<![CDATA[ Latest from PC Gamer UK in Handheld-gaming-pcs ]]> https://www.pcgamer.com 2025-02-13T17:12:37Z en <![CDATA[ MSI Claw 8 AI+ A2VM review ]]> Pour one out for the original MSI Claw. You can still find it for sale, but with a Meteor Lake Intel chip inside and a chassis design that felt a lot more like a prototype than you'd expect from a modern gaming handheld, it seemed doomed to obscurity from the start.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+, however, feels like a much more accomplished product right from the off. It's a substantial piece of kit, with a chonky chassis that immediately delivers a sense of weight and quality the second you get it in your hands. The Hall effect thumbsticks are well-placed, the triggers and shoulder buttons feel much improved, and overall it's a good-looking, desirable object to pull from the box. As it should be, for the fairly substantial price of $900/£899.

Sitting centre stage is an 8-inch IPS-type 1200p display, and it's noticeably vibrant from the moment you boot into Windows. While the Claw 8 AI+ is not the most portable of machines, everything external has a certain wow factor that the previous model was sorely missing—and that big screen sits proudly in the middle, begging you to dive in.

Inside there's plenty to be excited about, too. It comes equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, a Lunar Lake chip that we've been anticipating in a handheld gaming PC for a long time.

MSI Claw 8 AI+ A2VM specs

The Claw logo stamped on the back of the MSI Claw 8 AI+

(Image credit: Future)

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 285V
Cores: 4x Performance, 4x Efficient
Threads: 8
GPU: Intel Arc 140V
Memory: 32 GB LPDDR5x-8533
Screen size: 8-inch
Native resolution: 1920 x 1200
Refresh rate: 120 Hz
Storage: 1 TB SSD
Battery: 80 Wh
I/O: 1x MicroSD card reader, 2x Thunderbolt 4 (Displayport/Power Delivery 3.0)
Dimensions: 299 x 126 x 24 mm
Weight: 795 g
Price: $900/£899

Intel had a rough 2024 when it came to desktop CPUs, but the Lunar Lake mobile chips stood out as perfect candidates for a portable gaming machine—thanks to excellent power efficiency and an improved, Battlemage-based Arc 140V iGPU, with eight Xe² cores and eight dedicated ray tracing units.

Not that smooth ray tracing performance was ever on the table here—it'll still be a long time before an iGPU will be capable of coping with all the settings turned up in Cyberpunk 2077 without slowing to a crawl. It's an impressive chip, though, and the Claw 8 AI+ is the first gaming handheld to make use of it.

So, this is a portable gaming machine with specs to impress. As a result I've pitted it against the Asus ROG Ally X, our current best handheld gaming PC, and the OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro, an AMD Strix Point-equipped speed machine. The F1 Pro is the fastest handheld we've ever tested and retails for $1,339. That's $439 more than the Claw 8 AI+, for reference.

I've also thrown the Lenovo Legion Go into the mix, another big screen handheld with many virtues worth considering. So the big question is: Can the Claw 8 AI+ keep up with some of our top contenders?

Image 1 of 4

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ on a wooden table, showing the desktop lit up in blue with the RGB lighting set to pink.

(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 4

The right thumbstick of the MSI Claw 8 AI+, ringed in blue RGB

(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 4

The right shoulder button and trigger of the MSI Claw 8 AI+.

(Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 4

The rear of the MSI Claw 8 AI+ showing the rear vents and the paddles.

(Image credit: Future)

In a phrase? Pretty much, yes. While the Claw matches the ROG Ally X in Black Myth Wukong at Medium settings with upscaling disabled, once FSR is thrown into the fray it ranges ahead by a couple of frames, with a much higher minimum frame rate. It's also a mere two frames off the performance of the OneXFly F1 Pro, and that's pretty impressive given the price delta between them.

In Cyberpunk 2077 it actually manages to beat the OneXFly by a single average frame, both in the upscaled benchmark and at straight-up 1080p. That's a superb turn of speed, and a good indication that the Intel Core Ultra 7 285V is serious competition for the Ryzen AI HX 370 at the heart of the OneXPlayer machine.

And so the back and forth begins. In F1 24, the Claw 8 AI+ gives the ROG Ally X a bit of a pasting—particularly with upscaling enabled, where it manages a nine fps lead. However, the OneXFly F1 Pro flexes its muscles once more, beating the Claw by a fair margin in both the upscaled and non-upscaled results.

F1 24 running on the MSI Claw 8 AI +

(Image credit: Future)

In Metro Exodus Enhanced, however, the Claw scythes its way to the top, leaving the ROG Ally X in the dust and edging ahead of the OneXFly by another single frame, with a four fps lead in the minimums.

One slightly odd result in my testing occurred in Horizon Zero Dawn. With upscaling disabled, the Claw leads the OneXFly machine by two frames on average, with double the minimum frame rate. However, with FSR set to Quality at 1080p it drops below all of our tested handhelds on average, although maintains a very high minimum figure compared to the rest.

I ran the benchmark over and over for hours and fiddled with many settings, but nope, this was a consistent quirk.

Intel drivers? Perhaps. It wouldn't be the first time we've experienced odd driver-related issues with an Intel GPU, although it's worth mentioning that all of the games in our test suite ran on the Claw without major problems, just with the very occasional performance oddity.

Speaking of quirks, how about that scorching high 3DMark Time Spy GPU score? Intel's Arc desktop cards have a habit of performing brilliantly in 3DMark benchmarks, while not translating those gains particularly well into actual games—and it seems the Arc 140V iGPU is the same. I'd look upon that number with a good bit of scepticism, but again, it was a consistent figure among multiple runs.

In terms of CPU score, it's worth noting that the Core Ultra 7 285V makes use of four Performance big boi CPU cores, and four low-powered Efficient cores. When compared to the eight fully-fledged cores in the Ryzen Z1 Extreme (and the four Zen 5 cores paired with eight Zen 5c cores in the Ryzen AI HX 370) it's no great surprise the Claw's CPU score is down on the competition.

This is reflected again in the Cinebench R24 results. While the single core index of the Intel chip is the highest out of our handhelds thanks to the speed of those Performance cores, the multi-core score pales in comparison to the AMD chips in the ROG Ally X and the OneXFly F1 Pro. Although it's worth mentioning it does manage a slightly higher result than the Lenovo Legion Go, also using the Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU.

Does this performance deficit matter? To me, no. This is a gaming handheld, after all, and real world gaming performance is where the Lunar Lake chip really delivers. While benchmarks will always drag out the best and worst of a chip, I can't see many people crying into their cereal about the lack of multi-core productivity performance in something designed primarily to play games on the go.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ gaming PC on a wooden table.

(Image credit: Future)

I re-benchmarked the ROG Ally X myself for the purposes of this comparison, as our handheld benchmarking suite has changed slightly since Nick's original review and I wanted the latest numbers. And while the Asus machine is fairly loud under load at its max 30 W TDP, the Claw 8 AI+ is surprisingly quiet, to the point where I wasn't sure if benchmarks had finished or not when it sat a few meters away.

It runs relatively cool, too, with a max CPU temp of 86 °C. That larger chassis appears to give the Lunar Lake chip plenty of breathing room, without being plastered in vents like the OG Claw.

Speaking of efficiency, the Claw 8 AI+ managed a massive 129 minutes in PCMark 10's gaming battery life test. That's a single minute more than the ROG Ally X, and nearly double the battery life of the OneXFly F1 Pro under load. That substantial casing has allowed MSI to cram an 80 Wh battery under the hood—and combined with the efficiency of Intel's impressive chip, the Claw keeps going, and going, and going.

This translates into my real world testing, too. I managed to play an hour and a half's worth of Doom 2016 at Ultra settings on my journey home from the office, with battery life to spare. And it ran like water.

Admittedly it's nearly a nine year old game, and wasn't particularly hardware-demanding even at release. But it was something of a revelation playing a still-fantastic-looking shooter on a large screen at very high frame rates—mid-train journey—without thinking once about a cable.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ running Doom 2016, with a cheeky pentagram on screen.

(Image credit: Future)

In fact I've been playing as many fast-paced games as I can on the Claw to test out those Hall effect thumbsticks and updated controls. The sticks are certainly accurate, and feel great under the thumbs for a long session. However, having the ROG Ally X to compare side-by-side, I have to say that the Asus machine's triggers, shoulder buttons, and face buttons do feel better.

It's a tolerance thing, perhaps, but the Asus simply feels more premium in my hands. The Claw's chassis and controls feel good, great even, but the ROG Ally X has a special quality to its moving parts that edges it ahead.

Think of it as a big, bruising, heavyweight boxer of a handheld gaming PC

So, for that matter, does the OnePlayerX OneXFly F1 Pro. It's not that the MSI feels bad, more that its direct competitors feel just a touch better in the materials and factory tolerances department.

Other issues? Well, MSI's M-Center software is pretty basic, and while the AI Engine feature is supposed to intelligently adjust performance on the fly depending on your use case, I'd advise turning it off and adjusting the power settings manually. It's fairly good at dropping TDP down on the move to save some battery, but it also managed to screw up the odd benchmark run while plugged in, which is disappointing.

Image 1 of 2

The Asus ROG Ally X next to the MSI Claw 8 AI+ on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2

The Asus ROG Ally X next to the MSI Claw 8 AI+ on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future)

And again, sticking the Claw side by side with the Ally X, I do wonder whether I'd trade some of the Claw's advantages for portability. That big screen is a wonderful thing, but the ROG is just small enough where slinging it in your backpack requires no consideration, whereas the Claw is big enough to make you wonder whether you might leave it at home.

Buy if...

✅ You want superb performance for more reasonable money: The Claw 8 AI+ manages to rival and occasionally beat the fastest handheld on our books, for over $400 less.

✅ You like a big screen: The 8-inch display is a lovely thing to behold, and ups the immersion factor of handheld gaming significantly.

Don't buy if...

❌ You want ultra-portable: This is a chonky handheld device, and as a result it's not as easy to lug around with you as something more reasonably sized.

❌ You want class-leading controls: The Claw's buttons, triggers and paddles are a massive improvement on its predecessor—but its competitors still have the edge.

But I simply can't ignore what the Claw 8 AI+ provides for the cash. It delivers performance capable of giving the fastest handheld we've ever tested a run for its money, a large and vibrant display, good controls, and battery life that matches the notoriously long-lasting ROG Ally X. All for $900, which given the pricing of some of the competition, actually strikes as downright reasonable for what you end up receiving.

The thorny question is, does that mean the Claw should replace the Asus ROG Ally X as our best handheld gaming PC overall? To me, not quite. While the Claw beats the Ally X in many of our benchmarks, I think as an overall package, the Asus has it. Just. Really though, both of these handhelds have their place—and for very different reasons.

If you want portability, an ultra-premium feel, and good performance for the more competitive price of $800, I'd lean towards the Ally X. But if you don't mind paying $100 more for sheer raw power and a big screen, and can put up with it being a little unwieldy and slightly rougher around the edges? Yep, that's the Claw.

Think of it as a big, bruising, heavyweight boxer of a handheld gaming PC. It lacks the odd touch of refinement, sure, and occasionally wobbles on its feet. But it delivers such a whack, such a powerful punch of gaming performance and battery life combined with that big, luscious screen, it cannot be ruled out of the fight. It's not just better than the original Claw—it's easily one of the best handhelds I've used to date.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/msi-claw-8-ai-a2vm-review/ VBYeKpkxpVDoCu7YAq9hCT Thu, 13 Feb 2025 17:12:37 +0000 <![CDATA[ The Steam Deck 2 doesn't need to happen because Valve will win either way (though I hope it does) ]]> Valve has already cemented its name in the handheld PC market with the Steam Deck. All it had to do was show that handheld PCs are worth making and others would follow suit. Now, coming up to the Steam Deck's third birthday and millions of units sold, I can say that Valve has won. I just hope its victory lap takes it around the track one more time for a sequel.

The Steam Deck launched in 2022 and has been surpassed by much more impressive and expensive handhelds since. Yet it's still a popular choice for many a gamer looking for a budget entry into handheld gaming.

As well as being cheap, the Steam Deck has a bit of a secret weapon. Steam OS is still a very good bit of software. It's clean and easy to navigate and, thanks to Steam Decks having standardized specs, gives you a range of games you know it can run. For pure ease of use, the Steam Deck is the most console-like PC in the market right now.

Now, three years later, the gaming handheld market has grown. The Asus ROG Ally X is an excellent middle ground between the budget prices of the Steam Deck and the killer performance of Strix Point devices like the OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro. And yet, the Steam Deck is still a viable choice for any gamer looking to make their way through some indie games from the comfort of their sofa. A large part is that the Steam Deck is one of the more reasonably priced handhelds out there, another is down to its software. The Steam Deck sold millions in just a year and sold out on the Steam store almost immediately after preorders went live.

The Steam Deck had a lot to live up to. It was a bit of an ambitious bit of hardware for Valve, a company that had only worked alongside companies on Steam Machines, controllers, and the Valve Index prior.

Valve had a few failures in the hardware department. The Steam Controller has its defenders, but it went from launch to discontinued with no successor in just four years, which isn't a great sign of success. The Alienware Steam Machine functioned poorly and Steam Link couldn't beat out the competition in the game streaming space.

The things Valve learned from these failures did make their way into the Steam Deck controls and Steam Remote Play, but there was some suspicion around the launch of the Steam Deck thanks to Valve's flawed hardware history.

There were no mainstream handheld gaming PCs up until that point, though both Razer and Alienware had shown off handheld gaming PC concepts that would never actually launch. There were also a few handhelds on the fringes making do with weak-hearted GPUs, such as the OneXPlayer and OneXPlayer Mini. The ground was there for a home run and Valve stood up to the plate.

SteamOS on multiple handheld gaming PCs

(Image credit: Future)

The Steam Deck proved to be a standout first attempt with great ergonomics in its controls, a sturdy feel, and finetuned compatibility with games. It became a gold standard for handheld performance for some time, which is helped by the 'playable/verified on Steam Deck' tag games can get on the Steam store. As of November last year, there were over 17,000 games in the verified or playable category on Steam.

I asked around the PC Gamer office if anybody still uses their Steam Deck and got a resounding "nah" but that's partially because we're spoiled for new tech, as comes with writing about hardware for a living. It's also because we're all hardware geeks at heart, who love to tinker and play around with game settings.

I recently booted up the OneXPlayer 2 Pro and one of the most notable adjustments I'm going to have to make is guessing if my games will run on it. The 'playable on Steam Deck' tag isn't just an assurance before you buy a game, it's a game grouping that allows you to easily pick what your next installation will be. It's a handy vetting process to avoid installing something that will barely run.

Steam Deck with Solid Snake

(Image credit: Future)

With a refresh to the Steam Deck, that 'playable on Steam Deck' tag should only get bigger, and could give a new performance milestone for developers to hit when making games. This is, of course, a necessary requirement for a device primarily run on Linux. Any Windows handheld device can theoretically run games but those working on Steam Deck have requirements to run the software to get it working.

And this brings me to the Steam Deck 2. In 2023, Valve said it's still some way off the Steam Deck 2 because there's not a justifiable jump in performance yet. This same sentiment was expressed at the end of 2024, when Valve's Lawrence Yang and Yazan Aldehayyat said they were waiting "for a generational leap in compute without sacrificing battery life".

Valve doesn't have a great track record of making follow-ups to its hardware. The second generation Steam controller has been rumoured for some time and project Deckard (AKA Valve Index 2) has still not managed to surface in the last half a decade, despite hints in Steam VR folders back in 2021. Part of what people like about Valve is that it often feels like the company is just doing what its employees want.

It could have put out a second model by now with the latest tech but it didn't. It could have given fans Half-Life 3 but instead focused on Half-Life: Alyx which, considering the install base of VR when it launched, was a bit of a niche. All of this is to say that the Steam Deck never struck me as a device looking to corner the market. It doesn't feel like a handheld intended to be the handheld.

You don't have to take my word for it. Gabe Newell said that he wants other PC makers to create their own Steam Decks back in 2021. Following this up, the Lenovo Legion Go S is getting a native Steam OS version. However, it's not just getting more devices on Steam OS that Valve is looking to do. In fact, I'd argue the Steam Deck has already done exactly what it should.

Steam Deck UI

(Image credit: Tested.com)

The launch of the Steam Deck ushered handheld gaming PCs into the mainstream, and naturally, Steam is the gaming platform you will download first. Heroic makes the Epic Game Store a bit (or should I say 'a lot'?) nicer but it's not as good or as popular as Valve's storefront.

Not only is Lenovo working on a Steam OS handheld with support from Valve but Asus is too. However, putting Steam OS on handheld gaming PCs doesn't feel like the final play for Valve at the end of the day. It's an option for devices, and getting out-of-the-box support without having to fiddle with any settings is certainly a nice option.

To understand what Valve is really doing here, you have to think of the big picture. I don't mean that metaphorically, I'm talking about Big Picture mode, Valve's interface intended to make controller navigation easier. Big Picture has gotten much better over the last few years, with cleaner and more specific search tools, a UI overhaul, and an easier-to-navigate storefront. Even Windows handhelds can function like a Steam OS handheld if you set Steam to automatically open Big Picture mode when you turn it on. It takes a little longer to boot up than a Steam OS native device but it's a very similar end experience once you do.

With the Steam Deck, Valve did two major things that will centre Steam at the front of the handheld PC conversation. First, as a proof of concept in the field, the Steam Deck proved that handheld gaming PCs are worth your time and money. There's a reason so many major companies followed suit after the successful launch of Steam Deck. It's likely that these companies were already exploring how to make it happen, and the release of more advanced APUs certainly helped but the near-instantaneous popularity of the Steam Deck showed potential developers that it's worth the resources necessary to develop devices.

Heroic Game Launcher running on a Steam Deck

Heroic Game Launcher running the Epic Games Store on a Steam Deck (Image credit: Future)

Secondly, making Steam as accessible as possible by removing almost all barriers to entry with its software meant that you never had to choose between Steam or Windows. The same is true of Steam OS. Opening it up to a broader market gives users the option to choose how they play. Valve has become ubiquitous with handheld gaming PCs and, as a result, it has already won.

The Steam Deck 2 could be a bit of a risk if not considered properly. The market has gotten bigger and much more impressive since 2022. The Steam Deck 2 being a smooth experience with good ergonomics isn't a nice surprise as a first attempt like the first machine, it's the bare minimum. And now, as plenty of big players like Asus and Lenovo get to the market, the Steam Deck 2 needs to outperform or outprice its competition by a great enough margin to convince prospective buyers to pick it up.

The Steam Deck's success made handheld PC gaming relevant, and Valve never really needs to put out the Steam Deck 2 to continue benefiting from its role in the market, even though I really want one anyway. The market saw a shakeup right after the launch of the Steam Deck and there's room to do the same with the second one, whatever form that may take. Maybe give us Half-Life 3 first though.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/the-steam-deck-2-doesnt-need-to-happen-because-valve-will-win-either-way-though-i-hope-it-does/ YvCk5KFeDL8RZ6VrNxing6 Tue, 11 Feb 2025 17:19:48 +0000 <![CDATA[ This Steam Deck mount looks silly, but greatly reduces the risk of dropping Valve's handheld on your face while gaming in bed ]]> Let me set the scene for you: there I am, lounging around while playing the office Steam Deck when suddenly it happens. Maybe my replay of 1000xResist has shocked me anew, or maybe there's just something in my eye, but my grip on Valve's handheld loosens for just a moment and before I know it—WHAM! My face has been clobbered by the co-conspirators of the Steam Deck's heft and gravity.

