AYANEO KONKR Pocket BLOCK shrinks the Game Boy into a $79 Android handheld
KONKR, the cheaper sub-brand under AYANEO, opened orders for the Pocket BLOCK on AYANEO’s online store last week. It’s a tiny vertical Android handheld styled after the Game Boy, built for retro emulation and small enough to vanish into a jeans pocket.
I’m into the idea. It’s priced like an impulse buy, and AYANEO’s delivery record is exactly why I’d slow you down before you hit the order button.
$79 gets you grey, and only grey
AYANEO KONKR Pocket BLOCK
Right now the store lists the 2 GB RAM, 32 GB storage model at $79, down from a regular $89. Grey is your only color at that tier. Atoms White and Cube Purple start with the 3 GB, 64 GB version at $99, marked down from $109.
A $20 bump for the color alone isn’t doing much for me. I’d rather get the extra RAM and call it a day. Android is pretty good at eating through memory, and AYANEO says the first units ship by the end of October.
Pocket BLOCK specs top out around the PS1 era
The screen is a 3.3-inch LCD at 960 x 720, and its 4:3 shape suits the consoles this device wants to emulate. AYANEO paired it with a Helio G85 from MediaTek. That chip should handle PlayStation and Nintendo 64 games and stumble on anything from the PS2 or GameCube.
There’s no analog stick. N64 on a D-pad sounds miserable to me. Plan your library around PS1 and older, and you’ll be fine.
I didn’t expect a 3.5 mm headphone jack at this size, and it’s there. MicroSD expansion and USB-C charging round out the package next to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The AI label still means nothing
Back in late May, AYANEO teased the Pocket BLOCK on X and slapped a “world’s first AI-powered handheld” label on it. I’ve yet to see the company explain what the AI is for. People in the replies noticed too.
My AI already lives on my iPhone as ChatGPT, on the same phone I play Call of Duty on from the sofa. I can’t picture one task an assistant should handle on a device made for PS1 games. Until AYANEO explains the feature, I’m treating it as a sticker on the box.
Before you preorder anything from AYANEO
Buyers of the KONKR Pocket ADVANCE are still posting that preorders placed in the opening minutes of sales haven’t shipped, and one owner says his KONKR Pocket FIT took eight months to arrive after he paid for it, long enough for a $79 impulse buy to turn into a winter of refreshing an order page. Keep that in mind.
Size-wise, the Pocket BLOCK goes after the TrimUI Brick more than the Retroid Pocket Classic. The Classic still sells for $99 with an OLED panel, but it won’t disappear into a pocket the same way. I’d order a Pocket BLOCK. I’d also expect to wait well past whatever date AYANEO prints.
