Only Nintendo DS lovers will fully appreciate this dual-screen handheld PC

Only Nintendo DS lovers will fully appreciate this dual-screen handheld PC

The Ayaneo Flip DS. | Image: Ayaneo

Boutique handheld gaming company Ayaneo has announced the Ayaneo Flip DS — a 7-inch 120Hz handheld gaming clamshell with a second screen that’s clearly inspired by the Nintendo DS, and might let it play games like one too.

According to Liliputing’s Brad Linder, who deserves kudos for calling out the company’s attempt to plant a “leak,” both the Flip DS and a similar Flip KB will be powered by AMD’s Ryzen 7 7840U. That’s the same chip that’s in practically every other flagship Windows gaming handheld at the moment, including quite a few from Ayaneo itself.

Image: Ayaneo

The Ayaneo Flip DS...

Image: Ayaneo

...vs. the Ayaneo Flip KB.

While that AMD chip sounds like overkill for Nintendo DS titles — I’m very curious about battery life — a secondary screen to properly display Nintendo’s top-and-bottom games is a rarity in the emulation world.

Lots of handhelds (and phones) can already emulate the DS, but they often put the top and bottom screens side by side or let you switch between looking at the top or bottom at any given time.

That’s one of the reasons the emulator community was excited about the rise of folding phones like Samsung’s Galaxy Fold:

And it’s why some Steam Deck owners have gone out of their way to bolt a second screen onto their handheld.

If you’re interested in the Ayaneo Flip DS, know that it’s likely going to take a convoluted path to market. Not only does Ayaneo crowdfund all its products, but it also tends to trickle out details as slowly as it possibly can ahead of their Indiegogo debut. The company also announces new designs faster than it can ship them — by the time I’ve received one of the company’s products for testing, it’s almost always already moved on to a newer, more desirable model.

At this point, we’re waiting on these two clamshells, a sliding keyboard handheld PC, a big-battery + big-screen + touchpads handheld PC, another big-screen + touchpads PC, and another mystery one that uses Qualcomm’s new chip. The company says it started shipping its first Android handheld in September, on top of the... nine? ten? Windows handhelds it’s already shipped in two years. I genuinely don’t understand how the company can afford it.