Alas, my face and eyeglasses could've been saved had I simply used the GoPro Mount (via SteamDeckHQ). The mount allows you to attach the funky chunky handheld to an array of compatible GoPro accessories; in addition to strapping into a GoPro harness for comfortable bedtime gaming, you can also attach your Steam Deck to a traditional tripod or even a compatible wristband and pretend you're about to place a trap card face down.

That's not just me poking fun—the team behind the mount clearly had a lot of fun crafting some truly ridiculous looking product photos. There's one proposed use case I simply won't stand—or sit—for though. Gaming on the toilet? Not on your life, mate.

The GoPro Mount is made by Mechanism, creators of Deckmate and its associated ecosystem. That means that you'll need the sold separately Deckmate grip before you can even attempt to strap your Steam Deck onto your GoPro harness.

Furthermore, just because you can attach a GoPro accessory to your Steam Deck doesn't mean it will be able to support the weight. Still, Valve themselves used a whole lotta Deckmates to build their orb celebrating the launch of the Steam Deck OLED, so that at least suggests a level of sturdiness that is unlikely to result in face-clobbering.

The Deckmate grip will set you back $19/£16, and then the GoPro Mount costs another $9/£8 on top. Before you gather up all of your GoPro accessories and go full tech warrior though, the store page does hasten to add the GoPro Mount is "Designed for static loads only (don't go skydiving with your console please)." Sensible advice…or an experiential feature worth pitching to my editor? Much to consider.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/this-steam-deck-mount-looks-silly-but-greatly-reduces-the-risk-of-dropping-valves-handheld-on-your-face-while-gaming-in-bed/ GNLGaRcpHP55VKd52DkyNA Thu, 06 Feb 2025 17:10:47 +0000 <![CDATA[ Square Enix's Chocobo Steam Deck is cute, fluffy, and unfortunately gets in-KWEH-dibly warm ]]> Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second game in the classic RPG remake trilogy, is finally playable on PC. To celebrate the release, Square Enix has made three feathery Chocobo Steam Decks for UK-based charity Special Effect to give away. 'In-KWEH-dible,' indeed.

Special Effect is primarily known for their work crafting bespoke control set-ups for those with physical disabilities that mainstream gamepads otherwise exclude. The giveaway is in aid of the accessibility charity's upcoming Game Blast fundraising weekend, and at time of writing you've still got one week to get your entries in for a chance to win (so long as you're based in the EU or UK). However, you won't just be entering a draw to win one Steam Deck, but two.

A post shared by SpecialEffect (@specialeffectteam)

A photo posted by on

According to a note attached to the giveaway Gleam page as well as a number of Special Effect's Instagram posts, the Chocobo Steam Deck can overheat due to all that fluff and feather. So, winners of the giveaway will receive not just the big bird handheld for display purposes, but another more standard Steam Deck to play as well—though you probably wouldn't want to dive into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on either one anyway.

Queen's Blood cards on the table, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth left us far from convinced in either our review or performance analysis. However, we still rate Valve's handheld, even if it remains one of the bulkier handheld gaming PCs out there—a chunky form factor not helped by swaddling it in faux fur fabric and fake feathers. Still…there's just something about fluffy hardware that compels me, no matter how heinous.

For visitors to Square Enix's offices, it is generally frowned upon to cuddle up with their life-size chocobo statue—don't ask me how I discovered this—so an appropriately themed Steam Deck is the next best thing. Granted, you definitely wouldn't want to use it as a hot water bottle replacement, but pettable tech isn't unheard of. What I'm sure my colleagues would prefer to hear far less of is my own Chocobo impression which, though finely honed over years of practice, still has no volume control beyond 'Maximum KWEH.'


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/square-enixs-chocobo-steam-deck-is-cute-fluffy-and-unfortunately-gets-in-kweh-dibly-warm/ TNDeNBBefVHGLnJUcAZ9Gi Thu, 06 Feb 2025 15:41:17 +0000 <![CDATA[ Aokzoe teases its next-gen handheld gaming PC and it looks like it's just stuffed a better chip, screen, and battery into its not-bad, not-great A1 Pro ]]> Sometimes you really don't need to reinvent the wheel when designing a spiffy new product. That seems to be Aokzoe's approach with its forthcoming A1 X handheld gaming PC, as it looks almost exactly like its current A1 Pro—just with a bigger battery and a nice AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX 370 chip.

There's not a wealth of detail about the new handheld in the teaser post on X, but the A1 X will sport a full-fat Strix Point APU. That means you'll be getting 12 CPU cores (4x Zen 5, 8x Zen 5c) and 16 RDNA 3.5 compute units for graphics. Compared to the Ryzen 7 7840U in the A1 Pro, it's a reasonable uplift in hardware.

That chip has eight Zen 4 CPU cores and 12 RDNA 3 compute units, so you're potentially looking at up to 33% performance in games on the A1 X, compared to the A1 Pro. I say potentially because it will come down to what power and clocks Aokzoe decides to use, and there's no word on those so far.

So, what else is better? Well, the screen for one—it's still 8 inches in size (and that's plenty big enough for a handheld) and while its resolution is unknown, the refresh rate is 120 Hz and it has VRR (variable refresh rate) support. The A1 Pro sports a 1200p 60 Hz panel, so even if the resolution is unchanged, it should be a much nicer display to stare at for hours on end.

Whether you actually get hours of game-staring will come down to the battery, of course, and Aokzoe has seen fit to shoehorn a 72.5 Wh cell into the A1 X. The A1 Pro makes do with a 65 Wh battery, so you're only getting a 17% increase in capacity, but given that it lasted for over two hours of Elden Ring gaming in its 15 W mode, I should imagine you'll get around the same with the A1 X.

The standard version of the Aokzoe A1 Pro boasts a whopping 32 GB of LDDDR5x-7400 and I really hope that the A1 X has the same amount of RAM. As there's no dedicated VRAM for the Ryzen's GPU, the more memory you have, the more stable and better performing a handheld will be.

You can see this with the Asus ROG Ally X, which outperforms the standard ROG Ally, due to having 24 GB of memory (16 GB in the non-X Ally), even though the two have the same processor.

What we really want Aokzoe to get right with the A1 X is software. The system used in the A1 Pro is far clunkier than Asus Armory Crate, in the ROG Ally, and it's not a patch on SteamOS. Windows 11 isn't especially suited for handhelds and they rely heavily on a vendor's software to overcome its desktop nature.

The one thing you can be sure of about the Aokzoe A1 X is that it almost certainly won't be cheap and not even remotely so. The A1 Pro is $910 at Amazon so if the A1 X sports the same amount of RAM and a 1 TB SSD, then I expect it will launch at over $1,000 or more.

Whatever it costs at launch, if we get our hands on one for review, we'll be sure to let you know whether it's worth every cent or not.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/aokzoe-teases-its-next-gen-handheld-gaming-pc-and-it-looks-like-its-just-stuffed-a-better-chip-screen-and-battery-into-its-not-bad-not-great-a1-pro/ deHyA99wQcSztGJhr685zD Mon, 20 Jan 2025 11:56:34 +0000 <![CDATA[ Looks like the Nintendo Switch 2's Joy-Cons double as gaming mice, which is neat but I can't help think about how I basically never use the Legion Go's same feature ]]>

I didn't expect to be spending today writing about a console, but here we are. The Nintendo Switch 2 is officially announced in a teasingly slow-to-start video, and hold up, did those Joy-Cons just start slipping and sliding around like the rodents we PC gamers are so used to?

Yes, I believe they did. In the teaser video, at approximately one minute and ten seconds in, a Joy-Con slips into its... attachment and starts skating around. This screams "mouse mode", no?

A mouse mode for the Switch 2 wouldn't be completely out of the blue, given there have been rumours for a while that the Joy-Cons might each be able to be used as a mouse thanks to a sensor on their inside, just like on the bottom of a mouse.

Who knows what such a feature could be used for? To browse around the operating system, sure—but that doesn't seem like a massive necessity given the Nintendo Switch OS. There might be some games where mouse control would help, such as Civilization VI or level design modes such as Super Mario Maker.

Apart from that, though, I'd bet Nintendo has some uses up its sleeve that we couldn't guess at, which is an exciting thought.

Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con dropping into an attachment

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Assuming the slip-n-slide functionality demonstrated in the video is, indeed, mouse functionality, we'll also have one more mark in the "inspired by handheld gaming PCs" column that I mischievously alluded to earlier today. That's because the Lenovo Legion Go already has this functionality.

And regarding this, despite initially thinking I'd make much use of it and still thinking it's kind of neat, I must admit that I find the Legion Go controller's 'FPS mode' (i.e. mouse mode) to be a tad gimmicky and unnecessary.

I use the Legion Go quite regularly and there's a lot about it that I love, but I can't remember the last time I snapped off its right-side controller to use as a mouse. The touchscreen or trackpad serves my needs well enough in almost all cases, and I'm not playing competitive shooters on my handheld anyway.

Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons skating across a surface

(Image credit: Nintendo)

And speaking of trackpads, there's been a lot of wonder over the enigmatic blank "button" on the right Switch 2 Joy-Con. But—hear me out—doesn't that look a little like a trackpad nub, the likes of which you see on the new Lenovo Legion Go S? If that's what that "button" is, then I hold even firmer to my "inspired by handheld PC" line.

We'll have to see how all these features actually pan out, of course. I can't help but wonder how stable a Joy-Con would feel to use in mouse mode, underside attachment or not.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/looks-like-the-nintendo-switch-2s-joy-cons-double-as-gaming-mice-which-is-neat-but-i-cant-help-think-about-how-i-basically-never-use-the-legion-gos-same-feature/ 7zXLqn8mRfHvyNbUE6uh89 Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:04:03 +0000 <![CDATA[ Nintendo Switch 2? Nah, I'll take a next-gen handheld gaming PC thanks very much ]]>

We've finally got our first official look at the Nintendo Switch 2, and the internet is very excited. Rightly so, I suppose, as the next-generation of Nintendo's uber-popular handheld gaming console has been rumoured, speculated on, and pontificated about for some time. And while I hate to be the naysayer of the group (who am I kidding, I love it), put me down as "curious, but not particularly thrilled."

That's not to say I don't like the Switch in general, nor has my appetite for new gaming hardware diminished. But with so many excellent handheld gaming PCs cresting the horizon (and many wonderful options already available), I can't really get my blood up for what looks like a fairly average one, ringfenced inside Nintendo's notoriously restrictive ecosystem.

I'm not opposed to an odd bout of Mario Kart, and the Zelda franchise has its merits. Still, I'd say that makes me something of an outlier when it comes to the traditional opinions on these monoliths of gaming. Many times I have listened to someone wax lyrical over the fantabulousness of Nintendo games, and I've tolerated it politely with an occasional indulging nod.

That said, compared to the PC gaming ecosystem? It's likely going to be a pretty limited spread on the Switch 2's launch. And yes, I'm well aware you can experience the likes of Dead Cells on a Switch these days—but I'll take a wide plethora of gaming options over a limited set, any day of the week.

And that's before we get to the hardware inside. We're still not sure exactly which chip will live inside the Switch 2, but good money can be placed on the bet that it's a customised octo-core Arm chip called the Nvidia Tegra T239.

That'd be fine and all, but compared to what we're about to see from PC gaming handhelds featuring the new AMD APUs (and Lunar Lake handhelds , err, looming), I'm willing to also bet that performance-wise, the Switch 2 will be massively outmatched by what's available in the handheld market right now, never mind by the time of its release.

Of course, there's always upscaling to consider. There have been rumours of the Switch 2 using DLSS, which would certainly help even the performance odds. And it must be said, Nintendo has usually been pretty good at optimising its big releases for decent performance out of the box.

It looks like a pretty machine, no doubt, but seems like a bit of a chonker, too. A leak late last year suggested that it would be significantly larger than a Steam Deck OLED, although it does have a slightly larger screen. I'm all for pushing screen sizes on handhelds to a degree, but there's a point where they feel a bit unwieldy, and nothing I've seen so far suggests the Switch 2 is anything but.

That's something to be ratified when I get one in my hands, of course, as is all the speculation here. But with the handheld gaming PC market booming, and so many upcoming options looking promising, part of me feels like the Switch 2's lunch may have been eaten before it gets out of the gate.

The MSI Claw 8, a new handheld with a Lunar Lake processor.

(Image credit: Future)

Still, you won't be bouncing around as Mario and Luigi on your Steam Deck, at least not in the latest games. Nor shall you be Pokémon-ing about (stick with it, I'm trying to make it a thing) on a Lenovo Legion Go S. For many, this will be the draw, and I understand that.

But that's not going to stop me from pulling the PC superiority card over here, even if it means someone's going to put stickers of Bowser flipping the bird through my letterbox.

And as for backwards compatibility, of which the Nintendo fans seem to be most excited? A Steam Deck LCD 256 GB currently retails for $399, and you get access to decades worth of games. Some of them are rubbish or non-Steam Deck certified, sure. But so many are worth exploring on a handheld, and the entry level Deck is still very reasonably priced.

Which I'm willing to bet the Switch 2 won't be, at least when it comes to actually getting hold of one through the inevitable stock shortages and potential scalping to come.

And besides, new handheld gaming PCs are looking exciting as heck right now—so I'll be over here, trying to figure out which is best, while all the cartoonish funtimes happen somewhere else. It's the way I like it, y'see.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/nintendo-switch-2-nah-ill-take-a-next-gen-handheld-gaming-pc-thanks-very-much/ j8N5B8vvJ8ybQUvRwqBRE5 Thu, 16 Jan 2025 15:31:45 +0000 <![CDATA[ I will get a Switch 2 for Pokémon and no handheld gaming PC on Earth can stop me ]]> A slew of superb handheld gaming PCs have wrestled me away from using my Nintendo Switch in recent years. I appreciate the happy-go-lucky Nintendo console and its ability to continue to function relatively well with ancient hardware, but my Steam library is calling to me. There's only room in my backpack for one handheld machine and that's taken up by the Ayaneo Flip DS. Though I could be convinced to swap it out for something new…

The Switch 2 has just been announced in a trailer sneakily dropped on Nintendo's YouTube channel. In which, Nintendo gently takes us through the design of its new handheld. It's not surprising in any way: a slab of screen onto which two controllers now click into place. There's a couple of USB Type-C ports, a rear stand, the usual array of buttons, and the new controllers come in a peachy red and blue.

More like the Switch we know and love except more grown-up. The rough edges have been smoothed out into gentle curves, the colour accents are few, and generally it looks more like a handheld gaming PC than any console. Though you could argue most handheld gaming PCs look like the Switch—it's a classic chicken and egg situation. Though the Switch 2 seemingly offers Joy-cons that turn into mice-looking devices? The Legion Go does that, too.

The Switch may end up more like a PC in other ways, should it actually use a more modern Nvidia GPU architecture (perhaps Ampere) and come with some sort of upscaling tech.

With a shape that's not too dissimilar from the usual parade of handheld gaming PCs, of which there are many, the question of whether a PC gamer will be interested in buying one gets a little more interesting.

Image 1 of 3

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 2 of 3

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 3 of 3

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

After all, the Switch (1) has been popular with PC gamers for years now, as a secondary system for gaming on the go. Though it launched before a time when handheld gaming PCs were really a thing. Now they very much are, will the Switch 2 be able to win over quite so many PC players?

Personally, it will win me over. I'll speak on behalf of a good portion of the PC Gamer team based on their reactions to Nintendo's announcement ("SWITCH 2 BABY" is a direct quote), it'll win a good few others over, too. And that's really nothing to do with the hardware—after all, we don't actually know the exact specifications or even price of the Switch 2.

It's the games. It's always the games with Nintendo. For many that'll be the promise of the next Zelda game. In theory, a game able to run without limitation on the newer hardware and therefore be bigger, bolder than ever. Though for me, it's whatever Game Freak is cooking up for the next mainline Pokémon game. God forbid anyone ever emulate an older Pokémon game on a handheld gaming PC (Nintendo, you reading this?) but I still want the hot new thing.

Oh and Mario Kart, I suppose. Though I have to make an admission that I feel that series peaked with Double Dash, or at least my interest in playing it did. Hey, this isn't Nintendo Gamer, I can say what I like.

And providing all these games are actually Switch 2 exclusives and not half-and-half releases that sort of straddle the line between truly next-gen and just old enough to still run on the older hardware. Switch 2 exclusives are noted in the new trailer, though I'm hoping this is seen as a full generational leap forward and not some 3DS/New 3DS thing—that leap was more of a limp.

I can see it now: Switch 2 or Steam Deck? It's a question we can only answer when we actually have something more to go on from Nintendo as to the specs and price of its next console. But for now I think a lot rests on the launch lineup for the Switch 2.

Image 1 of 2

A screengrab of a Nintendo Switch 2 reveal trailer, showing the Switch 2 playing Mario Kart on a light blue background.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 2 of 2

Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White

(Image credit: Valve)

That list of exclusive must-have games for the Switch (1) took nearly eight years to come together. Eight years. Right now, you can grab a Switch and enjoy a bounty of great games to play, from Zelda and Mario to a game that basically got me through the Covid-19 lockdown, Animal Crossing. It'll be a while before that shapes up for the Switch 2. In the meantime, a PC gamer's unwieldy library of fantastic (and some probably rubbish) games to choose from is unmatched.

Will that very good argument stop me from buying a Switch 2 at or close to release (pending the almost certain stock shortages and general ensuing chaos)? Prolly not. Eh, it's a Nintendo handheld, even a PC hardware nerd like me can't resist its neutron-star-like pull.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/i-will-get-a-switch-2-for-pokemon-and-no-handheld-gaming-pc-on-earth-can-stop-me/ daWibdMS997cMELofuwt6P Thu, 16 Jan 2025 15:25:04 +0000 <![CDATA[ The Nintendo Switch 2 has just been announced and it looks a lot more like a handheld gaming PC than a console to me ]]>

After what feels like an eternity of rumour milling and speculating, Nintendo's finally caved and given the world what it wants: an official view of its upcoming Switch 2 handheld console, which it says is coming in 2025—no specific release date, unfortunately, just this year.

It's done so a little on the sly, too, springing it on the world via a trailer on its YouTube channel. What we see in this reveal is a larger, more stately handheld that looks, dare I say it, a little like a handheld gaming PC.

That's thanks to its all-black design. A bold move—but not spit-in-your-face bold, considering the handheld gaming PC market is now veritably massive. It also flies in the face of some previous rumours, such as a 360-degree render of a case for the new console with presumably a traditionally red-and-blue Switch 2 inside.

Nope. All black, baby. Just the way we like it—just ask the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, and, er, well, we'll leave the ROG Ally aside for now.

And bigger, too. The original Switch, for reference, had a 6.2-inch screen. But we're used to that 7-inch goodness here in handheld PC land, or even bigger in some cases. And with great size comes great responsibility to keep upright, which is why the Switch 2 will have a kickstand to rest it wherever you please—that's a feature I've personally loved on the Legion Go, and I'm happy to see another handheld take its benefit seriously.

The original Switch also had a kickstand, of course, though a largely rubbish one off to one side. The Switch OLED's was much better.

In addition to all this, the Switch 2 looks to have a smattering of other goodies that are the remit only of larger devices, such as USB-C and 3.5 mm ports. Lovely stuff.

Image 1 of 8

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 2 of 8

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 3 of 8

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 4 of 8

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 5 of 8

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 6 of 8

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 7 of 8

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Image 8 of 8

The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

And don't worry, it still comes with detachable controllers like the original, although these are bigger to fit alongside the new upsized screen. And those controllers—hang on, did they just start skating around across the surface? Yep, that's right, it looks like the Joy-Cons might be getting a mouse mode akin to the Lenovo Legion Go's "FPS mode".

