AOKZOE A1X review – finally, a Windows handheld done right

Showing virtually out of nowhere, the AOKZOE A1X is a superb Home windows gaming handheld that has managed to shed all the awkward quirks and bugs usually related to the working system, virtually turning into a severe contender to the Steam Deck within the course of, if not for its excessive worth.

The AOKZOE A1X is without doubt one of the finest gaming handhelds in terms of uncooked efficiency, however its total worth is questionable. If you happen to’re out there for a Steam Deck substitute that may play every part from the newest triple-A video games to indie classics, the A1X has you coated, whereas eradicating irritating working system points which have plagued different Home windows handhelds.

Specs

The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is a well-liked selection amongst gaming handhelds, having additionally been used within the Ayaneo 3 and OneXFly F1 Professional. It has 12 cores consisting of 4 common Zen 5 cores and eight compact Zen 5 cores. Its iGPU is the Radeon 890M, which is constructed on the RDNA 3.5 structure.

In earlier assessments of this chip, it has carried out exceptionally effectively at a 15-18W TDP with diminished returns, largely by way of battery life, when pushed to larger TDPs. It is shortly turn into the preferred handheld chip utilized in gaming handhelds that come out of Jap nations, as an alternative of the AMD Ryzen Z vary.

With 32GB of RAM included within the mannequin we examined, this lets you allocate a considerable quantity of reminiscence to VRAM. For all of our assessments, we adopted a 50/50 cut up og 16GB for system reminiscence, and 16GB for graphics.

Design and options

As an 8-inch gaming handheld, the AOKZOE A1X is sort of clunky when in comparison with 7-inch handhelds such because the Steam Deck or Ally X. That being stated, when evaluating it on to different big-screen gadgets, such because the Legion Go or MSI Claw 8 AI+, it is comparatively lighter, weighing simply 730g in comparison with the 854g and 795g of the Go and Claw 8 respectively, whereas additionally sitting comfortably in your palms because of the straightforward controller-styler grips.

The controls embrace Xbox-style face buttons with asymmetrical thumbsticks and a four-directional d-pad. AOKZOE claims the thumbsticks are contact-free, however stops wanting stating whether or not they use Corridor Impact or any particular magnetic know-how. Nonetheless, the corporate does state they function a 900Hz response time and solely eat 100uA, which contributes to sustained battery life.

The thumbsticks themselves are very small, although, feeling significantly smaller than these on the ROG Ally X, Steam Deck, or every other gaming handheld I’ve used. This may end up in some minor frustrations when taking part in video games like F1 25, the place the dimensions discount feels fiddly. It additionally feels that the whole space of the thumbsticks’ motion circle is way smaller, too, however this may be offset by adjusting the thumbstick sensitivity and deadzone within the management settings.

Elsewhere, the triggers are Corridor Impact linear ones, whereas the shoulder buttons function tactile mouse-click switches. These triggers really feel nice, and it might have been good to have a hair set off change like might be discovered on controllers just like the Razer Wolverine V3 Professional, but it surely’s not in any manner detrimental to not have them.

There are not any rear inputs, which I discover truly fairly refreshing from a visible standpoint. I a lot desire the cleaner look of the A1X with out them, in comparison with what number of handhelds have crammed some type of additional enter on the again of the shell. I do not miss having these inputs in any respect, however that is an element to contemplate for those who’ve come to seek out use for them on a special handheld.

Surprisingly, there may be additionally seemingly no technique to bind mouse controls to the thumbsticks, that means it’s important to depend on utilizing the touchscreen and keyboard to get by, they usually do work nice, however having some mouse controls would have been helpful in conditions the place accuracy was wanted i.e. clicking on a hyperlink or in a small search field to set off the keyboard.

The exhaust followers are positioned on the highest of the hand held barely off centre to the suitable, whereas the facility and quantity controls are on the left-hand aspect. Additionally working alongside the highest of the A1X are a 3.5mm jack port, a USB-C 4.0 port, and a USB-A 3.2 port. On the underside of the A1X is a second USB-C 4.0 port, an Oculink port, and a microSD card slot

On the rear of the hand held, the consumption followers are saved very central, which is nice for if you’re taking part in in hand, however not a lot when the hand held is docked, as most docks will cowl them up. Additionally on the rear is a kickstand, very similar to the unique Nintendo Change, solely far sturdier. This stand is nice for shortly deploying the A1X on a desktop so you’ll be able to play utilizing a keyboard and mouse or a controller.

