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AOKZOE are the latest to attempt a Steam Deck rival with the AOKZOE A1

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AOKZOE will be jumping in the handheld ring with their upcoming AOKZOE A1 AMD Ryzen 7 6800U portable that will offer either Windows 11 or SteamOS to perhaps rival the Steam Deck. They're a rather new company, so everything they're talking about and showing off should be taken with a rather large pinch of salt.

To go against the Steam Deck though they're not only going to have to be able to ship a lot of units, but actually have a price-point that isn't ridiculous like some other vendors. Considering Valve are ramping up shipments now, how is a brand new vendor going to cope?

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The specifications they list:

  • A combo of AMD Ryzen 7 6800U | Radeon 680M | LPDDR5X (Freq. 6400)
  • 8-inch IPS Screen, sRGB 100%, 1920 x 1200
  • Windows 11 or Steam OS
  • RGB Breathing Lighting
  • PD Charge
  • Gyroscope
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They said it will go up for pre-order in July and it's scheduled to start shipping in September.

I'm pretty skeptical of this, since they just popped up out of nowhere but perhaps worth keeping an eye on. Price is going to be the biggest question and currently they're not telling. Even so, if it was reasonably priced, trust is perhaps the second biggest question with such a new vendor.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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CyborgZeta Jun 29, 2022
The resolution seems high. I think 720p is sufficient for a handheld. Less taxing on the GPU, but still looks good on a display designed for that resolution.

On another note, I do like that SteamOS seems to be "proliferating in the wild". Wider adoption of SteamOS in pre-built gaming PCs, regardless of form factor, is a good thing in my view.


Last edited by CyborgZeta on 29 June 2022 at 11:44 am UTC
CatKiller Jun 29, 2022
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Quoting: CyborgZetaThe resolution seems high. I think 720p is sufficient for a handheld. Less taxing on the GPU, but still looks good on a display designed for that resolution.
It's a bigger display though. 8" 1920×1200 should look really nice, should be a closer target for existing games, and was what I was hoping for when the Steam Deck was still the Steam Pal. But obviously GPU requirements make it tough to achieve. I wouldn't be tempted by this, though, even if I weren't getting a Steam Deck, because it's got the janky asymmetric sticks. It does appear to come with a kickstand, though, which is nice.
CyborgZeta Jun 29, 2022
Quoting: CatKiller
Quoting: CyborgZetaThe resolution seems high. I think 720p is sufficient for a handheld. Less taxing on the GPU, but still looks good on a display designed for that resolution.
It's a bigger display though. 8" 1920×1200 should look really nice, should be a closer target for existing games, and was what I was hoping for when the Steam Deck was still the Steam Pal. But obviously GPU requirements make it tough to achieve. I wouldn't be tempted by this, though, even if I weren't getting a Steam Deck, because it's got the janky asymmetric sticks. It does appear to come with a kickstand, though, which is nice.
Does it? Now that I have a Steam Deck of my own, I think its display is pretty damn big. Why anyone would want a even bigger display on what's supposed to be a handheld is beyond me; these things aren't meant to be laptops. Plus, as you pointed out, graphics requirements make it difficult to take advantage of the higher resolution display.

To each his own though. I'm perfectly content with 720p (yes, I know the Deck is actually 1280x800) on a handheld device.
Avehicle7887 Jun 29, 2022
I guess everyone and their mother now wants a slice of Deck's pie.

This project seems rushed to me. Shipping in 2 months on a device there's very little details about.

They may list SteamOS as supported but I wonder how much it actually supports it. With the Deck you have pretty much complete control over the device's hardware. How much of that will be true on this device is yet to be seen.

Also Full HD on a 8" display seems like a potential battery drain and performance killer. This is something else Valve did better by going with 800p right away.
mr-victory Jun 29, 2022
Quoting: Avehicle7887Also Full HD on a 8" display seems like a potential battery drain and performance killer.
How is it going to kill performance if you just set a game to 720/800p? Battery is a good question though.
lukas333 Jun 29, 2022
Can't complain that there's competition.
slaapliedje Jun 29, 2022
Quoting: Avehicle7887Also Full HD on a 8" display seems like a potential battery drain and performance killer. This is something else Valve did better by going with 800p right away.
This is what I am thinking.

1920x1200 on an 8" display is ridiculous anyhow.
TheSHEEEP Jun 29, 2022
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Seems fishy.
Purple Library Guy Jun 29, 2022
I was watching the Elden Ring demo for a minute . . . is that a guy talking? Because it sounds like my car giving me directions.

I think the only real hope for competitors to the Deck is based on the fact that although the Deck is selling really well, it has only one sales channel. It's a big channel, but the point is if some competitor can get their stuff on retail shelves or Amazon or something, where the Deck just doesn't exist, they can operate almost as if they weren't competing with anyone.
setzer22 Jun 29, 2022
I always get a sentiment of "us vs them" when the Steam Deck is covered in these articles. Rightfully so, perhaps, since Valve is the first company to really put the effort to support Linux handheld PC gaming. But I wouldn't call the competition's prices "ridiculous". The price point of many of these devices is not so bad once you factor in some hidden costs in the steam deck. If I had to choose I would say I still prefer the deck overall, but not by much. It's not like competition is 2x more expensive as some make it out to be.

When compared to the Steam Deck, GPD and Aya Neo ship similar hardware, but their machines often come with 1TB storage and a screen protector. If you factor in the cost of a 500GB SD card plus the d-brand screen protector that's easily an additional 100 bucks on top of the $650 of the high-tier deck. And there's also the dock hasn't been released yet, but I bet that's going to be another $80 on top at the very least. All things considered, that's slightly over $800.

If we're talking about the cheapest Steam Deck model, now that's an entirely different thing. But I've seen too many people complain about the price of the competition while getting the highest tier of the steam deck because "64 GB is not enough" to be a bit skeptical once I hear those comparisons.

GPD Win 3 shipped for $900 during the indiegogo campaign with screen protector, 1TB SSD and **dock included**, so if you're going for the "full premium package", you can really see how the Deck is not that much cheaper, all things considered.


Last edited by setzer22 on 29 June 2022 at 3:20 pm UTC
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