The Best Android Handheld! (AYN Odin 2 Review)

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Edit: I'm dumb, I've played through Persona 5 twice and still forgot the beginning has masked faces for story reasons. Persona 5 runs perfect, ignore my comment in the video. Also Genshin does run better than I had, apologies on that one. And apparently the washed out grey look is an Android bug, not Odin 2 related. It happens in dark mode, doesn't happen in light.

[@daviddosne2031]

Vivement qu'on fasse tourner windows et la Switch car les jeux Android tournent tous à fond c'est bien on est content 😅 AYN vous a interdit d'en parler (je parle des premiers à la recevoir)... Éclate toi 👍 J'attends décembre....

[@elyonsaint4113]

Can you show the button mapping for honkai star rail? Wanted to play it with an android controller for so long i can use gamesir x2 button mapping software for this

[@elyonsaint4113]

And what about jak 1 2 and 3 on ps2?

[@elyonsaint4113]

And does dolphin bar work on the ayn odin 2?

[@GaudyGabriev02]

What about battery test? I know has 8K MA but idk about the autonomy

[@lunarwist5655]

I'm considering getting an Odin 2 because it's a much lighter, ergonomic & power efficient. I have a SD, and the reality is that it's large, unwieldy & heavy. It's comfortable for a large device, but the overall weight induces quite a bit of wrist strain for longer sessions. This is something that a lot of people write off, "Why not just get a SD," -- it's one of the least portable handhelds.

[@valg.3152]

Size of a Nintendo switch. I want to purchase they sold out on the baseline.

[@benpregent]

This is the first indiegogo campaign I've ever supported and I'm really excited! Wasn't sure initially but seeing them ship out reviews units this early made me very hopeful they'll meet their deadlines.

[@pistolao_vr]

Same, my very first too! I couldn't hold myself this time lol

[@navsingh9406]

Me too!

[@anthonym6119]

I could get it because I was worried about long delays but I still might get it later

[@TyGreenGoblin]

I don't need this but if they ship out on time and people are happy, I plan to pick one up.

[@turbochargedfilms]

this is appropriate behaviour

[@aly8950]

Same

[@MithosDagon]

Same 😂😂😂 I sure as heck don’t need it (I have a Steam Deck, ROG Ally, RP3+, RG405M and miyoo mini plus…and I just got my Ayaneo pocket air last Monday) and have been resisting the urge to buy it since I probably won’t really use it. But with all the hype, I keep second guessing myself. 😂

[@aishacs]

Wow that’s a lot!

[@curtismiller1854]

Just got my lite but I'm on board when it comes out in retail

[@Guitario666]

I never doubted the final product. Loki and Odin1 ended up being amazing, and now this is as well.

[@NeoSpartan117]

This is pretty much the exact handheld I've been waiting for!

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Same!

[@rometherevenant8749]

My Razer Edge is my current handheld emulator machine for gaming, but I always loved the idea of picking one of these devices from Ayn.

[@chromehearted]

I’m in the same boat!

[@shannonghoset2056]

wow this is a really thorough, well made review!! thank you for this!

[@nafkar89]

I have a comment about the software issues. For the FPS counter, it doesn't display the accurate fps on the sidebar but the floating fps counter should be accurate but it needs about 1-3 seconds to start displaying the correct info(Just tap on the fps on the side bar and the floating icon will show up whenever the sidebar isn't extended). This behavior is consistent with the Odin 1 or at least the Odin lite. Dolphin focus issue is the same on my Odin Lite, I think the issue may be more on dolphin than the Odin.

[@RaveDude-ig4nc]

Actually, the "Charging Seperation" mode is to be used if you want to charge the device so the battery can get some rest.

[@BobTheBuilder93839]

Finally! At first I wanted a rg405m, but this beats that.

[@timetraveler_0]

When showing loudness of fan etc, also use something familiar like a mouse click so we can adjust the volume on our end to hear how they loud they will actually be in real life.

