AISLPC's Pocket AIS: a 4:3 handheld with Hall-effect triggers and a Rocknix-based OS for $169.99

Hong Kong brand AISLPC's Pocket AIS pairs a 4.5-inch 1024x768 screen with a Rockchip RK3562, Wi-Fi 6, an automatic fan and Ais OS, its own system built on Rocknix. It costs $169.99 or €145.95.

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AISLPC, a handheld maker based in Hong Kong, has announced the Pocket AIS, a 4:3 retro handheld that goes on sale on 24 October at $169.99 or €145.95. It comes in black or green, and the company sells it through its own site.

The screen is a 4.5-inch IPS panel at 1024x768, the 4:3 shape that suits most consoles from before the widescreen era and lets PSP and Nintendo DS games scale more cleanly than they do on the 3:2 and 16:9 panels many current handhelds use. Inside is a Rockchip RK3562 with 2GB of RAM and 4GB of built-in storage, so games live on a microSD card of up to 512GB.

A Rocknix-based system out of the box

Pocket AIS runs Ais OS, which AISLPC describes as its own operating system based on Rocknix, the open-source Linux distribution many retro handhelds run, with a new interface of its own. The company pitches it as ready to use from the first boot, while a community build of Rocknix is available for owners who want to customise things themselves. AISLPC lists support for PSP, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, DS, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy and Game Boy Color, NES, Neo Geo, MAME, CPS1, CPS2 and CPS3, Mega Drive and NAOMI, among others. AISLPC adds that it can run some PS2 games as well. GameCube is not on its list.

Controls, cooling and the rest

There are two 3D analogue sticks with RGB lighting around them and Hall-effect linear triggers, which use magnets rather than physical contacts and so should not drift in the way worn potentiometers do. A fan with five automatic speed levels adjusts to the workload and switches to full speed if the system goes above 70°C, with no manual control needed. AISLPC says the speakers are its own design, moulded with dedicated acoustic chambers.

Dual-band Wi-Fi 6 covers game streaming and online play where a system supports it. The battery is 4000mAh, and the device also has a vibration motor, USB-C with OTG and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It measures about 168.3 by 82 by 20.4mm.

The price puts it in a busy part of the market, where 4:3 screens and Hall-effect sticks are now common and the system software often decides which device people actually enjoy using. AISLPC's Ais OS is the part to watch once units reach players after 24 October.

Sources

Image: Image: AISLPC

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