AYANEO Reveal Premium Price For Budget Handheld
- AYANEO launches KONKR with the Pocket Fit, a Snapdragon-powered handheld, but pricing is higher than expected.
- The Pocket Fit’s price ranges from $329 to $399, leading to consumer pushback, especially without an OLED screen.
- Competitors like AYN’s Thor offer similar specs for around $250, challenging KONKR’s “budget” claim.
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AYANEO
The Chinese tech company behind high-end gamer devices recently revealed its launching a brand new “budget” line, KONKR, that’s set to combine the premium technical expertise of the parent company with a more wallet-friendly price range.
Founder Arthur Zang appeared in a series of “Sharing Sessions” in July 2025 to showcase the first device in the KONKR line, the Pocket Fit. However, while he was quick to highlight the tech specs, he held off mentioning the actual price…until now.
“KONKR Brand’s First New Product,” AYANEO posted on its social media platforms, on Aug. 22. “Powered by Snapdragon G3 Gen3 Gaming Platform. A high-performance Android handheld with a truly attractive price.”
Not So Budget Friendly
Somewhat confusingly, AYANEO’s announcement came with two starting prices: less than $369 and less than $329. Users were quick to point out this discrepancy on X, but AYANEO hasn’t responded to questions. There is, however, a $399 version that’s being sold as the Pocket Fit Elite.
Whichever lower price it ends up being, it’s likely a lot higher than most gamers expected. Typically, when anyone talks about budget handhelds they’re referring to something like the Retroid Pocket series, or even a true low-cost option like the R36S.
However, it’s worth noting that when Zhang revealed the Pocket Fit specs, it quickly became apparent the KONKR flagship handheld was supposed to be several levels above competitors’ retro-flavored devices; it’s closer to a handheld PC than a typical budget gaming device.
The Pocket Fit is more like a Steam Deck or Lenovo Legion. It might share a Snapdragon processor with lower-priced rivals, but almost everything else is closer to AYANEO’s usual high-end level, which explains the price.
Consumer Pushback
Although Zhang has spoken about KONKR’s “affordable” price point and “value” in Sharing Sessions and a recent Pocket Fit video, gamers have been quick to highlight the cognitive dissonance between those words and the Pocket Fit cost.
“Not what I was expecting when they said budget…especially with no OLED,” said X user CentristGamer.
This sentiment was echoed by HBRVII: “Nice design but it should be OLED at this price not LCD.”
“Actually interesting,” added ProbablyMinkus. “Shame that knowing AYANEO pricing, that price is gonna shoot up about 100 bucks after the earlybird window.”
Other Handheld Announcements
Instead, people have pointed out a few recent competitor models that offer similar quality at a lower price, including the Odin 2. This is made by AYN, a fellow Chinese tech company, that also recently revealed its own budget-friendly handheld: Thor.
Fittingly, its release stole the thunder from the Pocket Fit. Although Thor has an, admittedly, not-much-lower price of around $250, it’s a dual-screen handheld with OLED screens with specs that are just a little less than the KONKR device. For example, a Gen 2 CPU rather than Pocket Fit’s Gen 3, and 6000mAh battery compared to the latter’s 8000mAh.
Another upcoming release is the Abxylute 3D One, a frankly gigantic device that stretches the definition of “handheld” to its breaking point. Its 11 inch screen is more like a tablet with chunky (magnetic) gamepads on the sides, but it’s also a Windows gaming device co-developed by Intel and Tencent Games.
At the actual budget end of the recent handheld release spectrum, there’s the Mangmi Air X. This retails for around $90 and shares similar specs to some budget models from Anbernic and Retroid, such as an older Snapdragon CPU and low 4GB RAM. However, it can handle games from systems up to PS2 and GameCube.
Although the Air X can handle Android games, which does help set it apart from similar handhelds, the KONKR Pocket Fit also covers the aforementioned systems, Android, and even some modern titles like Genshin Impact. It’s set for release in September.
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