Steam Deck rivals have been popping up quite frequently, but the Ayn Loki seems to have a lot of the competition beat. Based on pricing and overall spec, the Loki may be the best alternative to the Deck so far.
As shared by Retro Dodo (via VideoCardz), Ayn is working on a new portable console to compete against the Steam Deck. Using a white casing similar to Odin, Ayn's ARM-based portable console using a Qualcomm SD845, the Loki series of portable consoles is what the manufacturer claims to be “the most affordable windows handhelds ever created”.
According to Cary Golomb, the Loki series will have five portable consoles. The cheaper model is the Loki Mini at $299, featuring 64GB of storage and an Intel Alder Lake chip. Then we have the standard Loki models with an unnamed Zen 3+ based APU with RDNA 2 graphics. These consoles will go for $499 (64GB), $599 (256GB) and $699 (512GB). Lastly, the Loki Max will cost $799, also packing an unknown Zen 3+ APU with RDNA 2 graphics.
Availability details for the Loki series are yet to be revealed. Still, considering how fast the Windows portable console market is going, it shouldn't take long to know more about it.
KitGuru says: Even if the standard Ayn Loki with 64GB costs more than the 64GB Steam Deck, you have to consider that it will be packing Zen 3+ cores instead of Zen 2. So in the end, the extra $100 you have to pay for the Loki might not be a bad deal.