The AYN Odin 3 might solve the biggest problem with the Portal and Pocket 5

It’s been a few weeks since AYN first announced the follow-up to its flagship Odin 2, but the company has finally teased design renders in a 30-second YouTube video. It’s one of the year’s most anticipated releases, but the design itself is remarkably familiar.

The Odin 3 looks like a mix between the company’s 7-inch Odin 2 Portal and the Retroid Pocket 5. Size-wise, it’s likely more similar to the Pocket 5, but the sticks are asymmetrical, with additional ergonomic grips on the back. The ergonomics on the Odin 2 Portal and Pocket 5 are notoriously bad, so hopefully this model can be used comfortably without a separate grip.

Apart from that, we can see the return of the fingerprint sensor on the top, next to the volume buttons. It also keeps the two paddle buttons found on the Odin 2 Portal, but adds what appears to be a subtle texture to the rest of the grip. The front of the device is all glass, like the Portal, although we still don’t know the screen size. The most likely option is the new 6-inch OLED panel found on the AYN Thor.

The video doesn’t reveal any specs, but it might hint at the chipset by highlighting the advanced cooling. The Odin 2 had a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, so there are only a few options more powerful than that for this follow-up. The 8 Gen 3 is one, as is the G3 Gen 3 found on a few of AYANEO’s premium handhelds.

However, it could also have a Snapdragon 8 Elite. The KONKR Pocket FIT Elite is also rumored to have this chipset, and it’s a significant leap in power over anything found on an Android gaming handheld so far. The two issues are a lack of driver support, which will be improved over time as 8 Elite handhelds proliferate, and heat generation, which the enormous heatsink on the back of the Odin 3 could help mitigate.

Regardless, we’ll likely see full specs revealed throughout the next week. Considering how aggressively priced the AYN Thor is at just $249, the Odin 3 will have to offer something special to entice buyers in an increasingly crowded market of gaming handhelds.