Nintendo also confirms backwards compatibility for physical and digital Switch games, so no worries on that front, either.

No official news on what hardware will be powering this handheld—nor how much it will cost, unfortunately—but rumours have remained pretty steadfast that we'll be seeing a Tegra T239 chip inside the Switch 2. A recent seeming Switch 2 prototype PCB leak hints at as much, and if so, we'll be looking at an 8-core Arm Cortex-based chip (1x HP-core, 3x A78 P-cores, and 4x A55 E-cores) alongside a predominantly Ampere (Nvidia 30-series) architecture GPU, albeit with some Ada Lovelace (40-series) elements.

The original Switch had 256 Maxwell-based (900-series) CUDA cores in the GPU, while the T239 has 1,536 of the newer architecture CUDA cores. Lovely stuff indeed. If that's what we're dealing with, it should be more than enough juice for what looks to me like more of a handheld gaming PC than a console.

What can I say? You can thank the handheld PC market for this inspo later, console gamers.*

*Kidding, of course. I know we have the original Switch to thank for our precious handhelds.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/the-nintendo-switch-2-has-just-been-announced-and-it-looks-a-lot-more-like-a-handheld-gaming-pc-than-a-console-to-me/ 9Z9qwhf2Jb9sA8rYHD9QtM Thu, 16 Jan 2025 13:55:45 +0000 <![CDATA[ Asus reveals three new Slash Travel Bags for carting around your ROG Ally—however, none of them are particularly fashion forward ]]> Thanks to the office Steam Deck, I now have a choice of venues for playing Infinity Nikki: on the sofa, wrapped up in a duvet, AND avoiding all of my responsibilities. Jokes aside, handheld gaming PCs have ushered in an era of AAA gaming-on-the-go, but they're still fairly bulky devices. Well, the latest collection from Asus sports bags that attempt to protect your preciously priced hardware in style.

With a price tag of $800 for the ROG Ally X, you can't just pop your handheld into a sizeable pocket and carry on without first confronting the fear of a scratched-up screen at least; a specialised carry case is a must for anyone wanting to take their handheld further afield than the couch. As such, Asus has revealed new additions in its Slash line of travel bags specifically for stowing your ROG Ally and similar handhelds. Unfortunately…well, I'll just put it this way: I don't think these bags are going to feature in many look books this season.

Three different bags have been announced: The Slash Sling Bag 4.0, the Slash Sleeve 4.0, and the Slash Backpack 4.0. Though they're not winning any points for those product names…well, they likely won't be scoring particularly highly in the stylist battle either.

All of the bags are available in a tasteful all-over-black colourway, with the sling bag and sleeve both featuring "tear- and water-resistant construction." I can only theorise as to why the Slash Backpack isn't also described as at least 'water-resistant'. One possibility is that, while the roll-top opening with magnetic Fidlock quick-release buckles makes the backpack's overall size somewhat adjustable, it doesn't make for the most secure closure—then again, it may simply be that wearing this backpack will make you look like a big drip.

Still, 26 litres of capacity is nothing to sniff at, with the Slash backpack easily accommodating larger laptops up to 18 inches in dimension. Even the Slash sleeve is fairly roomy too, with space for up to a 16-inch laptop, plus accessories.

However, these new Slash bags all feature a design flourish that I just can't get past. To be fair, I can see the thought process: when crafting any kind of textile product featuring almost exclusively one shade, it makes sense to play with texture and dimension.

Perhaps Asus was hoping for something a little more in conversation with motorcycle leathers, but unfortunately what they've ended up with feels ever so slightly reminiscent of road kill to my eyes. Alas, I dread to think what the Sovereign of Cool would say to me if I rocked up with one of these.

That said, I've glowed up many a piece in Infinity Nikki that was otherwise lacking in stars, so never say never—maybe any one of these Slash travel bags would sit pretty as part of a techwear fit. That aside, no release date or pricing has been announced for these new additions just yet.

Catch up with CES 2025: We're on the ground in sunny Las Vegas covering all the latest announcements from some of the biggest names in tech, including Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Asus, Razer, MSI and more.

View Deal

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/asus-reveals-three-new-slash-travel-bags-for-carting-around-your-rog-ally-unfortunately-none-of-them-are-particularly-fashion-forward/ YS2oi2yJGgwMtwDGV2ZANS Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:05:05 +0000 <![CDATA[ SteamOS beta could be available to download to your handheld gaming PC of choice as soon as April ]]> With the announcement of the Lenovo Legion Go S handheld gaming PC, the gears are well and truly turning. Revealed to be the first officially licensed third-party device to be running Valve's Linux-based OS, we finally have more details about what to expect from the future of SteamOS—chiefly, Valve is opening the floodgates.

In a recent news post, Valve announced that SteamOS will expand "beyond Steam Deck," with a beta version of the operating system becoming available for users to download ahead of Lenovo's handheld shipping. Considering the Legion Go S is slated for a May release, that beta could be even closer than we think. At any rate, it's been a long time coming.

Valve says it hopes this soon-to-be-more-widely-available beta version will "improve the experience on other handhelds," with the company continuing work to extend SteamOS support. Gaming On Linux noted a slight edit that changed 'devices' to 'handhelds,' suggesting an attempt by Valve to manage expectations; for the time being, it would appear that official support for running SteamOS on your actual desktop is a possibility that remains lost to the mists.

We got an inkling more recently that SteamOS was in reach for non-Deck handhelds back in August when support for the ROG Ally handheld's keys was detailed in a Beta update. Refined wording of SteamOS' brand guidelines a few months later strengthened the theory—turns out we weren't just blowing smoke!

Groaners aside, it seems highly likely that both SteamOS and by extension, the Steam Deck itself will continue to win people over. Versatility is the name of the handheld game; even though SteamOS is Linux-based, Valve's Proton compatibility layer ensures games made for Windows work on Steam Deck, so development studios don't also have to worry about creating a Linux port.

Furthermore, SteamOS' desktop mode on Valve's own handheld affords plenty of room to tinker and customise your device. This means that even on the Steam Deck itself, you're not locked into only playing on Steam and can install competitor clients to your heart's content. For another example, downloads over desktop mode were also how many turned their Steam Decks into stream decks—inelegantly to begin with, though dedicated apps like Nvidia's GeForce Now make game streaming even breezier.

For these reasons and more, we still rate Valve's original handheld. But with the Steam Deck 2 still a ways off, it certainly doesn't hurt to see a few more SteamOS-compatible options on the horizon.

Catch up with CES 2025: We're on the ground in sunny Las Vegas covering all the latest announcements from some of the biggest names in tech, including Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Asus, Razer, MSI and more.

View Deal

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/steamos-beta-could-be-available-to-download-to-your-handheld-gaming-pc-of-choice-as-soon-as-april/ EnBT5Ujn87eyf9PrhehZ3g Wed, 08 Jan 2025 14:24:40 +0000 <![CDATA[ I got hands on with the Lenovo Legion Go S handheld PC with Valve's SteamOS—and it seems like a bit of a winner to me ]]> It may have been one of the worst kept secrets in gaming hardware, but Lenovo's new Legion Go S is still real exciting. That's not only because this plucky handheld gaming PC packs one of AMD's new Z2 Series processors but also because it's available with SteamOS installed.

The Legion Go S and Legion Go S - Powered by SteamOS (that's the name) are two versions of the same 8-inch handheld gaming PC. Both have been announced over at Lenovo's event at CES 2025.

They're both available with one of AMD's Z2 Series Go processors, which were announced yesterday. There's also a Z1 Extreme option, and both have a slightly larger 55.5 Wh battery than the original Legion Go.

SteamOS is Valve's own Linux-based operating system for handheld gaming PCs, which has so far only officially resided on the Steam Deck. It has been port-able to other devices, but no one has officially taken on the OS for their own device. Until now, anyways.

I got a chance to have a quick play with the Lenovo Legion Go S at the event, and yep, that's a handheld alright. It's slightly reminiscent of the original Asus ROG Ally (albeit a bit more curved and refined) but one thing that jumped out was the performance. I had a quick run through the opening stages of Forza Horizon 5, a game I remember being a little stutter-prone and frame-y on various other handheld gaming PCs I've tried it on.

Image 1 of 2

The Lenovo Legion Go S on display at CES 2025.

(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2

The Lenovo Legion Go S playing Forza Horizon 5 at CES 2025.

(Image credit: Future)

Not so here. Of course, many updates have passed since I last played it, so perhaps the odd stutter and frame drop has been patched out, but it was a remarkably smooth experience—and may speak well of the potential performance of the Z2 APU in the Glacier White model I was testing.

Overall it's a solid-feeling device, although pesky journos before me had broken a trigger of one of the demo units. I wouldn't take that to mean much though, as we tech journalists are known for being heavy-handed—and we're likely being shown prototypes that aren't quite up to the full release spec.

I made sure to test out the triggers on a couple of other models, and they felt just peachy to me. The chassis is perhaps a little plastic-y, but all the important buttons and controls felt nicely responsive under my hammering thumbs.

The display's a good'un, too, being an eight inch WQXGA 1200p LCD with a 120 Hz refresh rate. It looked nicely vibrant, even when surrounded with the glowing neon lights of the display area, so hopefully that translates to lovely colour reproduction under normal lighting.

So then, a properly interesting addition to the handheld market from Lenovo. I'll be curious to see if my perceived performance impressions match up to the benchmarks, but this is definitely a handheld to keep an eye on when the SteamOS version launches for $500 in May of this year.

Catch up with CES 2025: We're on the ground in sunny Las Vegas covering all the latest announcements from some of the biggest names in tech, including Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Asus, Razer, MSI and more.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/i-got-hands-on-with-the-lenovo-legion-go-s-handheld-pc-with-valves-steamos-and-it-seems-like-a-bit-of-a-winner-to-me/ Wx8Awk77Nk28t2FyaLgUkD Tue, 07 Jan 2025 20:13:19 +0000 <![CDATA[ Acer unveils the comically huge Nitro Blaze 11, a gaming handheld more than three times the weight of a Nintendo Switch ]]> While others at PC Gamer have been extolling the virtues of their Steam Decks, I've held off on shelling out for a PC gaming handheld for one main reason: None of the gaming handhelds on the market are big enough to double as an impromptu charcuterie board. Luckily, at CES 2025, Acer just unveiled the Nitro Blaze 11—an upcoming gaming handheld hellbent on stretching the boundaries of the word "portability."

The Nitro Blaze 11 features a 10.95-inch, 144 Hz WQXGA screen, which conveniently gives the device the necessary proportions for acting as a serviceable eye shield if you find your gaming session interrupted by an unexpected flashbang grenade. According to the press release, the veritable slab of allegedly-portable computing is powered by a Ryzen 8040 processor, a Radeon 780M GPU, and 16 GB of LPDDR5x RAM. And with up to 2 TB of storage, it can be big on the inside, too.

While it's comforting to know that the Nitro Blaze 11 will have a passing chance at returning a tennis serve should the need arise, I am concerned about how my wrists will feel after an hour of supporting its 1050g weight. That's roughly 2.3 pounds—more than one and a half times the weight of a Steam Deck OLED, and more than three times the weight of a Nintendo Switch. Thankfully, it's got detachable controllers and a Switch-style kickstand, sparing my wrists the pain of my advancing carpal tunnel and my loved ones the pain of having to wonder, "Why on Earth is he holding that?"

The Nitro Blaze 11 will cost $1100 when it releases some time in Q2 2025. If you're interested in the same internal specs in a form factor less capable of bludgeoning a low-flying bird, it'll release alongside the Nitro Blaze 8: a smaller sibling handheld with an 8.8-inch screen and a $900 price tag.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/acer-unveils-the-comically-huge-nitro-blaze-11-a-gaming-handheld-more-than-three-times-the-weight-of-a-nintendo-switch/ GrXrJT6xUFcXghT7HVLCba Mon, 06 Jan 2025 22:51:31 +0000 <![CDATA[ AMD announces more powerful Ryzen Z2 Series processors for future PC handhelds, but Valve says 'there is and will be no Z2 Steam Deck' ]]> AMD has confirmed that Valve will be using one of its new handheld gaming PC processors, the Ryzen Z2 Series, inside a future model of Steam Deck.

During a CES 2025 call, an AMD spokesperson said: "You'll see this [Z2 Series] coming to market from a number of partners, the Legion Go, the ROG Ally, the Valve Steam Deck."

"This really allows us to tap into what we see as an exciting and fast growing portion of the market where many of our OEM partners are bringing some really cool and high powered handheld solutions to market and delivering great battery life and performance. And an overall fantastic handheld gaming experience on the AMD Z2 series processors."

However, Valve has flatly denied that there is a Z2 Steam Deck in development. In a post on Bluesky, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais wrote "There is and will be no Z2 Steam Deck. Guessing the slide was meant to say the series is meant for products like that, not announcing anything specific."

The Z2 Series is a new lineup of APUs—processors with both CPU and GPU components included. It includes three chips:

The Extreme version will be using RDNA 3 graphics, likely RDNA 3.5, and none will use the latest RDNA 4 architecture also announced at CES. The Extreme chip will also likely use the modern Zen 5 architecture, while at least the lowest tier chip is likely based on older architectures (boo), but neither of these was confirmed at the show.

This isn't a dissimilar approach to one taken by AMD with the Z1 series, which offered up both the Z1 Extreme and the Z1. The Z1 ultimately proved to be the much more popular chip in handhelds such as the ROG Ally, at least by our reckoning, as the Z1 version didn't offer the performance or price drop we'd like to see to make it worthwhile.

A slide detailing the Z2 Series processors launched by AMD at CES and planned to go into Lenovo, Asus, and Valve devices.

(Image credit: AMD)

What this means for Valve and other handheld gaming PC manufacturers, including Lenovo and Asus, is they'll have their pick between these chips for their next design of handheld gaming PC. If Valve does later decide to create a Steam Deck with this hardware, for example, it could pick the Ryzen Z2 Go, as the company's current Steam Deck is a more price-conscious design than the ROG Ally or Legion Go.

Though it might also need a bigger performance leap than the Z2 Go can offer to justify a new model, as we'll get to shortly. Meanwhile, Lenovo and ROG are likely to opt for the highest performance option, at least for their top-spec model.

Lenovo has been long-rumoured to redesign its Legion handheld lineup to include these Z2 processors, and a mix of them, too. We know Lenovo will also have an event covering the "future of handheld gaming" tomorrow, January 7, with Valve as a special guest. Wonder what that could be about, huh? Oh right, maybe a Legion Go with SteamOS.

A slide from AMD's press briefing on the Z2 Series processors.

(Image credit: AMD)

That's a point, actually. With Lenovo and Asus looking likely to bring SteamOS to their handheld gaming PCs, which have traditionally run Windows, then these devices become something more like a powerful Steam Deck. When Valve eventually upgrades its hardware, too, we'll end up with lots of SteamOS-powered handhelds running similar or the same processors. That's a lot of competition in the space.

However, we don't know when Valve intends to release a device with the Z2 processor inside it. The company has been pretty uptight about only creating a next-generation Steam Deck when there's a "generational leap in compute without sacrificing battery life."

CES 2025

The CES logo on display at the show.

(Image credit: Future)

Catch up with CES 2025: We're on the ground in sunny Las Vegas covering all the latest announcements from some of the biggest names in tech, including Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Asus, Razer, MSI and more.

We don't know how the Z2 Series will exactly shape up, but the Extreme version appears likely to be a match for the RDNA 3.5 GPU included in AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. To call that a generational leap does feel like a bit of a stretch if you've been keeping up with the latest trends, but the Steam Deck is on much older technology—a four-core Zen 2 processor with eight RDNA 2 CUs.

Though, say Valve picks the Z2 Go, that would be only a four CU improvement on the current Steam Deck APU, and the Go is likely not using the latest Zen 5 architecture either. Not only that, but the Z1 Extreme would've been better, so why wait?

It's all a bit odd. Before Valve's public denial I wondered if AMD has suggested something that's not entirely the case re: the Steam Deck and Z2 availability, but the AMD spokesperson was pretty clear about it in the call and there's a picture of a Steam Deck right there in the slides—which Valve must not be too happy about, given it's now publicly denied using the hardware.

AMD says Z2 Series availability will begin in Q1, 2025. We'll have to wait and see what Lenovo has in store tomorrow and whether Valve has anything more to say on a future Steam Deck to see what this all means for the handheld market. One thing is for sure, it's showing no signs of slowing.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/a-new-steam-deck-is-coming-with-one-of-amds-more-powerful-ryzen-z2-series-processors-inside-it/ aioz5eLgLU3up5zQzvSzif Mon, 06 Jan 2025 19:46:30 +0000 <![CDATA[ After a year in its company, I've done a complete 180 on my Steam Deck ]]> Two years ago, I wrote about the fact that I had major Steam Deck FOMO but still wouldn't cough up a few hundred bones for one. That changed last year, after a few too many festive beers led to an impulse purchase and an OLED model arriving at my door a few days later.

I will admit, I was a bit of a Steam Deck naysayer, even right up to the moment I came face-to-face with my shiny new handheld for the first time. When it originally launched, I feared it would go the same way as Valve's previous inventions in the VR and streaming space, a concern that's been assuaged since—the company's been pretty serious about making the Steam Deck happen, and I can't see support going away anytime soon.

Still, I was worried that it would end up like my poor Nintendo Switch, neglected inside its case, the location of its charger long lost to the darker corridors of my mind palace. A little too late and with my wallet so light it was practically airborne, I wondered: with so many different videogame gadgets and gizmos vying for my attention, would there even be any point in adding the Steam Deck to my ever-growing tech collection?

So, uh, is the Steam Deck worth it?

God, yes. It is so worth it, at least for my needs and how it fits ever-so-smoothly into my current gaming habits. I feel like one of those relentlessly annoying millennials who got an air fryer and proceeded to not shut up about it until everyone they knew also had a countertop convection oven (it's me, I'm also that person). Honestly, what is a Steam Deck if not an air fryer for gamers?

Okay but no, seriously, a Steam Deck has allowed me to reconnect with my biggest hobby, even as this job has often pushed me away from it. I work at my desk five days a week, using the same rig I play games on in my non-work time. I'm not always necessarily jazzed about the idea of spending several "me time" hours sitting in the same place I just spent a third of my day doing my job.

A Steam Deck running Metaphor: ReFantazio.

(Image credit: Future)

It's surprisingly freeing, unshackling myself from that and being able to loll on my sofa or tuck up in bed and dig into my backlog. I finished games this year that I likely wouldn't have gotten very far in otherwise. My 160 hours in Metaphor: ReFantazio were almost exclusively spent either playing natively on the Steam Deck or streaming it from my PC, letting me kick back with a controller and play my JRPG the way god intended.

I'm a sucker for cosy games, too, and what's cosier than being able to get under half a dozen warm blankets and play Fields of Mistria horizontally while I lose all feeling in my forearms and fingers? Absolutely nothing, I tell ya. The Deck has been a fantastic bit of kit for integrating into my everyday life—it's turned once-gruelling train journeys or flights into something I secretly look forward to as a way to unwind with some games I might not've tried otherwise.

Case in point, I played a bunch of Dungeon Clawler while on a 90-minute train ride recently. It's a game that could've easily gotten sucked into my ever-growing pile of "I'll definitely play that at some point", but it turned out to be the perfect easy-and-quick pickup game for a relatively short journey.