[@Bert221]

Every other reviewer has been complaining about the LED brightness not being ajustable. Good find diving into the RGB settings! It would be great, if you could make a setup video like for the Anbernic RG405M.

[@GurlDreamer50]

I can't decide between the Loki or the Odin series. I'm kinda new to all this. I modded ny Vita which i love but I wanted something a bit larger so I can see. (I'm 53) reliving my childhood. I have the typical handhelds, Ds Lite, DSi, New 3dsxl, Modded PSP, Modded Vita, RG351p (I need to reflash the SD card), and My newly purchased rg35xx. I just learned how to cooy my SD card and I live it. But I want another device that not only does the retro but the Android stuff too. I looked at the Logitech G cloud but the price point is ridiculous. I feel like the Odin series has more to offer than an Anbernic or Powkiddy device. Im so confused!!! I just became a new subscriber to your channel and I really like your review style. Keep up the good work!👍

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Can't go wrong with the Odin 2 at all really. And thank you!

[@kazzerism]

I have the white one preordered, I can't wait to receive it! Nice to see you still have a very positive opinion about it, now just crossing my fingers that they will hit that December ship date!

[@m3llowrush]

I heard the white ones plastics easy to stain, best of luck! hope its not the case

[@kazzerism]

@@m3llowrush Mine is fine so far! I've heard bad things about the official case causing some troubles with rubbing and discoloration, though.

[@rsorry]

I'm stoked i preordered the black base 🔥🔥🔥

[@ush2177]

Great review. Special thanks for showing 2 player on the big screen

[@retrohandhelds]

Let's go Joey! Fantastic review, and why do I want the Black model all of a sudden 😂❤ - Stubbs

[@warlockboyburns]

Hopefully this will drive forward some better front ends for emulation

[@flthyanml]

I have an RG405M that I'm waiting for a second replacement side board for. I've loved it so far and I've been trying to test its limit with Gamecube games. With the issues I'm getting from the 405M it's really making me consider ordering an Odin 2...

[@brianscott5683]

Wow I just ordered mine to I could not help myself. I have the steam deck but this one looks amazing

[@galewind]

Thanks Joey! I really appreciate you taking the time to talk about the pros and current cons, which mostly seem like software-fixable things. My bet is that the software is the primary reason for December release -- seems like hardware and packaging are pretty much finalized.

[@RavDLC]

Calm review 💯 had to preorder this, can't wait till December

[@XtianApi]

Yuzu now has native execution so the switch code can run natively on the processor. In a way it's not even emulation anymore. That should greatly help the performance of things like tears of the Kingdom, especially if you let the shaders load in for a little bit

[@MateHall]

I'm so exited to get this! I got the pro and they've just said they are shipping at the end of October instead of December

[@peterd7009]

Just ordered that exact model. Thank you for a great review !!!

[@TheEternalLightning]

I've Been studying on which to get, this or the Steam Deck and I finally landed on this. Havent upgraded my gaming handheld since I bought my GPD Win 2 about 5 years ago. I Think this will be a fine upgrade :3

[@Santee2013]

According to AYN, they'll ship the odin2 at the end of October! That's great news!

[@AlexanderGarcia-uv7in]

If it shipped from Europe I would boy one, but 330€ + extra 21% + other fees is just too much, all that just because it's shipped to Spain from outside of Europe.

[@Bugside]

Exactly, the 12 gig version becomes more than 450€

[@Tacquito]

Enjoy your turkey! Happy thanksgiving Joey!

[@FormulaSumo]

Finally, this is the one!! Hopefully I get mine before the summer though 😂

[@az639]

I was planning on buying a much cheaper handheld but this one is just way too good to not buy. I think I know what I will buy myself for chrismath.

[@ShamanNoodles]

I love your video style. Very matter-of-fact and utilitarian. Thanks for this.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Glad it was helpful!

[@myke687]

Been holding off handhelds, but ayn made me buy one 😂

[@kulatev]

Same. Splurged for once

[@peterhuang5011]

This is amazing! Eventually we're able to run PS2 game perfectly (almost).

