AYANEO Pocket S2 Review: The New Android Gaming Handheld Champion

The original AYANEO Pocket S didn’t get to enjoy its spot at the top for long. In the fast-moving world of handhelds, AYANEO is its own biggest rival, and they’re back with the AYANEO Pocket S2. Powered by the next-gen Snapdragon Gen 3 chip, this new device aims to make their own champion obsolete. Our AYANEO Pocket S2 review will determine if this new contender has what it takes to claim the title.

AYANEO Pocket S2 Review Video

A Hands-On Look At the AYANEO Pocket S2

We’ll kick off our AYANEO Pocket S2 review with a tour of the hardware itself. The AYANEO Pocket S2 comes in at approximately 8.97 x 3.58 x 0.62 inches, making it a bit larger than its predecessor. The standard model tips the scales at 428g, with the Pro model coming in slightly heavier at 440g. This weight is largely due to its chassis being machined from a single block of aluminum alloy, a design choice that gives it a premium, substantial feel that sets it apart from all-plastic devices.

The screen itself is a highlight, protected by a seamless sheet of glass that covers the entire front. Now at 6.3 inches, the display upholds the high standard set by the original, delivering a razor-sharp 1440p resolution with wonderfully vibrant colours and excellent brightness that screams quality.

Control-wise, you’re fully equipped. You get a swappable D-Pad (letting you choose between a plus or disc shape), alongside a pair of high-precision TMR Electromagnetic Analogue Joysticks. You’ll also find dedicated buttons for the homescreen and the fantastic AYASpace overlay, which we’ll explore later.

For on-the-fly power management, a convenient shortcut button on the right allows you to instantly switch between five performance modes, from Power Saving to the all-out Maximum setting.

The AYANEO Pocket S2 layout is clean and functional. The bottom edge provides all the key I/O: a dust-protected micro SD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a versatile USB-C port for both charging and video out. The top houses the shoulder buttons and textured Linear Hall Effect Triggers, plus two programmable macro buttons. Finally, the power button doubles as a fast and reliable fingerprint sensor for easy access.

When it comes to ergonomics, the Pocket S2 is comfortable enough, though it lacks the contoured grips found on competitors like the Odin 2. Given how your hands naturally cup the device, a dedicated grip would have been a welcome addition for long-term comfort.

Technical Deep Dive & Performance Tests

Next in our AYANEO Pocket S2 review, let’s look under the hood and see how the hardware performs in our battery, noise, and thermal testing.

The Pro model is equipped with a substantial 10,000mAh battery (the standard has 8,000mAh). To see what it could handle, we put it through a demanding stress test, running AnTuTu on the Maximum performance profile with the screen and fans at 100%. Even under this extreme workload, it lasted an impressive 2 hours and 50 minutes. In more typical, everyday gaming scenarios, you’re looking at a much more practical 6 to 8 hours of use.

Our noise and thermal tests showed the device performs well. The fan noise was under 50dB on the Balanced profile, rising to 57dB for Gaming and 71dB at Maximum performance. Temperatures peaked at a very reasonable 44°C, well within a comfortable range.

Benchmark Analysis

Continuing our AYANEO Pocket S2 review is where we see the numbers and what the new Gen 3 processor is truly capable of. With no other Gen 3 devices to compare it to, the key question is how big of a leap this the AYANEO Pocket S2 over the last generation.

Geekbench 6

Starting with Geekbench 6, the AYANEO Pocket S2 posts solid gains. There’s a notable 7% improvement in single-core speed, but the multi-core performance is where it really pulls away, with a massive 29% lead over the Gen 2-powered AYANEO Pocket S.

AnTuTu

The story gets even better with AnTuTu, which measures overall system performance. The AYANEO Pocket S2 achieved a staggering score of 2.18 million, a clear testament to the Gen 3’s horsepower and a full 34% higher than its predecessor.

