Anbernic is a Chinese company that manufactures handheld gaming devices, most of which are retro gaming devices powered by ARM processors and designed to run Android or Linux software. But it looks like the company is developing its first handheld gaming PC with an x86 processor and support for either Windows or the Linux-based Steam operating system.
That could make up what’s to come Bernic Win600 an option for gamers who want to play modern PC games. It is Expected to go on sale in July 2022 with a price tag in the $300 range.
This would make the Win600 one of the cheapest handheld gaming PCs on the market, but also Anbernic’s most expensive device to date. The company’s ARM-based products typically range in price from $50 to $250.
Anbernic first announced in January that it was working on the Win600, but the company has been slow to reveal details about the upcoming device. So far we know it will have a 5.94-inch, 1280 x 720 pixel IPS LCD display, DDR4 memory and either an AMD Anthlon 3020e 2-core, 2-threaded processor with peak speeds of up to 2.6 GHz or an AMD Athlon 3050e chip, which is a 2-core, 4-thread chip with support for CPU speeds up to 2.8 GHz. Both professors feature AMD Radeon Vega 3 graphics with speeds up to 1GHz.
While this chip isn’t exactly a speed demon, it should be able to handle retro games, some indie games, and maybe a few recent AAA titles on low graphics settings. I wouldn’t expect Steam Deck-level performance from this budget machine, but Anbernic recently showed that the Win600 has enough horsepower to handle Nintendo Wii emulation.
While the processor isn’t exactly top-of-the-line, it could help keep the price down, as can the 720p display and some other specs that feel a bit dated in 2022, like WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 support.
But the system has some advantages over the competition. Not only does it have an M.2 slot for user-expandable storage, but the storage is a stick of removable/replaceable DDR4 RAM.
The company also released a series of images that give us a pretty good look at the case design.
The Anbernic Win600 features a small screen surrounded by game controllers, including a D-Pad, two analog sticks, action, launch, and select buttons, and shoulder buttons.
There’s an air vent on the back, indicating the device is actively cooled, and USB Type-A and Type-C ports on the top of the system. There’s also a Home button on one side and a Windows button on the other, which will likely act as the Start button. Other features are expected to include stereo speakers, a 3.5mm audio jack and a microphone.
There’s also a switch on the left side of the device that lets you toggle between game controller and mouse mode, a feature we’ve seen on some other Windows-based handhelds, making Windows a little easier to navigate on devices without a mouse or physical keyboard.
This will most likely allow you to move a cursor with an analog stick while using action buttons for left and right click actions.
And in another recent demo video, Anbernic shows that the system will support both Valve’s Linux-based Steam OS and Windows 10 software. The support for Steam OS could indicate that the little computer is powered by an AMD processor, since the latest builds of Steam OS are designed for devices with AMD chips (like Valve’s own Steam Deck).
The Win600 will join an increasingly crowded space currently owned by small Chinese companies such as GPD, One Netbook and AYA, as well as Valve’s Steam Deck (which ships with the Linux-based Steam OS but has all the necessary hardware) Windows gaming is populated in case anyone feels the urge to replace the operating system).
above Drix, Taki Udon/r/anbernic (1)(2), Obscure handheldsand Retro Games Corp
This article was originally published on January 17, 2022 and last updated on June 25, 2022.