[Music] Hey everybody, this is Russ from Metro Gamecore. There have been a ton of different handheld news over the past couple days and I've had a hard time keeping up and I thought initially I would put it all on social media and let you kind of read it. But then I decided let's just make it a lot easier and make a dedicated video about everything that's going on right now. We're mostly going to focus on a lot of the dual screen handhelds that'll be coming soon. But we also got an announcement about the Xbox Ally X. Let's talk about that one first. They made a big announcement today at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. And I was actually supposed to be there for that announcement, but I cancelled my trip at the last moment. But thankfully, my friend Carrie over at the Fox, he is there and he made a video about it. I'll leave the video linked down below. Looks like he's having a great time. It's kind of rubbing it in my face, the fact he's standing in front of this like beautiful German house. But either way, yes, he's got a lot of good information in this video. The big announcement is that it's going to release on October 16th, so it'll be out in less than 2 months, and I'm hoping to get an early review unit as well to be able to make a video in time for that launch. There were some other tidbits of information. For example, it seems like for the Xbox, that's the high tier model, this one is going to lean into some of the AI features available on the 50 tops NPU within the Z2 Extreme. The number one feature I saw is called AutoSR or auto super resolution. This is an upscaling technology and it looks to be at a system level. So, this is going to work like FSR and DLSS and that you can play your games at a lower resolution. It'll be a little bit less taxing on that CPU and your battery, but still get nice upscaled graphics. We'll see how this stuff plays out and whether or not it actually does improve the overall gaming experience. But, they also mentioned that it's going to be coming out starting early next year, so I don't think it's going to be out in time for the launch anyway. And this is likely going to be coming to other platforms, too, but it looks like they're focusing on the Xbox LAX first. Another thing that Xbox announced is what they're calling the handheld compatibility program. So, this is kind of like the Steam Deck verified program in that it'll tell you whether or not a game is going to work well on that device. There's going to be two different versions. The first is handheld optimized. So, this is going to essentially be like the Steam Deck verified program. That means that you'll be able to navigate through the menus and read the fonts no problem. And of course, performance will work well on that handheld. They also have one called mostly compatible. So that means that it will work, but you may have to get in and out of the menus by using like the touchcreen instead of the controls, you know, things like that. But either way, that's what it looks like they're going with here is this new compatibility program. And one last tidbit is that they're adding something called shader delivery to this handheld and other platforms in the future. So the idea here is that you will be able to pre-download all of your shaders and have them all pre-ompiled when you start up your game. If you own a Steam Deck, you probably have already seen something very similar where it'll do a shader pre-caching update on your game. And what that's essentially doing is downloading all the shaders and then when you start up the game, the game's going to launch faster and then the GPU won't be taxed as heavily because it doesn't have to compile all those shaders on the fly. And this has been an issue on Windows PC gaming for a long time. So, if they are going to use this on the Xbox LAX and then expand it to other Windows platforms, that's going to be pretty awesome. So, I am looking forward to that. and Carrie over the Fox has more information about all this kind of stuff. I will leave his video linked down below. So, long story short, yes, October 16th for the Xbox LA X and it looks like they're doing a lot of stuff behind the scenes to improve that gaming experience on Windows-based handheld PCs. So, it'll hopefully start with the Xbox LA X and then we'll see it trickle out to other handhelds in the future. So, next I want to talk about all these dual screen handhelds that we've been seeing over the past couple months and especially over the past couple days. Now, dual screen Windows-based handhelds have been out for a while. We had the IEO Flip DS last year, and then the Flip 1SDS, which came out a few weeks back. I did a video about that one, too. So, those essentially just work like a small laptop that has a second screen attached to it. There's a lot of finagling you have to do within Windows to get it all to work properly, but it can definitely work. But the big push over the past couple months has been Androidbased dual screen handhelds, which is something I've been very skeptical about