If major gaming companies don’t want to make modern-day renditions of the gaming handhelds we grew up with, others will. Ayn delivered the latest in this trend with its upcoming Android-powered handheld called the Odin2 Mini. Even though it’s meant to be a follow-up to Ayn’s chunkier Odin2, the new design looks awfully similar to the PS Vita.
And while the Odin2 Mini isn’t made by Sony, in some ways it might be even better than a true PS Vita 2, since the upcoming handheld will run more than just PlayStation titles.
A Bigger, Better PS Vita
Whether matching the PS Vita’s proportions was intentional or not, the Odin2 Mini will have a five-inch touchscreen display. However, Ayn’s handheld will have way more resolution at 1,920 x 1,080 and a mini LED display with up to 1,100 nits of brightness. By comparison, Sony built the original PS Vita with an OLED touchscreen but later introduced a slimmer model with an LCD panel instead. While it was probably cheaper to produce and improved battery life, the LCD version drowned out the colors and deeper levels of black.
Inside, the Odin2 Mini will pack Snapdragon’s 8Gen2 processor, along with up to 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage. That should allow it to run anything up to Nintendo Switch games. Ayn went with a much smaller 5,000 mAh battery for its new handheld, as compared to the Odin2’s much larger 8,000 mAh battery.
The Odin2 Mini will still support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and will have USB-C, micro-HDMI, and 3.5mm audio ports. The handheld may also feel very similar to a PS Vita since the Odin2 Mini has slightly larger dimensions and weighs a touch more at 320 grams. It’s worth pointing out that Ayn went with an asymmetrical joystick placement here, instead of the PS Vita’s aligned joysticks.
More Expensive Than a PS Vita
Ayn didn’t mention a release date yet, but the handheld maker revealed that the Odin2 Mini will start at $339 with a base model that has 8GB of memory and 128GB of storage, available only in black. If you want the top-of-the-line model in black or white options, you’ll be out $399. Ayn will throw in a complimentary bag and screen protector for each Odin2 Mini, though. That price makes the upcoming handheld more expensive than its predecessor, which first retailed at $339 but has since been knocked down to $299.
For those of us who enjoy retro transparent colorways, it doesn’t seem like Ayn will offer its next handheld in the same colors as the Odin 2 — at least at launch. If Ayn really wants to double down on the PS Vita look though, we want to see some red and blue colorways in the future.
