The AYANEO KUN has been gaining more traction than the official release of the AIR 1S, and now they have finally shown some first photos of it.
Many have been digging to find the best competitor to the amazing Steam Deck. It being one of the most affordable gaming devices that performs really well too. Surprisingly, AYANEO and CEO Arthur Zhang have posted hands-on images of the upcoming KUN, even though the showcase from a few days prior was highlighting the AIR 1S. The most interesting aspect enthusiasts have brought up is the fact that it has touchpads, not something implemented in handhelds since the Steam Deck.
This would historically mark the KUN as being the first Windows handheld to include touchpads. The touchpads are like smaller versions of the touchpad a user would use on a laptop. Many touchscreen devices, like the Nintendo Switch, iPads, and tablets, have a design feature to address the problem of smudging on the screen.
AYANEO revealed the KUN will present an 8.4-inch colour screen and outstanding battery life, with its 75 WH battery. What this all means is that this beastly machine will be running on a larger battery capacity than most modern laptops such as the Acer Nitro 5 AN515-46. Most gaming handhelds contain a 50 WH battery, such as the mighty ASUS ROG Ally. Despite having a modest 45 WH battery, the Steam Deck performs impressively well. The KUN looks great for those long grinding sessions on Sea of Thieves.
The 8.4-inch screen size would also be pushing the general size for gaming handhelds, as the Nintendo Switch OLED and Steam Deck both contain 7-inch screens. AYANEO has also kept this size with its products, even choosing to go smaller for the AIR series to make a more ultra-thin and light experience with their 5.5-inch OLED screen. But they offered it in sizes of 5.5-inch, 6-inch and 7-inch variations. The reason that a bigger screen could be troubling would be the formatting of getting the true picture size displayed.
To understand the journey of KUN being made, a blog post was made on AYANEO’s site back in January of this year. It outlined the reasons for the KUN’s development and how hard the work would be. It has not been confirmed yet, but the post ensured it would be utilizing the next-gen AMD 7000 series CPUs to run the whole device. While the ambitions and goals seem to have panned out on paper and looks, time will tell if it will hold up.
The KUN will also weigh just over 900g, which is heavier than even the ONEXPLAYER 2 that weighs about 864g. This would be double the weight of the AIR 1S. No kickstand was shown included to help keep this giant standing. While no further details were shown on its potential release window or date, it was described as ‘possibly the most powerful Windows handheld ever’. Definitely keep an eye on this one for your next gaming handheld device.