in the past because, you know, that requires a special version of Android that allows you to basically push to two different screens. You know, choose which one is going to be on which display. That's not something inherent in Android. So, these companies have to basically build the software within it. And then also, when it comes to emulation, you have to have apps that support it too that allow you to push to two different screens at once. And we've seen improvements for both of those fronts over the past month or so. So, I think it's really going to actually start happening. Last month, I did a video about the 1X Sugar, which is this crazy two-screen contraption, which is Android based. And some of the software does allow you to push to two different screens, but this one was still very much so a work in progress. And then just last week, I did a video about the dual screen attachment for the Retroid Pocket devices. This is still a work in progress, too. I've got more news about that near the end of this video. But the big news is that we've got two dual screen clamshell handhelds on the way. The IO Pocket DS was announced a while back, but it just started launching on its Indiegogo campaign this week, and it's already got a thousand backers. But then another company, AYN, which is the people that make the Odin line of devices, they announced a new handheld as well just yesterday called the Thor. This is also a dual screen clamshell handheld that is Androidbased and looks a lot like the Ino Pocket DS. These two companies often will compete with one another and so it is kind of funny to see this happening all over again. Let's start with the AYn Thor. They just released a teaser video on YouTube yesterday and then they trickled out the rest of the information throughout the rest of the day. So here's what we know. It's a dual screen clamshell handheld. It's going to be Androidbased and it's going to have two different chipset options. The lower spec model is going to have the Snapdragon 865. That's the same chip that's in the Retroid Pocket 5, the Retroid Pocket Flip 2, as well as the Retroid Pocket Mini version 2. It's a very capable processor, even though it is a bit older, and it allows you to play up through like GameCube and PS2 for the most part, and then also some like light switch and Wii U. So, this will be an excellent fit if you are looking to play Nintendo DS and 3DS and maybe not as much Wii U gameplay just because that one can kind of struggle with more heavyweight games. Now, an interesting thing here is that AYn and Retrid have never really been in direct competition before when it comes to chipset. You know, Retrido will usually be like at that mid tier, around that $200 to $300 price point, and then the Odin line of devices from AYN will usually start at $300 and go on from there. So, they're at the more higher tier. So, this is the first time where I've seen the same chipset coming from these two different companies. And what makes it interesting is that a lot of people speculate that these are either the same company or they have the same parent company. And so that's why they never compete with one another, but I would see this as being a direct competition with the Retroid Pocket Flip 2. Now, the higher tiered chipset in the AYn Thor is going to be the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the exact same chip found in the Odin 2 line of devices. So, we already know what the performance is going to be like on that and it's also very excellent. You'll be able to play PS2 and Gamecube no problem. But then the higher tier systems, things like Wii U and Nintendo Switch, also play really well and they have excellent compatibility with this particular chipset. Another great thing about both the Snapdragon 865 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is that they are compatible with Linux. Now, the Linux builds will also have to compensate for a dual screen setup. So, I'm not sure if that's going to be possible within the software, but it is something to think about is that we may have a dual boot option sometime down the line. So, that's what we can expect when it comes to performance with the AYn Thor. Something at the Retroid Pocket 5 level and then something at the Odin 2 level. Let's talk about the rest of the hardware starting with these screens, which I think is going to be great. So the top screen is going to be 6 in AMOLED 120 Hz and 1080p and AYn describes this as being a unique display and I think the translation there is that they actually had this created for the company which means that maybe we'll see this in something like the Odin 3 which is another device that they kind of teased in one of their marketing images as well. So we may be seeing an Odin 3 with maybe a different chipset with the same display and I love these specs. 