It would be easy to dismiss the Gryphon AX as a rebadged Askey AP5660W, but then I'd point out that the AP5660W is purely an OEM platform for customers to adapt as needed. This is no different from the vast majority of other products covered on TechPowerUp, and even a cursory comparison of the two specification lists will show Gryphon has improved upon the internals when it comes to the WiFi antennas, if not also the SoC. This Qualcomm-based product is showing how effective the new ARM processors are when you don't cheap out on networking hardware, and in that regard, the $279 ($240 in a 2-pack) for the router seems quite justifiable. Indeed, the performance from this tiny, single unit is quite impressive compared to the two NETGEAR Orbi mesh systems with 2 and 3-pack SKUs tested so far. How is a huge networking company nearly bested by a small outfit? Probably because NETGEAR is aiming to get you into its ecosystem to then sell you subscriptions.

Then again, Gryphon is no angel with some of its best features locked behind a $7.99/month subscription, too. The consolation is that it does not stop you from using the Gryphon AX as it is marketed when at home or wherever else it is used, and the primary reason you should be considering the Gryphon AX is if you are a parent and want to prioritize good online behavior for your kids. Indeed, Gryphon started because the founder had issues with content easily being accessible for his kid, and the relevant features in the app are under a spotlight to ensure you don't miss out if useful to you. The typical consumer of this mindset would not even care about most of the listed cons, but I need to mention them either way since some shortcuts were still taken in the making of the Gryphon AX. It starts with the product box itself, even when compared to the Gryphon Tower from before, and the accessories, design language, and aesthetics are all nothing to write home about, either. The worst offender to me was the exclusion of any multi-gigabit Ethernet support, and even being stingy on wired connectivity at all.

WiFi 6E will also be a consideration now, with people perhaps wanting a more future-proof option that has the newer 6 GHz band. Those products are even more expensive, however, and there are fewer clients out there. WiFi 6 took so long to get here that I don't see this being a major drawback yet. Gryphon only recently launched this WiFi 6 model, so much so that its support page still doesn't have specific mentions of it, so I don't expect a WiFi 6E model to launch anytime soon. If it does, it might be the true replacement to the Gryphon Tower and cost significantly more—think NETGEAR Orbi prices. The Gryphon AX will never please everyone, but it showed that even a single pack can do quite well for most things. So I am happy to recommend it for a few different customer types, including those with lots of IOT devices or young kids. The issue is that almost everyone else might want to look at other options that better suit their specific needs.