Ayaneo Next Lite will be another portable console from the Chinese manufacturer and it will stand out in two aspects, economical approach and using SteamOSan operating system created by Valve for Steam Desk, a great revitalizer

The slot machine segment continues to add assets. You already know it’s experiencing a ‘new youth’ and a large part of that is due to Valve’s design. This week, we saw the launch of MSI The Claw at CES 2024, and now we have another highlight. If the MSI console stands out for its hardware (Intel Core Ultra), the new Ayaneo console does so for the software, because it is the first console after the Steam Desk which will pre-install SteamOS.

In case you’re surprised by this news, it’s worth clarifying that SteamOS is open source software based on Linux and may be used by other manufacturers without license. Another thing will be the level of support and optimization it achieves on a machine other than the original. Valve already said at the time that it was willing to work together on its modification and with a controller on third-party machines, but no express cooperation between the two companies was mentioned here.

Valve has invested a lot of time and money into improving the system, but so far the development has been – apparently – to optimize its own engine. We’ll have to wait and see how it works on other machines.

Ayaneo Next Lite, outside of SteamOS

AYA is one of the companies that offers the most portable gaming machines on the market and the ‘Next’ range is one of the main ones and as its ‘Lite’ moniker suggests, it is the ‘economy’ version of it. For this, the manufacturer reduces functions starting with the screen. 7 inches with a native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixelsvery far from FHD.

It has a 47 Wh battery, Hall detection joystick and X-axis linear motors. Features are also reduced here, without the integrated dual trackpads that the Steam Deck has, or the backlit joysticks of the Next itself. It is clearly aimed at the entry segment.

The manufacturer has not announced the memory or storage capacity of the console or the hardware engine it will mount, although here It is certain that it will be an AMD APU. It may not be AMD’s own design for Steam Desk, but at least it will be the same underlying development that will help support SteamOS.

AYA promises to reveal more information soon. And also the price. Along with the novelty of using the Valve system, what can be the most attractive thing about this Ayaneo Next Lite.