6 in 120 Hz and AMOLED is like exactly what I want to see. The bottom screen is a lot more familiar sounding. It's 3.92 in and also going to be 60 Hz and AMOLED. So that sounds like the exact same screen that we've seen in a bunch of other handhelds including the Ino Pocket TMG, the Retroid Pocket Classic, as well as the Retroid Pocket Mini version 2. So that's going to be a 31x 27 aspect ratio, which actually works really well with a lot of retro games. So that's what we're looking at in terms of screen with the AYn Thor. It's going to have a standard, you know, 16x9 display up top, AMOLED 120 Hz, and then down below another AMOLED display that's only going to be 60 Hz and then 3.92 in with that more squarish aspect ratio. That does mean that when you scale up things like DS and 3DS, you're going to have black bars on the left and right on the top screen and then black bars at the top and bottom because it's a bit more squarish than what they used on the original DS and 3DS. So I don't think it's the end of the world. We'll see how that all plays out. But the fact that it's AMOLED and that it's going to be an all glass front probably means that those bezels are going to kind of blend into the rest of the device like we've seen with other similar handhelds. They've released some other specs. For example, it's going to be a 6,000 mAh battery. That's going to be a little bit bigger than on the Odin 2 Mini, but not quite at the 8,000 that we have with the Odin 2 and the Odin 2 Portal. I'm not sure how long battery life is going to be. I think that, you know, powering two screens instead of one is going to be more taxing on the battery, but of course, I'll test all that stuff once I get a unit in hand. We also got some of the dimension specs. It's going to be 150 mm wide and then 94 mm tall and then finally 25.6 mm thick. This all comes together in a package that's 380 g. That's going to make it about 80 g heavier than the Flip 2 and about 50ish g heavier than a 3DS XL. Someone on Reddit already made a comparison between these different sizes. So, the one on the left is the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 in blue. The 3DS XL is in green. And then finally, the AY and Thor is on the right. So, in terms of size, it does look to be pretty comparable to these other options, which I think is pretty exciting. I love the idea of something being super compact, but also very powerful. So, now let's talk about some of the things I don't know, and then some potential concerns that I have. Number one is the price point. We don't know this information just yet. I would guess just based on what we've seen with these chipsets that the Snapdragon 865 version will be somewhere between $250 and $300. And then the higherend one, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will be somewhere between like 350 and 400. I bet that they will probably have different levels for these as well, like different price tiers based on the amount of RAM and internal storage like they normally do. So, these are not going to be cheap handhelds, but you're getting a lot in that package. A powerful processor, two OLED displays, and hopefully excellent controls. One potential weak point will be the hinge. So, you know, all these clamshells will often have hinge issues, and we've seen a lot crop up from the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 over the past month or so, just these hairline fractures, and some people have gotten something even worse, like a full-on crack. And my guess is that AYn and Retroid use the same design team and potentially the same factories, too. So, hopefully they've made some improvements in the hinge since the Flip 2, but who knows? That is always going to be a weak point with these handhelds and always something worth bringing up. And then one other concern I have has to do with the refresh rates which are going to be different between the top and the bottom screen. So how is that going to play out in the software? Can we have 120 Hz up top and 60 Hz down below? Or is the software going to force us to use 60 Hz on both just to compensate for that bottom screen? IO has announced with the Pocket DS that they are going to limit it to 60 frames per second on both the top and bottom displays when both are running at the same time. So, this is another thing that I'm hoping that AYn can figure out a fix for because it'd be really great to be able to play 120 Hz up above and then, you know, do something else down below at the 60 Hz refresh rate. Now, I also mentioned that the Odin 3 has been teased. We haven't seen anything other than just the name Thor and the name Odin 3. So, it's obviously coming and my guesses would be that it's going to be an updated chipset. You know, the Odin 1 to the Odin 2 was an updated chip. So, I would expect the same here. I'm also hoping that like with the Odin 1 and the original Odin 2 that it'll keep a six-inch display and they use that 120 Hz OLED one that they're using in the AYn Thor. It makes a lot of sense that they would just use the same screen in both. And I'm here for it. That's one of my favorite things about the Odin 2 is that overall smaller and more compact size. So, if we get something that looks a lot like the Odin 2 but with a new screen inside of it