[체험기] Playing PC games in bed … “Nintendo Sensitivity” Ayaneo Air

Lightweight version of ‘Ayaneo’ in the UMPC sector
A body reminiscent of a console game … retro mood
Enjoy the latest high-end PC games without delay
Disadvantages of heat, battery and price barriers

[아시아경제 차민영 기자] The “Ayaneo Air” series, a lightweight version of the “Ayaneo” series, which was popular in the ultra small portable PC (UMPC) industry, was officially released in Korea recently. Until now it could only be purchased through social financing and parallel imports, but One Store was the sole distributor. The era has come when you can easily enjoy PC games while lying on your bed or in the back seat of a car.

I tried the “Ayaneo Air 512GB Black” model on 28. From the outside it looks like a game console, but the essence is a UMPC. This product is a portable PC that uses Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system (OS).

I’m playing the action RPG “Fallout 3” on Ayaneo Air.

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Compared to the Nintendo Switch product, the dimensions are similar, but the thickness of the Ayaneo Air is thicker. On the other hand, the Ayaneo Air, which weighs 398 grams, is lighter. Even compared to the weight of a normal smartphone, there is not much difference. It is light enough to be used by a woman or a small child. The grip button on the top of the joystick has a luxurious cobalt blue finish with fine pearls.

After entering my Microsoft (MS) account, connecting to Wi-Fi, and completing basic initial settings, I downloaded the action RPG “Fallout 3” via the Epic Games platform. An error occurred during the initial setup process and it took a lot of effort to turn it back on after forcibly turning it off. Since I had to download the Epic Games launcher, it took over an hour and a half to play. It takes about 50 minutes to download the game even if it is connected to 5G Wi-Fi, so some patience is required to enjoy the game.

Ayaneo Air versus Nintendo Switch

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When I turned on the game, the 5.5-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display lit up. Visualization is considered an important factor in the nature of the game, where the visual aspect is important. The speakers placed in the lower part of both the left and right sides are also satisfactory. I was able to freely enjoy the conversations with the NPCs (non-player characters) and the search missions by moving the joystick as if I were playing a normal console game. Since it can be used as a PC, it was possible to receive games from Steam, Xbox Live, Ubisoft, etc. as well as Epic Games, or play indie games made by individual developers. It has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of capacity and it was easy to organize games, so the capacity limit didn’t seem to be that big. There was no lag even when the actual game was played for more than 30 minutes.

Ayaneo Air components. Support Type-C charging method

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Heat and battery are areas that need to be integrated. Ayaneo pointed out that the battery is stable, but it was difficult to enjoy more than an hour and a half when playing on a 100% charge. I didn’t feel much heat in either joystick, but I could feel the heat in the middle of the main body even before the game started. The cooling system was placed on the back and top of the body, but was warm to the touch. Another disadvantage is that the Korean-language guide on the device is somewhat inconvenient, perhaps because it is a Chinese product. The official manual was also provided in two versions: English and Chinese.

The price barrier is higher than that of general game consoles. The factory price is 1.19 million won, and even though the discount event held at the One Store runs until the 31st of this month, it’s about 1 million won. It can be purchased at One Store, Fun Shop and Hi-Mart.

By Cha Min-young, staff reporter [email protected]