Ayn Odin Lite Review

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Having played cloud gaming for years, the one thing I had not personally found was a good mobile experience that fit my taste. I have tried various controller clips, the wrap-around mobile controllers, and even just popping out my kickstand on my phone case and playing with the nearest controller. For me, they always ended up in disuse because they were just simply not convenient. I wanted something I could just pick up and play.

I love my Nintendo Switch Lite and if it played cloud gaming services it would be the perfect gaming device for me. That is what I was looking for. I looked at a ton of cheap options that just had awful screen resolution or were way too expensive like the Steam deck.

That’s when I ran into the Ayn Odin Lite IndieGoGo campaign. I figured it would take time, but it was everything I was looking for. Great screen size and resolution (1080p) plus it looked very similar to the Nintendo Switch Lite. It was a total of $250 after shipping, which was perfect for the price I had in mind. So I ordered it and waited.

All I needed it to do was play cloud gaming services and I was happy. Various cloud gaming services like Stadia, GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud Gaming were even listed on the campaign as having a working app; so, I knew for sure it would run it. But, there are obvious concerns… Would it be able to handle the data streaming to it? Would the controls work as expected and with ALL the service exclusive buttons working? What a pain if I couldn’t have full functionality.

The Hardware

When it arrived in a very nice little box, I was taken aback. This was a fairly cheap device after all. But do not let the price fool you. The Ayn Odin Lite is a very solid device. It has some weight to it and feels sturdy in the hand. I was excited about the quality of the build.

Not only does it have the standard buttons found on any standard controller these days, but it also has two buttons on the back that are custom to the player’s needs. I was able to set them up to be the Stadia/Xbox button and the screenshot button. That meant no loss of functionality for my cloud gaming needs!

While it handles similar to a Nintendo Switch Lite, it is my opinion that it has some advantages over it. The formed grips on each side feel comfortable, and, with a little larger screen, the experience is a step above.

Playing in the dark? Not a problem. It has some nice LED backlighting for the joysticks and side handles.

The Software

The Odin Lite is running Android 11! This gives it a lot of the performance perks of the newer OS that are missing in its competition. It does have the Google Play Store and a wide range of compatibility with apps.

I was able to install and play Stadia (obviously) right from the Play Store. I also installed Minecraft and Roblox which worked flawlessly with the hardware controls with no setup for them.

During the initial setup, you can choose the standard Android home screen launcher or the Odin launcher. Since I wanted to experience their device, I went with the Odin launcher. It is very minimalistic and I love it. When you install games you can add it to the launch screen for easy “turn it on and play” functionality.

Setting It Up

There is very minimal setup needed for the smoothest cloud gaming experience. However, the default controls are tailored to be like the Nintendo Switch and not for Xbox, Stadia or Luna, so you will have to change some settings to get the desired experience. The good news is, it should only take you about 20 seconds to complete the setup.

Head on over the Odin Settings.

There you will find the “ABXY mode” setting.

Select the “Xbox” option AND don’t forget to check the “Remap Guide to M1”. This will make the M1 button on the back set to your Xbox button.

Go back to the Odin settings and go to “M2 key mapping”.

At this point say “thank you” because I went through 130 values manually one by one so you do not have to! Select the “Custom key value(dec)” and plug in “130” into the value and you have now set your M2 button to the screenshot button!

And that is it! Enjoy your new Odin Cloud Gaming Lite!

Performance

I have spent hours playing Saints Row on this little darling of a device. The wifi never quit and the battery lasted several hours. I have never played long enough to run it completely out of battery but my estimates are 5-7 hours of gameplay.

For cloud gaming users, that is all that matters. Because these services are cloud based, all it has to do is play the stream and the cpu and memory make little difference. I did notice that you can pull performance stats from the right menu whenever you like and it will even show you the FPS that your favorite cloud service is streaming at. A nice little feature.

Using it for other games, like Roblox and Minecraft seemed to be equally as smooth. I have not really pushed the CPU. It is the “Lite” version of the Odin so it should be expected that its performance for high end mobile games probably is not on the same level as the Odin, but for any cloud gaming user, you can see from that stats above, it is more than capable of an optimized experience.

Bells and Whistles

It does have on-screen button mapping. I did use this for Roblox when they had random buttons on the screen. It is easy to use and is smart enough to save the mapping per app and loads them when the app is loaded. Plus you can take the opticity of the mapping to 0% and do not have to be bothered by the look of it after you get them all aligned.

The “Live” button links to Streamlabs and lets you start streaming to your platform of choice. However, it does not have a camera. It can do voice but streamers will not be able to show their face with this device. Though, I am not sure how pretty of a picture it would be anyway. You hold it in your lap; so, I’m pretty sure you would just be filming up your nose anyway.

One feature it has that I simply will not be using is the ability to use the USB port to connect the device to your TV. Hook your controller up to it and you can run Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce NOW to any TV via this handheld just like a Switch. The Odin lite appears to be capped at 1080p where the other models can do 4K.

There is not much advantage to that for cloud gaming users however; since more cloud gaming services play on just about anything and everything as it is. So, going through the extra step of plugging in the handheld to play Xbox Cloud Gaming on a TV is only useful if it is literally the only smart device you have on the TV.

The Negatives

Honestly, my only strike against it is the four buttons are configured like the Nintendo Switch, which is the opposite of the Xbox configuration. While the Xbox settings option works just fine, the buttons are still labeled wrong. It is little more than a nuisance because I rarely look at the buttons while I am playing, but when I do, my brain definitely pauses for a second to remember that the letters are switched.

There options are to buy buttons from an Etsy seller when they have them in stock and open up the device, unplug some hardware and replace the physical buttons, or find some stickers to put on the buttons. I personally have not been able to find any stickers and I am unwilling to open it up.

But this minor inconvenience has not slowed me down, and I love playing on it.

Bottom Line

This is a solid handheld for Xbox Cloud Gaming, GeForce NOW and other cloud gaming services. I think it is the best option on the market right now. The price is very competitive for the quality and experience that comes with it. If you are like me and wanting to play Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce NOW the same way you do your Nintendo Switch Lite, this absolutely is the answer.

Where can I get mine?

The Indiegogo campaign is long over and while you can still order it there, you may have better luck from their official site. You can find that link here.

As of the writing of this article, not all of the Indiegogo orders have been filled yet and that is why it is currently out of stock. However, the stock is rolling in fast so I expect them to be taking new orders soon.