Antec, recognized manufacturer of chassis or power supplies, announced its entry into the portable console business with the Antec Core HS. However, unlike all manufacturers seen so far, here Antec has not actually manufactured anything. This implies that we are facing a rebranding. That is, taking a product that already existed in the market and rebranding it with a new logo and name.

To be precise, Antec has partnered with AYANEO to launch its own version of this console. However, Antec has not contributed anything beyond its logo. This means that there are no changes or improvements in terms of design or hardware. Not to mention that they have chosen the worst possible option for this rebranding, which is from an AYANEO Slide that hides a physical keyboard. It doesn’t seem very useful, basically, it looks very uncomfortable to use, also affecting the design of the console (thicker and heavier than average).

Here are the specifications of the Antec Core HS console

The Antec Core HS console maintains exactly the same specifications as the AYANEO Slide. This means having the same IPS panel with a compact 6 inches size. This offers a Full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels with a refresh rate of 60 Hz. The panel information is completed with a maximum brightness of 400 nits, and covering the sRGB color space 100% and DCI-P3 85%.

At the hardware level, there are no differences in this Antec Core
HS. We are facing the same AMD Ryzen 7
7850U APU with a CPU of 8 cores and 16
threads using the AMD Zen
4 architecture. These cores operate at a Base and Turbo frequency of 3.30 and 5.10 GHz respectively. In terms of graphics, there are no new features either. We are still facing the top-of-the-range iGPU from the brand, the AMD Radeon 780M. This graphics card offers a configuration of 768 Stream Processors providing performance comparable to a desktop NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650.

This APU can be accompanied by a configuration of 16, 32, and 64 GB LPDDR5X RAM capacity. In terms of storage, we have PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD with 512 GB, 2 TB, or 4
TB of storage. In terms of autonomy, it offers a
battery with 46.2 Wh capacity (12,000 mAh).
This is 6.2 Wh more than an ASUS ROG Ally, but 3.8 Wh less than
a Steam Deck.

The specifications of the Antec Core HS are completed with a
chassis of 226 x 90 x 37.5 mm at its thickest point. All linked to a weight of 650 grams. This means it’s almost 50 grams heavier than an ASUS ROG Ally.

Other features and launch price

As expected, in terms of connectivity, this Antec Core HS does not present any changes compared to the AYANEO Slide. We are thus talking about Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, along with two USB4 ports, an SD 7.0 card reader (700 MB/s), fingerprint reader to add a layer of security, and a pair of controllers attached to the chassis surrounding the QWERTY keyboard with RGB lighting.

In terms of cooling, we find an aluminum radiator backed by three 8mm thick copper heat pipes. All accompanied by a turbine-shaped fan to expel hot air outside. According to the company, at maximum performance (28W) playing, the APU will reach a temperature between 60 and 63ºC.

The main difference of the Antec Core HS compared to the AYANEO is that it will be officially launched in Europe and North America between the months of June and July. However, we will have to wait to know its price.