Working system

The place I might normally anticipate Home windows to be the largest situation when testing a gaming handheld, the AOKZOE A1X, to my shock, is not held again by the working system in any respect. The commonest points are inclined to rear their heads when utilizing no matter software program is in place to regulate system settings, or when video games try to detect the hand held’s {hardware} particulars, which may typically end in crashes or misguided error messages.

As a substitute, the OneXConsole software program in place on the A1X is extremely responsive and does not include any quirks or points that plague another Home windows handhelds. Granted, there may be an especially brief loading window when activating the short entry menu that must be revered, however that is the case with any fast entry menu on a Home windows handheld.

When urgent the short entry menu button, trying to navigate it instantly will make any of the management inputs on the A1X briefly energetic within the sport and menu. This implies when you’re making an attempt to vary settings or TDP, you are still controlling what’s occurring in your sport; it is not going to routinely pause the sport, nor cease inputs from being acknowledged. Nonetheless, this lasts for lower than two seconds, whereas in different Home windows handhelds it is a persistent downside.

Elsewhere, adjusting TDP settings is straightforward and adjustments are prompt, with no awkward window the place the system is slowly decreasing or elevating the facility over time. Additionally, in my testing, altering the RAM/VRAM allocation hasn’t precipitated any points with system crashes or video games failing to acknowledge how a lot video reminiscence is offered. All in all, I am mightily impressed with how Home windows is working on the A1X, though admittedly, the bar was set so low that merely working right here is considerably of a triumph.

Show and sound

The AOKZOE A1X options an 8-inch LTPS show, boasting a 1,920 x 1,200 decision and 120Hz VRR (variable refresh charge), that means the show matches the refresh charge of the show to the body charge in-game. The show can also be arrange in a local panorama orientation. That is essential because it offers a extra responsive show than portrait-to-landscape options, such because the Ayaneo 3. These are shows which can be portrait by default, however supposed to be rotated and utilized in a panorama format, and require locking into place by way of the Home windows show menu.

It additionally comes with a 500-nit brightness, DC dimming, and a 100% sRGB coloration gamut. All this provides as much as one of many higher screens I’ve used on a handheld, but it surely is not fairly as vibrant because the display screen on the MSI Claw 8 AI+, if evaluating it to different non-OLED shows.

On the sturdiness entrance, scratch-resistant glass is used within the show, and I put this to the take a look at throughout a transatlantic flight, holding the A1X in a soft-lined backpack alongside a number of different gadgets similar to an influence financial institution and a e-book. The display screen stays unmarked and buttons undamaged regardless of being eliminated and changed within the backpack many occasions through the lengthy 15-hour journey. Given how simply different screens might be scuffed, particularly the ROG Ally and Steam Deck, it is reassuring to know your funding is protected by a sturdy construct, though I’ll say, beneath regular situations, discovering a smooth or laborious carry case remains to be suggested.

Alternatively, the audio system on the AOKZOE A1X go away rather a lot to be desired. Whereas the audio system are extremely loud, the standard of the audio at just about all ranges is disappointing, with it typically sounding very compressed and echoey.

When recorded at a 30cm distance, the A1X hit a peak quantity of 89.5dB with a mean of 79.8dB when taking part in The Crew Motorsport. AOKZOE claims the A1X can attain a max output of 105dB when measured from 30cm, however I used to be not in a position to replicate this. That is nonetheless a louder peak than the Ayaneo 3, however each sit at a really related common quantity stage. The largest distinction is the standard of the Ayaneo 3’s audio system, that are crystal clear at their highest quantity, whereas the A1X struggles to keep up the identical high quality.