Heroic Game Launcher running on a Steam Deck

(Image credit: Future)

It sounds dead silly to say that owning a Steam Deck has made me surprisingly more flexible about what games I try, but it kinda has. I'll happily pick up something for a few bucks in a Steam sale to try out on a plane where I can't mindlessly scroll Reddit for two hours, or while I'm away from my desktop visiting family. It's the perfect device for sampling new things, and it's undeniably broadened my gaming horizons this year.

There's also a quiet joy in getting something like the Steam Deck and realising I already have hundreds of games ready to go. It's like backwards compatibility, but cooler. It's everything compatibility. Almost every game in my library—with a few tweaks here and there—can run on my Steam Deck. That's freaking rad. It makes old games feel new, and new games feel weirdly magical in how they can be stuffed into this tiny portable doodad.

I finished games this year that I likely wouldn't have gotten very far in otherwise.

I dunno, I'm rambling at this point, but I really do believe that the Steam Deck is the perfect PC gaming companion. I haven't used it every day of the year—hell, my Steam Replay claims only 15% of my overall playtime was using my Deck, though those numbers don't account for any offline hours, of which I have a lot—but it's been integral in helping me fall in love with PC gaming all over again.

I've travelled home to spend the holidays with my family, and I must confess I spent a lot of time beforehand thinking about what games I could play on my Steam Deck while I'm there. I've got Yakuza 0 and Sleeping Dogs locked and loaded, while I'll no doubt be sinking some time into old favourites like Balatro and Stardew Valley, too. Unnecessary train ride on Christmas Day, anyone?

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/after-a-year-in-its-company-ive-done-a-complete-180-on-my-steam-deck/ bjXBPq8KWxfaujsnRrJro5 Wed, 01 Jan 2025 15:25:05 +0000 <![CDATA[ PC Gamer Hardware Awards: The best gaming handheld of 2024 ]]>
Gear of the Year

PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 logo on a black background

(Image credit: Future)

Check out more of the year's best tech in our PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 coverage.

It would be tempting to assume that, massive PC gaming corp. that it is, Valve would have the entire handheld gaming PC market sewn up. It's got the affordable end dealt with by the older LCD-screened Steam Deck and the more recent Steam Deck OLED version is getting new colourways to make it ever more desirous without being too much more expensive.

But I've been hugely impressed with the level of innovation that we've seen around the still burgeoning handheld market, with Ayaneo arguably the kings and queens of wrapping essentially the same hardware as everyone else up in fascinating new ways. I would also suggest it's managed to make the best of the struggles with Windows 11 as the de facto operating system for most non-Valve handhelds, too.

With the little and large of handhelds, in the Flip DS and Kun, Ayaneo has certainly been a busy ol' bee this year.

Asus has been the comeback kid, however, rejuvenating its ROG Ally console with a mid-season ROG Ally X refresh which fixed all the old problems and gave it a battery life that is the envy of every other handheld around. And it looks damned good in black, too.

A host of other companies have tried to get into the market, to greater or lesser success, with the likes of Lenovo and Zotac being two of the most prominent new entries. Though MSI has come through, too, attempting to fly the flag for Intel. Poor, poor Intel. Though we are more excited about a potential Lunar Lake handheld in the coming year.

But, right at the tail end of the year we've had our hands on the most powerful handheld PC we've ever tested, the OneXFly F1 Pro with its Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chip. That's been a big of a game-changer in terms of gaming frame rates on the go, though it's not without its flaws, too.

So, here are the nominees. We'll announce the winner on New Year's Eve.

Best gaming handheld 2024: the nominees

Asus ROG Ally X
This is a comeback of almost Cyberpunk 2077 proportions. Okay, so maybe the original ROG Ally was better received out of the gate, but it did start to present some serious problems once people started using their device in anger. Serious, broken SD card problems.

The Ally X has been brought in as a mid-season refresh for the device, bringing a host of little changes to the handheld PC that all amount to a really big difference.

Of course the b0rked SD card slot has been fixed, but you also get a much bigger battery, a whole lot more memory, and more standardisation over the 1 TB 2280 SSD and the use of a normal USB4 connection instead of the proprietary XGMobile.

The fixes and updates Asus has jammed into the Ally X show how much the company has listened to the feedback around its first handheld PC and taken it to heart. And then produced the finest all-round handheld PC you can buy, and done so at a decent price.

Read our full Asus ROG Ally X review.

Ayaneo Flip DS
Isn't she pretty? But it isn't just all about the looks, because the Flip DS is far more than just an homage to the classic clamshell Nintendo DS design. Of course the insides are all very familiar, and so is the performance. We are talking about essentially the same Ryzen silicon we've seen in every post-Steam Deck handheld launched.

But what isn't familiar is that second screen baked into its base, and the flip-open lid that means you no longer have to worry about a screen protector and/or a carry case. This thing is small enough, and robust enough, that just tossing it into your bag is all the preparation you need for travelling with it.

And that second screen is immensely useful, either as a touchscreen keyboard, or for keeping tabs on your device's vitals, or for simply using like a standard second monitor for your PC. It really makes using a handheld on Windows a pleasure rather than a chore.

Read our full Ayaneo Flip DS review.

OneXFly F1 Pro
The original OneXFly was one of my favourite small form factor gaming handhelds from the first flush of Ryzen 7 7840U-powered devices. Now it's back, with the most mobile powerful AMD chip available today, making it one of the most desirable handhelds around.

The use of the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is undoubtedly the part that's causing the biggest stir, as the first handheld to be released sporting the AMD silicon. But OneXPlayer has also given it a bit of a spruce up elsewhere, too, giving it a mega-bright 1080p, 144 Hz OLED display to put a bow on top of the beautifully designed package.

When propped up by the twin pillars of upscaling and frame generation, the F1 Pro is able to deliver stellar gaming performance, beyond that of its contemporaries, at just 15 W. Which is good, because the 48.5 Wh battery is its biggest disappointment. As is its sky-high pricing.

Read our full OneXFly F1 Pro review.

The winner of the PC Gamer Hardware Award for the best gaming handheld will be announced on New Year's Eve. It's all to play for, and any one of these three is completely deserving of the crown.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/pc-gamer-hardware-awards-the-best-gaming-handheld-of-2024/ VJb3kp3p7ragRwzcBSX9sf Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro review ]]> I'm a smitten kitten. And it's nothing to do with the fetching red clothing of the version of the new OneXFly F1 Pro I've been testing, either. Which is a good job, because this Evangelion EVA-02 version isn't available outside of China, so if that was the real kicker you guys would be out of luck.

No, the real kicker is that this is the first gaming handheld PC I've used, held, or tested that sports AMD's latest APU, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370—the chip whose name I can rarely get right on the first try. Seriously, it's a curse, and I only ever remember the first bit because I know it's AMD desperately trying to make 'Ryzen AI' happen. Stop trying to make Ryzen AI happen.

The Strix Point silicon is a bit of a game-changer for handhelds, especially when you start to factor in all the other extras AMD has crafted that really play into the literal hands of PC gamers. Radeon Anti-Lag and Fluid Motion Frames 2 really are the key ones for handheld gaming, but also any game which sports FSR3 and its own per-game frame generation implementations, too.

Those are what sets the OneXFly F1 Pro apart from any other gaming handheld you could care to mention, because of how the HX 370 extends performance over the competition. Mind you, the $1,339 price tag will also set it apart. That's the sort of money that will get you a full RTX 4070 Super gaming PC and still leave you change enough to buy yourself a decent 1080p gaming monitor, too. So yeah, you've got to really want the form factor and performance to consider dropping that sort of cash on a handheld.

F1 Pro specs

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)

APU: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
Cores: 12
Threads: 24
GPU: Radeon 890M
Compute Units: 16
RAM: 32 GB LPDDR5X-7500
Storage: 1 TB Acer N7000
Battery: 48.5 Wh
Weight: ~599 g
Price: $1,339

But mobile gaming is expensive; high-end handheld PCs doubly so. That's where Valve came in and played a blinder with the Steam Deck; it took Nintendo's Switch smarts, picked a lower spec chip, and stuck to a price point. Asus and Lenovo, with their own manufacturing might, have managed to bring prices down for their own performance devices, but smaller scale manufacturers, such as OneXPlayer and Ayaneo, seemingly cannot compete on that front and so you get pricing that feels way beyond acceptable.

What you are getting in the OneXFly F1 Pro, however, is a stellar little gaming device with performance to match its aesthetics. Though it is worth saying these are the same aesthetics with which the original OneXFly F1 was adorned.

That is no bad thing, because the slightly rubberised texture and smooth curves of the chassis feel great in the hands. And, while it is relatively weighty—coming in around the 600 g mark—its ergonomics and balance make it feel like one of the best designed handhelds I've used. It's created for the gaming long-haul and I've not had any of the hand cramping I get with the Steam Deck or other larger devices.

Okay, I say it's created for the long-haul, but that sadly does not extend to the OneXFly's battery. I want to get it out of the way up front, this is the biggest issue with an otherwise beautiful little gaming handheld: the battery life. Outside of the upgraded APU, the 48.5 Wh battery was the only thing that I really wanted to change from the original design. It's far too small to deliver a convincing long-term gaming experience with the OneXFly.

Basically, you are absolutely going to need to get yourself an external power pack to be able to enjoy this thing for more than an hour and forty reliably. I wish there had been a way to fit a higher capacity battery in that chassis, but it's so tightly packed in there that ain't going to happen.

Image 1 of 5

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 5

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 5

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 5

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 5 of 5

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)

The level of gaming performance you can get out of it running at just 15 W is pretty jaw-dropping.

The good news is that the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (oof, nailed it first time) absolutely slaps inside a handheld gaming PC. From our time testing it in laptop form, that's come as no surprise, but I will say the level of gaming performance you can get out of it running at just 15 W is pretty jaw-dropping. Sure, that's only made real by the twin pillars of upscaling and frame generation, but being able to hit between 43 and 52 fps in Star Wars: Outlaws at an upscaled 1080p resolution feels great.

Especially when, running at the same 15 W level with the same settings, the original OneXFly F1—with its Ryzen 7 7840U APU—is only capable of knocking around the low 20s in the fps stakes.

That sort of performance delta looked unlikely, however, when I was first doing my comparative testing against the older Ryzen APU. Looking at most of our gaming performance numbers and you'll see that in general you're only getting a handful of fps between them, the same is true even when you start throwing in upscaling, too.

There's the odd outlier, such as F1 24 and Hitman, where you're looking at around a 10 fps margin in favour of the Strix Point handheld, which is definitely more significant. But otherwise the 16 compute units of the Radeon 890M inside the HX 370 APU, compared with the 12 compute units of the Radeon 780M GPU of the Ryzen 7 7840U (and 8840U), don't seem to amount to a hill of beans/frames in most games.

Where that changes is when you enable frame generation in any form. Instantly there's a bigger performance delta, and especially so when you start to pull back on the power you let the APU draw in the first place. I feel that's largely because the CPU cores in the F1 Pro are running pretty slowly in the grand scheme of things; where it's capable of 5.3 GHz boost clocks, when pushed the F1 Pro is mostly just running around the 3.3 GHz mark and below.

It's not like the games are going to be CPU-limited on the new OneXFly, but the use of frame generation helps take the load off the CPU a little and lets those extra compute units make more of a difference when it comes to gaming performance.

The main takeaway, though, is that you can be running most games at 15 W, with either per-game frame generation or Fluid Motion Frame 2, and see great gaming performance that is both smooth and responsive.

Image 1 of 7

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 7

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 7

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 7

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 5 of 7

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 6 of 7

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 7 of 7

OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)

However, even at 15 W in Star Wars: Outlaws I was seeing the battery drain at almost exactly 1% per minute. That's going to get me more game time than the PCMark gaming benchmark delivers at 30 W—in testing that's just 68 mins—but crucially not twice as much.

It's worth saying that not every game is going to be as intensive as Star Wars: Outlaws or a modern 3D title, such as Elden Ring. Throw something more lightweight, such as OlliOlli World or Lonely Mountains Downhill, into the mix and you're going to see that battery life stretch much farther.

The new AMD APU is one of the main reasons I'm so smitten with the OneXPlayer F1 Pro, but not the only one. That 7-inch 144 Hz OLED panel has also got my attention. Running at 50 % brightness it's still got plenty about it, and throwing it all the way up makes it look just stunning because of that 800 cd/m2 peak luminance. The contrast is obviously exquisite, but the colours also sing, and both the refresh and OLED response time make gaming feel great, too.

Buy if...

✅ You want peak handheld performance: The extra cores and CUs of the Strix Point hardware make this the most powerful gaming handheld around.

✅ You want a compact handheld: The diminutive design feels great in the hand and isn't going to take up too much space in your luggage either.

✅ You want connections: With a pair of USB4 sockets and a full Type-A port it's easy to plug things into the device even while charging, and means it can become a full PC without too much docked trouble.

Don't buy if...

❌ You're after an affordable handheld: There are options with 80% of the performance for pretty much have the price of the F1 Pro. It's a great little device, but you've got to be prepared to pay full gaming PC prices for the privilege.

❌ You were hoping for many hours battery life: By using the same 48.5 Wh battery as the original means that you're getting a pretty short up time. But it can game happily at 15 W, which massively helps eke that out.

I've also got the 32 GB RAM / 1 TB SSD version of the F1 Pro in for testing, which makes it a very good PC, too. Combined with the fact that the Acer SSD in question is pretty rapid (7,300 MB/s and 6,600 MB/s for sequential read/write performance) and that you get two USB4 Type-C connections and a full-size USB 3.0 Type-A port on top, you could happily dock this bad boi to a monitor and have a fully functional PC without much messing around at all.

People will keep saying what a mess Windows 11 is on a handheld, and while yeah, it's not a touchscreen OS—especially not on a small-screen—set the thing up to boot directly into Steam's Big Picture mode and you're not a million miles off SteamOS functionally.

The F1 Pro has all the extra configurable physical buttons you could want, the OneXConsole application has matured a lot and, while it's still not as user-friendly as the excellent Ayaneo software, it's got all the functionality, especially now there are performance profiles you can make and switch to on the fly.

It's also a size that delights, too. I liked the Ayaneo Kun for its big screen and extra touchpads, but it's a lump to lug about. With the OneXFly it's just the size of that 7-inch OLED screen and the pads either side. The bezels are slim and the device relatively diminutive, if a little chunky. But, y'know, reassuringly chunky.

So yes, you can colour me a big fan of the new OneXFly F1 Pro. For me it's one of the best handheld gaming PCs I've used, combining functionality with form and performance. I love the fact I can scale back the APU to such an extent and still get great gaming performance out of the device, and it is absolutely my favourite aesthetic of all the handhelds I've used. Though, to be fair, the gorgeous Ayaneo Flip DS has a lot of appeal, too.

But there are still two big things letting the OneXFly F1 Pro down: the sky-high price and the weak, weak battery. With an external power pack you can combat one of those, but there's nothing anyone but OneXPlayer can do about the other.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/onexplayer-onexfly-f1-pro-review/ 5BAdm6nGQSBjBtjzLG3pPo Mon, 23 Dec 2024 13:15:22 +0000 <![CDATA[ Lenovo is showing off 'the future of handheld gaming' next month and Valve being involved could signal it uses SteamOS ]]> Windows isn't the only operating system for PC gamers, as Valve has amply demonstrated with its Linux-based software, SteamOS. However, support for it has been lacking in non-Valve hardware, until now. Lenovo's next major handheld might support SteamOS—and we should see it in just a few weeks.

As reported by The Verge, according to an email sent to tech writer Sean Hollister, Lenovo promises its CES 2025 event on January 7 will show the "future of handheld gaming firsthand". In that same email, Valve is reported to be a special guest, which isn't inherently interesting until you pair it with news from last week.

Earlier this month, we got renders of a white Lenovo Legion Go S and, soon after, leaks appeared of a black model, complete with a Steam button. The Twitter account (owned by a prominent leaker named Evan Blass) has seemingly disappeared and, being a rumour, we have to take this information with a grain of salt but the account has previously been seen as reputable.

Back in August, a SteamOS beta suggested a potential launch on the best handheld gaming PCs like the ROG Ally so all this information compiled together suggests we might finally see a SteamOS-supported Lenovo Legion at CES early next year.

CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is a yearly event in Las Vegas where tonnes of tech companies show off what they're working on. Think of it like the E3 (or Summer Games Fest now) of the tech world.

Generally speaking, we expect to see lots of teases over the coming weeks as companies prepare to unveil whatever big announcement they have coming. The information here was from an email so it's not a direct press release but the promises made are an attempt to build up hype for those attending the show.

We rather liked the original handheld in our Lenovo Legion Go review, praising its fantastic screen and intuitive detachable Switch-like controllers. SteamOS support would only make a device like this easier to use as Windows can be a bit cumbersome on a device you simply boot up to play a game with.

On a dedicated desktop, your PC often often has more than one function but, on Steam Deck, I'd be surprised if less than 90% of my time with the device was spent in game (or maybe browsing through the endless amount of sales).

Maybe giving me even quicker access to Steam sales isn't always a great thing actually.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/lenovo-is-showing-off-the-future-of-handheld-gaming-next-month-and-valve-being-involved-could-signal-it-uses-steamos/ A374GN4uCVmjCpFWuMARaX Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:48:35 +0000 <![CDATA[ OneXPlayer has teased a handheld PC with a removable keyboard that's getting me all sorts of excited for laptop/handheld hybrids ]]>

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to think 2025 might be the year of the handheld gaming PC. This recently teased OneXPlayer G1 handheld with a removeable keyboard is a good sign of things to come, anyways.

We'll be embarking fully into the second generation of handheld tech in 2025, and that means companies can hopefully start experimenting a little more now they've got a more mature foundation on which to do so.

We're certainly seeing such experimentation from OneXPlayer's latest announcement. It "combines a sleek, compact design with a detachable keyboard and built-in controls for ultimate versatility".

It also comes with the same HX 370 processor that you'll find in the top-end version of the new OneXFly F1 Pro which our Dave's been testing. He's been genuinely impressed with the level of performance you can get out of it at 1080p, especially with the help of FSR 3 and frame gen.

But if you want to hear about all that you can wait for Dave's review. With this OneXPlayer G1, the main thing is that laptop/handheld design. It can be hard to make out in the YouTube video—it's a teaser that actually teases—but on its Indiegogo page things are laid out very clearly.

It's a GPD-looking thing, reminding me of the GPD Win Max 2 in shape and stature, at least—its screen is a little smaller than the Max 2, but significantly bigger than the Mini. The difference is, the G1 has a detachable keyboard, meaning you can "switch seamlessly between laptop, console, and tablet modes for any task."

Once that keyboard (and trackpad) is peeled, you have access to a controller layout, along with what looks to be a smaller touch keyboard underneath, in the same kind of split layout as the GPD.

This is exactly the kind of experimentation I like to see in the handheld sphere, now that many handhelds have nailed the basics. New form factors are always fun.

We've already seen some Acer experimenting in a similar fashion with its Project DualPlay concept. Except that's more decidedly a laptop—it just has a pop-out gamepad on the underside of the trackpad. And we've seen dual-screen innovation in the form of the Ayaneo Flip DS, which our Jacob Ridley really loves.

