Tecno, which has made a name for itself with wild smartphone experiments and brought foldables to a more palatable price point, is now looking to make a splash in the gaming segment. The company’s latest offering is the Pocket Go, which the company claims to be the world’s first Windows-based AR gaming kit.
The system includes a pair of AR glasses fitted with 0.71-inch Micro-OLED display units. These display units offer the visual experience of a 215-inch large screen at a perceived distance of six meters. A neat addition is that Tecno’s AR glasses support adjustment for users who wear prescription glasses or lenses.
“The headset is also equipped with adjustable diopter settings of up to 600 degrees to cater to users with varying visual requirements, ensuring greater eye comfort during play,” says the company. But it’s not solely the immersive perks of augmented reality that Tecno is banking on. Instead, the focus is also on the portable form of the whole kit.
The Chinese company says the Pocket Go is about half the size of an average Windows handheld, such as the Asus ROG Ally, and nearly one-third lighter. But there’s plenty of power packed inside that relatively small form factor.
Tecno says it has fitted an octa-core processor with a peak clock speed of 5.1 GHz inside the Pocket Go. For heat management, the company has even managed to fit a PC-level fan inside the kit and has paired it with three copper-based heat pipes.
Another interesting addition is nanostructured acoustic materials that are said to convert in-game sounds into haptic feedback for a more immersive gaming experience. But more than just gaming, the Tecno Pocket Go can also be deployed as a full-fledged workstation that rests on your face.
Where Apple’s Vision Pro is held back by its app ecosystem that is still tied closely to iPadOS, the Pocket Go will put a proper Windows desktop experience close to your eyes. I love the experience of working on spatial windows using the Xreal Air 2, and I hope the Tecno Pocket Go won’t be much different.
Notably, it can also play well with Tecno’s Mega Mini T1 Windows PC, as well as Tecno smartphones. However, the company hasn’t detailed whether the Pocket Go will also be compatible with other Android or iOS phones via an app, the way RayNeo or Xreal glasses are.
One final convenience gaming enthusiasts will truly appreciate is the presence of Hall Effect switches. In a nutshell, these magnetically levitating sticks are not prone to the nasty drift effect that has plagued the likes of Nintendo Switch for a while now.
Unfortunately, we have no clarity on when exactly the Pocket Go will hit the shelves or how much it will cost. It’s also just one of many announcements from Tecno at MWC 2024, including an AI-powered robot dog and some wild smartphone concept materials.
