AYANEO just undercut the Odin 3 for the cheapest 8 Elite handheld, and you can pre-order today

They say competition is good for the consumer, and never has that been felt more by the Android gaming handheld community than in the past few weeks. First, AYANEO and AYN released competing dual-screen clamshells in the same week, with the AYN Thor coming in slightly cheaper. Now, AYANEO has flipped the tables.

In a product sharing session this morning, AYANEO announced pricing on its upcoming KONKR Pocket FIT handheld. The standard model, which has a Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, will start at $239 for the 8+128GB model. The Pocket FIT Elite, which was finally confirmed to have a Snapdragon 8 Elite, will start at $269 for the same configuration.

It’s worth noting that these are the super early bird prices, which will only last for the first week. After that, prices jump by $20-30 for the remainder of the crowdfunding campaign, with a final retail price that’s another $20-30 higher than that.

The AYN Odin 3, which was fully revealed last week, starts at $299, but only for the first 48 hours of the crowdfunding campaign. That’s $30 more than the same specs on AYANEO’s affordable flagship. Granted, it comes with a 6-inch 120Hz AMOLED panel, while the KONKR Pocket FIT models sport a 6-inch 144Hz LCD screen. Like the Pocket FIT, prices jump after the early bird period ends.

It’s worth pointing out that the top-spec models are very similar in pricing, which makes the Odin 3’s AMOLED screen an objectively better buy. Check out full pricing for all three devices below.

While much of the conversation has been about the 8 Elite chipset, the decision to offer a cheaper Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 model could bring more buyers into the fold. So far, this chipset has only been seen on the AYANEO Pocket S2, which really impressed us in our review, but it comes in far too rich for most gamers. Unlike the 8 Elite, it also has excellent compatibility thanks to years of optimizations on community Turnip drivers.

At $239, the base model of the KONKR Pocket FIT blows away similarly priced handhelds like the Retroid Flip 2 or ANBERNIC RG 477M. If AYANEO manages to stick the landing, this could be one of the best value devices in the Android handheld universe. For AYANEO, that’s a welcome change of pace.

All models of the KONKR Pocket FIT are available now for pre-order on Indiegogo, which again beats out the AYN Odin 3, which launches tomorrow morning. The G3 Gen 3 model is set to begin shipping in October, with the 8 Elite model shipping in December.

As an added bonus, AYANEO is offering a discount and a free AYANEO Pocket AIR Mini to anyone who pre-ordered a Pocket S2. Considering that the Pocket S2 has the same chipset as the Pocket FIT but costs more than twice as much, it’s the least the company could do.