Ayaneo has released information on its second mini PC, the AYANEO AM02. The AM02 is aiming to be a more premium mini PC, where as the AM01 was more budget friendly.

Performance

The AM02 is specced with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS processor. This is a pretty darn good processor for emulation but mediocre for playing PC games natively, usually at 1080p low settings.

The max memory speed is DDR5 5600MHz and the form factor is SO-DIMM (it’s small outline and the same form factor used in laptops. It’s just smaller in physical size). The hard drive slot is a m.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 slot and the max capacity supported is 8TB.

Emulation\Gaming Performance

As for emulation performance, the 7840HS can run almost everything at full speed up to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Some switch games can run at full speed as well. This processor absolutely crushes emulation performance.

For native PC game performance, the GPU is a Radeon 780M which is comparable to a 1050TI according to AYANEO. Based on other reviewers, you can expect to run most modern games at 1080p low settings and hit around 50 to 60 frames per second. This is pretty much the best you can expect for PCs in this form factor.

Price (According to Indiegogo)

Now I did the math and the base model doesn’t really save you too much money if you are buying new parts for both the RAM and hard drive. The early bird pricing is fair enough, unless they are using bargain bin parts for the memory and hard drive or you have spare RAM and hard drives lying around.

The early bird prices for even the high end model is actually comparable to other mini PCs with the same specs. For example, the Beelink SER7 with 32GB of ram and 1TB of hard drive space is $655 on Aliexpress and $749 on Amazon. While the early bird prices are lower, the retail prices are higher than competitors but this is probably due to the touch screen on top of the mini PC.

All models should be shipping by the end of February 2024.

Features

This is all according to AYANEO so take it with a grain of salt. One of the features AYANEO is showcasing is the 4″ touchscreen display on the top of the device. It is linked with their AYASpace software and the first screen will display a lot of hardware readings. On their release video, they have the screen display the current FPS, TDP, fan speed, hard drive space used, CPU usage, power draw, speed, and temperature and the same for the GPU as well. You can use the touch screen to change the TDP settings without having to go into the operating system.

You can swipe to the second display which will display the time, date, and weather. The third screen will display an animated video. The fourth screen will have a volume control slider and the ability to turn the display off. You should be able to change and customize these features in the AYASpace software.

As for other features, AYANEO seems to have built this device as something users can tinker around with. They claim compatibility with SteamOS, ChimeraOS, and Batocera for those focused on gaming, Ubuntu for those focus on dev environments, or even using it as a NAS or router. To that end they included two gigabit Ethernet ports.

For other ports, they have a USB4 type C port, 2 USB 3.2 Gen2 A ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack in the front. The front has a flip cover over the ports and is spring loaded. It opens up like a NES. For the rear, there are two USB 2.0 A ports, a 1.4 Display Port, HDMI 2.0, a gigabit Ethernet port, a 2.5 gigabit Ethernet port, a USB C port for power, and a Kensington lock slot for securing the device in a corporate environment.

They also said they built the device with mounting in mind but it wasn’t clear if this meant VESA Mount compatibility. It will come with windows 11 installed by default.

My Thoughts

I think this is a very neat device and all the features sound great. It’s absolutely fantastic for emulation. It’s also solid enough to use as work computer other than some use cases such as rendering 4k video and it will probably chug a bit if you’re making games in an engine like Unity or Unreal. For regular, day to day PC usage it should be more than enough power. Native PC gaming performance is decent at best but is serviceable enough.

The cooling system looks to be pretty good according to the spec sheet they released. It has four heat pipes and a large fan that looks to be enough to run the CPU at full speed but we’ll have to wait and see for the actual temperature readings and fan noise levels once the devices ship.

The touch screen on top is neat but it does feel a bit gimmicky. The touch screen controls can only be used if the device is within arm’s reach. If you have this mounted behind a TV or monitor, or even sitting below a TV in a couch environment, it’ll be very inconvenient to use the touch screen let alone see it.

I do think it’s neat for display purposes but it would have been more usable if the screen flipped up vertically so you could have an easier time seeing and interacting with it, or at the very least include a stand to have the mini PC vertically oriented. It won’t be easy to see the screen from across the room if it’s lying flat down.

And while I do think having the display for all the hardware readouts is incredibly handy, some privacy and security oriented users may not be so excited about having third party software with that level of access to the operating system. Thankfully it looks like you can customize everything to your liking and being able to install Linux is fantastic.

The spring loaded flip top in the front does look cool. I don’t think it’s very practical when using this device as a permanent PC but I do think it’s incredibly handy for people who will carry this device around because it’s another layer of protection from dust and damage to the front ports.

Now for the pricing, while it’s actually fairly priced when you look at the competitors, it is getting a bit on the expensive side when compared to building a desktop PC yourself. You’re essentially paying extra for the small form factor and the convenience of having someone else secure the parts and build the PC for you. This may actually be worth it to some folks. However, for enthusiasts who are already comfortable acquiring parts cheaply and building it themselves, this may be a bit too expensive for what you get in terms of raw power.

I don’t see this being affordable enough for most gamers to rush out and buy as a secondary device because at this price point you can pretty much build a desktop or buy a budget laptop. I do see this device appealing to a small niche, mainly those who don’t have a lot of space or live a nomadic life and want emulation and decent PC gaming in a small package that would use less power than a full desktop. It’d be very handy for van living, or for giving to a child as their first PC.

The double gigabit Ethernet ports also make it fantastic to tinker around with as a router and NAS but it is a bit on the expensive side just for a piece of hardware to experiment around with.

Overall, I think this is a neat device. It’s actually pretty darn powerful for something so tiny. The hardware and performance look great. I think the touchscreen on top is also neat but could be better oriented. The only real flaw I see is the price, it’s getting very close to price point of a cheap laptop or desktop build.

As always, hope you guys are staying safe and sane out there and catch you guys next time.