Did Anbernic create a Budget Ayaneo Pocket DMG with RG40xxV?

I knew it was only a matter of time after Anbernic said they were done with the H700 SOC before they came out with a vertical RG40xxV. I wrote an article in July predicting as much (Anbernic RG40xxV is coming soon?). Today Anbernic released a gameplay video of the RG40xxV so that means we are about a week away from pre-sales.

*edit Pre-sales page is live sales begin soon click here if interested

I was literally in the middle of posting another article about this Monday when ‘leaked’ photos of the RG40xxV hit the net. Life happened and I haven’t had a chance to finish it so I took a screenshot of the unfinished unedited draft I’ll post below. This was an obvious expected announcement but let’s dig into the little we know about it based on the video they posted.

So we don’t yet know that this new handheld will have the H700 SOC in it. It totally would make sense to have it but the more I look at the market there is a good chance this is coming out with Anbernic’s other SOC of 2024 the T820. Hear me out but I think Anbernic took their design from the RG351V and put a bigger screen on it to compete with Ayaneo and their new Pocket DMG. They look very similar and in order to undercut Ayaneo we would need to see Anbernic put a bigger chipset in the new handheld.

This wouldn’t be the first time this year that we have seen Anbernic take a shot at undercutting another Chinese handheld manufacturer. Anbernic recently released the RG Cube as a direct competitor to the ZPG A1 Unicorn (named after the only uncatchable mythical creature). The Cube turned out to be a great handheld after addressing the light bleed issues of initial fulfillment for fans of 1:1 aspect ratio devices. By putting the more powerful T820 in the Cube however after ZPG officially released the handheld on sites like AliExpress we saw Anbernic overshoot the pricing. This might not have hurt them however as they had taken a big portion of the market from those tired of waiting for ZPG.

If Anbernic put the T820 in the RG40xxV it still might not be as powerful as Ayaneos Pocket DMG. This would also require it to be an Android device. The Pocket DMG is equipped with a Snapdragon G3 Gen2. We saw the Snapdragon G3 Gen1 in the Razer Edge which for the price to performance was a terrible value but does have a 5G version sold by Verizon in the US ($599) which is neat. We haven’t been able to test the Snapdragon G3 Gen2 yet with Ayaneos team squeezing every bit of power out of it so only time will tell. Ayaneo also added a touch trackpad to the DMG which doesn’t appear to be present in the Anbernic RG40xxV. Anbernic very well might be hedging on confusion like my own as to why that trackpad is there to begin with and consumers might not miss it.

All that aside what we do know about the RG40xxV as of today:

• 3 colors Black Transparent, White and Indigo
• 4” IPS Display
• 640×480 Resolution
• Single Joystick
• Back Shoulder Buttons
• …

So not a ton of information but it does lineup as a “cheaper” version of the Pocket DMG that also is a single stick, back shoulder, 4” 1240×1080 display and vertical handheld design. That awkward looking trackpad apparently works as a virtual joystick as well but I don’t think we can call it a twin stick. The goal here could likely go for the R36S effect making an affordable options that resembles a more premium handheld and still performs at an acceptable level for their customers. If Anbernic wants to project a similar image I just can’t see them sticking with the H700. They haven’t tried a dual boot on the T820 yet which might set them apart as well.

There is a caveat to this however and that is with the ‘leaked’ images a few days ago there was also ‘leaked’ pricing putting the RG40xxV around a $65 price point. If you’ve been following Anbernic there is only 1 SOC that could be put into this handheld at that price point and it’s not the T820.

As we get more information I’ll update you. Thanks for joining the discussion, I would love to hear your thoughts.

GameOn

CellPhish