I’ve just published a different kind of AYN Thor Lite feature, looking at why the lowest-spec Thor makes more sense in 2026 than it might have at launch. Back when this all started, AYN sent me the Thor Pro for review which clearly I loved and reviewed to high heavens, but I thought that with how things are at the moment (current cost-of-living conditions, the RAM crisis making prices skyrocket), the very base model makes more sense than ever. Mostly because the community surrounding the Thor has just grown and grown and grown, the things developers and makers have created are just incredible.
For any who don’t know, the AYN Thor is a dual screen retro gaming handheld, which is first and foremost an amazing way to emulate 3DS games, especially with the cost of original systems rising so much these last few years!
So instead of the whole specs and performance angle, I wanted to look at what has grown up around the hardware, and I was lucky enough to speak to, interview and quote a whole bunch of the people making it happen, some of them friends and some of them just so lovely to want to chat with me:
- Moth (lead developer of Cocoon)
- Nathan (lead developer of iiSU)
- PlayTranslate’s developer
- Camille LaVey (lead developer/creator of Eden)
- MithrilMods (behind amazing magnetic buttons/d-pads/grips on etsy)
- Kitsabble Creations (who created Pokémon-themed decal front skins for the AYN Thors, also on etsy)
- MagiGamer (whose custom-made buttons are the prettiest damn thing ever made)
Plus a few other community creators and accessory makers.
(Jiayu, one of the replacement button creators I chat to in this article, and her work!)
(as is tradition, my cat and my handheld of focus for the article)
I talked to them all about the software ecosystem, dual-screen development, Japanese games and translation, emulation on the Snapdragon 865, custom grips and controls, handmade buttons, skins, and all the other ways people have taken AYN’s hardware and made it their own. My focus for this whole article was how AYN released a near-perfect handheld, but the community around it has now taken it and run with it.
I hope some in here enjoy this, at least to hear from some of the people behind the programs and projects you might know and love :)
I love my Thor but man the way it sounds when closing the lid makes me worry some times. Anyone know of a way to soften the impact?
I’m pretty sure the official TPU case does a lot of the work to keep it even when it closes:
https://www.ayntec.com/products/thor-tpu-shell
Back when I reviewed the Pro before release, that was a main point of concern for people (well, not so much the force of it as you write, more how it all hinges on one center point to diffuse the force!)
This case is raised on the edges, so when you close it, the edges of the screen rest on it, rather than having the sides of the top screen not in contact with the base of the handheld
I hope this makes sense with how I am describing it
I was hoping they’d implement the hinge the same way Nintendo did which doesn’t have the same issue. I’m not a fan of TPU cases as they add extra bulk and tend to turn yellow after awhile but I get what you mean. I’ve experimented with sticking round silicon pads (not sure what they’re actually called) but it looks pretty rough.
I love my Thor! I’ve used it more than my Steam Deck over the past year because it’s more portable and I can play my Steam games on it. The DS really was my favourite form factor from all the gaming devices I own, anyone that’s the same should look into this.
Just got mine two days ago and I am currently more focused on DS games, but interested to know what Steam games you would recommend for it? I have a pc, but just trying to think what games would perfect for handheld.
If you don’t have the Pro, then use the drop-down box to filter it to your Thor model :)
Never owned a console, but how strong is that Thor? There are games in the list which are really demanding. Do they then run in extreme potato mode with like 40fps or so?
If you followed the link above, that is for the Thor Pro, which runs them really quite well.
Plenty of YouTube demonstrations if youre curious. It has a strong chip, so it handles them well. Not quite Odin 3 levels (SD Elite), but, really well. PC emulation is a big thing for these handhelds.
Lots of indie games work well, especially if they’re pixel art or 2D.
Things like Hades 1/2, Dead Cells, Ball x Pitt.
Always love to see a Dead Cells shout out. Looking forward to the new Castlevania in the next couple months!
Man I just realize my comment sounds like an ad, oops. But I was so frustrated with the state of “mobile gaming” in the last decade where my options are “touchscreen, cellular brick”, “underpowered, colourful heavy brick” or “powerful, heavy monochrome brick” that “light, foldable, powerful, colourful brick” really seems refreshing to me 😭
It’s really cool hardware, and the community behind it is awesome! The flexibility of a dual screen is great for a handheld.
I’ve had my eye on the Thor for a while, but android is a bit of a hangup for me. Maybe I’m overly critical, or judging it unfairly, but I’d really prefer Linux. From my perspective, it seems like the glory days of android are well behind us.
I’ll save this to read later. But just wanted to comment it feels heartwarming watching her smile, really enjoying her work. In contrast to soulless anti-consumer gigacorps, this feels nice for a change.
I am so excited to share my interview with her!!! She’s the best :)
Good article! It’s always interesting to see the ecosystems that spring up around these devices, even if the Thor itself doesn’t interest me (my main console growing up was the 360).
Just a heads up, the first link in the article (the metrics one) 404s.
Seems like an interesting device, not too keen on Android since it’s a very busy OS under the hood.
But it seems there is an arch port ongoing- Thorch https://github.com/thorch-os/thorch - that makes the device a whole lot more interesting.
I wish it had an embedded stylus.
Same I’d gladly pay for it, I’d love to be able to play stuff like Pokemon Ranger on it.
Yeah I play a bunch of picross on my modded 3ds. Not sure if its worth selling the 3ds to buy a thor
If you’re only gonna be playing 3DS games, then it’s better to still use the native device since emulation has latency even if it’s relatively low. I got my Thor as I wanted to emulate multiple platforms plus PC games. I still have my 3DS for when I want to play stuff like Ranger or Rhythm Heaven.
Oh this is so effin rad. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!!!
I know this is a huge read, but I hope there’s some interesting things in there for you :)
Did Ayn not build it?
you people who comment without reading the post are very strange.
Sean lock voice: I’m doing jokes…