A technique to enhance and alter the sound profiles on the A1X is to obtain FxSound, a program that permits you to alter the sound profile of the hand held, and this may be obtained proper from the OneXPlayer menu. Upon downloading FxSound and tinkering with among the default profiles, the sound high quality of the A1X was noticeably improved, and the readability of the audio, even at excessive volumes, was vastly improved.

Nonetheless, the A1X should not require further software program for the audio to succeed in its true potential, or no less than if that is required, the software program needs to be put in from when the gadget first boots.

Efficiency

 

If you happen to’re chasing nice gaming efficiency, the AOKZOE A1X is without doubt one of the finest gaming handhelds. Nonetheless, what impressed me essentially the most concerning the A1X was its efficiency on the 18W TDP, which I might argue is its prime energy stage.

In most video games, the transfer up from 18W to 30W yielded solely a barely larger body charge whereas massively rising the battery utilization and fan effort required to maintain the console cool, which in flip generates a ton of noise. In direct comparability to the Ayaneo 3, which makes use of the identical Ryzen 9 AI HX 370 chip, the A1X typically trails on the 8W TDP, however beats it at 18W, whereas the handhelds commerce victories on the 30W stage. That is additionally regardless of the A1X working a better decision show.

In our two staple benchmarks for handhelds, Cyberpunk 2077 and F1 24, the AOKZOE A1X carried out very effectively, not simply with the numbers you see within the above desk, however with the visuals as effectively. Even when working these video games on the 8W TDP, there could be considerably much less stuttering in comparison with the Ayaneo 3, despite the fact that these video games do not actually stand an opportunity of working at playable body charges, because the decrease TDP settings are higher suited to much less demanding indie video games.

As we transfer as much as the 18W TDP, the A1X shines brightest, with outcomes similar to 38fps in Cyberpunk 2077 when utilizing the medium graphical preset at 1200p. By comparability, the Ayaneo 3 achieved 35fps in the identical take a look at at 15W, and solely 47fps at 30W, with each assessments being run at 1080p. Once more, the entire lack of stuttering is an enormous win for the A1X right here, too.

When evaluating the outcomes of the identical Cyberpunk 2077 take a look at to the MSI Claw 8 AI+, which additionally has a local 1200p decision, the A1X nonetheless seems to be nice, outperforming the Claw’s 55fps efficiency, with out body technology, when utilizing the 17W profile.

Handheld gaming is about excess of efficiency benchmarks, although, and the A1X does not miss a step in real-life gaming eventualities. The A1X shortly grew to become one in every of my favourite handhelds to play on casually due to the dependable efficiency, but in addition as a result of its battery life is phenomenal.

Whereas different handhelds can typically push body charges additional on the 30W TDP, the A1X’s capability on the 18W TDP is exceptional, and I might argue that until a sport is so demanding that it must be run at one thing larger, then there may be little have to stray from the A1X’s wheelhouse. A giant a part of this additionally must be credited to the effectivity of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

As for the system’s cooling, the A1X not often ran scorching when gaming at 18W, however would shortly achieve this at 30W, even when the sport itself wasn’t overly demanding. The fan settings are pretty fundamental, with an automated/sensible setting accompanied by two presets, that are annoyingly simply labelled as “preset 1” and “preset 2.” These presets are successfully half velocity and full velocity, with full velocity being fairly loud and disruptive. It takes fairly a considerable enhance in working temperature to set off the total fan velocity, so there is not a lot of a cause to ever use something apart from the automated settings.

In the meantime, system efficiency monitoring, sadly, is not attainable with out downloading both RTSS or HWiNFO. That is one other quirk of the OneXPlayer software program, but it surely’s disappointing to see no pre-baked efficiency monitoring included. Hyperlinks to obtain both of those packages can be found within the fast entry menu, however ideally, identical to the FxSound obtain, one needs to be included by default.

Battery life

The battery lifetime of the AOKZOE A1X may be very spectacular. Whereas not on the 80Wh stage of the MSI Claw 8 AI+ or ROG Ally X, the 72.7Wh battery is ready to outperform these bigger batteries at an 18W TDP stage.

