Mobile gaming has been a bit of a laughing stock for some time, but the last few years have seen a slight change in that attitude. The likes of Fortnite and Genshin Impact are almost as good on mobile as a console experience, and the thought of being able to hop on the battle bus whilst on an actual bus is certainly appealing. Ayaneo, arguably one of the best handheld gaming PC makers, is finally taking a step into the mobile market, and early signs suggest it could be pretty unique.
The Ayaneo Phone just got its first-ever teaser on the Ayaneo YouTube channel, opening with the phrase "When mobile phone meets handheld soul". The marketing language isn't done here, though, as Ayaneo calls it "a mobile phone truly made for gamers" and suggests it will be coming soon.
This teaser only shows the back of the phone, which includes two camera lenses and a flashlight, but it certainly looks sleek under the intentionally low lighting.
A quick adjustment of the image, and upping the contrast, shows notches on the bottom and top of the right side that look a little like bumpers, plus a few buttons in the middle of the right side, which could be lock and volume controls.
If the notches are bumpers, you may be able to turn this phone on its side and emulate the experience of a controller (though naturally without the balanced ergonomics of grips).
Gaming phones aren't anything new. We saw the Asus ROG Phone back in 2018, with a follow-up the year after, and RedMagic released the 10S Pro just a few months ago with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and a minimum of 12 GB of RAM. But more competition is naturally better for whatever market there currently is for gaming phones.
This isn't our first time hearing about the Ayaneo Phone, either. In a live stream back in July this year, the phone got a brief nod as part of a broader presentation on the company's projects in 2025 and 2026. Back then, Ayaneo teased a sliding mechanism on the side that could be pushed out to give you access to physical controls.
The likes of the Ayaneo Pocket S and its Snapdragon chip use an Android operating system, so the Ayaneo phone wouldn't be a huge departure here. It just appears to look a little more like a phone, with a back camera. That sliding mechanism is something I really hope Ayaneo has kept, as the idea of being able to flip the phone on the side and pull out physical controls means you could potentially do away with the likes of the Razer Kishi or Backbone.
Naturally, as this is just a teaser, we are pretty low on concrete information—including the specs and the price point. A gaming phone will want to have a pretty good chip in it, but also solid thermals, an extra slot for more storage, and preferably a 3.5 mm jack. Having the ability to quickly plug in some headphones without having to worry about battery life or latency is a boon for mobile gaming.
Still, Ayaneo has put out some impressive tech over the last few years, like the Flip DS and the Air 1S, so, for the first time in a while, I'm actually quite excited to see what's on the horizon for mobile gaming.
