Ayaneo’s massive Next 2 handheld has a similarly massive price tag

There seems to be no limit to how expensive and exorbitant PC gaming handhelds can become, with the latest giant being the Ayaneo Next 2. First announced in November, the latest Windows handheld in Ayaneo’s Next line is now up for pre-order, with a spec sheet that makes some of its rivals look modest.

If you missed the announcement from late last year, the Next 2 packs a 9-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2400 x 1504 and a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz (adjustable up to 60Hz). The Next 2 is powered by an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chip and has a massive 115mAh battery under the hood.

To put all this into perspective, the Next 2’s screen is over 1.5 inches larger than the Steam Deck OLED’s and is even larger than the Lenovo Legion Go 2’s 8.8-inch panel. Its battery is also by far the largest of the three, and according to Ars Technica it weighs about 3.14 pounds (about 1424 g), making it more than twice as heavy as the very heavy Xbox ROG Ally

Ayaneo also checks all the boxes when it comes to inputs. Its latest handheld has dual touchpads (a feature ASUS left out on the ROG Xbox Ally X), Hall thumbsticks, an 8-way D-Pad, and four customizable back buttons.

All this tech inevitably comes with a hefty price tag, with the entry-level model that comes with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage costing $1,999, or $1,799 if you take advantage of the discounted rate. This model is equipped with the slightly less efficient Ryzen AI Max 385 processor.

If you want the more powerful AI+ 395 chip, you have several options. A variant of the Next II with 64GB of RAM and 1TB of storage costs $2,699, but you can order it now for the early bird price of $2,299. For 128GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, you’ll pay a slightly hilarious $4,299 at full price. Early birds can order now for $3,499.