So yeah, I'm excited not just for this particular handheld, if and when it comes to market, but for what kinds of mainstream form factor adjustments it might lead to in the handheld market in general. And to be honest, it's probably best I don't get my sights honed in on the OneXPlayer G1 in particular, given it'll probably be incredibly expensive. That is, assuming the F1 Pro is anything to go by.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/onexplayer-has-teased-a-handheld-pc-with-a-removable-keyboard-thats-getting-me-all-sorts-of-excited-for-laptop-handheld-hybrids/ BuwBjkwbdwJn7M3KXAHmtP Thu, 19 Dec 2024 17:12:05 +0000 <![CDATA[ The Nintendo Switch 2 looks like it might be following the handheld gaming PC trend and going large ]]> Dbrand, a manufacturer known for producing cases for all sorts of electronic devices, has shown off a 360-degree render of a case for the Nintendo Switch 2—with what looks to be a render of the new console inside.

While pre-release renders from third-party manufacturers should be taken with a pinch of salt, Dbrand's CEO has spoken about the potential dimensions for Nintendo's upcoming handheld—and it's looking like a chonky boi, at least compared to the previous model.

Speaking to The Verge, Dbrand head honcho Adam Ijaz said that the Switch 2 measures 270 mm wide, 116 mm tall, and 14 mm thick, with the console portion taking up 200 mm of that width, based on a "3D scan of the real hardware". That'd make it significantly larger overall than the Switch OLED, which measures in at 242 mm x 102 mm x 13.9 mm.

That's still 28 mm smaller width-wise than the Steam Deck, and 29 mm less than the substantial Lenovo Legion Go with controllers attached. That being said, I'd wager that Nintendo's engineers may have taken a look at the ever-growing handheld gaming PC market (both in available models and unit size) and seen that big handhelds seem to be of little issue to buyers, and decided to take advantage of that fact.

And that's not all Ijaz has to reveal on the Switch 2. It's his "understanding" that the Joy-Cons are magnetically attached with an ejection button for release, and that there's now a second square button with a "C" printed on it underneath the traditional Home button, although he doesn't know what its function is. Capture? Clamp? Coffee? It's all conjecture at this point.

The diagonal measurement of the cover glass is said to support the rumour that the Switch 2 will have an eight-inch screen, slightly larger than the Steam Deck OLED's 7.4-inch model. It's not yet known if the Switch 2 will have a traditional IPS or OLED display, although it seems likely to me that it'll be a more standard display with the option for an OLED refresh later in its lifespan.

Still, with the Legion Go boasting an 8.8-inch display, if these rumoured dimensions play out it'll still be behind that particularly hefty handheld in terms of screen real estate.

YouTube channel SwitchUp has recently released a video on what it purports to be a "3D printed non-functional device" from a Switch 2 case manufacturer in China, which seems to line up with the dimensions given by Dbrand here. Everything seems to be a bit larger, with bigger Joy-Cons, a more substantial chassis size overall, and what looks to be a second USB Type-C port on the top of the device.

One of the biggest bugbears with the OG Switch was the positioning of the charging cable at the bottom of the device, which meant resting the cable awkwardly on table tops, airplane tray tables and more when charging under usage.

More on the Steam Deck

Steam Deck set up as a PC

(Image credit: Future)

Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

However, even with all this extra unconfirmed info, the exact release date remains a mystery. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has previously said that the console is planned to be released "within this fiscal year", which would put the deadline on March 31, 2025.

Manufacturers have been experimenting with the formula for handheld gaming PC chassis sizes over the past few years, and if these rumoured dimensions are any indication, it looks like Nintendo may have followed the "bigger is better" route to match.

Personally, I wasn't all the enamoured with the hardware inside the original Switch, so hopefully this new console's beefed-up internals will deliver performance to match its heftier frame, although reports say that Nvidia's DLSS will likely be providing a major helping hand. One can hope, ey?

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/the-nintendo-switch-2-looks-like-it-might-be-following-the-handheld-gaming-pc-trend-and-going-large/ 9EaaviMAoVpKcMytFeQUCN Mon, 16 Dec 2024 13:41:27 +0000 <![CDATA[ You can pick up a refurbished Steam Deck OLED directly from Valve for as little as $439 if others haven't already scooped them all ]]> I've been enjoying some quality time with the office Steam Deck. Between finally checking out Mouthwashing and giving 1000XResist another playthrough, I'm not really putting the hardware through its paces. Still, it's hard to argue with that gorgeous OLED screen or the promise of portability for combatting my ever-growing back log.

However, when it comes to taking the plunge and picking up a unit myself, the consistent sticking point is the price. Almost 600 bucks to keep enjoying that OLED screen alongside a decent amount of space? I'm not sure I'm yet ready for that level of commitment (even if it is great for a night out on the town). Well, Valve seems to have caught wind of my whining.

Refurbished Steam Decks certified by Valve are now available, and someone somewhere was able to scoop a refurbished 512 GB OLED Steam Deck for as little as $439 (£389). If you don't mind a glossy screen without the anti-glare coating, that's still a sizeable saving of $110 off of a brand new unit's $549 price tag. However this, and all other options, were consistently out of stock on the UK storefront at time of writing.

Otherwise, refurbished Steam Deck units are now theoretically available in the US, Canada, the EU, as well as the UK. On the US storefront, the 512 GB and 1 TB OLED models are in stock, though who knows for how long. So, what are you getting for your money? Valve explains that each of their certified refurbished units go through a meticulous process including, "a complete factory reset, software update, and an extensive examination involving over 100 tests." Rest assured, thumbsticks are thoroughly waggled and controller drift rooted out. Valve says their process is so rigorous that "all refurbished units meet or even exceed the performance standards of new retail units."

The only thing to bear in mind is that as these are second hand units, a refurbished Steam Deck may come with small scuffs or otherwise "minor cosmetic blemishes." Still, each one gets a refurbished power supply, plus its own carry case and a one year warranty at least (though this lattermost point may vary depending on where you live). It's not hard to see why these second hand offerings have been so popular.

The Steam Deck debuted first with an LCD screen back in 2022, before the OLED model lit up our world in 2023. It's the later OLED Steam Deck which remains our top budget pick when it comes to best handheld gaming PCs—which just goes to show how pricey an arena portable gaming can be. When it comes to handhelds though, this isn't as quiet a stage as it once was; the Asus ROG Ally X offers not only stiff competition, but also the eye-watering price tag of close to $800 (£799) for the 1 TB model.

You know what, that really puts the state of play into perspective for me. Guess I'll be saving my pennies and hitting refresh on Valve's certified refurb page—after all, the Steam Deck 2 is still a ways off.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/get-your-refurbished-steam-deck-directly-from-valve/ RDadMJzCnkNQygVDJUSCfm Wed, 11 Dec 2024 14:55:36 +0000 <![CDATA[ Valve's new 'Powered by SteamOS' branding has been unveiled, but it's more about clawing handhelds away from Windows than it is about new desktop Steam Machines ]]> Hooo mama, what a time it is for Valve. It seems like a Steam Controller 2 is already in mass production and now it looks like SteamOS might soon be making its way onto third-party handhelds, or perhaps even other machines. It sure is an exciting time for anyone interested in GabeN's gubbins, which is surely just about every PC gamer.

As spotted by a Reddit user on r/pcgaming, Valve's added a new logo to its brand guidelines, this being a "Powered by SteamOS" logo and related guidelines which can be found on page 16. This is, as far as I'm aware, the first big change to its brand guidelines in years.

The document states: "The Powered by SteamOS logo indicates that a hardware device will run the SteamOS and boot into SteamOS upon powering on the device. Partners / manufacturers will ship hardware with a Steam image in the form provided by and / or developed in close collaboration with Valve."

Valve's always spoken about the possibility of releasing SteamOS for general install on whatever device you wish, and we first saw real hints of SteamOS's potential wider adoption earlier this year when ROG Ally support was added.

One thing that's surprised me about all this, though, at least judging by online comments, is just how many people seem to be keen on getting SteamOS installed on their desktop instead of Windows.

I know Windows' latest updates aren't quite bug-free (just ask my colleague Andy about that one, given his recent update woes), but I still find it a little surprising that people would swap out their desktop for a Steam desktop. Unless it's only used for gaming, of course.

I'm not sure we should be barking up the SteamOS desktop tree too much, yet, anyway. Even back in 2023, Valve's lead designer Lawrence Yang told us that Valve would "probably start with making [SteamOS] more available to other handhelds with a similar gamepad style controller".

I'd place my bets on officially licensed third-party handhelds such as the ROG Ally "Powered by SteamOS"—perhaps you'll be able to choose Windows or SteamOS at checkout.

But Valve has seemed keen on getting SteamOS out there as a general install, and this would presumably mean one could recreate the much-hyped, short-lived and mostly hypothetical Steam Machine with any number of devices. Much would depend on support for non-handheld hardware, though, and we have no word on that front—or on any front at all, really, regarding a general release.

But with news of a Steam Controller 2 potentially being in mass production, it is at least exciting to contemplate a Steam Controller + Steam Machine era, but this time done right thanks to all Valve's learnt over the past few years of successfully branching out into OS, handheld, and controller development.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/valves-new-powered-by-steamos-branding-has-been-unveiled-but-its-more-about-clawing-handhelds-away-from-windows-than-it-is-about-new-desktop-steam-machines/ PQD9JzNTe7X5DopFeSoQqS Thu, 05 Dec 2024 15:41:53 +0000 <![CDATA[ Zotac Zone review ]]> The Zotac Zone, is the latest stab by a manufacturer at Valve's throne and the Steam Deck. While it comes incredibly close to being a genuine best attempt—the design and layout is 100% aimed at mimicking Valve's console—it is held back by software, and not just by the pesky hand of Microsoft and Windows 11.

It's not the most flashy of entries in the ever growing list of Windows handhelds. It's a more subtle affair, despite its typical "gamer aesthetic" outer shell. It's all in the hardware, without the gimmicks.

However, it is the PC handheld that has felt the most detached from Windows during set up. After digging through Microsoft's endless requirements and agreements vertically (there's a gyroscope), I wasn't met with any baked-in software. I did find Zotac's software pre-installed, but it was a much older version than the latest release, and it consistently crashed.

Once I got it working Zotac—like everyone else—presents a far worse version of Steam Big Picture Mode (Valve's additional front end originally intended for TVs) to get around Microsoft's inability to launch its own, handheld console-like experience.

Zone specs

Zotac Zone handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)

Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 8840U
GPU: Integrated AMD Radeon 780M
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 512 GB
Screen: 7-inch 120 Hz AMOLED touchscreen
Controls: Hall effect analogue sticks, gyroscope, back paddles, dual touch pads
Connectivity: 2x USB4, 3.5 mm jack, Micro SD slot, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Battery: 48.5 WHr
Dimensions: 285 x 115 x 35 mm
Weight: 692 grams
Price: $799 | £820

Zotac's launcher is just riddled with glaringly obvious oversights. On the ROG Ally systems, Asus has presets for the performance options you'd like. Zotac's "One Launcher" instead has you build your own presets, which without prior knowledge would make little sense. Does the regular consumer know that 17 watts is the agreed upon “best middle ground” for the 8840U or what a TDP even is?

Even the launcher's controller remapper left me wanting more. A lack of options, including remapping a keyboard button to one of the back paddles or even having the remap function when active just led to frustration.

More frustrating is the branded buttons can't be remapped either, an issue I found on the ROG Ally. It's wasteful, when it could very easily be a generic guide button rather than causing the Zotac proprietary launcher to lurch to the front on instinctive presses.

I'm quite down on Windows handheld software, simply because we've been at this for some time now. GDP and OneXPlayer didn't figure it out in the years before the Steam Deck. Not one manufacturer has cracked it since Valve's release, with only Ayaneo really getting close.

Zotac Zone handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)

While I could whittle on about Windows 11 on handhelds, it's old hat. Just know that it's the same here. You'll be thumbing at the desktop environment—even with the trackpads—and fumbling through Game Pass to try get the wretched app to install anything.

It does make me look like a fan boy, but the honest truth is that Valve's custom built version of Linux and major rework of Steam Big Picture to be a true frontend work so well, and work so well precisely because they're custom-built to work with the hardware. It's the complete package, something that Zotac is ever so close to figuring out.

While Zotac's software is lacking, its hardware decisions aren't. It feels as though at every turn, it took into consideration what people would want from a higher end handheld.

Underneath the hood is AMD's 8840U, a killer chip that is the current favorite of companies like Ayaneo. It provides just that extra smidge of power over the previous 7840U, but the 16 GB of RAM means it still lags behind in some applications that of a fully upgrade Ayaneo 2S with 32 GB or Asus ROG Ally X with its 24 GB.

The Zotac Zone performs best when you have total control of its hardware. In initial tests with the hardware, I found that if I didn’t manhandle it to exert to 30 W, it’d play it too safe. Performance in 3DMark was significantly lower, circling nearer to 2100 points than the 3027 it actually scored.

I also saw it in Cyberpunk 2077, where the average framerate was 30 fps until giving it the juice it really needed. After fumbling around in the Zotac One Launcher and creating a profile to show off the true capabilities of the system, it began to show how much more important RAM is this time around.

The Zotac Zone and Ayaneo Flip DS, for example, are split by RAM speed and a meager difference of two watts in total power draw. Ayaneo’s slower RAM—6400 MT/s—and Zotac’s 7500 MT/s just prove that a simple chip upgrade isn’t all it takes these days.

However, with the 8840U I found that Metaphor: ReFantizo ran exceptionally well at 1080p, 60 fps. I've been playing it quite a bit on the Steam Deck and the jolt between seeing everything at 30 fps, 720p and what the Zotac Zone can do, is a little like whiplash.

Other titles such as Ace Combat 7, Amid Evil, and Half-Life 2 all played magnificently at the higher end of the frame rate. Half-Life 2 and Amid Evil obviously held down the 120 fps mark, while Ace Combat 7 held steady at 60 fps. Even in the newest Forza Motorsport game I was hitting mid-40s with FSR supersampling helping along the way.

These handhelds do need supersampling for some newer titles. You'll never be playing that new Indiana Jones game comfortably on one of these, but some of the Unreal Engine 5 games I played also needed that extra push.

Robocop: Rogue City ran extremely poorly without supersampling and frame generation. Both software tools, they use algorithms to achieve better performance. Supersampling shrinks the image and blow it back up at the desired resolution, taking work off the GPU. Frame generation literally tries to create the next frame based on the data provided.

I found that Rogue City introduced quite a bit of latency when using frame generation, but also, even with FSR, still needed to be bumped down a graphical notch in the settings to achieve a steady frame rate. Essentially, as with any of these handhelds, so long as you keep your gaming expectations in check, the Zotac Zone could be your next best friend.

Image 1 of 3

Zotac Zone handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 3

Zotac Zone handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 3

Zotac Zone handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Future)

One area that I wish Zotac had considered more was the storage space. 512 GB is paltry in the modern era. After installing Cyberpunk 2077 for benchmarks, as well as a few other titles, I was fast running out and it hadn't even been a day. It really needs to be a 1 TB or more for a modern handheld. However, upgrading should be cheaper and easier than on something like the Steam Deck. Inside is a full sized, 2280 NVMe drive, instead of the usual 2230 short stack. This is a fantastic move for tinkerers, just making the system even more flexible.

Where Zotac obviously thought things through is the AMOLED screen. Measuring 7-inches, it is glorious. Rich, vibrant colors pour out of it. Horror titles like Crow's Country ooze atmosphere as the deep blacks envelope everything. I found no major haloing or weird effects coming from it either, with not much in the way of color inaccuracies either.

Buy if...

✅ You want solid hardware, and the software be damned: While the software is awkward it does offer the best actual hardware of the bunch.

✅ You're after a best in class screen: The AMOLED screen truly is in a class by itself on the Windows handheld front, only bested by those with OLED.

Don't buy if...

❌ You want an affordable option: The Zotac Zone sits with the likes of Ayaneo and Lenovo with a meaty price tag.

❌ You're expecting to play the newest games: These handhelds play great with older titles or indie games, so no, you won't be playing Stalker 2 at full whack on the go.

The Zone is incredibly comfortable to hold, even with its jagged edges on the palm rest. Aping Valve's design, it sports two small trackpads with a definitive, satisfying click. There's two USB 4 ports, making peripheral or docks use super easy to use.

It even has a Switch or Legion Go like stand to prop it up. There's also a webcam on the front for Windows Hello and I've even used it as a last minute Teams meeting device—helped by its stand.

One major addition is the Hall effect sticks, meaning that even after prolonged use, you shouldn't find them drifting. Even the rings around the sticks twist to adjust the brightness, volume, or RGB lighting. While I wish I could properly remap these, it shows Zotac's genuine care in the hardware space.

Zotac has taken notice of the push in the controller space for, well, more control. The software might not be helpful, but the physical switches beside the triggers means you can set if you want it to be a quick snap press or a longer, more analogue one depending on the game you're playing.

Its things like these which set the Zotac Zone apart from the other Windows handhelds. The Zone feels like a contemplated idea, rather than a rushed to market thing. Combined with its performance prowess, if you can put up with some quirks—as with any of these machines—you should put this on your list of considerations.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/zotac-zone-review/ RFKctxjtuiq3ScxvuykGQB Thu, 05 Dec 2024 13:11:48 +0000 <![CDATA[ Our first 'official' look at the new Lenovo Legion Go S shows that, unlike the original, it should be a bona fide mainstream handheld ]]> We've heard talk of new Lenovo Legion Go handhelds for a few months, but until now we'd had nothing official—just the odd rumour or unofficial picture of what looked like a new white chassis. Now, however, we have what looks like official pictures of a new Legion Go S, and we can tell quite a lot from them.

These renders come from Windows Central, which calls them "official" and says they were "shared and confirmed as genuine by our amazing and awesome sources". And they do indeed look like the real deal. Judging from these renders, the previous unofficial shell pictures seem to have been legit, as the new Legion Go looks to have an all-white casing and a design that takes somewhat after the Asus ROG Ally.

The most prominent changes, apart from the white body, seem to be the following:

  • Non-detachable controllers
  • Menu and View buttons moved to the top-right
  • A nub in lieu of a trackpad
  • One back-paddle on each side
  • Both USB Type-C ports located on top
  • Front-facing speakers
  • No rear kickstand

One of the first things I noticed was that the design, following the ROG Ally, features noticeably shallower and presumably more comfortable controller grips. It's difficult to achieve that with detachable controllers like on the first generation, but it makes sense that Lenovo would opt for a step in such a direction for comfort with a new version that has its controls firmly and permanently attached.

We can only assume that the new Legion Go S will also have a smaller and presumably lower-resolution screen, and will probably (read: hopefully) be lighter than the original one, too. Again, this would be more of a step in the direction of the ROG Ally: lighter and more affordable.

I've been using the original Lenovo Legion Go for quite a while and I can say that these changes, if they all bear out in reality, will make a substantial difference. Which isn't to say they'll make a substantial positive difference, mind you. The moved buttons, front-facing speakers, curvier controller design, and possible lighter weight will all be very nice indeed. But as for the lack of detachable controllers and kickstand, I'm not so sure.

Lenovo Legion Go S renders showing front-side, rear-side, and ports

Renders taken from our sister site, Windows Central. (Image credit: Windows Central | Future)

One of the main things I love about the Legion Go—and the main thing that keeps it afloat in what's becoming a saturated handheld market, IMO—is that you don't have to use it just as a handheld. Its biggest draw is its versatility, primarily because you can flip out the kickstand, sit it on the table or bed, pull off the controllers, and game from (slightly) afar. The big screen helps with that, too, of course.

Get rid of that and what are you left with? Another handheld like the rest of them. Which is no bad thing in itself, of course. It's just important to note that Lenovo seems to be ditching the jack-of-all-trades idea and stepping more decidedly into the mainstream handheld market.