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

Yeah this thing looks pretty sweet.. I'll probably wait for next year's inevitable sale - but this FINALLY looks like _the_ portable emu-device I've been waiting for.. ticks practically every box I've held fire on buying one of these things for years because they haven't had all the features I want in any one device - don't really have a reason NOT to buy one of these, long term

[@Subgos]

Amazing review planing on pre-ordering one right now

[@MrBruceSpy]

My son just dropped and broke my tablet, and your video just dropped..perfect timing😅

[@SecretKey-fj5yjyhjl7oov]

Thanks for Adding Chapters to long Videos, 🙏👍😎

[@JsmashTech]

Love you Joey, amazing video as always keep up the great work

[@TheTHEDRAGER]

Thanks for covering Rogue Galaxy and Steambot Chronicles 😊

[@noelsilva8887]

I’m checking this out and thinking about getting the pro version for I play mostly sega Dreamcast and Nintendo DS and 3ds and psp and vita games.

[@a7c777]

Great review. Just a heads up for people trying to emulate Persona 5 Royal (cause it’s one of my all time favorites), I think Persona 5 didnt have rendering issues on the character sprites. The first part of the game puts a shadow on the faces of characters to build suspense for their introduction. Even on the PS5 theyre censored

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Yeah it was my fault lol played through the game twice, somehow forgot the intro

[@hargel3870]

You already know that switch is gonna run great when yuzu gets better. The switch multi-core efficiently is less than the single core efficiently of the snapdragon 8 gen 2.

[@Retrohut305]

Thank you for this video I can't afford to buy this now so I went ahead and purchased the RP3+ hopefully they make a Odin 2 lite in the future

[@iampoch01]

This is bought. I don't mind performance of its Switch emulation as I do have a Nintendo Switch. Besides, I doubt if I can use Pokémon Home on this device (ie deposit from emulated games to Pokémon Home). But for everything else, this is perfect for me.

[@snaiilaxx8510]

Thank you for the shout out on the ram early into the video!!! I got base model and looking into switch emulation (if 12gb ram models don't run well for intense games, then sticking with 8gb ram model to play less intensive switch games is the play to go!) Hopefully anyway... 😢 Otherwise I can't justify not getting the 12gb model... 😭😭😭

[@BillyZard]

Amazing video Joey! Answered pretty much all my questions and even provided RAM amounts (and advised on the gain changes for the fan haha). Seems like Switch will be usable on the light weight stuff on the Odin2 Base, similar to the RP3+ performance. And I cant quite put my finger on it but... I've got this overwhelming urge to play Persona 4... I wonder why...

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

.. What do you think I'm playing right now? Ahahaha

[@johanburger4454]

EPIC!!!Although my only fear is that the device was running many a time above 70 degrees Celsius. That's not good for electronics, so not sure how long it will last but definitely picking one up. I just bought thr rg405v and very happy with that but i think this thing will be with me even on my death bed.

[@bulletpunch9317]

Its ok, cpus can take that much.

[@johanburger4454]

@@bulletpunch9317 oh really? I must look into it. Sadly the price has jumped to 1000 pounds. I will have to find a way to move product in order to match these numbers

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

No issues with this CPU and that temp.

[@johanburger4454]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds cheers Joey. Is there any other way to purchase this? Looks like I missed the gravy train and will have to wait for amazon.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

@johanburger4454 still available here bit.ly/3Py83mw

[@bradbenek]

Hi.. great video and test! Thank you. Is there in Odin 2 big input lag or am I wrong? As I seen on the video, there is a different between clicking on buttons and moving on screen, especially on driving games.... I don't know what thinking about that. What do you think?

