Ayn Odin review: The most comprehensive retro handheld yet

There are a lot of, some ways to play retro video games right now. Loads of these choices are handhelds. However you may be shocked at what number of of those gadgets really feel jury rigged, low-cost or typically each. Worse, there’s a mishmash of open-source emulators working on a wide range of working methods to cope with, and the entire {hardware} is completely different — in brief, emulation is a little bit of a wild west typically.

What’s extra, even the higher handhelds normally solely emulate as much as across the PS1/N64 period. If you happen to’re a fan of the GameCube or PS2 libraries, for instance, the venn diagram of handhelds highly effective sufficient which are nicely made and fairly priced is successfully three separate circles. Possibly not for for much longer because of the Odin by Ayn.

Yep, I hadn’t heard of ‘em both, however within the retro gaming scene that’s not unusual. The Odin was launched on Indiegogo and immediately drew a variety of consideration. The premise is straightforward, to carry the aforementioned venn diagram collectively and make a extra cohesive retro (and even trendy sport) handheld.

The Odin will get off to a superb begin by successfully mimicking the Swap Lite type issue. Although the Odin’s display screen is a shade bigger (5.9 inches in comparison with Nintendo’s 5.5) and, at FHD, greater decision. Anecdotally, most individuals who’ve held each discover the Odin extra snug and even desire the latter’s analog sticks and D-pad which isn’t unhealthy for an organization new to the house.

I’m personally a fan of how all of the controls are laid out. The analogue sticks are far sufficient away to not intervene with the buttons/D-pad however shut sufficient to permit for fast, snug switching between them. I additionally like that the sticks are a bit of shallower than on different controllers which implies you don’t have to push as far to get the motion you want.

There are three completely different fashions of Odin accessible: Professional, Base and Lite. The Professional is the one we now have been utilizing and is, because the title suggests, the upper specification model. We’re not speaking bleeding edge internals right here, however with a Snapdragon 845 and an Adreno 635 doing the processing and graphics we’re taking a look at one thing much like a high-end smartphone from a few years in the past. Keep in mind that the Swap utilizing an older chipset: It’s, because the saying goes, what you do with it that counts, proper?

The variations between every mannequin embrace battery dimension, SoC, storage, RAM and, in fact, value. Right here’s a cheat sheet for these :

It’s value noting that when you’re solely nervous concerning the storage, all Odin’s include a microSD card slot so you’ll be able to develop the accessible reminiscence that means when you desire. As for battery capability, the 6,000 mAh mannequin I examined was good for round six hours of play on methods just like the PS2/GameCube and, given everybody appears to check this sport, about half that point with one thing like Genshin Affect.

This places the Odin in an attention-grabbing spot. You possibly can definitely decide up an excellent retro handheld/emulator for around $100, however seemingly it gained’t be capable of play almost as many video games from as many platforms. Alternatively, you would spend over $1,000 on one thing just like the Aya Neo which seemingly trounces the Odin however then can also be 4 instances the fee. Then there’s the Steam Deck which is a complete different beast, however a viable various if you wish to play non-retro video games additionally. It’s additionally a shade pricier than the Odin, beginning at $400, however clearly not a direct competitor. All to say, the hand-held market is form of everywhere.

The Odin runs on Android. If that induces an inside groan, we get it. Android and gaming have a sophisticated historical past. However arguably Android makes probably the most sense for a tool just like the Odin. Not least as a result of the {hardware} is akin to that in a excessive finish telephone, however Android can also be nicely catered for within the retro world, with a lot of the emulators having mature ports. Oh, and Android does have good video games of its personal, so you’ll be able to play these natively too.

As a lot because the Odin is aiming to really feel like a whole console somewhat than a single-board PC in a field working apps, there’s a little bit of an issue. It’s virtually inconceivable to do it every other means with out going full remake a-la Analogue. That mentioned, organising the Odin was about as painless as this course of will get. Choose the emulators you need, set up them, load up on video games and also you’re kind of good to go. Typically the bodily controls are both already mapped or simply take a minute to take action.

Ayn did give the Odin its personal launcher which sorta-kinda makes it really feel extra “consoley” and fewer like an Android pill, however truthfully the model it ships with is clear sufficient that you could simply keep on with that or use one of many common frontend apps like Launchbox (pictured on this article) or Dig. Fortunately there’s virtually no further app cruft on the Odin out of the field and, regardless of being Android 10, there’s help for Mission Treble which ought to assist preserve it feeling present for longer.

