You’re probably well aware of this handheld by now. Taki has been teasing it for months via discord and more recently his YouTube channel. Initially known as the “199” handheld based on its rumoured price tag, the device went on to be named Project Valhalla before being given it’s official name of “Odin”.
Whilst there has been much talk and some videos of prototype units, things have become a little more official in the past few days. Let’s have a look at what the Odin promises.
ODIN SPECS
The Odin is set to be a true next generation handheld in terms of raw power and performance. Alongside such devices as the KT R1, PowKiddy X18S and RG552 the Odin promises breakthroughs in mid-budget emulation capability.
All but confirmed is the inclusion of a Snapdragon 855+ SoC with 4-8GB of RAM. The octacore CPU found here contains four 1.8Ghz, three 2.4Ghz and one 2.9Ghz cores, and is backed up by the Adreno 640 GPU. This chip can be found in phones such as the Galaxy Z Flip, OnePlus 7T and the Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro. The choice of this SoC is strongly rumoured, but as yet unconfirmed. What is confirmed is the inclusion of both passive and active cooling solutions. It has been said that at least one version of the machine will also be heavily overclocked.
If these specs are realised, we can expect to be adding GameCube and Wii to the list of emulators with a high compatibility level. Vast performance improvements will also be made for emulators currently available on RK3326 machines too, such as PSP and Dreamcast.
Full specs for this device and many others can be found here. This spreadsheet is pain stakingly maintained by timeisart over on the discord server. Kudos to him for such a useful resource.
FORM FACTOR AND FEATURES
On paper the Odin does a lot right. Stand out features include a 6″ 1080P display, Analog R2/L2 shoulder buttons, dual analogs with R3/L3 support and two programmable paddle like buttons on the rear of the device. The analog sticks and sides of the device appear to be lit with LEDs too.
There are also rumours of a dock, and photos appear to show it having USB and GameCube ports on the front. Whether this will be available at launch, or at all, is unknown. It’s unlikely to come bundled with any of the cheapest funding options though.
The Odin will run on Android 10 out of the box and renders show a wide choice of colours available. The device itself is said to be roughly the size of the Switch Lite, and <300 grams in weight.
Whilst the $199 price tag might stand true, this will likely be for early backers of the Standard model. From what I understand there will be a Standard and Pro version of the Odin. The way they’re differentiated seems a little strange too.
| Standard | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Display refresh rate | 60 Hz | 90 Hz |
| RAM | 4GB | 8GB |
| Storage | 64GB + microSD | 128GB + microSD |
| CPU Overclock | No | Yes |
I have read that the base model will not only NOT be overclocked, but it will not be possible to overclock it yourself either. How much truth there is in that I don’t know. I would guess that for most people the Pro version is going to be the preference. If the price difference is kept small enough I can’t see the Standard model selling too many units.
INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN
The Odin is due to be launched on IndieGoGo soon. The holding page is up, and you can register now to be notified once the campaign is live. I really like the look of this handheld, and I’m also really thankful that someone is finally grabbing the bull by the horns and delivering an ambitious and powerful handheld.
What I’m not so keen on is funding the project through IndieGoGo. You’re not pre-ordering a product when you back a campaign through there, you are helping the company to deliver a product. Things can still go wrong, and often you’re out of luck if they do. I have great faith that Ayn will deliver the Odin. Having seen Taki’s videos it’s obvious they’ve already invested a lot of time and effort into the device. The Odin handheld appears to be on the final stretch already, and I look forward to picking one up from a retailer once they’re widely available.
INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN
MANUFACTURER WEBSITE
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