AYANEO Unveils 'Pocket Play'—Its First Gaming Smartphone Reminiscent of Sony's Xperia Play

If you are a gaming-first person who is also fond of mobile experiences, then this new gaming smartphone called Pocket Play from Ayaneo is for you.

Ayaneo Unveils the 'Pocket Play': First Gaming Smartphone

Ayaneo Pocket Play

Last week, Ayaneo shared its official video unveiling the company's first gaming smartphone, the Pocket Play, which takes the handheld gaming experience directly to mobile phones.

According to Ayaneo's video, the company wanted to bring gamers a chance to enjoy their smartphones like never before, one that transforms it into a "handheld gaming console."

Ayaneo's Pocket Play is not your typical handheld gaming console as it is considerably smaller compared to modern devices like the Valve Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally series, the Lenovo LEGION GO, and more.

Based on the trailer, the device appears as a regular smartphone upon first glance, but its chunky size, similar to a book-style foldable, may make users take a second look at it.

This is because this gaming smartphone is also a sliding one, with the screen separating from the body itself as it stows away a full-fledged gaming controller underneath it, complete with the standard layout.

The Pocket Play has a set of buttons featuring the ABXY, a D-pad, four shoulder buttons featuring the L1, L2, R1, R2 buttons (not their official names), and two touchpads that could be the joystick replacements.

All of these stow away, then the gaming smartphone's screen slides back to its original form, transforming it back to a regular smartphone, which requires touchscreen controls to function.

Ayaneo's Pocket Play Alludes to Sony's Xperia Play

Ayaneo Pocket Play's design may seem familiar, and this is because it is as the company's new gaming smartphone is reminiscent of the Xperia Play.

Sony Ericsson, the company's previous smartphone division, debuted the Xperia Play in 2011 as the first "PlayStation-certified" Android gaming smartphone, which was a dedicated device for mobile gaming.

The Xperia Play is best known for getting the PlayStation control layout, with its unique X, O, square, and triangle buttons, the D-pad, L+R back buttons, and the touchpads, which serve as the joystick replacements.

However, the Xperia Play, while beloved by many and called the spiritual successor of the PSP, did not fare well in the market, and back then, mobile gaming all focused on touch-screen controls.

During the Xperia Play's debut, there were dedicated gaming handhelds and mobile phones for each experience, with the smartphone also greatly compared to the PSP GO, a handheld console also featuring a sliding mechanism that stows away the controller.

Ayaneo wants to redefine mobile gaming again by integrating a dedicated controller right into the smartphone.

Ayaneo will soon launch the Pocket Play on Kickstarter, with no official release date or price tag revealed.