ANBERNIC WIN600

ANBERNIC WIN600

Well
I got myself a nice piece of kit today, Anbernics only Windows handheld, the Anbernic Win600, well I say nice I haven't opened the box yet. I have
watched quite a few videos, mainly reviews which is probably what swayed me
into the purchase.


I
loved some of the modifications some people had done with their Win600s,
such as upgrading the SSD from 256GB to 1TB and the RAM from 8GB to
16GB but thankfully I don't need to do either of these, I had the
forethought to purchase the 1TB SSD and 16GB version.

As you can see from the below, with the three Windows handhelds I have the Anbernic Win600 is the least powerful, has the least memory, oldest operating system in fact it seems to lose out on all aspects of the hardware. So why purchase it? For many OI would think is because it was once of the first Windows handhelds to come to the market and it's from a reputable company. My first thought, though, was just to add it to my collection.

 Anbernic Win600 
 AYANEO 2 
 AOKZOE A1 Pro 
 CPU
 3050e 
 Ryzen 7 6800U 
 Ryzen 7 7840U 
 GPU
 Radeon RX Vega 3
 Radeon RX 680M 
 Radeon 780M
 Screen
 5.94" LCD
 7.02" IPS
 8" IPS 
 Resolution
 1920x720
 1920x1200
 1920x1200
 Aspect Ratio 
 16:9
 16:10
 16:10
 RAM 
 16GB DDR4
 32GB LPDDR5
 64GB LPDDR5X
 Storage 
 1TB m.2 SSD
 2TB NVMe SSD
 512GB
 Ex Storage
 microSD
 microSD
 microSD
 OS
 Windows 11 Hone
 Windows 11
 Windows 11
 Wi-Fi
 5
 6
 6E
 Bluetooth
 4.2
 5.2
 5.2
 Battery 
 4500mAh
 50.25 Wh
 65 Wh
 Connectivity
 USB-C, USB-A
 USB-C
 USB-C

Also a major draw to the Win600 is the various operating systems that are available for it, it can run Windows 10 (upgradable to Windows 11), SteamOS and Linux (Batocera) all of which appeal but I knew where I wanted to start, install and try out the Steam client, possibly a little easier than installing SteamOS.

I unboxed it, turned it on and it starts with something really familiar, the setup of a Windows laptop, having to select my language, select my location, select wi-fi network, use email address to login in, accept this and accept that, set up a login password and much, much more and yes there were updates. From turning it on to getting in to the Windows desktop took 20 minutes only to tell me it couldn't install and lock so I couldn't press the button that says “Continue to desktop” so I just turned it off or so I thought it actually just went to sleep so I pressed the power button again and it came back on and allowed me to press “Continue to desktop”.

I am now into Windows, nope I'm not, it is still doing some set up stuff telling me “This might take a few moments” famous last words. Another 5 minutes and I'm finally into Windows. That took a hell of a lot longer than any Android device I have and on first glance it has the steam client installed so I'm going to start there.

Double tapping on the Steam icon and it opens up, seemed to be a slight delay and of course there is more setting up to do, language, time zone, wi-fi, log in and this is where I hit a problem, I couldn't get in, I got to a place where it asked me to download the Steam Mobile Authenticator app, well that should have been easier. Thank god I had my mobile phone to hand so that I could use the camera to magnify the Win600 screen to see what text was on screen. Finally into Steam and there is my gaming library.

So to play a game, I selected one of my favourite games, as I've mentioned before, “Quantum Break” I clicked on install and waited, and waited and yes waited, it got to 33% and seemed to have stopped so I decided to just put it down and leave it for a while and watch a bit of TV, well 10 minutes later and it's reached 36%, at least I know it hasn't frozen so I'll leave it a little longer. So from turning on the Win600 for the first time to actually being able to play a Steam game it is taking some time, I'm talking hours and it's still not there.

Finally there and ready to play. So how does it play which is the main thing, well it plays rather well, not quite as smooth as the Ayaneo S but then again it isn't quite as powerful so I had already prepared myself for it to be a little sluggish but to be honest it isn't that bad. Just had a quick go with Uncharted 4 and talk about sluggish, I would even go so as to say unplayable so it looks like it will be a mixed bag.

I tried a few other games, Dead Island: Definitive Edition (playable), Outlast (playable), Dead or Alive 5 (playable), Beneath a Steel Sky (playable) and Killer Instinct (not playable) so not too bad it would seem to be some of the big hitters that are the ones to disappoint. One of the bonuses of the Win600 over the Ayaneo S is the weight, the Ayaneo S weighs 659g and the Win600 is only 506g which is quite a significant difference especially over long periods of gameplay.

That brings me to another major question, am I going to get long periods of gameplay? It has been reported that battery time isn't quite what it could be and with a 4500mAh battery the reports are fair, for the type of gaming I was expecting to play with a battery more the size of the Ayn Odin 3 which is 8000mAh especially taking into consideration that Windows handhelds have greater overheads than Android handhelds.

Keep in mind that the above are tests using the Steam client and not SteamOS, so maybe SteamOS could solve some of the speed issues and stuttering, those tests are for another day.

What if I try playing games from my Xbox library and I'll start with a big one “Rise of the Tomb Raider” which I think may take a while to install if the Steam games are anything to go by, so I'll set it going (7:35pm) and sit back and wait until 8:46pm, yes 1 hour and 11 minutes. Patience is key but was the wait worth it? I would say yes it's worth it, there is a bit of stutter in some of the more action packed scenes but still playable.

Would I recommend the Anbernic Win600?
As a collector, for me it was a no brainer but for many other people the first thought, I would think, is probably pricing. Keep in mind that it is greatly underpowered when compared to other Windows handhelds but it is a little cheaper than some other Windows handhelds. It probably is, as that old adage would say, you get what you pay for.

One of the biggest takeaways from this is you must be very patient if you intend installing Steam games or Xbox games. The screen size is a bit small for most high end games.

There is still Batocera to try, and I do have a low profile flash drive so I will probably come back to that at a later date with a separate post.

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Michael