In our AYANEO Air comparison with AYANEO 2021 and AYANEO Retro Power handheld gaming consoles, we see how they perform against each other as they have similar price ranges. Let’s find out which is the best handheld in terms of price versus performance and features.
AYANEO AIR comparison with 2021 & Retro Power Video
The AYANEO Handhelds
Before we start with the AYANEO Air comparison, let’s start with some brief details for each of the handheld gaming PC’s if you are not familiar with them.
AYANEO Air
The AYANEO Air is the latest model to be released with an AMD Ryzen 5 5560U processor, that has 6 cores and 12 threads running up to 4.0GHz. By default it’s at 8W TDP but it goes up to 25W. You can read our full AYANEO Air review here.
AYANEO 2021
Next we have the OG AYANEO 2021. The gaming handheld has the AMD Ryzen 5 4500U CPU with 6 cores and 6 threads running up to 4.0GHz. By default it’s at 15W TDP but it also goes up to 25W.. You can read our full AYANEO 2021 review here.
AYANEO 2021 Retro Power
And last but not least is the AYANEO Retro Power, a themed AYANEO 2021 Pro handheld gaming PC, with AMD Ryzen 7 4800U CPU that has 8 cores and 16 threads running up to 4.2Ghz. It has a default TDP of 15W and also a 25W recommended limit. You can read our full AYANEO 2021 Pro here which is what the Retro Power theme hardware is based on.
That’s our three handhelds, here’s a quick comparison of the specs to compare.
| AYANEO AIR | AYANEO 2021 | AYANEO RETRO POWER | |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5560U processor. 6 cores and 12 threads up to 4.0GHz. 8W TDP. | AMD Ryzen 5 4500U CPU,6 cores and 6 threads up to 4.0GHz. 15W TDP. | AMD Ryzen 7 4800U CPU, 8 cores and 16 threads up to 4.2Ghz. 15W TDP |
| GPU | AMD Radeon Graphics, 6 cores up to 1600Mhz | AMD Radeon Graphics, 6 cores up to 1500Mhz | AMD Radeon Graphics, 8 cores up to 1750Mhz |
| RAM | 16GB LPDDR4x | 16GB LPDDR4x 4266Mhz | 16GB LPDDR4x 4266Mhz |
| STORAGE | 512GB NVMe | 1TB NVMe | 1TB NVMe |
| SCREEN SIZE | 5.5″ 1080P OLED | 7″ 800P H-IPS | 7″ 800P H-IPS |
| BATTERY | 28Wh 7350mAh | 47wh /4100mAh | 47wh /4100mAh |
| PRICE | £849.95 | £999.95 | £1199.95 |
The prices are from DroiX and are correct at the time of writing this, which is August 2022.
Benchmark Information
We will be running a series of benchmarks on each gaming handheld, most of them will be at four TDP levels; 8W, 15W, 25W and 35W while connected to a charger. We have seen in the past that AMD processors generally do no scale up well past the 25W area. But to really push the handhelds we will be going up to 35W to see if there’s any improvements. In addition to that, we will be doing some battery life tests at 15W and 25W. This will give the AYANEO Air comparison with other models.
Each handheld is running the latest Windows 11 with the AMD graphics version 22.8.1 drivers. We have tried our best to make each benchmark on each handheld under the exact same conditions. The 2021 and Retro Power have 800P displays and the Air has 1080P display, so we will be running at either 4K or 720P on an external monitor depending on the benchmark to get an equal comparison. We run each benchmark once and use that score, unless there is a major anomaly in the results.
With all the housekeeping out of the way, it’s time for the benchmarks!
PCMark
PCMark is a series of tests covering day to day tasks from web browsing to image processing. For this benchmark we run at 4K resolution to get an equal measurement of performance and at 25W TDP only for all handheld gaming consoles.
Despite this being first in the video, we actually run this benchmark last as it takes 25 minutes to run it to completion. We were a little surprised that the AYANEO Air came in first place, you will see why as the benchmarks progress. This can be due to a few things such as faster RAM and storage which help with the overall scoring.
3DMark
3DMark tests the CPU and GPU to see how well they work together in video processing tasks. We are running at 4K resolution and at 8, 15, 25, and 35W TDP.
The AYANEO Air initially starts off behind the 2021 model but at 25W it does catch up with it. However, the 2021 does reach that score at 15W which is quite a difference. The AYANEO Retro Power handheld gaming PC sees a far improved performance increase up to 25W. All three see next to no increase afterwards.
Forza Horizon 5
Continuing our AYANEO Air comparison for games now. On Forza Horizon 5 we are running at 720P on the Lowest default graphics settings with unlocked frame rates. We are testing at 8, 15, 25 and 35W TDP.
All three devices get over 60 frames per second at 15W TDP which is very good to see! The Air has some good performance here and beats the AYANEO 2021 model, likely due to the Air having more CPU threads. The Retro Power handheld has the best performance overall, even squeezing out a few more FPS above 25W TDP.
Street Fighter V
For Street Fighter V we are running at 720P on the Maximum graphics settings. The game does limit to 60 frames per second so we can see where on the TDP if it reaches this limit if at all.
