The Ayaneo Gaming Pad is one of the first devices to run on the new Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 platform.
It's also Ayaneo's first Android tablet and comes with a dedicated cooling system and other bells and whistles.
Ayaneo has somewhat shaken up the retro gaming scene with its high-end, premium handhelds, while also taking on the likes of the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally with hardcore Windows-based devices.
And it has done so in style too, with innovative and sumptuous designs.
Now it's turning its hand to the tablet market with a dedicated gaming device that could make the forthcoming Nintendo Switch 2 look like a toy.
The Ayaneo Gaming Pad is an 8.3-inch Android tablet that's geared primarily to running games and running them well. It is one of the first devices to sport Qualcomm's all-new Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 chipset – a platform also dedicated to mobile gaming.
It is claimed that the new processor is 30% more powerful than its predecessor, while the GPU gets a 28% bump in performance. It also supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing and Snapdragon Game Super Resolution technology, which does a similar job as Nvidia's DLSS, FSR from AMD and PlayStation's PSSR.
This cleverly upscales games to higher resolutions without impacting frame rates and performance.
The screen has a 1440p resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, while other specifications released so fan include Wi-Fi 7 support and a "large-capacity" battery – although there's nothing yet on lifespan or the actual mAh.
As this is an Android tablet as well as a gaming device, there are front and rear cameras. You get a 5-megapixel camera set into the bezel around the display, with a dual-lens unit on the rear. That's made up of a 50-megapixel main cam, plus a 13-megapixel 120-degree ultrawide.
The rear is also where you'll find a dedicated fan as part of the "turbo cooling system" to keep your gaming sessions running smoothly. The design reminds us a lot of the phones from Nothing, with a transparent glass rear casing showing the inner gubbins, plus a CNC all-metal frame.
One interesting thing to note, especially for emulation fans, is that thanks to running Android, the Gaming Pad should be capable of running retro games up to the Nintendo Switch.
The Ayaneo Pocket Evo, which is also Android-based and runs on the G3x Gen 2 chip, can run select Switch games through emulation (if you can find one of the emulator apps before Nintendo shuts them all down), and with the Gaming Pad adopting the even more powerful Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, it should be more capable still.
Add an optional game controller and it makes the device a very attractive proposition for those who want a wider gaming experience over the Switch 2 itself, say. However, we don't yet know pricing details or availability for the Ayaneo Gaming Pad, so that could be a divisive factor, too.