3DMark

The pattern of dominance continues in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme benchmark. Testing the combined CPU and GPU capabilities, the S2 scored 5,408, representing another huge jump of 25% over the previous model.

Benchmark Summary

Looking at the data as a whole, the conclusion is undeniable: the AYANEO Pocket S2 sets a new benchmark for performance. Its 7% single-core gain is good, but the 25% to 34% advantage in broader tests is phenomenal, leaving its rivals in the dust and putting it in a league of its own.

The Software Experience

Lets take a brief look at the OS & software as part of our AYANEO Pocket S2 review. The software experience is built on a foundation of Android 14, with AYANEO’s custom suite layered on top. The default launcher is clean and responsive, handling basic navigation perfectly. AYASpace provides deep customisation, allowing you to fine-tune everything from performance profiles and controller settings to system updates, all within logically laid-out menus.

The included game launcher is functional but requires some manual labour if you don’t have a library to import from another frontend; you’ll be adding paths and artwork yourself. A built-in scraping tool would elevate this from good to great.

The real star of the software show is the AYA Overlay. This pop-up menu is brilliantly executed, giving you instant access to performance stats, controller settings, screen mapping, and other essential tools without ever leaving your game. It’s a top-tier feature.

Android Gaming Performance

Next in our AYANEO Pocket S2 review we will try some Android titles, the AYANEO Pocket S2 is practically overkill. It handles everything from fast-paced racers like Horizon Chase to console-quality epics like Alien: Isolation with absolute ease. For games that gate graphics settings, you can even spoof the device model (e.g., as a Xiaomi 14 Pro) to unlock the highest visual fidelity.

The screen mapping tool is excellent for titles without controller support, like Metal Slug Awakening. The interface is a simple drag-and-drop system that lets you place virtual buttons over the touch controls. It’s intuitive, effective, and makes touch-only games a joy to play with physical controls.

Emulation Capabilities

This is where that extra horsepower truly gets to shine. The Gen 3 chip on the AYANEO Pocket S2 builds upon the fantastic emulation foundation of the Gen 2, giving you more flexibility than ever before. In our emulation part of our AYANEO Pocket S2 review lets examine how well it performs with more recent generations of consoles and handhelds.

You can run older systems with lower power settings to maximize battery life, or you can let the hardware loose, pushing resolutions as high as 4K and applying graphical enhancements. For 3D consoles like the PlayStation 1 and Dreamcast, upscaling to the native 1440p display is effortless, and you can even target 4K when docked to a TV.

For PlayStation 2, where game compatibility varies, you can expect smooth performance at standard resolutions. On many titles, there’s plenty of headroom to increase the rendering resolution for a much sharper image.

Older handhelds also get a new lease on life. The Citra emulator can run games at 1440p on the device itself, or at up to 8x resolution for a 4K picture on an external display.

The Vita3K emulator is similarly impressive; we saw stable framerates at 3x resolution (just over 1440p) in games like TxK and Gravity Rush.

Even the notoriously difficult Yuzu emulator and its various forks such as Eden sees benefits. We saw a locked 60 FPS in Cruisn’ Blast and Yoku’s Island Express. While the most demanding first-party titles won’t be perfect, many are very playable, with one earlier popular RPG running at a mostly stable 30 FPS.

Final Verdict

So, what’s the final verdict on the AYANEO Pocket S2 review? It’s an unapologetically premium device, from its metal-and-glass construction to its stunning display, and it’s backed by performance that is second to none. The benchmarks show a device that isn’t just an incremental update but a significant generational leap forward.

This power translates directly to a better gaming experience, whether you’re playing Android titles at max settings or pushing emulation to resolutions that were previously out of reach. While some may wish for an OLED screen, the high quality of this IPS panel makes it a minor point of contention in our opinion.

After extensive testing, it’s clear that the AYANEO Pocket S2 is a beast. For those who want the absolute best performance in a high-end package, it is the undisputed champion. It has certainly made a strong case for being my Android gaming handheld of the year!

AYANEO Pocket S2

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