Thor Max price rise

AYN is raising the price of its highest-spec Thor Max handheld again, pushing the 1TB model to $549 in the next pre-order batch. (theverge.com) The company also said future pre-orders for the Thor and the Odin 3 will switch from UFS 4.0 storage to slower UFS 3.1 storage. AYN said the change starts with Thor Batch 6 and Odin 3 Batch 7. (theverge.com) AYN blamed a memory supply crunch for both moves. Reports citing the company’s Discord announcement said UFS 4.0 is no longer available at a cost AYN considers sustainable for these handhelds. (androidauthority.com) UFS is the flash storage inside the device, like the solid-state drive in a laptop. UFS 4.0 is the newer, faster version; UFS 3.1 is older and slower, which can affect app installs, file transfers, and game loading. (notebookcheck.net) AYN is trying to hold the line on some prices by changing the mix instead of raising every model. The company is also adding a new Thor configuration with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $469. (liliputing.com) This is the latest increase for the Thor line, not the first. Coverage last month said AYN had already warned that Thor prices would rise again in April because DRAM and storage costs were still climbing. (videocardz.com) The Thor has drawn attention because it is a dual-screen Android handheld aimed at Nintendo DS and 3DS-style play, a niche where buyers tend to care about both performance and price. The Odin 3 is AYN’s flagship single-screen Android handheld. (theverge.com) For buyers, the tradeoff is now clearer: wait for the next batch and pay more for the top Thor Max, or accept slower storage on upcoming Thor and Odin 3 units as AYN tries to keep shipping hardware through tighter memory supply. (theverge.com)