The D-Pad is decently warm, but not hot to the touch.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
In a color gamut test, the AYANEO Flip DS produced 99% of sRGB, 80% of AdobeRGB, and 82% of P3.
AYANEO Flip DS suffers from short battery life like many other gaming handhelds.
There are two speakers and a headphone jack on the bottom of the Flip DS.
Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, ROG Ally, and Legion Go are just a few of the handhelds on the market.
