I’m going to be honest, I don’t own a PS5 or an Xbox Series X, and the thing that’s been under my TV for who knows how long has been an Xbox One S. While that’s been great for most of my needs, I’ve been wanting to put some of my Steam Games onto my TV so I can just be lazy and play games while only halfway on my couch.
I could use an X86 handheld like a Lenovo Legion Go, or my beloved Loki Max, but again. I’ve been really lazy about this whole Steam on TV setup. So after digging through the box of wigs and other things Stubbs has sent me, I found the Ayaneo AM01 with the Ryzen 3 3200U in it. Has it been a good experience for me? Would I recommend something similar? Why don’t we find out together?
Ayaneo AM01: Specs
To get this out of the way first, there are three versions of the Ayaneo AM01. One with a Ryzen 3 3200U, a Ryzen 7 5700U, and another with a Ryzen 7 5800U. The unit I’ve got today came with the former processor and the specs you can find right below.
- CPU: Ryzen 3 3200U, 2 Cores/4 Threads
- GPU: AMD Vega 3 GPU
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 4.2
- I/O: 1x USB 3.2 Gen-1 Type-C, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 3x USB 3.2 Gen-2 Type A, 1x 3.5mm Audio Jack, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x Displayport, 1x HDMI
- Dimensions: 132x132x60.5mm (486 grams)
While you’re not looking at the most power in a mini PC, I think that as an alternative to an N100 device, you’re not looking at terrible hardware. And for its initial $200 asking price, it wasn’t too terrible. We will get into a bit of performance talk during my gameplay experience, but overall. I’m not overwhelmed, I’m not underwhelmed. The AM01 specs, at this price, leave me thoroughly whelmed.
Ayaneo AM01: Software
Out of the box, the AM01 comes with Windows 11, which is totally not shocking on a mini PC. However, because I wanted to use this as an under-the-TV PC, I scrubbed the SSD completely clean of RetroBreeze’s biggest enemy. Following that, came the installation of Bazzite, my current favorite SteamOS styled OS.
Between the two, I found the 3200U to be a bit snappier in Linux compared to when I had it on Windows. Things booted up quicker, I could get around menus a bit faster, and more. And of course, since it’s under the TV, Bazzite worked way better with a controller by comparison.
Ayaneo AM01: Gaming Experience
Bazzite already makes the gaming experience way better, but what about when it comes to performance in the games I want to play?
Going into it, I knew that the 3200U was going to be weak. So I wanted to stick with some of the simpler games in my “multi-hundreds/debt-defying” backlog of games. Games that I’ve played before. AK-Olotl, Backpack Hero, Stardew Valley, and Sonic Mania all played completely fine for me. They were all simple boot-up-and-go games. On the other hand, some games needed some extra tweaking.
Sonic Superstars for example was one where I did need to turn the resolution down, but 720P was still acceptable for it. But again, that’s not really something I wanted to do most of the time with games. See: “Continued Examples of my Laziness”. At the time of writing this, the two big things I’m playing are Abathor (see my first look), and Peglin. The latter is a rogue-like deck-building plinko-styled game that’s way too addicting.
Would I play more powerful games if I knew my system was more powerful? Outside of Forza? Probably not. This does completely well enough for me as it stands, but if you’re looking for power personally. I wouldn’t say this is the way.
Final Thoughts
Overall? I really like how the PC looks. It’s a nice retro styling that’s fun even if it’s just sitting in my TV console. My biggest issue comes down to the options on the market. For anywhere as low as $130 you can grab an N100 Mini PC which features similar performance to the GMKtec G3. At $200 you could grab a Mini PC with a 5600U like the KAMRUI AM06 Pro which ends up being quite a bit more performant. Or if you use Aliexpress, the Firebat MN56 with a Ryzen 5 6600H (and 660M graphics) for just $215.
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