with 120 Hz refresh rate, that's going to be amazing. Now, for the new chipset, I hope they use the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 or, you know, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Those are very similar chipsets and those have very good compatibility. If they go the Snapdragon Elite route, which on paper is a more powerful processor, I'm hoping that they don't do that because the compatibility with the Snapdragon Elite, like the ability to use custom drivers and whatnot, is a lot worse than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. So, hopefully we will see that other chipset and not the Snapdragon Elite. My only other wish list item for the Odin 3 is that they take this D-pad, which you know is kind of straight down here with the analog stick and they push it inboard a little bit more. That's going to make it more comfortable. So push this thing as close to the screen as you can and I will be a very happy camper. Now let's talk about the Ino Pocket DS, which I think is going to be a direct competitor with the AYn Thor. Now this one has already been announced and it's also launched on Indiegogo and people have been pre-ordering. We've had over a,000 backers over the past couple days and we already know the pricing for this one. It's going to start at $400. That's the early bird pricing and then it goes all the way up to like $650 if you want to get it fully speced out. So, IO has always been on the expensive side and it'll be very interesting to see how the AYn Thor competes against it now that they're kind of in a better position where they already know the competitor pricing and they can adjust their pricing accordingly. Now, even though the Thor and the Pocket DS look very similar, you know, they're clamshells with two screens. They're Android based, there are some significant differences. The top screen on the Pocket DS is going to be 7 in and also AMOLED and 165 Hz refresh rate. Now, personally, I think that 120 Hz is that sweet spot because you can use it for things like shader subframes as well as black frame insertion. But, you know, if you are going to be doing streaming, having a higher refresh rate is going to be even better. The bottom screen, I would say, is also a little bit better suited for retro gaming in terms of size and scale. It's going to be 5 in in a 4x3 aspect ratio, which is really interesting. I haven't seen a 5 in 4x3 aspect ratio display before. I think it's going to be massive. So, I think this screen will be better suited for a variety of different gaming. You know, be able to play a lot of games that native 4x3 aspect ratio, but it does have some drawbacks. It's only 60 Hz like the other one on the AY and Thor, but this one is LCD, not OLED. And so I am curious to see how this is going to play out when you're actually using it with OLED up top and LCD down below. Is that contrast going to be really weird looking? So we'll have to see when I actually get a unit. Now the resolution of this bottom display is going to be 1024x768, which is the exact same resolution as the TrimUI brick screen. So that'll be really interesting. It is not going to be a perfect integer scale with basically any retro system, but it does scale well. And so that'll be really cool to see. you know, that big OLED screen up top, that smaller one, the LCD that's going to be 4x3 down below, how that all is going to play out. So, I do think that in terms of just visual quality, this is a very interesting prospect. The chipset in this device is going to be the Snapdragon G3X Gen 2. That's essentially the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 equivalent. We've seen it with a bunch of other handhelds, including the Ino Pocket 8, which I just reviewed the other day. And so, this will give us good performance all the way up to like Nintendo Switch. You should be able to play stuff like Wii U and 3DS and DS no problem. It does have less compatibility within the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but that compatibility like gap between the two has been getting smaller and smaller. So, I think it's a good chipset and it is quite powerful. The battery size on this one is going to be larger. It's 8,000 mAh, which I think is going to be great just because we are pushing two different screens, but it is going to make it heavier. It's 540 g compared to 380 with the AYn Thor. So, I think they are not going to be very comparable when it comes to pocketability and just overall portability. It does look like IO has been putting a lot of thought into their Android build in terms of having a dedicated button to be able to swap between like focus modes and other things within the software. You can read all about it on their Indiegogo page. But it does sound like they are trying to make this a good multitasking experience, which is my major concern when it comes to software with an Android based platform, just because Android isn't really meant to push two screens at once. And so it does look like IO is trying to mitigate some of those software