This upcoming handheld may be the PSP successor you wanted, but it’s not by Sony

Years after its launch and eventual discontinuation, the Sony PSP or PlayStation Portable is still the poster-boy for handheld gaming consoles. With the handheld segment growing again in popularity, we almost thought Sony’s PlayStation Portal will be the successor to the PSP that we always wanted.

However, the Portal turned out to simply be an extension to the PS5, not the standalone console players were looking forward to. Instead, products like the Asus ROG Ally have been taking over the portable gaming market. Now, a new product is set to bring back all the nostalgia of the PSP, but it’s not a product by Sony.

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We’re talking about an upcoming gaming console by Ayn, a handheld console maker that makes Windows and Android-based handheld gaming consoles. Ayn’s next product, as per a NotebookCheck report looks a lot like the first Sony PlayStation Portable.

The product was reportedly teased recently by the brand itself on a Discord page, but unfortunately is not yet launched, and has no name. What we do have, is a good look at the design, along with some other details

These include the weight of the console, which at 320 grams, is significantly light, even compared to the Ayn Odin 2 console, the brand’s current flagship product. Other features include 1,100 nits brightness, a mini-LED panel which should offer near-OLED levels of contrast.

The major aspect that’s still under wraps here, is the operating system powering the device. Ayn makes both Windows and Android-powered handhelds, but which one the new unnamed product is going to be, is still a mystery.

A PSP-sized void

Handheld gaming consoles are quickly becoming excellent portable gaming solutions, and an affinity towards retro games and designs has also been brought to light by the success of apps like Delta Game Emulator on iOS. However, no console has been truly able to capture the market like the Sony PSP, which has been one of the most successful consoles of all time.

Ranking above the Nintendo 3DS, the PSP sold over 80 million consoles since its launch in 2004, a number that even the Sony PlayStation 5, which launched four years ago, is yet to reach.

While Ayn’s new console capturing the design of the iconic handheld isn’t unlikely to break those records, it just may push brands (including Sony) to take handheld gaming seriously once again.