More on the Steam Deck

Steam Deck set up as a PC

(Image credit: Future)

Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

I suppose the question then, just as with the other big handheld players, will be how well it follows through on this. Much will clearly hinge on pricing and the competition's been heating up in the affordable segment that it seems the Legion Go S will be aimed at. The ROG Ally is currently going for $484 at Amazon, and if you're going for super-cheap, the Steam Deck's only $399 right now.

Plus, there are other Legion Go models that it might have to compete with, too. There's the original, of course, but there are rumoured to be two other new ones coming up, in addition to this S version.

While the S variant is rumoured to sport a Rembrandt processor, the spate of upcoming Legion Go handhelds are purported to sample the entire generational mix of AMD Z2 processors. We're expecting a Hawk Point one (previous-gen like the original Legion Go), a Strix Point one (current-gen), and a Rembrandt one (two gens old). From a performance perspective, it's obviously a Strix Point one that we'd be most interested in.

I could continue speculating until the calendar flips and summer rolls around, but we'll just have to wait and see. For now, though, it looks like "mainstream" and "affordable" is the direction Lenovo's leaning towards.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/our-first-official-look-at-the-new-lenovo-legion-go-s-shows-that-unlike-the-original-it-should-be-a-bona-fide-mainstream-handheld/ Mf3RgJu5Ei7LD6QbdxTWyc Wed, 04 Dec 2024 15:57:08 +0000 <![CDATA[ 'Inspired by wind-sculpted desert rocks' and bestowed with Intel Lunar Lake, the new MSI Claw handhelds might actually be worth a look ]]> If you find the concept of MSI's Claw alluring but aren't very impressed with its power and software, the new Claw 7 AI and Claw 8 AI might be worth a look, even with the annoying AI namedrop in there.

Officially announced today, the 7- and 8-inch handheld gaming PCs have upgraded batteries and, being Windows devices, come with Copilot+ integration. This explains the 'AI' part of the name, though it's not quite clear how Copilot will help the average handheld gamer. The larger of the two models is "inspired by wind-sculpted desert rocks" and it comes with a near khaki colour scheme.

Though the price and ability to buy the handheld have since disappeared, Videocardz reports the khaki-coloured 1 TB Ultra 7 258V model with 32 GB of RAM is selling for $899, and the black 512GB Ultra 7 258V model with 32 GB of RAM is selling for $799.

This places the cheaper model at the same price as the Asus ROG Ally X, which we reckon is currently the best handheld gaming PC. The original Amazon listing for the new Claw models is still live, though "temporarily out of stock".

It's worth noting that this is the first major handheld to ship with Intel's Lunar Lake, which has pretty great stats so far. In our Ultra 7 258V testing, which is the exact same CPU found in the handheld devices, we found it performed incredibly well, even managing mid-30 fps playing Cyberpunk 2077 on medium settings. That's pretty impressive performance, and it also delivers solid battery life for its size.

Even though AMD's Strix Point has a better integrated GPU on paper, we found the 258V held its own in preliminary tests. Of course, we'll have to get hands-on with the two Claw models to see if they deliver that performance long term, but early signs are positive.

On the new device's performance, MSI says "Running at 17W for longer battery life, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ & Claw 7 AI+ still outperform competitors, boasting a remarkable 113% higher peak FPS and an average 20% higher FPS under identical power conditions."

One of the bigger criticisms of MSI's Claw is its software, but this new line comes with a "brand-new, updated MSI Center M software, offering a more intuitive interface". This supposedly makes the device easier to navigate, which, alongside a great price point, is what makes the Steam Deck still a viable handheld choice years later.

Notably, the new Claw devices come with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and MSI pitches it as a "perfect Mini PC with Copilot+ capabilities". This may go some way to justifying the noticeably high price point. It can also play Android titles with its App Player software, which could mean cracking packs in the Pokemon TCG app or attacking others in Clash of Clans, all without having to grab your phone.

If you are interested in getting the device yourself, preorders are due to start rolling out at retailers now, though I haven't had much luck finding one so far.

As has seemingly always been the case for the MSI Claw, MSI is making a few interesting choices here and I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs in a real-life environment.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/inspired-by-wind-sculpted-desert-rocks-and-bestowed-with-intel-lunar-lake-the-new-msi-claw-handhelds-might-actually-be-worth-a-look/ 2hAs9uyH3pFwVVz7LNVweP Tue, 03 Dec 2024 16:11:40 +0000 <![CDATA[ I'm searching for Black Friday handheld gaming PC deals as the resident 'guy who just won't shut up about handheld gaming PCs' ]]>
Quick menu

Three handheld gaming PCs on a blue background with the Black Friday Live text in the top right.

(Image credit: Valve, Asus, MSI)

Jump straight to the deals you want...
1. Quick links
2. Handheld deals
3. Accessory deals
4. UK deals
5. Live updates

Black Friday weekend has arrived the handheld gaming PC deals are live. If you're after a good deal on a handheld gaming PC, you're in good company. These compact computers are all the rage right now, and for very good reason: we've finally reached a time when they're actually any good.

You can get a genuinely good gaming experience out of a device no bigger than some graphics cards. To name a few of the heavy-hitters, there's the ROG Ally X, MSI Claw 7, Steam Deck, Legion Go, Ayaneo Flip DS, alongside many more.

Interest in handheld gaming PCs grew exponentially with the Steam Deck, but I've had my mitts on them since the days of Project UFO and the original GPD models. If you remember those, well done, you are also old. Over that time, I've become learned in the ways of what's hot and what's not.

👉We're curating all the best Black Friday PC gaming deals right now👈

Guided by the breadth of our handheld reviews and our guide to the best handheld gaming PC in 2024, I'm sniffing out the genuinely good deals this Black Friday. There are already a few available now, even before the big day arrives.

What does 'price watch' mean?

We've added a new "price watch" qualifier to all our individual deals, making it easy to see whether a price has gone up 🔼 or down 🔽 since we last checked it out. It's important to note that any deal in this guide (even if it's slightly risen in price) is still one of our top picks, as we only show you deals that are actually worth buying.

Black Friday handheld gaming PC deals — quick links

Handheld gaming PC deals

Price watch: 🔼
MSI Claw 7 A1M | Intel Core Ultra 5 135H | 7-inch screen | 512 GB SSD | Windows 11 | 16 GB RAM | $699 $429.99 at Newegg (save $332.58)
I have to admit the MSI Claw is not our favorite handheld gaming PC. Not even close. That would be the ROG Ally X, which hasn't recieved a tasty discount as of yet. However, below a certain price threshold, the MSI Claw 7 becomes worth a look, and I believe we're just about at that price threshold here. Powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 'Meteor Lake' chip, this chip is the cheapest of those available, but it can deliver in games thanks to the same eight Xe-cores as the higher models. It's just not as reliable as AMD's options.

***27/11 PRICE TOO HIGH***

Price check: Amazon $429.99View Deal

Price watch:➖
Steam Deck (LCD) | 512 GB SSD | SteamOS | $449 $336.75 at Steam (save $112.25)
Okay, the Steam Deck may have had an OLED refresh and there are heaps of more powerful handhelds around, but the original version is still the archetype of what a mobile PC gaming device should be. It's just as powerful as the most recent model so all those Steam Deck compatible games should run well. It's the OG PC gaming handheld, and it still demands respect. At the very least because SteamOS is wicked and it's extremely affordable with this deal (which goes on until December 4 if you want more time to think).View Deal

Price watch: ➖
ROG Ally | Z1 Extreme | 7-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $589.99 $485 at Amazon (save $104.99)
The original ROG Ally—still a strong performer even next to its improved sibling, the ROG Ally X. That's because they are both powered by the same Z1 Extreme chip from AMD. Considering the money off the original Ally, there's something to be said for choosing this over the X, though the bigger battery life on the X is definitely a huge improvement.

Price check: Best Buy $499.99View Deal

Price watch: ➖
Lenovo Legion Go | Z1 Extreme | 8.8-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $699.99 $472.97 at Amazon (save $227.02)
The Legion Go is one of the more polished handhelds on the market, with a sleek 8.8-inch screen and detachable controllers. That screen is a little overkill for the lil' AMD chip inside this machine, the Z1 Extreme also found in the ROG Ally, but it's great for playing indies on while relaxing. One of the controllers also becomes a mouse if you need it, which is a bit of a gimmick but works pretty well.

Price check: Newegg $499.99 | Best Buy $549.99View Deal

Price watch: ➖
ROG Ally X | Z1 Extreme | 7-inch screen | 24 GB RAM | 1 TB SSD | $799.99 $699.99 at Best Buy (save $100)
The ROG Ally X is a little bit too new to receive a massive discount. However, as our pick as the best handheld gaming PC to buy right now, even a $100 off is worth mentioning. Combining a generous helping of RAM, which really matters with an APU, alongside a 1 TB SSD and awesome form factor, the ROG Ally X is top of the charts for a reason.

Price check: Asus $799.99View Deal

Handheld gaming PC accessory deals

Price watch: ➖
Crucial P310 2230 | 1 TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,100 MB/s read | 6,000 MB/s write | $171.99 $69.99 at Amazon (save $102)
This is a compact SSD designed to fit in tight spaces, specifically handheld gaming PCs. It'll fit snugly in a Steam Deck or ROG Ally, for example. We reviewed the 2 TB model just last month and found it a good performer, though a little sluggish at times, but with such a decent discount such as this those small concerns are easily glossed over. That said, I don't for a second believe this SSD was ever really going to sell for $172, but that is what Micron says.

Price check: Micron $69.99View Deal

Price watch: ➖
Addlink S91 2230 | 2 TB | PCIe 4.0 | 5,000 MB/s read | 3,200 MB/s write | $174.44 $127.44 at Amazon (save $47)
If you're a real digital hoarder, you might want more storage than even 1 TB for your handheld. Don't worry, there are a few drives for that. This Addlink drive is one of the slower options, with QLC NAND under the surface, which is slower than TLC found elsewhere. However, it is also the cheapest, and you don't notice the slowdown on a handheld gaming PC as much as a full-fat gaming PC tower.View Deal

Price watch: 🔼
Crucial P310 2230 | 2 TB | PCIe 4.0 | 7,100 MB/s read | 6,000 MB/s write | $264.99 $169.99 at Amazon (save $95)
This is a faster 2 TB drive than some others available in this form factor, though admittedly we didn't feel that speed too much in our testing of this exact model. It's still QLC NAND, as well, which might be why. Though we did think it a worthy drive for a handheld, and worth a punt if you want those theoretically higher speeds than the Addlink. Just watch out for sellers asking above Amazon's price coming up on the main page, as for some reason you have to dig into the retailer list to find the cheapest option direct from Amazon itself.

Price check: Micron $139.99View Deal

Price watch: ➖
Steam Deck screen protector | JSAUX | 2-pack | Tempered glass | $9.99 $7.99 at Amazon (save $2)
The first thing I bought for my Steam Deck was a screen protector. Call my paranoid or whatever, but on a device I care about, I'm sticking a screen protector on there just to be on the safe side. These ones are cheap, well reviewed, and easily applied, and don't break the bank.View Deal

Price watch: ➖
Hall effect joysticks for Steam Deck | GuliKit | No soldering | LCD model only | $31.70 $25.36 at Amazon (save $6.34)
I swapped my own Steam Deck's thumbsticks to Hall effect ones because 1) I only want Hall effect on everything I own, and 2) it is so cheap and easy. There's no soldering required, just a careful removal of the rear cover, SSD, and thumbsticks. From there, slot the new ones in and reassemble. These Hall effect sticks won't suffer from stick drift and they're extremely responsive and accurate. Just note this is for the LCD model only, no OLED.View Deal

Price watch: ➖
Transparent back plate for Steam Deck | Purple | LCD model only | $25.99 $20.79 at Amazon (save $5.20)
While you're pulling apart your Steam Deck for Hall effect thumbsticks or a new SSD, why not also add in a fun translucent back plate? Okay, it's not necessary or going to make your games run any faster, but I have this exact back plate on my Steam Deck and I think it looks very cool indeed. What more reason do you need? Just note this is for the LCD model only, no OLED.View Deal

JBL Quantum TWS earbuds | 10 mm drivers | 11 g | 20-20,000 Hz | 5-hour battery life with ANC on | $149.95 $69.95 at Walmart (save $80)
Thanks to a great price, solid noise cancelling, and easy-to-use touch controls, these are a great pair of daily buds to use both when you're gaming and with your phone on the commute home. View Deal

Ugreen 48,000 mAh portable charger | 300 W total output | Smart display | $199.99 $118.99 at Amazon (save $81 for Amazon Prime members)
This brick of power is one of our James' favourite 'boring' bits of tech. They say it's the first time they've received a genuine 'wow' when showing their mum some bit of gear. With just shy of 50,000 mAh of juice, and up to 300 W charging output, this thing can keep your Steam Deck topped up for days. View Deal

Jsaux docking station | 3 x USB 3.0 Type-A | 1 x USB-C | HDMI port | Ethernet compatible | $39.99 $29.99 at Amazon (save $10)
Epitomising the phrase "cheap and cheerful" this was the first dock our James bought for their Steam Deck. It comes with three USB 3.0 slots, an HDMI port, a USB-C port, and even the ability to plug in an Ethernet cable. You won't really need that last one for an outing to a cafe but it's still a nice thing to have in your dock.

**11/29 OUT OF STOCK**View Deal

Handheld gaming PC deals — UK

Steam Deck LCD | SteamOS | 256 GB | £349 at Steam
There's no deal on the Steam Deck right now, but since the launch of the OLED model, you can buy the mid-sized LCD for a good price. It's still a wicked handheld, too, most of all because of its custom SteamOS operating system.View Deal

Price watch: ➖
ROG Ally | Z1 Extreme | 7-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | £499 £399 at Amazon (save £100)
If you're eyeing up a handheld gaming PC for the holiday period, you can't go wrong with the ROG Ally. This is the version with the full-power chip inside it, the Z1 Extreme, which is absolutely the version to go for. It's a savvy handheld that's still worth a look even with the improved ROG Ally X on the market. Most importantly, it's now the price of a Steam Deck but more powerful and runs Windows 11, which is both a good and bad thing.

Price check: Argos £399.99View Deal

Price watch: 🔽
Lenovo Legion Go | Z1 Extreme | 8.8-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | £698.99 £479.99 at Ebuyer (save £219)
The Legion Go is a lot like the ROG Ally crossed with a Nintendo Switch, and much bigger than both. It has detachable controllers, one of which can turn into a mouse, and which make for a simple relaxed set-up. The big screen runs at 1600p, which is great for browsing Windows 11, but not really in the ballpark of the Z1 Extreme chip in terms of playable performance. Still, you can run it at 1080p just fine, and this is one of the more polished gaming handhelds on the market.

Price check: Amazon $599.99View Deal

Live

Hey, Jacob Ridley here. I cover all things hardware here at PC Gamer, and I'm the guy that likes to talk about handhelds a lot. So, without further ado, let's talk about some handhelds.

Deal banner

Let's talk about the best of the best, the ROG Ally X.

The Ally X feels like the final hurrah for this generation of AMD-powered Windows handhelds. Built around the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor that also can be found inside the ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go, and more or less the same chip as in most other Windows-based handheld, it excels in other ways.

First off, the battery life is great. That's thanks to an 80 Whr battery that really makes a difference to the longevity of this device. That's really important for taking this thing on a long plane journey—you can get some good hours of gaming in without worrying about finding an outlet.

The other big improvement is the 24 GB of RAM onboard. That's more than the 16 GB we expect to see, though a little less than you'll find on premium, more niche handheld brands such as some from Ayaneo or OneXPlayer. The processor in the Ally X uses the same memory pool for both the CPU and GPU components, and more memory means a fairer share between both. That's good for performance, and in our testing we did notice a slight advantage for this design over others.

The screen is still a 1080p, 7-inch IPS—there's no OLED model. Don't expect to be making the most out of its 120 Hz refresh rate too often, either, though it does help keep the desktop sufficiently smooth.

And of course, I'm not just saying this to whet your whistle with no payout. The ROG Ally X is $100 off right now, which is pretty good going for a device that came out back in July and is still considered the hot, new thing.

Price watch: NEW DEAL!
ROG Ally X | Z1 Extreme | 7-inch screen | 24 GB RAM | 1 TB SSD | $799.99 $699.99 at Best Buy (save $100)
The ROG Ally X is a little bit too new to receive a massive discount. However, as our pick as the best handheld gaming PC to buy right now, even a $100 off is worth mentioning. Combining a generous helping of RAM, which really matters with an APU, alongside a 1 TB SSD and awesome form factor, the ROG Ally X is top of the charts for a reason.

Price check: Asus $799.99View Deal

Replacing a handheld's SSD — it can be done

Swapping out a smaller SSD for a larger one is an easy job on a standard gaming PC. On a handheld, it usually requires unscrewing more stuff. Still, I'm here to tell you it can be done.

The first thing you should know is that most of the time you'll want a PCIe 4.0 SSD with a 2230 form factor. That is a specially squished form of solid state that takes up far less room than your average NVMe stick. The one major exception to this is the Legion Go, which requires a 2242 SSD, and some Ayaneo devices actually use the full 2280 SSD form factor.

Here are two of the 2230 SSDs we've tested right here on PC Gamer, both of which are discounted right now:

I've got a few handy videos to outline the process, depending on which handheld you've got.

Just note, you'll likely need to clone your existing drive using an SSD clone tool like Macrium Reflect to get your handheld working as intended. This is a lot easier to do if you have access to a Windows PC with a spare NVMe slot to run the application and clone the drive.

Steam Deck — SSD replacement guidance

Here are some written step-by-step Steam Deck SSD upgrade instructions covering what needs to be done. If you're a visual learner, here's a video instead:

@pcgamer_mag

♬ original sound - PC Gamer

ROG Ally — SSD replacement guidance

Asus has put together a decent step-by-step guide on how to replace your ROG Ally SSD. You can read it here.

The teardown video below also shows the general job of getting the handheld open to access the NVMe.

The best MSI Claw deal is dead, for now

Unfortunately I've had to remove the sub-$400 MSI Claw deal from the list above.

That Intel-powered handheld was available over at Newegg for a small sum compared to the other AMD-powered handhelds on this list, which made it worth picking up. However, it's back to well over $400 and for that price I'd rather the more reliable and chunky form factor of the Legion Go for $500.

Here's hoping we see that MSI drop again before Black Friday is done. I'll keep an eye on it as the week progresses.

Deal

We've got some new ROG Ally price war action going on over at Amazon right now, with the Ally down to its lowest price yet on the marketplace.

The exact dollar value seems to depend on which retailer is vying for the top spot at any one time, but the handheld is currently cheaper than ever.

Price watch: NEW DEAL!
ROG Ally | Z1 Extreme | 7-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $599.89 $489.99 at Amazon (save $109.90)
The original ROG Ally—still a strong performer even next to its improved sibling, the ROG Ally X. That's because they are both powered by the same Z1 Extreme chip from AMD. Considering the money off the original Ally, there's something to be said for choosing this over the X, though the bigger battery life on the X is definitely a huge improvement.

Price check: Best Buy $499.99View Deal

To give you a brief overview of the differences between this and the newer ROG Ally X, here's a table:

Repairing a Steam Deck

One thing you might worry about with an expensive handheld you're likely to take out in a backpack is what happens if something breaks? I have good news on that front for Steam Deck owners, it couldn't be much easier.

Valve has teamed up with iFixit to offer a range of spare parts and teardown guides for the Steam Deck.

iFixit Steam Deck parts on the website.

