I’m so glad to hear my review helped! Youre going to love the Odin 3!

Really interesting review, thank you.

Thank you for saying so! I really appreciate that :)

When you say this isn’t ready for most people, is that because the software needs more time, or the hardware isn’t there yet?

100% its the software. Drivers just aren’t there yet, but they’re being actively worked on as we speak, so early 2026 will be a solid assumption. Most PC games I tried worked incredibly well, out of the box without anything needed. But yes, as drivers improve and release, that compatibility will only get higher and higher.

As it stands:

• PC games are the best thing on the Odin 3. They work so well.
• Switch games are a gamble, a lot work beautifully but there’s still a lot which haven’t got the right support yet. But my friend who is a developer of Eden (Switch emulator) was sent an Odin 3 Max to help with development. So that’s only a matter of time.
• PS3 is the same as Switch, some work, some do not.
• PS2, all the games I tried were fantastic. Played SO nicely, upscaled and perfect. But there’s still a handful that will need some of that community driver goodness.
• Older-older systems are fine in dedicated emulators, but in RetroArch, its a mess.

The hardware is phenomenal and ahead of its time. We’re just waiting for the support for the Snapdragon Elite to play catch-up now. But after spending so long testing it, if you’re someone who likes to be at the forefront of things, then it’s a solid investment. I’d buy one, if I wasn’t sent a review unit. But I have the benefit of testing for so long to come to that conclusion!

If I bought one of these today, could I expect to see better compatibility over the next 6 months to year with Steam games, or will it still be mostly for Android games and old system emulators?

Yes. 100% yes. Keep an eye on EmuReady.com also, there’ll be more and more compatibility reports for the Snapdragon Elite as the days and weeks pass, a good way to know if the PC games you love are running well. And you can always ask me to test out and try some games that you love most too, if you’d like!

Sadly that review will never be posted. Potassium isn’t good for me, due to an autoimmune disease!

Its going to be a very interesting time with these retro handhelds when that happens. Still, its amazing to be able to play full AAA Steam & GOG games on Android before that even happens.

Its exciting!

GameCube and PS2 are a breeze to set up. I never use RetroArch for either of them, all you need to do is set the bios for PS2, change the input (AYN will automatically be set, but I find its better safe than sorry as it can make the odd error when configuring input for you!), choose your upscaling and go!

GCN was even easier, input and upscale, then play!

I’ll be writing up a thorough guide/games/settings post, I’ll find you an link you when I do if you’d like? But for PS2 and GCN its the work of 2 mins at the most on each :)

No RetroArch. At all.

Agreed on all fronts there!

I’ve been spending a fairly sizable amount of time lately with the Android emulation scene, and the amount of times the public goes nuclear over the tiniest inconsequential things is…just unbelievable. From the []-phobes to death threats. I wish that people would learn some social skills.

The dev of Lazarus didn’t have this kind of reaction to Seaglass, so I think we could say that this trend of being a disgusting bigot is one which is being ‘allowed’ more recently than it once was in social media.

Its such a shame that:

a) I can see why a company like this would bake in invasive permissions and telemetry, and b) They did so. They have a wonderful product. One interesting thing though is that each time GameHub Lite releases an update, pointing out the shadiness of some of GameHub’s ideas…the next official GameHub update makes the product better and less of a privacy nightmare.

It’s an odd situation, but like you said, at least we have options!

I’ve never really been into any Pokemon games before, but I am getting closer to wanting to try sink into one! How beautiful is the upscaling for 3DS games on the Thor?! The games just sparkle. I have gotten slightly distracted by Metroid Prime 2 though…

• Shin Megami Tensei 4
• Bravely Default
• Professor Layton (I LOVE PROFESSOR LAYTON!!!)
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
• Metroid: Samus Returns (I’m obsessed with Metroid)

But I’m also playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for the very first time on the AYN Thor at the moment. I’ve never stuck with it, and I’m enjoying it so much. What a game! I’d have expected the ancient age would make it less of a game, but nope. It’s perfect!

There’s so many more, but that’s a nice little cross-section of GREAT games :)

One thing I’ll add, since reviewing the AYN Thor, I have been playing a LOT of 3DS games. Upscaled and looking so beautiful. I just love the games they made for this console. I wish the Switch had more…pocketability? But seeing how the size increased for the S2, I don’t expect that will come about again :(

I’m one of those who are waiting for the final episode to be released before I dive in! Super excited to try it though!

I’m glad you enjoyed it!!!

Yes!

You can use things like GameHub/GameHub Lite (a community fork which strips the telemetry), or Winlator. This can run far, far more taxing games than just the little indies. Tomb Raider (2013), Halo MCC, Fallout New Vegas, Silksong, Dave the Diver, Hades II and so on. There is tinkering sometimes, but its getting more and more impressive as time goes on.

Its up to you if you want to plan for the future and buy the ‘Max’ version (with more RAM), but for all that’s possible now, the 12GB version (the Pro model) is more than enough.

It will 100% play small indie games, but remember some games are weird. They’re fickle and refuse to work (I think one of the Deus Ex games refuses to play, I might have read that somewhere?). So it might be a case-by-case basis. If it helps, do a search for AYN Odin 2 (or AYN Odin 2 Portal) + GameHub or Winlator. They share the same chip and have plenty of users sharing their experiences!

Hope this helped :)

From what we know (its not definitive, but 99% so), its only for Google Play Protect ‘certified devices’. And none of thes handhelds have that.

You can find the full list of manufacturers here:

https://www.android.com/certified/partners/

No. Absolutely nothing on that front so far. Not even slightly close!

You don’t need that same software. The principle is still the same though, you’re loading ROMs of games on there. The 3DS console method simplifies it because they created their own freeshop, but with this, you’re going to load the ROMs yourself.

There are links at the end of my article, but you can just follow one of countless guides on YouTube, there are many!

My old friend Terry (GrownUpGaming) has a good video on the process on YT, if you need one to follow along to :)

I’m surprised you haven’t heard of Eden before this! It’s the choice for emulating on Android now! They’re very well established, and seem to be vouched for by all the ‘big’ names in the emulation and handhelds scene.

Obviously practicing your own caution is important, but Eden isn’t some unknown fly-by-nighter. They’re very, very much a known name now.

I hope you enjoy it!

Daijishō is the launcher up top!