Credit: Ayaneo
By
Andy Boxall
Published 14 hours ago
Andy is a seasoned technology journalist with more than 15 years experience in the mobile industry, writing for Digital Trends, Wired, and more. During that time he has reviewed hundreds of smartphones and tablets, dozens of smartwatches, and a host of smart rings and smartglasses too.
His daily mobile tech life includes Android and iOS devices, smart rings, and a smartwatch unless it's a special ocassion, when a traditional watch takes its place on his wrist. He has attended multiple CES, MWC, and IFA tradeshows, has a passion for photography and cars, listens to far too much K-pop, and always has a strong opinion on the state of the tech industry.
You can find Andy's portfolio of work on his Authory page.
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Where is the Asus ROG Phone 10?
For the last few years, the king of gaming phones has made an appearance, or at the very least been heavily teased, by now. But it’s nowhere to be seen.
However, there’s another dedicated gaming phone on the horizon that may fill the gap, or even surpass Asus’s monster flagship for fan appeal.
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Posts 4 By Matthew SholtzROG Phone 10?
Where are you?
Asus launched the ROG Phone 9 in late November 2024, making it more than a year old at this point. The ROG Phone 8 arrived at CES 2024, which took place in early January.
For a phone range with a wide, dedicated following, very little is being rumored about the expected sequel, the Asus ROG Phone 10.
About the only meaningful mention of the phone so far comes from a known industry source based in China, posting to the Weibo social network.
In response to a question about the ROG Phone 10’s whereabouts, the account claims the phone is in the works and “on its way.”
In a Reddit post from early December, an anonymous source indicates representatives from Asus Netherlands have also confirmed the phone is in production but could not provide a release date.
With no further information, this should be taken as fan speculation.
With absolutely nothing else of note being rumored about the ROG Phone 10, it certainly doesn’t seem like its release is imminent, unless it turns out to have somehow avoided being leaked at all.
Another phone is coming
Not by Asus
Gaming phones are niche devices, suiting those who punish performance and batteries by playing the latest, highest-spec games for hours on end.
However, there is another side to mobile gaming.
Retro games and emulators have spawned an entire industry of handheld devices from brands like Evercade, Ambernic, Retroid, and the subject we’ll be looking at more closely: Ayaneo.
Earlier this year, the brand teased its first gaming smartphone, and now, we have our first proper look at the Ayaeno Pocket Play, and it looks like a lot of fun.
It brings back the slider-style design popularized (somewhat, at least) by Sony with the Xperia Play from 2011.
A set of D-pad controllers and buttons slide out from underneath the phone’s screen, turning a normal-looking touchscreen phone into a handheld gaming device.
What do we know about it?
Specs are still a mystery
Credit: Ayaneo
Ayaneo is keeping a lot of the finer details about the Pocket Play a secret at the moment.
From the rendered images, we can see a D-pad, four PlayStation-style ABXY buttons, several other smaller buttons, and what looks like a pair of touch-sensitive panels.
On its teaser site, Ayaneo claims you will be able to switch between joystick and touchpad modes and customize controls for your games.
In other images, the side of the phone shows that it will have left and right physical buttons on the shoulders of the phone.
Asus has calmed down the ROG Phone’s design over the last few years, in an attempt to make it appeal to those who want high-end performance without all the flashing lights and extra screens.
The Ayaneo Pocket Play is unashamedly a gaming phone, but it’s directed at a different set of gaming fans than the ROG line.
The retro styling and control system fit in with the brand’s other handheld devices, which are often best suited to playing classic arcade and console games.
When is it coming?
Soon, but not in the way you expect
Credit: Ayaneo
While you can’t buy the Ayaneo Pocket Play immediately, we do know how you’ll be able to get one, and that’s a lot more than we know about the ROG Phone 10.
Ayaneo will release the Pocket Play as a Kickstarter campaign soon, and the preview page is already on the crowdfunding site. It has more than 3,800 followers at the time of writing.
It’s the brand’s first Kickstarter campaign, and we’re hoping it’s going to be used more as a pre-order system than a way to fund the device’s production.
As always with any crowdfunding campaign, you have to go in expecting delays and changes, so back it at your own risk when it eventually goes live.
This, or the ROG Phone 10?
Why not both?
Credit: Ayaneo
The Ayaneo Pocket Play could be a very welcome entry into the gaming phone niche, which is almost solely occupied by the ROG Phone and RedMagic’s entries.
These are mostly designed for modern games that benefit from the latest, fastest processors, and are priced accordingly.
While the Pocket Play may use a Qualcomm chip, it may not be entirely necessary to use the very top version.
For example, by choosing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, found in the OnePlus 15R, over the 8 Elite Gen 5, it could help keep the final cost at a sensible point.
There’s space in the market for both a retro-styled, classic gaming smartphone and high-end gaming phones like the ROG Phone.
Such a fun, different, and interesting device helps keep the niche from stagnating and only appealing to hardcore mobile gamers.
We’re looking forward to the Ayaneo Pocket Play’s launch, and also to hearing more about the ROG Phone 10’s eventual release.
But if Asus isn’t careful, a complete newcomer may steal its thunder at the beginning of 2026.
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