In case your curiosity is usually across the NES/SNES or Sega equivalents, you’ll be able to merely set up RetroArch and relax. There’s nothing uncommon right here for these most favored or classical consoles so I’ll deal with the extra superior methods.

For a lot of it’s the promise of moveable PlayStation 2 and GameCube emulation that will probably be a lure right here. The PS2 is notoriously difficult because of the console’s customized processor. However the emulation neighborhood is industrious if nothing else and there are some fairly good choices now. I examined out a few of my favorites from my bodily assortment, however clearly needed to begin with Rez, simply to see the way it seemed on that show.

Positive sufficient, it seemed fairly fab. My left thumb is means much less nimble than it was 20 years in the past however the Odin barely flinched at serving up the sport. I could have heard a couple of minor, virtually imperceptible glitches within the audio, however they have been rare and presumably one thing that may very well be remedied within the emulator settings somewhat than the {hardware}.

This expertise was just about the identical with every other title I attempted. I frolicked taking Raiden out for a crawl within the rain in Steel Gear Strong 2. Whereas over in GTA: San Andreas, CJ’s hopes of going straight have been simply as futile (full with barely wonky physics) as I remembered. Last Fantasy XII’s dramatic opening sequence ran as clean because it ever did and Reks’ courageous naivety was virtually glitchless bar some gentle cracking on audio right here and there.

With the GameCube you may moderately count on a bit of extra success provided that traditionally it’s been simpler to emulate. That does broadly appear to pan out. It would take a bit of fiddling round to get issues optimized, however F-Zero GX can run at full speed and there are only some video games which are extra efficiency hungry than that. You may as well get some good outcomes for Wii emulation right here too however that can rely upon a title’s use of Wiimotes amongst different issues.

In fact, every part at this stage continues to be some kind of crapshoot. Who is aware of how the sport was programmed or the way it used the {hardware} it was constructed for. There are already a number of movies on YouTube that dutifully undergo a bunch of titles for all of the methods to point out how they run. There’s additionally a thriving subreddit that has spreadsheets devoted to itemizing which video games are (or aren’t) appropriate and the way nicely they carry out on the Odin.

There are two areas the place you don’t want to fret about compatibility: Android gaming and streaming companies like Stadia and Sport Cross. There’s not lots to say right here actually aside from the Odin was born to do it, as long as your web can sustain. (WiFi efficiency is akin to my telephone, for what it’s value.)

Some courageous people on the market have even tried working 3DS and even Swap video games all with various levels of success. In the end what you’re shopping for with the Odin is a bespoke gaming handheld that merely has the aptitude to run these apps, there’s no actual promise of efficiency (or actually management thereof). 

However it does appear to have been significantly nicely designed. The lively cooling appears to be a little bit of a secret sauce, ensuring you not solely get probably the most out of the processor however for prolonged intervals with none concern of harm. Some may surprise, why not merely get an previous handset with related specification and slap it in one thing like Razer’s Kishi. You positively might try this, however the Odin’s cooling isn’t the one perk, its display screen is greater and 16:9 somewhat than superwide like a telephone. Plus… it’s about not feeling like you may have a telephone in a clamp, that’s kinda the purpose.

It’s not a headline function, however Ayn did see match to supply two methods of enjoying the Odin on a TV/show. There’s a micro HDMI port on the highest which might be the only strategy to get your sport on an even bigger display screen. I’ll say although that I didn’t have a good time with it as neither of my TVs have an ideal gaming mode, so latency was a difficulty. There may be additionally DisplayPort connectivity by way of the USB-C connection.

If you happen to actually wish to consolize the Odin, you are able to do so by way of a $50 “Tremendous Dock” accent. With this, you’ll be able to slide the Odin into the mount very similar to a Swap and decide up the place you left off on the larger display screen. Together with USB, there are additionally devoted ports for each GameCube and N64 controllers ought to you may have any of these mendacity round. It additionally provides within the choice for ethernet and USB-C/SATA for issues like SSDs (extra trendy video games take up much more house in spite of everything).

In fact, given it’s working Android, you are able to do something with the Odin that you are able to do with a telephone or pill. Which means video streaming or music listening and even productiveness. Although, logic may counsel that working issues within the background or, heaven forbid, permitting notifications is barely going to do unhealthy issues to your gaming expertise. However you would.