(Image credit: iFixit)

Deal

One of our handheld fans on team, Jacob Fox, has been ranting and raving about the Legion Go ever since he got his hands on one. He also made me aware of this deal on the 1 TB model that's just $50 more than the 512 GB model.

Do you need 1 TB on a handheld? Personally, no, but if you feel like you might, an extra $50 now will be cheaper than buying a 1 TB SSD separately later, and you don't need to install it yourself. Most of all, it means you don't have to mess around with the Legion Go's quirky SSD size, 2242.

Lenovo Legion Go | Ryzen Z1 Extreme | 16 GB LPDDR5 | 1 TB storage | 8.8-inch screen | 2560 x 1600, 144 Hz | $749.99 $549.99 at Best Buy (save $200)
The Legion Go is a whole lot of screen and controller for a handheld, featuring a glorious 144 Hz touchscreen and the ability to take the controllers off like a Nintendo Switch. It's also pretty powerful, too, thanks to its Z1 Extreme processor.View Deal

Ayaneo Flip DS

Image 1 of 4

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 4

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 4

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 4

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)

I can't claim to have found a deal on the Ayaneo Flip DS, though I wanted to highlight it as my favourite handheld I've used to date.

You might not think much of this unsuspecting Nintendo DS-looking thing, but it has the most adept controls of any handheld gaming PC around. It has clever trigger mouse cursor controls, a touch-responsive nubbin for mouse control, and two touchscreens. The bottom one even works as a trackpad or keyboard. That makes cruising around the desktop to install a launcher or game and entering your details into heaps of login screens super easy.

It's also still packing a 7-inch screen within that clamshell exterior. A clamshell that lets you stuff this handheld in your bag without a second thought for scratching the screen.

With AMD's Ryzen 7 8840U, alongside up to 32 GB of RAM and a 2 TB SSD, it's as powerful as the rest of them. Though the version I reviewed only came with 16 GB and 512 GB, and that's been plenty enough. I mean, I'm only playing Balatro and Vampire Survivors on this thing nowadays.

Vampire Survivors on the Steam Deck outside

Here I am enjoying some Vampire Survivors out in my parent's garden on the Steam Deck. (Image credit: Future)

What is a handheld gaming PC good for?

I get asked this a lot, mostly by PC gamers with a desktop and no desire to expand into other form factors. But let me explain in just one word:

Balatro.

Or two words:

Vampire Survivors.

Yes, Balatro and Vampire Survivors are the two games I play most of all on my handheld gaming PC. Mostly from the comfort of my bed on a Saturday or Sunday morning. For this sort of ultimate lazy-day gaming, not even a laptop can compete with the trusty handheld PC.

Similarly, I find handheld PCs offer me more time to play games where I otherwise simply wouldn't. I'm not always by my PC, or simply sometimes I don't have the time to sink a couple hours into Frostpunk 2. With my handheld on my person, whether I'm travelling or sat in the office, I can switch it on and be playing Balatro, Vampire Survivors, Lorelei & the Laser Eyes, or Thank Goodness you're Here! within minutes.

And if I only play for 10 minutes or more, so be it... I've still got some gaming time in when I otherwise would just doomscroll TikTok or doomscroll the news. I'm chipping away at my Steam library, 10 minutes at a time.

Price reduction!

If only an extra $5 saving, the ROG Ally is now $485 on Amazon. Every penny saved is a... penny earned? I don't know my idioms.

Price watch: 🔽
ROG Ally | Z1 Extreme | 7-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $599.89 $484.55 at Amazon (save $115.34)
The original ROG Ally—still a strong performer even next to its improved sibling, the ROG Ally X. That's because they are both powered by the same Z1 Extreme chip from AMD. Considering the money off the original Ally, there's something to be said for choosing this over the X, though the bigger battery life on the X is definitely a huge improvement.

Price check: Best Buy $499.99View Deal

Price reduction x2!

The Legion Go has dropped in price by nearly $30 today. That's great news if you didn't follow my advice yesterday and pick one up already.

Sorry if you did.

Price watch: 🔽
Lenovo Legion Go | Z1 Extreme | 8.8-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $699.99 $472.97 at Amazon (save $227.02)
The Legion Go is one of the more polished handhelds on the market, with a sleek 8.8-inch screen and detachable controllers. That screen is a little overkill for the lil' AMD chip inside this machine, the Z1 Extreme also found in the ROG Ally, but it's great for playing indies on while relaxing. One of the controllers also becomes a mouse if you need it, which is a bit of a gimmick but works pretty well.

Price check: Newegg $499.99 | Best Buy $549.99View Deal

Travel tips, with James Bentley

Our James has put together an article on all the travel accessories he uses with his Steam Deck. I recommend going to check that out, though here's just the nuts and bolts of his post:

  • Get yourself a mega-sized battery pack
  • Grab a pair of earbuds for undercover gaming on-the-go
  • A compact mouse and keyboard are actually great for playing more PC-centric games at a cafe

Ugreen 48,000 mAh portable charger | 300 W total output | Smart display | $199.99 $118.99 at Amazon (save $81 for Amazon Prime members)
This brick of power is one of my favourite 'boring' bits of tech. I can't show it off like I would my Playdate or Steam Deck but it's the first time I've got a genuine 'wow' when showing my mum some bit of gear I'm testing out. With just shy of 50,000 mAh of juice, and up to 300 W charging output, this thing can keep your Steam Deck topped up for days. View Deal

Jsaux docking station | 3 x USB 3.0 Type-A | 1 x USB-C | HDMI port | Ethernet compatible | $39.99 $29.99 at Amazon (save $10)
Epitomising the phrase "cheap and cheerful" this was the first dock I bought for my Steam Deck, and I've never needed to upgrade. It comes with three USB 3.0 slots, an HDMI port, a USB-C port, and even the ability to plug in an Ethernet cable. You won't really need that last one for an outing to a cafe but it's still a nice thing to have in your dock. View Deal

JBL Quantum TWS earbuds | 10 mm drivers | 11 g | 20-20,000 Hz | 5-hour battery life with ANC on | $149.95 $69.95 at Walmart (save $80)
Thanks to a great price, solid noise cancelling, and easy-to-use touch controls, these are a great pair of daily buds to use both when you're gaming and with your phone on the commute home. View Deal

Mountain Everest 60 | Mechanical | 60% | RGB | $69.99 $39.99 at Amazon (save $30 for Amazon Prime members)
The Mountain Everest 60 is a perfect example of not having to spend a lot to get a cracking keyboard. Not only does it have hot-swappable switches and RGB, but it's also wonderful to type on thanks to a plethora of enthusiast design choices such as great foam dampening, pre-lubed switches, and PBT keycaps. Oh, and you can snap on modular magnetic upgrades down the line, too, such as a numpad.

Price check: Mountain $39.99View Deal

Logitech G203 | Wired | 8,000 DPI | Right-handed | $39.99 $18.99 at Amazon (Save $21)
This mouse has been sitting in our best gaming mouse guide as a brilliant budget wired option for some time now, and it's still yet to be bested. Perfect as a starter or low-budget option with a list of useful features like 6 programmable buttons, Lightsync RGB effects and a ton of customisation via Logitech's G Hub software, this mouse proves that you don't need to go fancy to get a great gaming peripheral.

Price check: Best Buy $19.99View Deal

Deal

UK price reduction!

I don't have much to say to folks in the US, the prices are pretty stagnant today. Though there's good news for any Brits hoping for a handheld bargain.

The Lenovo Legion Go is down to a new low price at Ebuyer at £480. That's a box-fresh new handheld, and cheaper than some used models over at Amazon.

Price watch: 🔽
Lenovo Legion Go | Z1 Extreme | 8.8-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | £698.99 £479.99 at Ebuyer (save £219)
The Legion Go is a lot like the ROG Ally crossed with a Nintendo Switch, and much bigger than both. It has detachable controllers, one of which can turn into a mouse, and which make for a simple relaxed set-up. The big screen runs at 1600p, which is great for browsing Windows 11, but not really in the ballpark of the Z1 Extreme chip in terms of playable performance. Still, you can run it at 1080p just fine, and this is one of the more polished gaming handhelds on the market.

Price check: Amazon $599.99View Deal

Deal

Steam Deck price drop!

Yes, you read that right. Valve has dropped the price of the Steam Deck down to a lovely low of $337. That sure beats whatever the heck this machine is for the same money—seriously, a Steam Deck is much better than that.

Sadly, no such luck on price reductions in the UK.

Price watch:➖
Steam Deck (LCD) | 512 GB SSD | SteamOS | $449 $336.75 at Steam (save $112.25)
Okay, the Steam Deck may have had an OLED refresh and there are heaps of more powerful handhelds around, but the original version is still the archetype of what a mobile PC gaming device should be. It's just as powerful as the most recent model so all those Steam Deck compatible games should run well. It's the OG PC gaming handheld, and it still demands respect. At the very least because SteamOS is wicked and it's extremely affordable with this deal (which goes on until December 4 if you want more time to think).View Deal

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/live/news/black-friday-handheld-gaming-pc-deals-live/ mTt3hbCoMTxm8X85QtNgdd Tue, 26 Nov 2024 17:11:41 +0000 <![CDATA[ Valve just announced the Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White, a 'second experiment' in new colorways for the classic Deck that looks eye-searingly snazzy ]]>
Image 1 of 5

Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White

(Image credit: Valve)
Image 2 of 5

Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White

(Image credit: Valve)
Image 3 of 5

Valve's Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Valve)
Image 4 of 5

Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White

(Image credit: Valve)
Image 5 of 5

Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White

(Image credit: Valve)

Should you be the sort of gamer that demands all your hardware matches your "clean and serene" aesthetic, Valve is making just the Steam Deck for you. The Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White will be available in limited quantities from November 18 of this year, and rather shiny-looking it is too.

It's not just the casing that's had a fresh coat of paint, either. The new model will come with an exclusive white carrying case (sure to pick up and display every bit of fluff from the bottom of your bag) and even a white microfibre cleaning cloth. There's probably a reason why cleaning cloths don't usually come in white, but hey, it'll look properly lovely when you pull it from its packaging for the first time, at the very least.

Specs wise this is still the 1 TB version of the standard Steam Deck OLED, so don't be expecting any performance bumps or extra features. Still, we've been impressed by all versions of the Steam Deck we've got our hands on to date—and Valve has repeatedly stated that it'll be a while yet before we see a Steam Deck 2, so those of you that have been holding out for fun colorways shouldn't feel too bad about jumping on the handheld gaming PC bandwagon now.

The new model will be available for $679 ($20 more than the standard 1 TB OLED Deck) and ship to "everywhere the Steam Deck currently ships worldwide", including Australia, a recent addition to the Steam Deck-receiving family. As the name suggests, it's a limited edition—so Valve says that when stocks run out, they're out for good.

Mind you, if it sells particularly well it's not difficult to imagine a future where the Limited Edition White gets another run, or perhaps some more colorways get added to the range.

Valve has said: "We're curious to see what the response is, and will use what we learn to inform future decisions about any potential new color variants down the line."

Personally I reckon it'd look great in a deep red, although I'm quite the fan of my default black Deck, even if it's not the fancy OLED model.

This isn't the first time that Valve has experimented with different aesthetics for the Steam Deck, as it released a limited edition translucent edition last year that had our Ted very excited (and fearful for his bank account).

It's worth noting that Valve has been keeping the Steam Deck support very much alive with regular SteamOS updates, including potential battery life improvements and the odd performance bump too, so it looks like the OG Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED have plenty of life left in them yet.

Perennial tease as it is wont to be, Valve also noted again its commitment to continual development of the Steam Deck, from both a software and future hardware perspective.

"We've been super happy with the reception of Steam Deck since we first launched the LCD version in March of 2022," Valve's Kaci Aitchison Boyle notes when introducing the new Limited Edition White version. "We've always said our intent is to continually work on improving Steam Deck, and that's true from both a software perspective (continuing to ship improvements) and a hardware one (Steam Deck OLED, as well as ongoing work toward the future of Steam Deck and other hardware plans)."

This shiny white model is merely the latest addition, then, and while the handheld market looks like it's about to receive some new and interesting additions from other companies, the Steam Deck still stands out as the archetype of the form. And if you go for this new white edition, it's got a good chance of making you stand out on your next flight, too.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/valve-steam-deck-oled-limited-edition-white-reveal/ 9Pt5UaSSDJcRT5mM2WFqZa Mon, 11 Nov 2024 23:00:27 +0000 <![CDATA[ Ayaneo's announced its new AMD Strix Point handheld PC and you can bet CES 2025 is going to be awash with new AMD and Intel options ]]> This week has been a bit of a weird one for gaming handhelds. The OneXFly F1 Pro, complete with a Strixpoint CPU and a price tag north of $1,000, finally went into a preorder phase, and now, Ayaneo has announced the Ayaneo 3 machine, which is also making the leap to AMD's Strix Point APUs.

As spotted by Videocardz, the new handheld has two distinct models, one housing the Ryzen 7 8840U spotted in the current iteration of the Ayaneo Kun, and one with the AMD Ryzen AI HX 370. The former has the 12 compute unit (CU), RDNA 3-driven Radeon 780M integrated graphics and the latter has the Radeon 890M with 16 RDNA 3.5 CUs.

As pointed out in our tests earlier this year, the 890M is a definite improvement, and it outperforms its competition, with 20% to 40% better performance than the 780M.

It's also worth pointing out that much of the mainstream gaming handheld market relies on a lot of the same basic specs. Take Acer's Nitro Blaze 7 as an example. Announced in september, it is kitted with the Ryzen 7 8840HS chip, which is the laptop version of the 8840U above.

It has not yet launched and doesn't have a price tag but I was surprised to see the lack of innovation in its specs and this is partially because of how stagnated the market has been around a handful of central chips.

There hasn't been zero innovation in handhelds, however. The main improvements seem to have revolved around screens, battery life, and so on.

This handheld will find it even harder to launch if it doesn't have a great price point, as many other premium devices will swap over to Strix Point, thanks to its better performance.

For fear of missing out on what's popular, it seems unlikely that Ayaneo and OneXPlayer are the only machines coming to market with these new chips, as many handhelds launching with older tech will be seen as inferior unless they come in at super-competitive price points.

CES 2025 is just a few months away, taking place at the start of January. If a company wants to make a splash with new hardware, this is the best way to do it, as consumers can hold them in their hands and play them immediately.

More on the Steam Deck

Steam Deck set up as a PC

(Image credit: Future)

Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

The most expensive OneXPlayer F1 Pro model retails for $1,899 and there's no price yet on the new Ayaneo but that's a lot of money to put down on a machine like this. Ayaneo has been really hyping up this new device, saying "the future has arrived" mere weeks ago, and this is likely a partial justification for the price point of these new chips.

Although, that marketing hype seems a little overblown now we see what we're working with, which is more of the same kind of stuff we're used to from handhelds but with a next-gen slapped on top.

Only time will tell if it's worth the money, but I expect we'll see a lot more of them after the new year. Don't forget there are Intel Lunar Lake-powered handhelds to look out for, too. We've already seen the MSI Claw 8, so fingers crossed there's more to see come CES 2025.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/ayaneos-announced-its-new-amd-strix-point-handheld-pc-and-you-can-bet-ces-2025-is-going-to-be-awash-with-new-amd-and-intel-options/ MxPMsMuo2s5YGxdiEzV8b9 Fri, 08 Nov 2024 17:38:29 +0000 <![CDATA[ Horizon Zero Dawn's fresh remaster is the best way to enjoy the game, even on handheld gaming PCs ]]> If you're a big fan of Sony's Horizon Zero Dawn, you may have been a bit worried that the new remastered version would just be too much for your gaming PC, especially handheld devices. That last aspect hasn't been helped by the fact that the remastered version isn't verified for the Steam Deck, but having played HZDR on an Asus ROG Ally X, I'm pretty sure that it'll be fine on the Steam Deck.

Guerrilla Games, the developers behind Horizon Zero Dawn, has pulled out all the stops with its remaster, with the help of Nixxes Software for the PC port. Sure, it's still exactly the same game (it's not a remake) but the original's graphics look a little bit second-tier compared to what Horizon Forbidden West has to offer.

Well, not any more, and it's a smorgasbord of visual effects, high-resolution textures, and luscious lighting. And to make sure it can run on as many gaming PCs as possible, you've got the full gamut of upscalers and frame generation systems, too.

Weighing in at 105 GB, the remaster is 33 GB larger than the first PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn. It's not just a whole stack of better textures—the characters and environments have been rejigged to be much richer in appearance, while still true to the original.

The larger cities are especially nice in the remaster and they look far more like what you'd expect in a world that nature has reclaimed much of. If, like me, you've played the original game an awful lot, much will look familiar but certain aspects will feel noticeably altered—the same furniture, so to speak, but somewhat rearranged.

I've not delved into all the regions yet, but initial impressions are very encouraging and the machines look fantastic with maximum quality settings.

Image 1 of 4

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, taken using the game's Photo Mode

(Image credit: Sony)
Image 2 of 4

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, taken using the game's Photo Mode

(Image credit: Sony)
Image 3 of 4

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

(Image credit: Sony)
Image 4 of 4

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, using the game's Photo Mode

(Image credit: Sony)

Of course, all of the added visual goodies come at a cost and if you go all out the quality settings, you'll be faced with quite a dint in performance. Fortunately, you've got upscaling and frame generation to claw some of the frames back. Where the first Horizon Zero Dawn just had FSR 2 and DLSS, you've now got the latest version of AMD, Intel, and Nvidia's systems.

In the case of FSR, that means you get AMD's shader-based frame interpolater and best of all, it's the version that's decoupled from the upscaler. So if you have an Nvidia graphics card that can run the game, you'll be able to use upscaling and frame generation, even if it's not an RTX card or an RTX 40-series model.

Image 1 of 2

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn, using the game's Photo Mode

Horizon Zero Dawn—Max quality, DLSS Quality (Image credit: Sony)
Image 2 of 2

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, using the game's Photo Mode

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered - Max quality, DLSS Quality (Image credit: Sony)

With the ROG Ally X, I'd get around 42 fps on average in gameplay using the 'Original' quality preset (aka Low quality) and no upscaling. In the remaster, the handheld only achieves around 25 fps with the Low preset and 30 fps with Very Low.

But slap on a bit of FSR Balanced upscaling and frame generation, and you almost get 60 fps with the Low quality preset. Even the 1% low frame rates are over 30 fps.

It's not all perfect, though. Some of the character models seem to have a bit too much of a light glow around them and while surface reflections are better, they're still screen space ones, which can lead to some funky visuals at times. And not every texture appears to be better, too.

What you don't get is the rather variable performance of the original. The remaster seems a lot more consistent, no doubt helped by Nixxes' work in managing shader compilation and asset streaming.

More on the Steam Deck

Steam Deck set up as a PC

(Image credit: Future)

Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

On my main PC, with a Core i7 14700KF and an RTX 4080 Super, the game runs extremely well with DLSS Quality enabled, though it's only right that I should point out I've not tested many areas yet.

While I don't have a Steam Deck on hand to test whether the game runs fine, there are enough options within Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered to ensure that most PC platforms are covered.

You'll probably need to use the Low or Very Low preset, along with a fair bit of FSR upscaling and frame generation, but as the game isn't fast-paced and frantic, the added input lag from using interpolation shouldn't be an issue.