[@mattdavis9601]

I thought this was an excellent review. While your review broadly hit many of the same notes as other reviews I've seen; you brought up some things I don't recall seeing or hearing about elsewhere. The rumble issue being a big one. Another being the Navigation Bar bug. I'm kind of surprised they included software nav buttons in the first place considering this device has hardware Android Home and Back nav buttons below the D-Pad and Right Stick. They should've mapped the Overview/Recent Apps screen to a long press of the Back button and been done with it, IMO. As a temporary fix; do they still work if Gesture Nav is used? All in all; I still very much want to buy an Odin 2. I'm very impressed with the sheer value this offers and I prefer Android OS devices. I also like how modular the internals are; so, depending on parts availability, I can service or replace things that die from old age or accidental abuse. However; because of your review I'm going to hold off a bit to see if there's any more quality control (QC) issues with these. Maybe you got the one bad apple? And; honestly, I could totally live without rumble if that ends up being the only issue with these. Then again; maybe skimping on QC is how they can offer such crazy specs for such a competitive price? $300 is kind of a lot of money to me, right now. I can afford to spend it on something I'll get a lot of use out of it; but, I can't exactly afford to throw $300 away on a mistake. And a mistake it'll be if your rumble issues are the tip of the QC iceberg. You've got me just a wee bit spooked. Thank you. No one else mentioned any downsides at all and I was all gung-ho to buy one; but, this review has put a bit of sense back into my head. For me, it's probably worth missing out on early bird pricing to gain peace of mind that I'm buying something that'll last.

[@stephenxs8354]

Switch EMU is not great only until ARM version of emu matures. It is more than powerful enough to do max fps. This is equivalent to a higher end mobile phone processor so everything gaming wise also applies to this.

[@Cologneking408]

The reason for the Killzone Liberation request is because its super hard to run.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

I had no idea! Seemed super easy here.

[@tompatrikc]

crazy how good the android yuzu emulator is already considering the same games still struggle on high end PC rigs...

[@bonaventura_AKA_ben]

Yeah, the rumble issue is surprisingly not mentioned by the usual suspects in the KZbin reviewer sphere. To me rumble is never noticed until it’s gone or is flakey. Since we’d have to wait a few months for delivery, I’ll pass. When the Lenovo Legion Go comes out, I may get it since Microcenter and Best Buy have returns. Otherwise my Steam deck with its awful screen 🙈 will have to do. BTW the screen is fine.

[@WheeledHamster]

Makes me mad to see some lazy ass reviewers like ETA Prime throws the same 5 games on every devices, called it a day and gets more views. Here's some Genshin Impact, COD Mobile, Minecraft, God of War, God of War 2, Auto Modellista.

[@navsingh9406]

With his method of testing, its more apples to apples since he is reducing the variables by testing out the same games. You muppet :D

[@agelikemilk351]

Too bad the usbc / hdmi doesn't carry over Dolby Vision stuffs, it would've been the perfect candidate for replacing my Nvidia Shield.

[@RobyMicrobi]

I dont know if it exists, but it would be cool if this had a way to be able to use the handheld screen as touchscreen for NDS and 3DS lower screen while being hooked to a TV showing the upper screen.

[@BlueController123]

You just invented the Wii U my friend.

[@lauderneto81]

Great Review. Congratulation.

[@ironmaniacxd5658]

Awesome video, were all the games in handheld mode ,(30fps ) or docked mode (60 fps cap)?

[@sasoriobinnamii9223]

i liked my original odin pro but man the power limitation with ps2 and GC games shows. its hard to shell another 350+ for odin 2 pro,

[@main_tak_becus6689]

The nature of emulation is it demands newer hardwares overtime to extract the best performance. i7 8700 was a beast 5 years ago but now it lags behind i5 12400f in emulation. Playing on the original hardwares is still the best for performance and compatibility, but they will cost a fortune.

[@MandyRosko]

will you do an update video to these games you played? I've heard Yuzu had some updates since the Odin came out

[@Dee_Lopez]

Android needs ps2 and ps3 emulators to be on point bc this handheld looks like it can power a whole lot but the emulator limits it

[@nickjacobsss]

I really love this device, I just wish the screen was ~7", as I just feel 6 is too small

[@samh5886]

Not sure if missed it, but any reason why vulkan was not used for PS2? And was dolphin on opengl or vulkan? Kind of funny the high performance did nothing for intensive systems, maybe a software bug like the Pocket Air 's?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Just the idea that I wanted to test out of the box, no changes for normal people that don't want to do any of that besides resolution changes.

