Ayaneo's New Handheld Packs Insane AMD Chip and $1,799 Price Tag

Okay so I saw this announcement and honestly, I'm conflicted. Ayaneo just dropped their Next 2 handheld and it's basically a portable gaming PC on steroids. They stuck AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 395 in there, which is legitimately the most powerful mobile chip AMD makes right now in 2026.

Here's what caught my attention though. That battery. 116 watt-hours? Most gaming laptops don't even pack that much juice. My Steam Deck has 40Wh for comparison. So yeah, this thing should actually last more than an hour playing demanding games, which is my biggest gripe with Windows handhelds. They paired it with a high-refresh OLED screen too, because of course they did.

But man, that starting price of $1,799 hits different. You're basically buying a premium gaming laptop that fits in your hands. And knowing Ayaneo, the higher-end configs will probably push past $2,500. I get it, cutting-edge hardware costs money, especially when you're cramming desktop-level performance into something portable.

The enthusiast in me loves seeing companies push boundaries like this. Having that much raw power in a handheld opens up possibilities that just weren't there before. Native 1080p gaming, actual ray tracing, running productivity apps without compromise. It's wild.

Still though, at nearly two grand, you really gotta ask yourself if you need this much horsepower on the go. For that money, you could grab a Steam Deck OLED, a decent gaming laptop, and still have cash left over. But hey, if you've got the budget and want the absolute best Windows handheld money can buy in 2026, this is probably it.