When testing the ROG Ally X, I managed to realize 5 hours of gameplay when taking part in Hades 2 at 720p on the 13W TDP profile. With the A1X at a 13W TDP, and utilizing a 1200p decision, the battery lasted the identical period of time. Dropping the TDP to simply 4W noticed this stretch all the way in which to 10 hours, longer than the eight hours AOKZOE claims is feasible, and the sport was nonetheless playable with a 60fps body charge.

In the meantime, when working video playback by way of the Edge browser, the Ally X lasted round eight hours, whereas the A1X lasts simply shy of 11 hours. This prolonged battery life throughout all capabilities makes the A1X a way more interesting handheld for those who plan to play on the go, as you will end up stretching longer between fees. The idle battery drain can also be much better on the A1X, with simply 5% draining in 90 minutes when left working with sleep mode disabled.

Lastly, on the charging entrance, the A1X is able to quick charging as much as 100W, and a battery bypass possibility is offered must you want to save the battery from being overcharged. Likewise, a cost cap might be positioned on the battery with a customized proportion set within the OneXPlayer menu.

Storage

The AOKZOE A1X mannequin I examined got here with a 1TB SSD, which was moderately curiously partitioned into two 500GB set up places. This created a little bit of a headache as I performed storage Tetris with among the bigger set up information throughout Steam and different sport launchers.

I am unable to see any cause why the drive could be cut up on this manner by default. It created some awkward moments the place I would wish to put in a file, and had sufficient capability to obtain it, however solely throughout the 2 partitions, that means I must transfer different information round so as to make house on one drive or the opposite.

As for the speeds of this PCIe 4.0 SSD, utilizing CrystalDiskMark, I recorded a max sequential learn velocity of 6,898MB/s and max sequential write velocity of 6,045MB/s, which is not miles away from the 7,195MB/s and 6,210MB/s claimed by AOKZOE on its Kickstarter.

Value

The AOKZOE A1X worth begins from $1,099 for the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U mannequin with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, and tops out at $1,699 for the Ryzen 9 AI HX 370 mannequin with 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD.

It is attainable to avoid wasting as much as 18% on the MSRP for those who pre-order the A1X by way of the AOKZOE retailer within the lead as much as the total launch, relying on which mannequin you wish to purchase. Even with this saving, there isn’t any hiding the truth that the A1X is without doubt one of the dearer gaming handhelds in the marketplace, and the worth does not look nice when in comparison with the worth of the Steam Deck at $399 and even the MSI Claw 8 AI+ at $899.

Options

MSI Claw 8 AI+
If you happen to’ve obtained your coronary heart set on an 8-inch gaming handheld, however do not thoughts it not being AMD-powered, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is a unbelievable different. Some Home windows quirks rear their ugly head, particularly in relation to the MSI Middle software program, however a less expensive MSRP and the AI Engine efficiency administration function are massive wins for MSI’s flagship handheld.

Steam Deck OLED
It is laborious to not evaluate the Steam Deck to each new handheld in the marketplace, even once they’re utilizing completely different working programs. SteamOS is the ace up Valve’s sleeve, and whereas there are compatibility points for video games that require sure anti-cheat software program, the trade-off is a Linux-based OS that’s completely optimized for handheld gaming. The Steam Deck OLED can also be a far cheaper handheld, though there’s a big trade-off in efficiency in comparison with the A1X.

For extra info, learn our full Steam Deck OLED evaluate.

Verdict

The AOKZOE A1Z is a Home windows gaming handheld that works extremely effectively, regardless of the precedent set by earlier portables working the working system. Had rivals found out methods to get Home windows working this effectively up to now, there could be a way more energetic debate as as to if the Steam Deck remains to be the king of the hill. Alas, despite the fact that the A1X nails the Home windows optimization, its worth remains to be laborious to swallow.

From a pure efficiency perspective, anybody searching for the most effective gaming efficiency at mid-to-high TDP, with nice battery life, a sturdy 8-inch show, and a snug in-hand design, you will wrestle to discover a higher handheld than the AOKZOE A1X.

Nonetheless, if you have not obtained no less than $1,099 to spare, there are higher worth handhelds on provide elsewhere that, whereas compromising marginally on efficiency, can nonetheless maintain their very own for a fraction of the worth.