Shown off during the recent FOSDEM 2024 event, it seems the Manjaro Linux team have buddied up with hardware vendor Orange Pi for the Orange Pi Neo gaming handheld.
The system has not been fully announced by Orange Pi directly as of yet, but the Manjaro Linux team put various (1) posts (2) on X (formerly Twitter) and they have a dedicated page on their website for the Orange Pi Neo that goes over the specifications.
We haven't seen many jump into Linux for handhelds like this yet aside from the Steam Deck. We would've had the AYANEO Next Lite, which was announced with HoloISO, but they reversed course back to Windows. So it's good to see another that will be coming to market to further push Linux in the gaming space!
Specifications:
| CPU | AMD Ryzen™ 7 7840U |
| Screen | 7-inch FHD+ (1920 x 1200, WUXGA) 16:10, 500nits Brightness, 120Hz Refresh Rate |
| Ram | 16GB/32GB LPDDR5 (7500MHz dual channel) |
| Storage | 512GB-2TB PCIe® 4.0 NVMe™ M.2 SSD (2280) |
| Dimensions | 259mm*107mm*19.9mm |
| Battery | 50WHrs, 3S1P, 3-cell Li-polymer battery |
| I/O Ports | 2x USB 4.0 Type-C, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack, 1x TF card slot |
| Audio | 2x 1W dual panoramic speakers |
| Cooling | Turbo Large Fan, Dual Copper Pipes + Aluminium Alloy Cooling Fans, extra large air vents + customised cooling system and air ducts with a subtle design |
| Bluetooth | BT5.3 |
| Input | Dual 6-axis gyroscopes Dual trackpads Dual thumbsticks with RGB |
The decision to go with Manjaro isn't that unexpected either, considering it's the Linux distribution Valve still suggest right now for developing specifically for the Steam Deck without having one (as SteamOS and Manjaro are both Arch Linux based).
Seems like it could be quite an interesting device, definitely worth keeping an eye on! Curious to see more on it, especially since it's an all-in-one device with Orange Pi usually being known for their small boards.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
rustigsmed Feb 5
Since the AyaNeo Next Lite fell off the list, this is currently the only Steam Deck alternative I will have on my radar.
Quoteit seems the Manjaro Linux team have buddied up with hardware vendor Orange Pi for the Orange Pi Neo gaming handheld.
This looks familiar...
Ah, yes. Until they decide to go windows....
But still... depending on the price this might be an interesting Steam Deck competitor.
Edit: If it's gonna cost less than 400 euros, I will have difficulties NOT obtaining one.
Last edited by RTheren on 5 February 2024 at 1:02 pm UTC
Anyway, nice to see that this one has the twin trackpads and all that. Hopefully they won't turn tail and go with Windows before launch.
Quoting: JuliusOdd screen resolution choice. Probably not the best for overall performance.People keep asking for it, and won't learn until they see for themselves that you'll barely see a difference in fidelity at that size, but will lose out in performance due to the higher resolution.
Quoting: pete910Quoteit seems the Manjaro Linux team have buddied up with hardware vendor Orange Pi for the Orange Pi Neo gaming handheld.
This looks familiar...
Ah, yes. Until they decide to go windows....
A large difference between Orange Pi and AYANEO is that Orange Pi has actual experience in the Linux devices market and has thus access to the required talent to make them.
What they don't have and why the device will ultimately fail is the talent to advertise in the Linux gaming space.
The device will be sold with Linux, but it will be too expensive and have a worse launcher than the steamdeck.
Also its advertisement campaign will lay too much focus on hackability, maintainability and customizability.
Last edited by LoudTechie on 5 February 2024 at 1:16 pm UTC
My prediction:
The device will come and contain a manjaro distro.
It will have a worse launcher and be incompatible with some steam api's.
It will be more expensive than the steamdeck.
It will have coreboot.
It will sell much worse than the steamdeck.
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