[@amongstourselves6203]

i just wish it can play some older pc games as well with out using winlator

[@andremamola810]

First of all, thank you so much for testing Driver Parallel Lines. It's a niche game, but I loved it growing up. I am curios, with the resolution of the display only being up to 1920*1080, is there a reason or benefit to pushing PS2 beyond 3x? Is there any real performance difference since you aren't being shown that additional resolution?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Hey, I explain it in the video, but it's for anyone that wants to dock this to a 4K TV. Otherwise, no.

[@pleasuretokill]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds what, in your opinion is the hardest to emulate PS2 game? GT4?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

I'm actually not sure, hard to tell as a lot is just emulator infancy instead of just being a hard to run game.

[@Apaclypse]

So I don’t know anything about emulators. What exactly is this handheld? And what console games can it play? I want something where I can play my old school games. Games like Simpson hit and run, (ps3) all of Breath of fire games (gba,ps1),Matrix path of neo (ps2), Ultimate Spider-Man (ps2), Can this handheld do that?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Sort of covered in the video there my friend. There's no PS3 emulator for Android. The others can be run unless there's some specific issues with those games.

[@Masterczulkix]

This device don't need to use low or medium settings in genshin impact, You can news Max settings and you don't have drop framerate.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Yep, covered this in my pinned comment.

[@Moes_Prep_and_Tech]

Is 8gb of ram good enough for PS-Vita Emulation? I might get the Base model because I'm not into Switch Games (or android)

[@Rikky2000]

Good video :-) What happens if Yuzu runs out of RAM? Does it just crash? Or error gracefully? Also confused as to why you'd do 4k on a 1080p screen. I'm going to have to brush up on my original screen sizes for each console to work out what the multipliers are.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

I explain the 4K part in the video.

[@Rikky2000]

Oh ok thx

[@mrredoficial]

Great review. Thanks.

[@TheEldenLord_]

Might just play Persona 4 just because that song was so fire😂

[@bigbaldwolf86]

Great review Joey. I hope we can put some of this talk around the screen and input lag to bed but I'm not holding my breathe 😂

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

The screen is so good.

[@glennshoemake4200]

No issues using compressed images such as chd, cso, rvz? I don't expect any issues but would like to know your experience.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

I use CHD and RVZ personally. I don't use CSO.

[@glennshoemake4200]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds Ok thanks for your confirmation.

[@Bishop2g]

One more question. Do it come fully loaded like rg353v? Or do you need to load your own roms?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Load your own.

[@Tebsteroni]

Nice video. What was the old King?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

It was a democracy.

[@Tebsteroni]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds LOL

[@TheUndertaker19]

hello, wonder if you have tried yuzu emulator with 2 controllers usb or wireless and if you have experienced any lag/latency (with the odin 2 pro), i just bought the odin pro dock 2 and 2 wired usb controllers to try, would be awesome if you have any insights, thank you

[@Fumei-arts]

This is just a glimpse of how the switch 2 could be. 12 to 16 gb of ram. A powerful soc with up to 4 tflops of performance and a high refresh rate display and big battery. I hope nintendo doesn't screw it up

[@DowneyMax]

Nope, I doubt it wouldn't be more powerful

[@bulletpunch9317]

Tflops means little, this thing is like 25% faster than the deck in 3dmark, and the deck is only 1.6tflops.

[@Fumei-arts]

@@bulletpunch9317 💀

[@bulletpunch9317]

@@Fumei-arts is that supposed to be a gen z/tiktok thing? Can you explain it in words?

[@anotherks7297]

​@@bulletpunch9317AINT NO WAY 💀💀💀💀

[@hawshimagical]

hoping that the yuzu emulator develops enough to play most nintendo switch games in docked mode, full speed. that would instantly make this the endgame android handheld!

