Thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis, 2026 is shaping up to be a pretty bad year for handheld gamers. Just under five months into the year, we've already had stock issues with the Steam Deck OLED, while the Lenovo Legion Go 2 is almost 50% more expensive than on launch. Now, Ayaneo, the brand behind some of our favorite retro handhelds, is also hiking prices and discontinuing devices.
In a post on the official Ayaneo Discord, the brand confirmed that issues surrounding memory and storage have forced it to "increase prices across most product lines." There's no list of which devices are now more expensive, but there are a few highlighted exceptions, namely the Mini PC, Pocket S Mini, Pocket VERT, and Pocket MICRO. Don't get too excited, though. Ayaneo previously announced price hikes for those four devices, so they're still more expensive than when they launched.
If that wasn't bad enough, the RAM crisis is also affecting the availability of some of Ayaneo's most popular handhelds, including the Pocket DS and Pocket AIR Mini B.Duck Edition. The Discord post states that these devices, among others, are currently only available in very limited numbers, and once they're gone, they're gone. There's always a chance that third-party Ayaneo suppliers might have more stock, but if you've had your eye on one of these handhelds, we'd recommend picking one up ASAP.
It's worth noting that Ayaneo isn't the only brand in the Android gaming handheld space that is boosting prices on the back of the RAM shortage. Retroid has upped the price of the Game Boy-style Pocket Classic, while Ayn's Thor and Odin 3 devices are now more expensive than they were at the start of 2026.
Unfortunately, we only expect this trend to continue as we get further into the year, with no sign of the RAMageddon petering out anytime soon. Still, we'll be keeping a close eye on all brands behind some of our favorite handheld consoles, including the likes of Asus and Ayaneo, for further updates surrounding pricing and availability.