Ayaneo Air 1S Review: Exceptionally Portable, Surprisingly Powerful

mmorpg.com:

Ayaneo was one of the first brands to popularize handheld Windows gaming PCs, beginning a wave that’s only continued to grow over the last two years. It’s no stranger to innovation, and today we’re looking at its smallest, most pocketable gaming PC, the Ayaneo Air 1S . Measuring only 8.8 x 3.5 inches, it leaves the Steam Deck in its dust and is much closer to a smaller, thinner, lighter ROG Ally, complete with a gorgeous AMOLED screen. Beginning at $799, the Air 1S doesn’t come cheap but is destined to impress.

The Ayaneo Air 1S is part of Ayaneo’s thin and light line-up, following up on the original Ayaneo Air and the more recent Air Plus. It’s near in size to the Switch Lite but don’t let its diminutive stature fool you: this is a full-fledged Windows gaming PC that offers surprisingly great performance. It’s easily the best Air yet, balancing size with power in a way the prior models could not. Even compared to the bigger Ayaneo 2S, it really doesn’t feel like a step-down, making it the best opportunity yet to choose the size that works best for you without worrying about performance being left on the table. 

That’s because not only is it running very similar hardware to its bigger, flagship sibling (the Ayaneo 2S), it also runs at a very similar TDP. TDP, if you’re unfamiliar, is how much power the system is able to draw and pass through to the processor (which also renders the graphics within games). Higher TDPs typically translate to higher frame rates and more headroom to adjust graphics settings — up to a certain point when diminishing returns set in. Previous Air models had more limited TDPs to account for their slimmer designs and heatsinks. Even though they were running the same Ryzen APUs, their performance