Is the new AYN Odin3 the ultimate Android gaming handheld? Packing a 120Hz AMOLED display and the blazing-fast Snapdragon 8 Elite, this Android gaming console is a powerhouse for the price. That being said, the experience is not completely perfect. Read our full AYN Odin3 review below to help you decide if this OLED Android handheld is the right choice for you.
AYN Odin3 Review Video
Unboxing and Design in our AYN Odin3 Review
The AYN Odin3 measures around 8.8 x 3.4 x 0.65 inches (22.4 x 8.7 x 1.6 cm) and weighs roughly 390g (0.85 lbs). Currently, the AYN Odin 3 is available in five colours. These brilliant options include Black, White, Rainbow, Clear Blue, and Clear Purple.
On the front, you will find a stunning 6” AMOLED display. This screen features a rotated 1080×1920 resolution, supporting up to a 120Hz refresh rate. Visuals look incredibly smooth on this premium Android gaming device as a result.
On either side, the gaming controls are positioned perfectly. The LED-lit Hall effect analogues feel exceptionally responsive. Swappable gaming buttons are included on the AYN Odin3, though you will need to open the casing to change them. Down on the bottom, buttons for Back and Home are provided.
A covered micro SD card slot is located on the bottom edge. Next to it sits a 3.5mm audio jack alongside a USB 3.1 Type-C port. This Type-C port is used for both charging and data transfer.
Up on the top, left and right shoulder buttons are featured alongside Hall effect triggers. Standard volume and power buttons sit nearby. The back features two customisable macro buttons, which can be easily defined in the system settings.
Overall, the AYN Odin3 is very comfortable to hold. It is not overly heavy. I feel like I've been weight training with the ONEXPLAYER Apex recently, making this lighter weight highly refreshing! I think the AYN Odin 3 looks the part with its single glass sheet front. The Clear Blue and Purple shells look especially nice.
AYN Odin 3 Technical Specifications & Hardware
As part of our AYN Odin3 review we will take a look at the technical specifications as well as run our own battery life, fan noise and temperature tests on the device.
| FEATURE | SPECIFICATION |
| PROCESSOR | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite |
| PROCESS | 3nm |
| CPU | 2x Oryon (Phoenix L) @ 4.32GHz 6x Oryon (Phoenix M) @ 3.53GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 830 |
| RAM | LPDDR5x @ 5300MHz • Base: 8GB • Pro: 12GB • Max: 16GB • Ultra: 24GB |
| STORAGE | • Base: 128GB UFS 3.1 • Pro: 256GB UFS 4.0 • Max: 512GB UFS 4.0 • Ultra: 1TB UFS 4.0 |
| SCREEN | 6-inch AMOLED Display, 1080 x 1920, 120Hz Refresh Rate |
| COOLING | Active Cooling System |
| BATTERY | 8000mAh |
| CHARGING SPEED | 60W Fast Charging |
| CONNECTIVITY | Wi-Fi 7 + Bluetooth 6 |
| I/O | USB 3.1 Type-C 3.5mm Audio Jack Micro Card Slot |
| VIDEO OUTPUT | DisplayPort Alt Mode (4K @ 60Hz) |
| OPERATING SYSTEM | Android 15 |
| DIMENSIONS | 8.85 x 3.44 x 0.65 inches (22.48 x 8.75 x 1.66 cm) |
| WEIGHT | 390g (0.86 lbs) |
Powering it all is a massive 8000mAh battery. Support for up to 60W charging is included. During our AYN Odin 3 battery life test, Antutu was run on a continuous loop. We used full brightness with the High Performance setting enabled. A battery life of 2 hours and 25 minutes was recorded. Normal usage will naturally get you in the ballpark of several hours.
Next, we conducted fan noise and temperature tests. While testing the battery life, an average fan noise of around 52dB was recorded on the Smart fan setting. Around 63dB was measured on the Max fan setting. Average temperatures of around 38°C were observed.
System Benchmarks: AYN Odin3 Review Performance
For the system benchmarks, the Snapdragon 8 Elite on the AYN Odin3 will be compared with two competitors. We have the AYANEO Pocket S2, alongside the KONKR Pocket FIT which uses the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 processor. We will also compare the AYN Odin 3 against the AYN Thor and the previous generation AYN Odin 2’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.
As a note you can read our AYANEO Pocket S2 review here, KONKR Pocket FIT review here, AYN Thor review here, and AYN Odin2 review here.
