Leak reveals AYANEO Pocket Block, a compact retro emulation handheld
A leaked manual pointed to an Android-powered AYANEO Pocket Block, a smaller vertical handheld that could challenge Miyoo and ANBERNIC on price.
AYANEO may be lining up the kind of pocketable vertical handheld retro fans actually buy with their own money, not just admire from afar. A leaked user manual pointed to a compact device likely called the Pocket Block, and the details suggest a small Android emulator machine aimed straight at the budget vertical crowd.
The leak surfaced through manuals.plus and was first pushed into wider view by RetroDeadFred on X. RetroHandhelds said the manual appears to confirm Android and a dedicated AYA button for AYAWindow, while the branding is still muddy because the renders reportedly used BITWAVE and the manual used Pocket Block. That kind of mismatch usually means a device is still moving through development, or at least through a rebrand, before AYANEO puts its name on it.
What stands out is the shape. The Pocket Block looks like a smaller, more compact take on the Pocket DMG, but without an analog stick, which pushes it closer to a classic candybar-style emulator handheld than a premium all-rounder. The manual images reportedly show a large D-pad, a gray shell, a front-facing microphone, four shoulder buttons, USB-C charging, a microSD slot and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. That is the hardware language of something built for portability and quick sessions, not a sofa-sized powerhouse.
If AYANEO keeps that direction and lands near the rumored $120 price point, the Pocket Block would be aiming at the same shelf as the Miyoo Mini Plus and ANBERNIC’s RG35XX 2024. The Miyoo Mini Plus arrived in March 2023 with Linux, a 3.5-inch 640×480 screen, 128 MB of RAM and a price around $50. ANBERNIC’s RG35XX 2024 is listed at $43.99, with a 3.5-inch 640×480 panel, 1 GB of RAM, a Linux 64-bit system and a 2,600 mAh battery. AYANEO’s pitch would not be that it invented the vertical form factor, but that it brought Android and a more polished brand to a segment that still runs on thin margins and community firmware.
That is where the Pocket Block could matter. AYANEO’s own recent vertical push has lived much higher up the stack: the Pocket VERT was first shown on November 18, 2025, then opened for pre-orders starting at $269 after AYANEO cut it from $339 amid backlash over slow shipping and delays. The Pocket VERT carries a 3.5-inch 1600×1440 display, Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1-class performance and a 6,000 mAh battery. The Pocket DMG, released in 2024, launched around $339 for the 8GB/128GB model, while Analogue’s Pocket Aluminum Edition hit $500. Against that backdrop, a cheaper Pocket Block would fill the gap between luxury verticals and the plastic Linux boxes that dominate the pocket emulation market.
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