None of the three handheld gaming consoles quite reach the 60 frames per second setting but the Retro Power does get very close. The AYANEO AIR is just a few frames behind the 2021 for the most part. We can see that for these three, going beyond 25W TDP makes very little difference in performance.
Final Fantasy XIV
On our Final Fantasy XIV benchmark we are running at 720P on the Maximum graphics settings.
The Air narrowly takes the lead over the 2021 at 8W TDP, but falls behind at 15W and above. The AYANEO Retro Power does very well with higher scores throughout the various TDP settings, you could squeeze a minimal performance increase at above 25W but it would not be worth it.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is our penultimate game benchmark. We are running at 720P on the Lowest graphics settings.
We see that initially the AYANEO Air gaming handheld is behind the 2021 by a few frames, but at 25W TDP it matches the performance at 53 frames per second. The Retro Power does very well, with 52 frames at only 15W TDP and finishing off with 59. Again, going past 25W gives no performance increase.
Cyberpunk 2077
And we finish with Cyberpunk 2077 running at 720P on the Low graphics settings. This is a highly demanding game so it will be interesting to see how well each handheld performs.
The Air initially starts off behind the AYANEO 2021 but at 25W we can see that it overtakes by just under one FPS. The Retro Power Windows handheld remains in the lead throughout but not by as big a margin as we have seen in the other benchmarks. However there is a 1 FPS increase above 25W for it.
Battery Life Tests
For the battery life tests we are running the earlier Forza Horizon 5 benchmark over and over until the battery runs out and the handheld powers off.
We are testing at 15W and 25W TDP for all three handheld gaming consoles. As a note the AYANEO Air is by default 8W TDP and the battery can last from between 90 minutes to 180 minutes depending on usage. For this test we are running at 720P on the Air and 800P on the 2021 and Retro Power so there will be slightly higher demand on those two.
The AYANEO Air does not even manage one hour at either 15W or 25 TDP which we kind of expected going by the 8W TDP battery life. 54 and 34 minutes is simply not good enough.
The AYANEO 2021 model fares much better with 101 and 74 minutes at 15 and 25W TDP’s respectively. And the Retro Power model with 100 minutes and 73 minutes. Both gaming handhelds have the same battery, and despite the Retro Power having higher performance, the battery life has similar times as the 2021 model.
Benchmark Comparison & Summary
Summing up our AYANEO Air comparison, we have collected all the benchmark results based on each handheld’s 25W scores here.
| AYANEO AIR | AYANEO 2021 | AYANEO RETRO POWER | |
| PCMARK | 5461 | 4922 | 5286 |
| 3DMARK | 1087 | 1091 | 1346 |
| FORZA HORIZON 5 | 74 FPS | 67 FPS | 79 FPS |
| STREET FIGHTER V | 47.28 FPS | 49.8 FPS | 57.64 FPS |
| FINAL FANTASY XIV | 4771 | 5029 | 5353 |
| TOMB RAIDER | 53 FPS | 53 FPS | 59 FPS |
| CYBERPUNK 2077 | 30.38 FPS | 29.46 FPS | 33.24 FPS |
| BATTERY LIFE | 34 MINUTES | 74 MINUTES | 73 MINUTES |
| PRICE | £849.95 | £999.95 | £1,199.95 |
The AYANEO Retro Power handheld clearly comes out on top with the overall highest results in the benchmarks but it is also the most expensive, costing £350 and £200 more than the others . Is there a good difference in performance to warrant the extra money? Maybe if you simply want the highest performing out of the three.
The AIR and 2021 models have a bit back and forth between the best benchmark results, it’s roughly a draw overall. There is a price difference of £150 which is a fair amount and definitely worth taking into consideration.
Which AYANEO handheld to buy?
As mentioned the AYANEO Retro Power (2021 Pro) is the model to buy if you want the best performance handheld gaming PC in this price range. It consistently scored the highest in the benchmarks, has good battery life and features, but it is the most expensive out of the three.
The elephant in the room is the AYANEO Air battery life. We see a difference of around double the battery life between them at 25W TDP which is unbelievable. Fair enough it lasts longer at the 8W TDP, but even then the battery life is not great. The Air Pro model will cost £930, still lower than the 2021 model, and we expect it to have more battery life, but this would still not bring it quite in line with the other models.
But with the Air models, you get an amazing 5.5” OLED display, smaller form factor and so on. The AYANEO 2021 still remains a decent handheld gaming PC, but the Air and especially the AYANEO Air Pro has a bit more going for it at a lower price. It’s just that damn battery life that really puts us off! It’s great if you’re sitting next to a power socket, but bring some power packs if you plan going anywhere that’s longer than a bus journey!
If you are looking for an alternative smaller next generation handheld gaming PC, then you may want to wait a little longer for the GPD Win 4 which will have the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U processor. You can learn more about it on our GPD Win 4 FAQ here.
Where to buy the AYANEO Air, 2021 and Retro Power handhelds?
You can learn more about and buy the AYANEO Air, AYANEO 2021 and AYANEO Retro Power at their respective links. You can browse our range of handheld gaming consoles here.
Let us know in the comments what you think of the benchmark results. What would be your pick of these three? And do let us know if you would like to see more comparisons like this in the future.
That wraps up this AYANEO Air comparison, we hope you have found it useful in deciding which AYANEO model is best for your requirements.
