We’ve got our first look at one of the more intriguing phones teased in 2025. It’s the Ayaneo Phone, which promises to bring back the feel of a much-loved classic gaming phone.
Teaser video
Ayaneo has released a teaser video which contains a brief glimpse of the Ayaneo Phone itself, but only from the back, and without a demonstration of what we expect to be its standout feature.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s not an interesting first look. The device appears to be a fairly standard bar-shaped smartphone with a pair of cameras and a flash unit in the top corner, and what appears to be a flat rear panel. It doesn’t look very wide, suggesting it may have an unusual screen ratio.
Look at the left-hand side of the device, and you can see what appears to be either a pair of shoulder-mounted buttons, or some kind of hinge or clip. But do these relate to what we’d previously heard about the Ayaneo Phone, and why it’s so intriguing?
A new slider phone?
When Ayaeno first talked about the Ayaeno Phone, it heavily hinted the device would bring back an old gaming phone design known as the slider. This means it will likely have a slide-out section under the screen, which shows the gaming controls when extended.
It’s a design made famous by Sony with the Xperia Play phone, which came out in 2011. Since then, mobile gaming controls have mostly transitioned to the touchscreen, while some serious players will choose an accessory which adds physical controls to the sides of the device.
Unfortunately, Ayaeno doesn’t demonstrate how this feature will work in its new teaser. Instead, all it says is the Ayaneo Phone will be, “A mobile phone truly made for gamers,” and that it will be coming soon.
Ayaneo has experience making Android devices, including the recently released Pocket DS, which it calls the world’s first dual-screen flip Android gaming handheld. Qualcomm works with Ayaneo to supply processors for some of its models.
Challenges ahead
The Ayaneo Phone needs to meet some high expectations if it’s to be considered over established gaming phones like the Asus ROG Phone and devices from RedMagic. For example, fans of the brand are calling for features like a 3.5mm headphone jack, MicroSD card support, and even a removable battery.
None of these are common in modern smartphones, and would make the Ayaneo Phone unique amongst the competition should they be included. Ayaneo also needs to deliver on the smartphone side, with a good camera, capable processor, and a long period of software support, if it’s going to be seriously considered.
When initially revealed, the Ayaneo Phone was part of the company’s 2025 product roadmap, but time is running out for it to meet this target.
