AYANEO seems to be on a roll right now, starting 2024 off strong with plenty of product announcements, and the upcoming AYANEO AM02 is no different. Like it's predecessor, the AM02 is inspired by retro hardware, but it's also more powerful than the AM01 - and pricier.
As announced via press release from AYANEO, the company has recently started an IndieGoGo campaign for its AM02 mini PC. Despite being modelled like the Nintendo Entertainment System, you won't need the best TVs for retro gaming for this device, as it is quite powerful despite its unassuming design.
The retro design is housing an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, alongside DDR5 RAM sticks of varying amounts depending on which model you purchase. This Ryzen 7 CPU is best known as a laptop chip, bringing 8 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 3.8GHz. It uses RDNA3 architecture for its graphics, and all of these stats put the AM02, at least on paper, above the CPU found within one of the best gaming handhelds right now, the Steam Deck.
There's four versions of the AM02 available to pre-order, with an early bird discount if you want to pick one up. All of them come with the Ryzen 7 7840HS, but the cheapest one is barebones besides that, and the top of the range model comes with 32GB RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. Unfortunately, these aren't the in-development DDR5 sticks from Patriot that can reach 6400MHz or higher, but they're still a speedy 5600MHz.
You can find the full specs of the AM02 below:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS
- RAM: 0 (barebones), 16 / 32GB DDR5-5600
- Storage: 0 (barebones), 512GB/1TB SSD (user expandable up to 8TB)
- OS: pre-installed Windows 11 64-bit Home Edition (none with barebones)
There's also a range of ports, with a USB-C, two USB 3.2, another two USB 2.0 ports, one HDMI 2.0, one DisplayPort 1.4, two Ethernet ports, and a 3.5mm audio port. But there's one thing we haven't spoken about yet that AYANEO hopes will sell you on the product if the specs don't.
Aside from the ability to upgrade your AM02 to your heart's content, with such a little chassis to play with, the AM02 also features a 4" screen right on top of the product. The screen is controller by AYANEO's AYASpace software which is pre-installed, and can be changed to show performance data, change volume, clock and weather data, or used to show off some cool icons and screensavers.
The AYANEO AM02 is aiming for a quick turnaround release in February 2024, with the models ranging from $441 for the barebones model, to a whopping $631 for the 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD model. Fortunately, to make you feel better about losing your hard-earned wages, the AM02 also has an exclusive AM02 Gift Box for backers, that includes a slick mouse pad, stickers, and more.