limitations by adding their own solutions. Now, like I mentioned before, IO has said that the refresh rate is going to be limited to 60 Hz on both screens when both are playing at once. And I think that's kind of a bummer. For example, I think with a 165 Hz top display that's 7 in in OLED, a lot of people are going to want to do game streaming on that and they want to use the highest refresh rate possible to reduce decoding time and latency, but then also have like a nice smooth experience. So, imagine with a dual screen handheld, maybe you're streaming up top and then, you know, going and consulting an FAQ guide on a browser on the screen down below. And it would be a bummer if just having those two on at once would limit your streaming experience to 60 Hz. So hopefully this is something that they can fix in the software. I'm not really sure at this point. It sounds like it's kind of a done deal, but you never know. I'm hoping that maybe we'll see an update. So I'll leave a link to the Ino Pocket DS campaign down below if you want to read more about it. And I did get an email from them last night asking if I wanted to review a unit and of course I said yes. So hopefully in the next few weeks I will get a unit and I'll be able to make a review for you. And so be on the lookout for that. Now the last piece of information I have is about the Retroid Pocket Dual Screen. I made a video about it just this past weekend and there are a lot of things to love about it. It's the same AMOLED display as in the Retro Pocket 5. So 5 and a half in 1080p and it works really well, but I have found that there were two hiccups with it. Number one is the battery life. So it took a lot more battery than I was expecting over USBC. So it basically have the battery life depending on the context that I was playing it in. So, this is not going to be great when it comes to like long-term gaming sessions, but I think just in general, it should be okay because the battery life on a lot of these Android- based handhelds is pretty awesome. The other major downside I found was that there was some pretty significant delay between the bottom and top screen. And so, you could see that when playing the same content on both or when trying to play like a dual screen game like DS and 3DS, you could feel the input lag. And I did some measurements and it looked to be about three frames of lag between the two. Now, after making that video, Retroid put out that basically there's nothing they can do to fix that. Essentially, the screen itself is a portrait, not a landscape display, and they have to rotate it in the software, and the act of rotating it on the external screen is what's providing those three frames of delay. And so, they said there wasn't any fix for it. Now, just yesterday, they made an announcement and said, "Hold on, we've actually found a firmware fix for it." So, all the screens that have already shipped are going to be sent a new cable that allow them to do the firmware update. And then all the screens that are going to be shipping from now on after a three-day delay to fix everything, it's all going to be sent with the new firmware update. And so they said this is supposed to give it a near zero input delay. Now, I don't know what near zero means. That obviously is not going to be zero. So there will be some lag from the bottom of the top screen, but we'll have to test that ourselves. The company reached out to me and said that they're going to send me a new screen. So I'll be able to have my old screen that has the old firmware on it to have that, you know, major delay. and then we'll be able to compare it side by side with the new screen. So, be on the lookout for that video. It sounds like it'll be shipping in the next week or so. So, there you go. There's a quick news roundup. So, we've got the Alli X coming out October 16th. We also know some other things happening under the hood. And then we've got these dual screen clamshell handhelds that are Android based coming from both AYn and Ino. And then finally, the Retroid Pocket dual screen might be getting a really nice update. And I hope that it works really well because I think that for $70, it's a really cool attachment. Instead of having to buy a dual screen handheld at this $300 plus price point, you can get something for $70 that will just attach to the device you already have. And so I'm really hoping that Retroid Pocket dual screen is a lot better than it was previously because that's going to be a very easy recommendation coming in the future. Anyway, let me know what you think in the comments down below. Let me know if you want to hear more of these kind of news roundups as we get them. I don't usually make videos like this, but I do every once in a while when all the information starts stacking up, and I don't mind making the videos. They're pretty easy to make. So, let me know what you think in the comments down below. As always, thank you for watching. Be sure to like and subscribe if you found this helpful, and we will see you next time. Happy gaming. [Music]