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In brief: At first glance, Ayaneo's Pocket DMG looks like an attempt to compete with the Analog Pocket, but it's nothing of the sort. The handheld is much beefier, more expensive, and runs on Android. Under the hood, it closely resembles the company's recently launched Pocket S. However, its form factor leverages retro nostalgia and a control setup with some nifty quirks.
Ayaneo has launched yet another Indiegogo campaign for a gaming device in an impressively small form factor. The company saw decent success with its previous campaigns. The Mini PC AM01, which mimics retro Macs, and the AM02 NES emulator console exceeded funding goals by huge margins. Now, it's targeting Game Boy and the Game Boy Pocket fans with the Pocket DMG.
Marketing the DMG as a device for emulating retro games draws easy comparisons to the Analog Pocket or Palmer Luckey's Chromatic. However, Ayaneo's device isn't an FPGA clone – it's a high-end Android handheld with a retro-style chassis.
Like Ayaneo's Pocket S, the DMG runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 SoC with an Adreno A32 GPU. Numerous hardware options range from 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM with 128GB of storage to a 16GB/1TB configuration.
Android-based software emulation won't be as accurate as FPGA. However, the Pocket DMG's internals are likely more than capable of playing retro ROMs and ISOs to the satisfaction of most users. While the Analog Pocket and Chromatic are designed to replicate the Game Boy and other 8- and 16-bit platforms, the DMG can decently emulate later consoles like the original PlayStation or Sega Saturn. It also includes software to download indexing data for ROMs (that users presumably acquired legally).
Games should look great on its 3.92-inch 500-nit OLED panel with a 419 PPI and 1240 x 1080 screen resolution. Users can also play high-end modern Android titles like Genshin Impact, Call of Duty Mobile, Honkai Star Rail, or Diablo Immortal. However, they might not display correctly with the handheld's retro-oriented aspect ratio.
The button arrangement is where things get truly interesting. Aside from a directional pad and four face buttons, the Pocket DMG includes a Hall Effect anti-drift analog stick on top of a trackpad. The trackpad can function like the one on the Steam Deck, emulating mouse movements or a right analog stick.
Additionally, the physical dial on the side can function as a volume control, scroll wheel, or home button. Users can also map it to other customizable functions. The other inputs are similarly mappable, including the four shoulder buttons on the rear.
The main issue that might put off some customers is the Pocket DMG's price. Early bird sales start at $339, and the top-end models reach the $600 range – uncomfortably close to some Windows handheld gaming PCs and beyond the cheapest Steam Deck options.