A few weeks ago we were surprised by the announcement of the new Ayaneo Next Lite portable console. And not because of its hardware. It turns out that – from a Chinese manufacturer – it was hinted that it would the first console to use the SteamOS operating system after Valve’s own console, Steam Deck.

We in the editorial team doubted that Valve would allow this, as SteamOS is a great stronghold of Valve’s console and a differentiator compared to the rest. On the other hand, Steam OS is an open source Linux whose code can be used by third parties, and Valve already said at the time that they were willing to cooperate with its adaptation and help with drivers on third-party machines. And there the story remained –

A few days later the excitement (because of the novelty he introduced) ended. Ayaneo has ditched SteamOS and introduced HoloISO, an unofficial fork that comes from Valve’s system but is clearly not the same. Even worse… Yesterday the company also removed HoloISO and advertisement that portable console finally it will ship with Windows 11 Home “because customers said they would prefer it to come with Windows.”

No saddlebags were needed for this trip… A large number of users criticized this measure with similar arguments: “They destroyed the only option that might interest them.. It should be explained that the user will be able to install HoloISO later and by himself, but it is clear that interest has decreased.

Ayaneo Next Lite cheap even through Windows

We have already told you in this post the features of this console, its 7-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels; AMD Ryzen 5 4500U or Ryzen 7 4800U APU; its 16 GB of RAM and storage options with SSD from 128 to 512 GB. It features a 47Wh battery, a Hall sensing joystick, X-axis linear motors, and Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless compatibility.

It doesn’t look bad considering it’s an economy version with prices starting from 299 dollars. If you are interested, you can visit their website and book it. The SteamOS on a machine other than Valve’s Steam Deck thing was too nice.