Back in January of last year, Ayaneo embarked on an ambitious journey by launching a crowdfunding campaign for their innovative clamshell designs, the Ayaneo Flip handhelds—specifically, the Flip DS and Flip KB, which were powered by AMD Ryzen. We got our first look at the Flip DS within just a month, but, out of the blue, the full-scale production of this device has been canceled.
Initially, the impressions and updates about these devices looked quite encouraging. They even upgraded the internals from the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme-equivalent AMD Ryzen 7 7840U to the Ryzen 7 8840U. Yet, on February 25th, Ayaneo dropped a bombshell: no further Ayaneo Flip handhelds would be produced. They gave their backers until March 27 to either request a full refund or exchange—though opting for another Ayaneo handheld meant facing potential additional costs due to price differences.
For the backers and fans eagerly waiting for their Ayaneo Flip arrival, this news was a hard pill to swallow. Various outlets had already reviewed the devices, and some backers had even received theirs. It’s a bit disheartening that Ayaneo couldn’t satisfy all their crowdfunding commitments. While Ayaneo usually excels with such ventures, this incident is a stark reminder that crowdfunding is an investment rather than a guaranteed product purchase.
Despite everything, there’s a tinge of sadness about this outcome. In our earlier discussions, we noted how the Flip DS was shaping up to be an ideal modern successor to the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS.
Featuring a dual-screen setup and robust internals capable of emulating the Nintendo Switch, as well as playing AAA PC games with secondary-screen functionality for multitasking or real-time system tweaks, the Ayaneo Flip DS stood out in a market that largely offered “Steam Deck or ROG Ally, but pricier and/or less powerful,” except for some standout models with exceptional controllers or displays.
Not every dream sees the light of day, unfortunately. With this turn of events, the existing Ayaneo Flip DS and Flip KB units, now in possession of some YouTubers and early backers, could become tantalizing collector’s gems. Just be prepared to pay a pretty penny to snag one, as they are now exceedingly rare.
