Life of Tech

AYN Odin 2 Mini

Well, I hit the jackpot a couple of days ago and took delivery of an Anbernic RG28XX and an AYN Odin 2 Mini Pro. On receiving these I thought I need to purchase a microSD card and so checked out Amazon an bought a Integral 1TB microSD card, this is of course for the Odin 2 Mini Pro, so now let me talk about it.

As always with AYN products the packaging was slick and beutiful.

Initial Box Opening

I Got the Black Version

First View of Android 12 on the Odin 2 Mini

Let's review some specifications, the original Odin 2 Max, the Odin 2 Mini Pro and the PS Vita as the PS Vita is a similar form factor:

	AYN Odin 2 Max	AYN Odin 2 Max	PS Vita
CPU	SD 8 Gen 2	SD 8 Gen 2	ARM Cortex A9
OS	Android 12	Android 12	System Software
Battery	8000mAh	5000mAh
Controls	Hall Sticks	Hall Sticks
Screen	6" IPS	5" MiniLED	5" OLED
Touch Screen	Yes	Yes	Yes Front & Back
Resolution	1920x1080p	1920x1080p	960x544
RAM	16GB LPDDR5x	12GB LPDDR5x	512MB
Storage	512GB UFS4.0	256GB UFS4.0
Ex Storage	microSD	microSD	PS Vita Card
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 7	Wi-Fi 7	Wi-Fi
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3	2.1 + EDR

So, there isn’t a great deal of difference when it comes to the internal specs from the Odin 2 Max to the Odin 2 Mini Pro. A smaller battery mainly due to the power consumption of the smaller size of the screen. The dimensions of the PS Vita compared to the AYN Odin 2 Mini are a little smaller but not by much. The AYN Odin 2 Mini is often referred to as the PS Vita we’ve always wanted and so what are the differences in the internals of the two, the hardware has come a long was in the last 12 years since the PS Vita was initially released.

I intend on using my Odin 2 Mini as a PlayStation handheld so I’ll have PSP, PS Vita, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and if there is any space left on the 1tb microSD card possibly some PlayStation 3, so do I bother with RetroArch and a front end such as Daijisho for only 4 emulators or would I be best just using the stand-alone emulators PPSSPP for PSP, Vita3K for PS Vita, Duckstation (others are available) for PlayStation and NetherSX for PlayStation 2 and if possible RPCSX for PlayStation 3. I shall try the stand-alone emulators first and if these are acceptable, I’ll stick with them.

I believe higher end emulation such as Switch is possible but not what I’m aiming for on this handheld, something with a larger screen would probably suit better.

I love my Odin 2 and Odin 2 Portal, but longed for something a little more portable, they just seem a little big for gaming on the move which is what drew me to the Odin 2 Mini.

It has taken quite a long time to copy my ROM files over to the microSD card due to the amount of files and their sizes, I did get some PlayStation 3 files across but the sizes are quite large so only copies 6 games.

My first test was PPSSPP for PlayStation Portable emulation, running God of War which is one of the hardest PSP games to emulate but the speed at which it runs wasn't my first problem, the controls were as the left thumb-stick that was supposed to control Kratos was not working at all so a bit of key mapping from within PPSSPP and away we go but using mapping this way is not ideal and would be nice if it worked straight out of the box, but never mind, it works.

Duckstation for PlayStation emulation seemed to be a good choice but I had to make sure I had bios files or it wouldn't load any games, but once I had the bios file games worked OK, however, again the left thumb-stick wasn't working so more key-mapping needed and I had total control, I only tried a couple of games, Metal Slug X (USA) and F1 2000 (USA) both played absolutely fine.

NetherSX2 for PlayStation 2 emulation had the same issue as Duckstation and needed a PS2 bios file to even load a game and again key-mapping needed in order to control. Once keymapping done I tried Aeon Flux and Devil May Cry and both of these run smoothly.

RPCSX for PlayStation 3 emulation which didn't seem to need a bios file. I only had space for 5 games which were Uncharted 1, Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, God of War Collection and God of War II. Some of the games got passed the menu screen before crashing and others just crashed.

Vita3K for PlayStation Vita emulation needed the most work to get running, having to download firmware and having to download a font package during setup both of which used to be accessible during setup however the font package link no longer worked but I could still install Vita3K. Once installed I tried installing a few .zip files which are the ROMS the few I installed worked and what was nice is that after installing it shows in the GUI which games are compatible using a traffic light system, guess what, more key-mapping needed.

Overall my PlayStation handheld console has not been a bad experience and of the emulators my favourite and easiest to set up was PPSSPP and needed the least tweaking. The more I spend using them and possibly a little more tweaking will make game playing a lot more enjoyable with all the emulators, it literally is whether you are willing to put in the time.

Some Googling, some setting tweaking and watching video setups and I'm sure the time will be well worth it. PlayStation 3 may be beyond Odin 2 Mini's capabilities or the games I tried, Uncharted series and God of War series, may just be too much for the emulator never mind the hardware and I will try some a little less power hungry.

For now I'll play with settings for a while and probably get back to you with a part 2 to let you know how I got on. If anyone has any suggestions on tweaks or settings then please don't hesitate to comment.

Michael