Is a Snapdragon 8 Elite handheld for under $400 in our immediate future?

What you need to know

• AYANEO revealed pricing information regarding its upcoming KONKR Pocket Fit.
• It also introduced the previously unannounced KONKR Pocket Fit Elite, with speculation suggesting it’s the first Snapdragon 8 Elite handheld.
• Pricing for the Pocket Fit will come in under $329, while the Pocket Fit Elite will be available for less than $399.

The past week has been absolutely wild with the various phone and gaming handheld announcements. After revealing its new KONKR “budget” brand and the Pocket Fit handheld in early August, the company had more to share during a recent livestream.

It turns out that the Pocket Fit won’t be the only new handheld coming from KONKR, as the Pocket Fit Elite made its official debut. As expected, AYANEO stopped short of revealing everything about the Pocket Fit Elite, but just going by the name, this might be the first handheld to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

For reference, the KONKR Pocket Fit makes use of the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, which is the same chip found in the AYANEO Pocket S2 and the ONEXSUGAR Sugar 1. It’s based on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, found in many of the best Android phones of last year, but with higher clock speeds for better performance.

If we assume that AYANEO is following the same pattern as the Pocket S2 and S2 Pro, there aren’t going to be very many differences between the Pocket Fit and Pocket Fit Elite. Frankly, we wouldn’t be surprised if the only actual differences are in the processor, RAM options, and, of course, the price.

Speaking of which, AYANEO has finally shared how much both the Pocket Fit and Pocket Fit Elite will cost. Initially, teaser images suggested the former would be priced around $369. Subsequent posts have continued lowering that number, as it now sits at $329. Meanwhile, AYANEO hasn’t been messing around with the Elite variant, as that’s expected to cost around $399.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait even longer before we can actually pre-order either of these handhelds. In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), AYANEO shared that “final preparations for the launch are underway” with “This September” highlighted on the graphic.

What will be interesting is to see how this whole situation plays out, as the AYN Odin 3 has already been confirmed. AYN is likely holding off on revealing any information in regards to its next handheld until after pre-orders of the AYN Thor have opened. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to see AYANEO and AYN battle it out, not to mention that Anbernic could jump in and join the party at any time.

Andrew Myrick is a Senior Editor at Android Central. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is collecting different headphones, even if they all end up in the same drawer.