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The AYN Thor was provided by AYN for review. Thank you very much!
I've always loved handhelds, ever since I first picked up my Game Boy Advance. This has always made games feel more meaningful to me because I can now carry them around with me and take them everywhere. However, that love exploded when the Nintendo DS came out. It was so unique, with two screens for gaming, ways to communicate with friends like Pictochat, and how cool it was to use the stylus to interact with games. Those were good times, and in a way I longed to be able to play games like this again, and thanks to the AYN Thor I did.
I've been playing around with this dual-screen Android handheld for a few days so far and I may have fallen in love. It's perfect for DS emulation, the graphics are impressive with the OLED screens, and its light weight and size make it great to carry around. Despite some minor drawbacks, it's just fun to use.
I'm currently working on a larger review with more testing, but wanted to share some of my first impressions of the device. There's definitely more testing to come, and a longer review with detailed looks at emulation, gaming performance, features, and design will be coming out in the next week and a half, but before I get into that, I think this handheld is worth getting.
While SteamDeckHQ supports emulation and preservation, we do NOT support piracy. All games tested are games that we purchased legally. We will never link to any websites or sources to download ROMs.
Design, ergonomics and the handles
When I took the AYN Thor out of the box, I was stunned. The device immediately reminded me of the Nintendo DS due to its slim design and size. I remember putting it in my bag and walking around happily, reminding me of the days when I took my DS with me everywhere so I could keep playing Pokémon Platinum and Kingdom Hearts 358/2. Even opening it up and seeing the screens light up took me back, despite the top screen being noticeably larger than the DS and the presence of two joysticks.
I loved the design, but holding it in my hands is a different story. As much as I love the look of it, my hands have grown and become much larger, and trying to hold the Thor for long periods of time causes cramps. However, AYN sent a matching handle that is part of the accessory package. I didn't take all the accessories out of the box, just the handle, but that's for sure the most important part.
Attaching the handles to the Thor is as easy as pushing them in and makes the device much easier to hold. I can actually comfortably and fully grip the handheld without having to worry about cramping, and it's a night and day difference. My hands do feel a little worn and a little further down than I would like, and using the handle does make it harder to put them in the bag, but the comfort of the handles far outweighs this.
However, if you have smaller hands, the handles may not be necessary. My wife has smaller hands and would prefer not to use the handles at all, so I would say it depends on the size of your hand. I need these handles for myself.
Even though the device is small, I didn't find it difficult to operate any of the triggers. Since I have thick fingers, I was worried that the smaller buttons and triggers would be difficult to use, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to actually press and operate the triggers. There's a lot of pushback so I can easily control how hard I push down and it felt effective.
The OLED screens and multitasking
Okay, now let's get to the main attraction, shall we? The AYN Thor uses two OLED screens in its device. While I won't go into too much detail just yet, the colors of each screen are vibrant and beautiful, exactly what I would expect from OLED. This makes the Thor feel like a premium device that I find difficult to tear away from. I'm a big fan of OLED in general, which is why I still use my Steam Deck instead of the Ally X for the most part.
Having two screens creates unique ways to actually use the handheld, and one of my favorites is multitasking. We can use one screen for one app while the other can be used for another. This was handy for testing as I could see battery, RAM, CPU, and GPU stats on the bottom screen while playing on the top. It was also nice to be able to download files and see them once I downloaded them.
Both screens are very responsive to touch, although I noticed that I couldn't swipe up to close apps on the bottom screen. I was still able to press the home button and do it from the top screen, but not from the bottom screen. Maybe it was because of my fat fingers, but it was still annoying. Still, being able to multitask in this way is pretty amazing.
Emulation and gaming performance
One of the great appeals of a dual-screen device is emulation, and it's definitely capable of handling most tasks thrown its way. With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip inside, it is capable of handling emulation with the PS3/Switch. Still, GameCube, PSP, and PS2 were some of my favorite single-screen emulations. They all fit very well, feel great and perform as expected from my testing so far.
However, the AYN Thor shines with DS and 3DS emulation. The ability to use both screens makes it feel more realistic than the original devices and they're running exceptionally well so far. Since both the top and bottom screens are touchscreens, we can use the bottom screen as intended, and even though I'm only missing a stylus, it still feels fantastic compared to playing without a touchscreen.
I need to do more testing for our full review, but I've played enough to be confident that performance will be solid for emulation. I had no problems at all and was even able to play a good portion of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow while walking around Thailand. I actually started to forget why I was there and just sat down to play. And with the gorgeous OLED screens, you'll be hard-pressed to find a handheld like this that offers the same experience for the price.
Actual Android performance has held up very well so far. I was able to play Call of Duty at 60 FPS on Very High and Genshin Impact at 30 FPS on a mix of medium and high settings. So far I haven't noticed any loss, and with the top OLED screen the display was big and beautiful. The controller was also automatically recognized, making it easier to learn and play. I had to set up my controller through the emulator settings for each of the other emulators, so it was nice that it recognized it easily.
I also did a bit of testing with GameNative to play some Steam games on the device and it works quite well. I'm a little limited with my version of the handheld, which only has 8GB of RAM, but I was able to play and enjoy Hollow Knight. Due to the low RAM, my testing for the review will be limited in this regard as I won't be able to test the more demanding titles, but I'll be playing around with it more. I still think it's great that this is even possible.
Playing in this way may cause the device to heat up. Therefore, good control of the fan is essential. By pressing the AYN button at the bottom center of the device, we can bring up a control panel that allows us to set the performance mode, fan speed, check CPU/GPU stats, and change our screen from 60 to 120 Hz. It's simple, easy to understand, and has almost all the information I want to see perfectly on the bottom screen. The framerate counter wasn't particularly accurate for the game I was playing and I wish it showed estimated battery life remaining, but overall it's nice to have.
Traditional vs Odin Launcher
I haven't looked too much into launchers yet, but I don't necessarily have a preference between the two. On the one hand, the normal Android interface is more familiar and I like the background and app layout. Ok, on the other hand, the Odin Launcher has a sleeker interface that I prefer to navigate with the gamepad. I need more time to really figure out which I like better, but for now I'm pretty indifferent.
Conclusion…so far
Honestly, I had more fun with the AYN Thor than I expected. Of course, the dual-screen emulation was a highlight, and I still find it shocking how well it works and how much fun it is to play some of the classic games I remember from years ago with a touchscreen. However, I loved how easy it is to multitask with both screens, the color and gaming performance for PS2 and GC emulation, as well as the more difficult Android games like Genshin Impact. Without the handles it's a little uncomfortable to hold, but with a size similar to the Nintendo DS and light weight in general, it's just fantastic to take with you and use.
I still need to test more for the full review, but if I had to be sure right now, I'd say the AYN Thor is a must-have if you're looking for a dedicated device for emulation and Android gaming.
The AYN Thor can be purchased on the website starting at $299 with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip I recommend. If you want, you can also pay $349 or $399 for more storage and RAM.
The AYN links above use an affiliate link, which provides us with a small revenue from the sale at no additional cost to you. All proceeds go back into SDHQ and its development.
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