[@bkn726]

The question is if totk will run better on this than on a switch once software is optimized. Is the core better than the switch and if yes by how much

[@namenotfound617]

32:30 Persona faces not showing is on purpose for that first intro scene. You are no supposed to know the characters yet so it is expected behavior on all consoles.

[@21lanevo]

Any tips on transferring games save slates from Odin 1 to Odin 2?

[@RyanSpain-v9b]

The one thing that stood out for me is the possible heating issue with the fan. With a new product I'm def concerned about longevity and usage from the average player who may not realize they are cooking the Odin from the side. I maybe wrong and hope this is not something that comes out after a couple months of people playing. I am really excited about getting one.

[@Doo-l5x]

Can you play with it while it is being charged.

[@corsinivideos]

Looks amazing, is there any reason why are you upscaling games to 4K on a 1080p disply?

[@Rikky2000]

I can only assume future proofing, but unsire how a 4k picture is displayed on a 1080p screen???

[@corsinivideos]

Its displayed at 1920x1080 as that is the maximum resolution of the display so not sure why would be upscaling to that level unless trying to output over hdmi at 4k@@Rikky2000

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

I explain it in the video, it's for anyone that wants to dock to a 4K TV.

[@corsinivideos]

ahh i see, missed that, makes sense.@@JoeysRetroHandhelds

[@Lazysketchguy]

Awesome video ✌🏻😁

[@Deltax5]

Looks cool. That's still android. Is there sim card slot to use as a phone? >< that would be funny. You said you got steamdeck. That runs ether steme os or windows. Different platform. Probably more powerful. I just use a gaming phone for now. runs dolphin. I don't think that good thou. Got a link of version of dolphin your using?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Just Dolphin official off their website, the development version.

[@HayBaylers]

😅i was just wondering, do you think we will be able to run nswitch on here soon with low dips?

[@amj0477]

Snapdragon 8 gen 2🔥

[@mariosoetopo754]

Thank you for your great Review, but i need something to clarify about VRAM 4G Swap, it is safe to turn on? Because i saw a video on youtube about ram swap and in the video said it will shorten the life span your device. Is it true? And if i get the pro model, do i need to turn on ram swap like the base model of ayn odin 2? I need an explanation about this so i can decide which model should i get. Thank you.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Sorry, I don't have the base model so can't speak to that.

[@jeffreycheng4027]

Great video!!

[@bigdaddy5303]

Full 4k is only useful if you plan on outputting to a 4k monitor. But it is future proofing - it will be a long time before true budget devices reach this performanc and by then im sure we will have the next set of android emulators to chase like xbox1/360/ps3. Its at that point i think retro emulation ends, because the file sizes of roms for systems ps4 and beyond are too large to even consider trying to store entire catalogues on a held.

[@Rikky2000]

How does 4k on a 1080p screen work?

[@datmandeyah_8083]

Would have been nice to see how the mapped buttons worked with cod mobile 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

You map them however you want.

[@datmandeyah_8083]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds I meant the general performance of the mapped buttons with call of duty mobile. I.e the mapped sticks for aiming etc.

[@ShotokanEditor]

Can we have a report on smudges? :/

[@Moes_Prep_and_Tech]

What kind of Phone are you using to film videos with?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

S23 Ultra.

[@vrASMR180]

Over time will it run those Zelda games perfectly or is the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 just not enough to handle it?

[@navsingh9406]

Yuzu is still a fairly new emulator on Android, I am sure it will improve at some point.

[@jonathankostur1597]

Which version did you test please? (Base, Pro, or Max?) Thanks!

[@Dalmatinac3]

its a pro

[@mr_bisley]

So is there any reason at all to get 16gb one? Is there a use case for it?

[@Heyzeussss]

Only just ever heard of these handhelds, might be a stupid question here im asking, but all these games you playing, do they come pre loaded to the console?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

They do not.

[@Heyzeussss]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds much appreciated for the reply mate. Thank you.