What to know
- Ayaneo is launching the Pocket Play, a smartphone that blends the classic side-slide design with modern technology.
- The Pocket Play slides out a complete gamepad, with a D-pad, ABXY inputs, dual-mode touchpad for joysticks, and several other useful buttons.
- Ayaneo Pocket Play's design takes after Xperia Play from 2011, which also had a slide-out gamepad.
- Ayaneo's Pocket Play will launch via Kickstarter, though the exact specs haven't been revealed.
Ayaneo recently revealed its first gaming phone, Pocket Play. While the company is known mostly for its handhelds, it's now testing the smartphone market with its new offering. And it has quite the way of doing it!
The Ayaneo Pocket Play is in every respect a modern smartphone with a gamepad that slides out for gaming on the go.
Those who remember the Xperia Play would see the similarities in design. Like its spiritual predecessor, Ayaneo's Pocket Play features a full-fledged gamepad that slides out to reveal a D-pad, ABXY controls, Select and Start buttons, and a Dual-mode smart Touchpad that Ayaneo says will let you switch between virtual joystick and touchpad modes.
The company mentions that you'll also be able to "freely customize your control schemes for diverse PLAYstyles." The triggers and bumpers appear on either side.
There are a few other buttons on the gamepad whose functions are not confirmed.
With Pocket Play, Ayaneo is harkening back to a time when smartphone designs were not so homogenous and companies like Sony dared to try something different. And different is what Pocket Play is from the competition; its design philosophy follows the company's REMAKE RETRO series of devices that "attempt(s) to blend classic design with modern technology.
While Ayaneo hasn't specified what's under the hood, some things can safely be guessed at. It is a smartphone, after all.
Expect Pocket Play to have a powerful Snapdragon chip (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or G3) to handle games in particular. Because of the gamepad slider, it will very likely have the heft and thickness of a foldable. Ayaneo's products also tend to be on the more expensive side, and the Pocket Play doesn't look anything like budget or even a mid-tier phone.
Compared to Xperia Play or the HTC Desire Z before it which had a similar design, the Ayaneo Pocket Play is taller, with flat edges, and a sleek modern look.
From the website reveal, the Pocket Play will at least have two colors: black and white. More details are yet to be revealed.
Ayaneo Pocket Play will launch soon via Kickstarter.
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