“Budget”. An adjective that usually means inexpensive. Or in the handheld market, the cheapest you can get something before it becomes e-waste. Compare that to what we look for when considering “Value” handhelds. Which ends up being the best option for the given price.
When AYANEO announced its sub-brand KONKR, the assumption was that it would be a budget brand. But with the first device being a combo 8 Gen 3 or 8 Elite at under $300 starting, it was obvious it wasn’t a budget choice, but rather a good value handheld.
Just like AYANEO’s shipping, I’m late to the party in reviewing the KONKR Pocket Fit, but I want to see if this is a handheld that’s worth your time, or if you should spend the extra and get the Odin.
Konkr Pocket Fit Specs
Because it’s not real yet, I’m going to put my focus on the KONKR Pocket Fit G3 Gen 3 version rather than the 8 Elite. But if you’re willing to wait until March at least, that may change for you. That being said, the Pocket Fit ranges from $269 to $429 depending on your spec, but whether that’s worth it is up to you.
- CPU: Snapdragon G3 Gen 3
- GPU: Adreno A32
- RAM: 8/12/16GB LPDDR5X
- Storage: 128/256/512GB or 1TB
- Battery: 8400mAh
- Screen: 6-inch, 1920×1080 IPS (144hz)
- OS: Android 14
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi/BT 5.3, 1x USB 3.2 USB-C, 1x microSD, 1x 3.5mm Jack
- Dimensions: 225 x 97 x 28mm
- Weight: 388 grams
- Colors: Phantom Black, Snow White, Dragon Yellow
Ergonomics
There’s gonna be a decent bit of Odin 3 comparison in this, but that’s because this is the fourth time that AYANEO and AYN have released similar handhelds at the same time, so it’s worth talking about. When it comes to ergonomics, I think they’re fine.
The bumps out back are smaller than those of the Odin 3, which means there’s less for me to grab hold of. I’d relate their depth to something like the Retroid Pocket G2 or the AYN Odin 2 Portal. Small bumps that are nice, but not the biggest add for me. That being said, the added vertical height versus the G2 makes this more comfortable to hold, and lands my hands in some pretty nice positioning for the controls.
Controls
Speaking of controls, I’d generally call them a positive. For those of you who prefer quiet buttons, the Pocket fit falls somewhere between the Odin 3 and Odin 2 in terms of volume, but has a nice, lightweight actuation. The D-pad follows that lightweight trend but maintains a nice pivot.
In games like Tetris DX, I didn’t find myself running into issues with accidental diagonals. To me, the most interesting feature is the trigger stops they’ve introduced on the back of the handheld. Flip the switch, and they’re short microswitch buttons that are surprisingly quiet. This method is my preferred setup for trigger stops, so this gets a major pass from me.
My least favorite part of the controls on the KONKR Pocket Fit is the sticks. While yes, they offer larger alternatives in the box, the stock caps are a bit too slick for my liking. They are the same Ginful style we’ve seen from things like the Retroid Pocket 5 and Odin 2, but I still don’t think they work for larger handhelds like this. Personally, I’d put an alternate stick cap on them and go from there; I’m one of those who used Hype Stix like a true shill.
Screen
It’s not OLED. That’s the comment that seals the deal for most, but if you don’t mind, there’s still plenty to like. Personally, I think a really good IPS panel is good enough for most people, and this is a really good IPS panel. It’s nice and bright enough for general use, and the high refresh rate can help if you’re someone who enjoys PC game streaming. As a whole, it’s not everyone’s perfect screen, but it’s a really good panel for a 6-inch handheld.
Stability & Performance
Pulling back out the numbers from my recently completed Odin 3 reviews. The KONKR Pocket Fit and its G3 Gen 3 provide a decent multi-core boost over 8 Gen 2, and G3X Gen 2 handhelds, while single core is only marginally better. As a whole, though, the Pocket Fit finds itself falling decently short of the 8 Elite in both single and multi-core scores. So maybe once AYANEO can ship the 8 Elite model, we might see the story change.
That being said, I’m not sure the additional performance will benefit that much in the Pocket Fit shell. Despite having decent performance in 3DMark, the stability is much lower than that of the Odin 2 Pro or Odin 3 Max. 88% stability means that over time, you have the potential to lose 12% of your performance due to heat. If you’re not going to push the device, that may be fine, but in this case. Why pay for the performance if you can’t use it?
Gameplay
With the increased performance year after year, it gets harder to really talk about what a handheld can and can’t do. If you’re looking for PS2 and below, the KONKR Pocket Fit will manage that. Not even at standard resolution, you’ll be able to upscale most systems on that lower end to a considerable degree, only having to tune it back on a few games, depending on whether you want to trade off resolution and fps.
Taking the “step up” into things like Nintendo Switch is where that argument of “performance vs compatibility” starts to come into play. Initial concerns towards the 8 Elite came towards wondering what games would or wouldn’t work on it, but with the initial builds of Turnip drivers for the 8 Elite, that may find itself getting fixed with time.
Compare that to the 8 Gen 3 in the Pocket fit, and you’ll find everything just booting up and playing as well as you’d expect. I found myself doing minor tweaking during my time with the Pocket Fit, though that meant I might have been lazy with adjusting the resolution on Switch at least.
The Rest
This is the area of emulation I haven’t gotten to mess with too much, but with the advent of these super-powerful handhelds, I could see myself doing more with this (including x86 emulation). PS3, on its own, runs about as well as you’d expect, with compatibility growing with time. But what really appealed to me was once again busting out GameHub to download a few of my favorite older games and get into some more playtime that I wouldn’t get anywhere else.
There’s still plenty of tweaking to be done, but Megabonk, Blur, and Easy Delivery Co were booting up and playable out of the gate. There are some games that I’ll be testing in the coming days, like the recently released Big Hops, but x86 performance has been pretty “download and go” all things considered.
General Use
This section is here just to comment on my experience with the software and how I ended up setting things up. AYASpace is still meh software at best, but getting better with time. The updates this time actually worked, unlike some AYANEO handhelds in the past. The selection of performance modes is a nice feature, especially if you like to toggle a lot.
That being said, I had this issue where it struggled to fully download a number of apps, and I found myself having to redownload them 3-4 times before they stuck. I’ve never had this issue with another handheld, and some people mention that full resetting the handheld will fix this, but I’m not too interested in that at the moment.
As for my setup? Beacon. Using the yellowish background makes this a real console feeling setup, and made me pretty satisfied with my daily use on the handheld. If you’re looking for an alternative, my second choice is either ES-DE or Daijisho (in Dark Mode). Overall, it’s an easy and nice setup for me.
Final Words
So do I recommend the KONKR Pocket Fit? Up to a certain point. The 8GB and 12GB models for $269 and $329, respectively, are pretty great deals. I’d grab either of those over an AYN Thor (Lite and Base) and a Retroid Pocket G2, and likely I’d probably pick it over the Retroid Pocket 6, but I need to get my hands on that to decide first. Once you pass that point, I’d recommend grabbing the Odin 3 instead. You get a more powerful chip, a better screen, and, in my opinion, better ergonomics and controls.
The KONKR Pocket Fit is not a bad handheld, just a confused one marred by AYANEO’s recent downfall in audience opinion and delays. I hope you aren’t still waiting on an 8 Elite, as the March release date just feels like a bit of a joke at this point. I’m probably going to keep my Pocket Fit, but it’ll probably fall into the same use case that my AYANEO Pocket Evo did. “Maybe streaming and Android gaming”. How else do you expect me to play Dadish on the go?
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