New Ayaneo vertical handheld surfaces, and it may be cheaper than the Pocket Vert

Ayaneo hasn't announced a new handheld in months, and that shouldn't be surprising considering it is yet to begin shipping the Konkr Fit Windows handheld that was unveiled in January. However, that doesn't mean it hasn't been working on new products, as a report has revealed details of a new vertical handheld called the Ayaneo Pocket Block.

First reported by RetroDeadFred, evidence of the handheld was discovered on manuals.plus. The manual provides several images of the handheld, but for the real deal, RetroDeadFred was able to find renders of the handheld from another source, although the images show the handheld is called Bitwave and not Pocket Block. There's a chance “Bitwave” is a codename, since Ayaneo handhelds that actually fit into the pocket have “Pocket” in their names.

With respect to the design, the Ayaneo Pocket Block seems like a cheaper alternative to the Pocket Vert. Its shell is made of plastic, and so are the buttons; and the only place that has glass is the display. Below the display is a triple-slit grille, which the manual says houses a microphone. Next to the microphone is the AYA button (AYAWindow interaction button) and on the far right is a power indicator LED.

Unlike the Pocket Vert whose action buttons are not marked, the ABXY buttons are marked on the Pocket Block. There's even a pill-shaped outline around the buttons that is reminiscent of the SNES controller. The D-Pad looks fairly large, and below it are three large pill-shaped buttons. Two of the buttons are Start and Select, while the third button is simply labelled as “=”. If we could take a guess, it would be that this is probably an overview button or options button considering the device runs Android.

The Pocket Block has its power button and volume rocker on the right side while the left is home to two customizable buttons and the microSD card slot. The back of the handheld directly behind the display has a grille for heat dissipation. The shoulder buttons are placed where your fingers would naturally rest when holding the handheld. The images also show that the Ayaneo Pocket Block has its speakers at the bottom, and they flank the USB-C port and headphone jack.

There are no technical specifications of the Pocket Block yet, but it is only a matter of time before that surfaces.