Ayaneo has good news and bad news for its looming DS-inspired handhelds

Now that the dust has relatively settled on the Nintendo Switch 2, we’re in the throes of seeing some new Android gaming handhelds about to launch for the rest of the year. One of the bigger splashes comes from Ayaneo, which has been seemingly leading the charge on Nintendo DS-inspired handhelds as of late, such as the Pocket DS and the Flip 1S DS. Earlier this week, it finally revealed the launch date for the former, while announcing some potentially bad news for the latter if you’re thinking of buying one soon.

In a post on X, Ayaneo revealed that its Pocket DS handheld launches via funding site Indiegogo on Monday, August 18, at 8:00 AM EST. The company is yet to reveal the price, but we suspect it will be announced then.

For those unaware, the Pocket DS is one of Ayaneo’s first dual-screen handhelds that lets users play a game on one screen, and look at something else on the second screen at the same time, such as videos, toggles for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and much more.

So far, the specs of the Pocket DS include:

• 7-inch 1080P 165Hz OLED main display
• 5-inch 4:3-inch LCD secondary display
• Snapdragon G3 Gen 2 CPU
• 8,000mAh battery
• TMR medium joystick + Hall effect linear triggers

Ultimately, it means that the Pocket DS with these specs will easily run the best Android games like Fortnite and Genshin Impact with ease.

But that’s not all that Ayaneo revealed this month. Its other Nintendo DS-inspired PC gaming handheld, the Flip 1S DS, announced back in June, will not be restocked once its own Indiegogo campaign ends in September. Ayaneo stated in an email to subscribers of the campaign about the news. “We will not launch another clamshell Windows handheld for at least one year. Once all Indiegogo pre-orders are shipped, Flip 1S stock will be very limited, and not all SKUs will be available due to the high cost of its CPU.”

It seems Ayaneo wants to dedicate the rest of the year to the Pocket DS and its forthcoming launch, instead of stretching itself thin on two handhelds. It makes sense, but considering the Flip 1S DS’ campaign will have lasted three months in September, it’s a quick turnaround for a device that was hinted at for a while.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a dual-screen gaming handheld, the time is now to look into one from Ayaneo while stocks last for the Flip 1S DS, or as the Pocket DS launches from Monday.

Whether these dual-screen handhelds will earn a place on our best handheld consoles list, we’ll soon find out. But while we wait to have them in our hands to test, check out our guides to the best gaming phones and the best gaming tablets. Or, if you’re looking for more old-school-style devices, see our list of the best retro handhelds.