The Orange Pi Neo has been announced, the portable console that wants to compete with the Steam Deck

The market of portable consoles o handheld is increasingly crowded: after the success of the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck, we have seen more and more consoles, including different models of AyaneoMSI Claw, Legion Go, ROG Ally, just to name a few.

On most of these the operating system is Windowsbut there are some exceptions, like the Steam Deck, which has SteamOSa proprietary operating system based on Linux. She will soon be joined by the Orange Pi Neoa handheld operating system based on Manjaro Linuxbased on Arch Linux.

It was the official Manjaro Linux account that announced it with a post on X, referring everything to the console’s official website, where it is possible to see images of the console and read the technical specifications.

Consequently the comparison with the Steam Deck it’s almost obvious: both have a 7-inch screen, but that of the Orange Pi Neo can count on a higher resolution and a higher refresh rate.

The design is similarbut the layout of the joysticks is different and this affects the overall dimensions of the console, which is smaller than the Steam Deck and that, therefore, it should weigh less (unfortunately the actual weight has not been published at the moment). Note the presence of two haptic touchpadswhich recall the Valve console.

Finally, we must mention the drumswhich on the Orange Pi Neo will be 50 Wh, while on the Steam Deck it is 40 Wh, so in theory it should last longerbut this will also depend on how much impact the operating system will have on the available hardware and on the performance settings.

To date we do not know when the Orange Pi Neo will be available and to which one pricebut we can think that its price will be similar to that of the Steam Deck in the 512 GB LCD version, therefore between €450 and €500: we only know that it will be available in black and white colors.

• Screen: 7″ FHD+ (1920 x 1200 pixels) with 120 Hz refresh rate
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7840U
• RAM: 16/32 GB LPDDR5 7,500 MHz dual channel
• Internal memory: 512GB-2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD (2280)
• Drums: Li-Po 50 Wh
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Doors: two USB type-C 4.0, a 3.5 mm audio jack, a MicroSD slot
• Dimensions: 259 x 107 x 19.9 mm
• Operating system: Manjaro Gaming Edition
• Cooling down: 24,510 square mm heat dissipation area with a large fan and two copper tubes
• Functionality: dual 6-axis gyroscope, joystick with RGB LED, two dual 1W stereo speakers, two haptic touchpads
• Materials: plastic, glass and aluminum and magnesium alloy