Geekbench 6
For both single and multi-core benchmark tests, excellent results are seen for the AYN Odin 3. The Snapdragon 8 Elite gaming performance is off to a great start. It takes first place with 3123 and 9819 scores. Second place goes to the AYANEO Pocket S2 with 2268 and 7205.
Antutu Scores
With the overall system benchmark tool Antutu, the AYN Odin3 continues to impress. It achieved a massive score around 2.8 million. The Pocket S2 sits in second place with 2.1 million.
3DMARK Wildlife Extreme
In the 3DMARK Wildlife Extreme benchmark, we again see great scores. The AYN AYN Odin3 takes first place with a score of 6684. The KONKR Pocket FIT lands in second place with 5574.
Across all three benchmarks, the AYN Odin 3 takes a very clear lead. These are very impressive results!
Software Overview: Android 15 Experience
We continue our AYN Odin3 review with a look at the OS & included software. The AYN Odin3 runs Android 15 out of the box. I believe the AYN Odin 3 is the first device to support this software. You have a choice of a standard Android style home screen. Alternatively, you can use AYN's own launcher. This custom launcher does require a bit of manual setting up initially.
The AYN Overlay is basic but perfectly functional. Quick shortcuts to screen mapping, screenshots, live streaming, and screen recording are provided. It is easy to use, and I had no problems with it.
Android Gaming on the AYN Odin3
We tried our usual bunch of mobile titles, and all ran perfectly on this gaming Android handheld. On Call of Duty, the highest graphics textures and settings were enabled. No performance issues were noticed at all. For games that do not natively support controllers, you can easily optimise your experience. Use the built-in screenmapping software to map the physical controls to on-screen touches.
Emulation Performance in our AYN Odin3 Review
The new Snapdragon processors are fantastic for high-end Android emulation. With older systems up until the PS1 era, you shouldn't have any issues. Compatibility and performance are flawless on this gaming Android handheld. You will be able to increase the rendering resolutions with graphics tweaks. You can even lower the processor's performance to extend battery life. Let's take a look at some of the more demanding emulators. Throughout this AYN Odin3 review, emulation remains a key focus.
High-End Emulators: Azahar, ARMSX2, Vita3K, and EDEN
The Azahar emulator runs very well with compatible games. You may see some occasional shader cache lags. This mostly happens while running more demanding games for the first time. Luckily, it is nothing that breaks the gameplay too much.
The PlayStation 2 emulator ARMSX2 runs very well with compatible titles. We did have issues with emulation compatibility on a few games, though. We noticed missing textures, and sometimes games literally broke with bad physics. These are emulator software issues rather than faults with the AYN Odin 3 itself.
The Vita3K emulator also runs compatible games very well. I have noticed that some games have been crashing in the more recent builds. This is especially true when compared to earlier versions. The games that are playable do run exceptionally well on this Android gaming console.
The Eden emulator continues to impress. We see many compatible games running beautifully on this Android gaming handheld. A few of my usual games were not working in the latest version 2 rc1 build. I'm not sure if this is a software or graphics driver compatibility issue yet.
Just before I was due to record this review the new XBOX emulator X1 BOX was released. For a first release it's impressive! Of course not all games are compatible and many will run very slow, even with graphics drivers. But I was able to play many games including Halo 2, MASHED and Soul Calibur II with few to no issues.
Final Thoughts and Verdict
The AYN Odin3 represents a fantastic piece of hardware for a few distinct reasons. The overall design of the Android gaming handheld is superb. The 6” AMOLED looks amazing. It is, in my opinion, just the right size for a portable device. The comfortability is good, and the controls all feel highly responsive.
There is also the excellent performance to consider. In terms of raw benchmarks, the AYN Odin 3 smashes its closest competitors. It easily beats the AYANEO Pocket S2 and KONKR Pocket Fit. While it is significantly faster, I did notice a few more issues with some demanding emulators. This could be a mix of both emulator and processor support. It's not a massive concern overall. If you want the absolute best performance, it might be worth investigating this some more.
To conclude this AYN Odin3 review, the pricing is remarkably competitive. The price is considerably lower than the premium Pocket S2. It sits around the same price as the Pocket FIT. It represents great value for money as a result. If you simply want a handheld that looks great and runs the vast majority of games and emulators flawlessly, the AYN Odin3 is an excellent choice.
We hope you have found our AYN Odin3 review useful? If you do have any questions about it feel free to ask in the comments or join the DROIX discord server here and chat with our community.