Sony, Guerrilla Games, et al have done sterling work to make this remaster the best version of Horizon Zero Dawn it could possibly be, short of a full remake.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/horizon-zero-dawns-fresh-remaster-is-the-best-way-to-enjoy-the-game-even-on-handheld-gaming-pcs/ 4g6WG4sHVRWkzaED9o2Z9W Thu, 31 Oct 2024 17:27:48 +0000 <![CDATA[ AMD's top Ryzen AI mobile chip featuring Zen 5 and a juiced GPU is headed to a handheld gaming PC next month ]]>

OneXPlayer, also known as One-Netbook, has announced a new handheld, the OneXFly F1 Pro. It comes with a new 7-inch OLED display, 144 Hz refresh rate, and RGB-laden exterior. What's more exciting, however, is the chip powering it. That would be AMD's latest mobile processor, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

We don't have all the details yet but the new OneXFly F1 Pro was announced over on the One-Netbook YouTube channel. In it, the handheld is noted with a higher-than-usual refresh rate of 144 Hz, which might just about be do-able with the HX 370's 890M GPU in the least demanding games, alongside an OLED panel.

OneXPlayer notes the screen's "wide color gamut", "stunning brightness", and "vibrant colors" in the video, all of which sound very promising. Though you could say the same thing of just about any OLED screen. It also notes a narrow bezel around all edges of the screen, though it's notably slimmer-looking on the top and bottom.

The joysticks are reportedly drift-free, presumably because they're using Hall effect sensors. That's not specifically mentioned, though OneXPlayer's other recent designs all use the Hall effect, including the ludicrously large OneXPlayer X1 we've reviewed recently. Here's hoping the F1 Pro isn't such a damp squib.

We've had really good experiences with the previous OneXFly model, even awarding it 87% in our review.

The main event is the choice of chip. OneXPlayer shows three different AMD chipsets in the teaser video, alluding to a few different options: the Ryzen 7 8840U, Ryzen AI 9 365, and Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

The Ryzen 7 8840U isn't new—the Ayaneo Flip DS I recently reviewed uses this chip. It's a good processor, though it's practically identical to the 7840U, which is, in turn, practically identical to the Z1 Extreme. They all feature the same GPU, the Radeon 780M. That means you're looking at near-enough the same performance and power demands as most existing handheld gaming PCs on the market with this option.

The Ryzen AI 9 365 is an interesting chip. It's brand new and offers a powerful CPU component with four Zen 5 cores and six Zen 5c cores (essentially 'lite' versions of the full Zen 5 core). Alongside that, the Radeon 880M GPU. With only 12 Compute Units (CUs), this GPU isn't the best of the best. That said, it is built with the most up-to-date RDNA 3.5 architecture tailored to low-power environments. That might come in handy on a handheld.

More on the Steam Deck

Steam Deck set up as a PC

(Image credit: Future)

Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

The star of the show is the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. This is the chip I had my hands on back in July and at the time suggested it would make a wicked processor inside a handheld gaming PC. It comes with four Zen 5 cores and eight Zen 5c cores. Importantly, it also comes with the Radeon 890M GPU. This offers 16 RDNA 3.5 CUs, which even at its worst in my testing was around 20% faster than the 780M it replaces.

Performance won't be an exact match to that which I reported from the Asus Zephyrus G16, though to give you an idea of the performance leap between the 780M and 890M, here are some of my benchmark results.

One commonly requested feature from comments across YouTube and Discord, and something we know nothing about just yet, is whether the device will come with a battery to match the ROG Ally X (80 Whr) or opt for something smaller. The exact battery life will depend on how well the HX 370 can adjust to the constraints of a compact handheld, though an 80 Whr battery wouldn't go amiss. If the Ally X could do it in a pretty compact shell, I'm pretty sure we'll see others following suit.

With a little tuning for a restrictive handheld PC chassis, the HX 370 should work a treat for a new generation of handheld gaming PCs. The OneXFly F1 Pro should be one of the first of those made widely available to purchase and the first vying for a spot in our best handheld gaming PC guide.

The official announcement for the device notes it's "coming soon", though I have it on pretty good authority that it'll be out sometime in November.

There's been no word on pricing yet, though I would expect the HX 370 model to come with a pretty hefty premium. Did someone say $1,000+?

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/amds-top-ryzen-ai-mobile-chip-featuring-zen-5-and-a-juiced-gpu-is-headed-to-a-handheld-gaming-pc-next-month/ grnwPD6AyW4XBBNHHWvYwa Thu, 31 Oct 2024 13:54:27 +0000 <![CDATA[ Ayaneo's teasing us with concept photos of its 'Code: REVO' handheld, a codename 'symbolizing the innovative strength that leads gamers to walk into a whole new dimension of Ayaneo handhelds' ]]>

While Valve's made it clear it won't be releasing a new Steam Deck every year, the handheld gaming PC market seems to be paying no heed. With talk of not one but three upcoming Lenovo Legion Go handhelds and Ayaneo teasing the Ayaneo 3, there was already plenty on the horizon for us connoisseurs of the lap and finger warmers.

There's now even more teasing afoot, this time of the more visual variety, as Ayeneo has released some tantalisingly shrouded images of the Ayaneo 3, which it now calls "Code: REVO". This codename, it says, "stands for the Revolution as the internal development code of Ayaneo 3, symbolizing the innovative strength that leads gamers [to] walk into a whole new dimension of Ayaneo handhelds".

Yeah… Ayaneo certainly knows how to toot its own horn. We knew this already, though, as the previous announcement proclaimed the upcoming handheld is a "revolution" and "foreshadows the future possibilities of handheld devices." In other words, a whole lot of "we're about to do something cool!" with little mention of what that cool thing is actually going to be.

Given Ayaneo seems to release handhelds like Apple releases iPhones, the emphasis on "revolution" might be an attempt to distinguish it from its own crowded lineup. Now would be the time to do so, too, given there are two new mobile processor generations out there, heralding the apparent AI era, in the form of Intel Lunar Lake (Core Ultra 200V) and AMD Strix Point (Ryzen AI 300).

The big debate over all upcoming handhelds will be which of these they opt for. It looks like Lenovo might go the AMD route for new Legion Go handhelds, with one of these being a Strix Point version of a possible Z2 APU, the Z2 Extreme. The MSI Claw 8, however, will feature a Lunar Lake chip, so it's an open field right now.

Image 1 of 3

Ayaneo 3 handheld gaming PC concept design

(Image credit: Ayaneo)
Image 2 of 3

Ayaneo 3 handheld gaming PC concept design

(Image credit: Ayaneo)
Image 3 of 3

Ayaneo 3 handheld gaming PC concept design

(Image credit: Ayaneo)

Chip speculation aside, apart from Ayaneo's flowery words, what we now have are some lovely "concept" images of the curvaceous Ayaneo 3, which looks pretty similar to the Ayaneo 2, full frontal glass panel and all. In other words, there's little here to tell us exactly how the new Ayaneo handheld is going to be so revolutionary.

If the Ayaneo 2 is anything to go by, though, the third generation might be a niche product. The second-gen launched above $1,000, and the handheld market now seems decidedly oriented around the $400-800 price bracket. You can pick up a Legion Go, for example, for $499 at Amazon right now and a ROG Ally for just $6 more.

It doesn't matter how sleek the Ayaneo 3's concept design looks, the "Code: REVO" will certainly have to be revolutionary to see me part ways with over $1,000. There's always the chance it could break into the sub-$1,000 market and compete with other mainstream handheld gaming PCs.

Ayaneo handhelds in general aren't necessarily strangers to the sub-$1,000 market. The new Ayaneo Flip DS, for instance, is competitively priced at $749 and genuinely quite innovative, at least in its mad-scientist combination of Windows handheld and Nintendo DS design.

It's not impossible that the Ayaneo 3 could be competitive in the mainstream market. However, given it's continuing the Ayaneo 2's lineage, I somehow doubt it. But is that such a bad thing? High-end, expensive products are always more niche, but that doesn't have to be a mark against them. Unfortunately, all we have to go off right now are pictures and marketing spin, so we'll just have to wait and see.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/ayaneos-teasing-us-with-concept-photos-of-its-code-revo-handheld-a-codename-symbolizing-the-innovative-strength-that-leads-gamers-to-walk-into-a-whole-new-dimension-of-ayaneo-handhelds/ fLUBpCM6jBhx8fY2wbvr6d Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:57:22 +0000 <![CDATA[ New SteamOS makes Steam Deck a better machine with bug fixes, microSD improvements, and even 'improved battery life by up to 10%' in some situations ]]> The Steam Deck has been one of the best handheld gaming PCs basically ever since it launched yet finding a rogue software problem isn't unheard of. Valve has put out a new OS update that may just make the whole handheld a little better and squash a whole heap of bugs. 

SteamOS 3.6.19 has just launched and Valve put out notes on what it has changed. As well as fixing a whole host of issues like "the frame limiter not properly applying in certain situations" or "a rare issue where sound output could be corrupted on certain boots", it also improves general stability and comes with quality-of-life fixes. 

Interestingly, this update is said to improve the speed of future OS updates and even improves the "reliability of certain microSD card usage scenarios". This includes finding a problem where some SanDisk microSD cards were not picked up by the device.  

If you happen to use your deck for non-gaming things, like light browsing, you will get a big bump from this update as the LCD Steam Deck got "Improved battery life by up to 10% in light load situations", as well as overclocking controls. The Steam Deck OLED, already having a superior battery life, has caught up with the LCD by now getting support for Windows Bluetooth driver. 

If you want to get the latest version of SteamOS on your Steam Deck, it should automatically happen when plugged in and in sleep mode but you can also prompt your device to update. Simply go into 'Settings', then into 'System', and click the button to check for any updates. If it detects an update, you can simply prompt it to download and install it. 

If you don't see the update here, check your internet connection and make sure it hasn't automatically downloaded for you. 

Once downloaded, your Steam Deck will be a lot better in very small ways. Unless you've been met with specific bugs that have been fixed this time, you likely won't notice changes immediately but it should lead to a smoother experience, which is what all the best OS updates do. 

If you've been struggling to get your microSD working on your Steam Deck, you should now be able to fit even more games on your Deck that you will inevitably pass over, before starting another run of Balatro. 

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/new-steamos-makes-steam-deck-a-better-machine-with-bug-fixes-microsd-improvements-and-even-improved-battery-life-by-up-to-10-percent-in-some-situations/ LbQsWxyfEaM4SQJJn6TEXP Fri, 25 Oct 2024 16:30:22 +0000 <![CDATA[ Three—yes, three—upcoming Legion Go handhelds are rumoured to sample the entire generational mix of AMD Z2 processors ]]> Just a few weeks ago we reported on rumours that there could be a Legion Go Lite and a Legion Go Gen Two approaching—that's two new Legion Go handhelds. Now, however, there's reason to believe there might be three.

The reason being that Notebookcheck has discovered EEC filings (via VideoCardz) for a Legion Go S 8ARP1, 8AHP2, and 8ASP2—three separate models. There's also speculation over what these enigmatic model names might mean, and they might hint at a mess of upcoming AMD Z2 processors spanning three different generations.

AMD's Z1 Processors (the Z1 and the Z1 Extreme) adorn a couple of the best handheld gaming PCs today: the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go. The Z1 Extreme processor is, for all intents and purposes, the same as the mobile 7840U (Phoenix Point architecture) or 8840U (Hawk Point) processors, but made specifically for handhelds.

There's therefore been a lot of excitement surrounding possible AMD Ryzen Z2 or Z2 Extreme processors, primarily because these could boast next-gen Strix Point architecture that we already find in some gaming laptops. Along with Intel's new Lunar Lake processors, Strix Point chips provide improved performance and battery life compared to previous-gen processors, and many are hoping they will soon find their way into new handheld devices.

Notebookcheck rightly points out that the listings for these three new Lenovo Legion Go handhelds could very likely refer to different AMD architectural generations being used in their different AMD Z2 processors. The "8AHP2" could refer to a Legion Go with a Hawk Point processor—possibly functionally equivalent to the Z1 Extreme processor that's found in the current-gen Legion Go—and "8ASP2" could refer to a Legion Go with a new Strix Point Z2 processor.

As for "8ARP1"? I'm not sure. Notebookcheck suggests that it could be powered by an AMD Rembrandt APU. However, Rembrandt processors are pretty old now, and I'm not so sure "RP" would be chosen for this codename—where's the "P" in "Rembrandt"? There is reason to think this might make sense, however, as we'll see.

The question is why we'd think all of these AMD processors of different generations that will supposedly feature in Lenovo Legion Go handhelds are Z2 processors. The answer comes from another leak, this time from well-known Billibilli forum leaker Golden Pig (via VideoCardz).

According to Golden Pig, there will be a few Ryzen Z2 series processors, with the top-end Z2 Extreme featuring 16x RDNA 3.5 CUs (four more than the Z1 Extreme's 12 CUs), this being essentially the same as the Strix Point 890M mobile GPU.

In addition, AMD's also expected to launch a Z2 (non-Extreme) APU using Zen 4 architecture with RDNA 3 graphics and a Z2G APU using Zen 3+ architecture and RDNA 2 graphics.

Put two and two (or perhaps what feels more like 50 and 50) together and you have three AMD Z2 processors spanning three different architectural generations, and three upcoming Lenovo Legion Go handhelds with codenames that seem to refer to these very same architectural generations.

More on the Steam Deck

Steam Deck set up as a PC

(Image credit: Future)

Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

If these leaks are correct, this would suggest that there will be three AMD Z2 handheld processors, each one using a different architectural generation of processor, and three different upcoming Legion Go handheld gaming PCs that will each house a different one of these Z2 processors.

Whew, that was a lot. But once you've sifted through the ridiculous naming schemes it's quite simple. And given there's rumour of a Legion Go Lite—and even possible pictures of it—it would make sense for there to be one sporting a current-gen (Hawk Point) or older-gen (Rembrandt) APU.

As for why AMD would call these older-gen processors "Z2", well, it has to call them something, doesn't it? And technically the Z1 Extreme is Phoenix, not Hawk Point, even if they are essentially functionally equivalent.

The joy of naming schemes, eh? Kinda gives me flashbacks to AMD's wheel-o-laptop decoder chip…

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/three-yes-three-upcoming-legion-go-handhelds-are-rumoured-to-sample-the-entire-generational-mix-of-amd-z2-processors/ idsDBLtRJBxFQiEtjSkUuN Thu, 24 Oct 2024 16:38:58 +0000 <![CDATA[ Ayaneo Flip DS review ]]> The Ayaneo Flip DS is the handheld gaming PC I enjoy using the most, and I don't say that lightly. I'm a Steam Deck owner, I reviewed the Lenovo Legion Go and Ayaneo Air 1S, and I've used the MSI Claw 7, MSI Claw 8, ROG Ally, and ROG Ally X, and yet the Flip DS stands out from among the crowd. This clever clamshell is compact and without sacrificing screen size, controls, or performance. It really is a most excellent all-rounder.

The idea of a gaming handheld is greater freedom to play PC games anywhere and everywhere. Your Steam library at your fingertips and accessible from—well, my bed, mostly. Turns out what I wanted most in a gaming PC was the ability to play games on it while lying flat. Handheld PCs are wonderful for that—and travel, of course—though they're not without limitations. Battery life is the big one, as is having the graphical grunt to chug through the latest games. Though in my day-to-day use, the real frustration is navigating the desktop with a pair of analogue sticks.

A few handhelds deal with the desktop and navigating tiny menus better than others. The Steam Deck is arguably one of the best for Big Picture Mode and trackpads for navigating the Linux desktop, but generally, it's a bit of a hassle on the Windows-powered handhelds that followed it. Some, like the Lenovo Legion Go, offer pre-baked touchscreen functionality to help ease the pain a little, but it's only part-way towards making the OS more amenable to tiny screens. Windows 11 wasn't really built for this.

So, why might that be an important point to make in a review of the Ayaneo Flip DS?

Flip DS specs

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)

Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 8840U
GPU: Integrated AMD Radeon 780M
RAM: 16 GB reviewed, up to 64 GB available
Storage: 512 GB reviewed, up to 2 TB available
Upper screen: 7-inch 120 Hz IPS touchscreen
Lower screen: 3.5-inch touchscreen
Controls: Hall effect analogue sticks, gyroscope, optical mouse 'nubbin'
Connectivity: USB4 x1, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C x1, OCuLink, 3.5 mm jack, Micro SD slot, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Battery: 45 WHr
Dimensions: 18 x 10.2 x 3.6 cm
Weight: 650 grams
Price: $749 (512 GB/16 GB)

Simply put, it's a dream to dash around the desktop with. The Flip DS comes with not one, not two, not three, but four ways to wield a mouse cursor. There's the upper screen, the lower screen, the analogue sticks, and the touch-responsive nubbin.

Let's start with the upper screen. It is a 7-inch IPS display that sits on a hinge above the bulk of the handheld chassis. It's rated to 120 Hz, too, which is a bit lost on the Radeon 780M GPU inside this handheld but does make for smooth and consistent scrolling. The hinge is the more important bit, however, as this has allowed Ayaneo to stuff a larger screen on this handheld than other devices of a comparable size.

Take the Ayaneo Air 1S, for example. This lovely little device comes with a 5.5-inch screen within a 22.5 x 9 x 3 cm chassis. The Ayaneo Flip DS offers a 7-inch touchscreen and a 3.5-inch touchscreen within an 18 x 10.2 x 3.6 cm chassis. A little thicker and taller than the Ayaneo Air 1S, but much shorter.

This hinged design has another benefit, too. It neatly folds to protect the two screens and integrated controls on the Flip DS, which means you can stuff it in your bag and not have to worry too much about getting the important bits scratched or scuffed up.

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)

For navigating, the 7-inch upper screen is suitable for quickly signing away the rights to your life in a terms and conditions window or agreeing to one of the many administrator permissions windows you'll likely run into during setup. Though for everything else, you'll want to look to smarter solutions also included on the Flip DS.

One such solution being the lower screen. Taking a leaf out of Nintendo's book, there's a 3.5-inch touchscreen nestled between the controls on the Flip DS. This lower screen acts as you'd expect any secondary monitor to through Windows—you can drag applications over to it or use it as your primary monitor, if you so wish. Though it is at its most useful when the Ayaneo Space system application is open.

The Ayaneo Space software is sort of your one-stop-shop for configuring the handheld and accessing your library of games across various storefronts. It's a little like Steam's Big Picture Mode, though with less shine and a couple of quirks (such as telling me I have audio drivers to install and then not letting me install them). I've generally relied on it less, too. When you can navigate around the desktop easily as you would a desktop PC, there's less need for a bespoke controller-friendly design. Though it's there when you need it: just hit the button with the Ayaneo logo across it on the bottom right of the Flip DS and it pops up.

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)

Though even when the Ayaneo Space application is minimised on the upper screen it remains on the lower screen. There it acts as a quick way to access system settings, performance analytics, and application shortcuts with just a tap of your finger. Most handy of all are the built-in keyboard and trackpad, and this is when the Flip DS starts to really come into its own.

With the trackpad enabled the Ayaneo Flip DS effectively turns into a tiny gaming laptop. I was whizzing around with ease, installing applications and navigating the desktop like I would a much larger device. It's tough to overstate how handy a tiny trackpad is when trying to do literally anything involving lots of mouse movements on a gaming handheld.

Though, arguably, the tiny keyboard is even better.

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)

I keep the lower screen set to the on-screen keyboard most of the time. For quickly entering a password or browsing the web, it's a Godsend. It's your straightforward touch-responsive keyboard, loosely reminiscent of what you'd find on an Android phone, and includes copy-and-paste shortcuts to make life even easier. You can even get rid of the on-screen keyboard provided by Windows entirely with this one around. That's worth the price of admission alone.

I do have a few minor complaints with both the trackpad and keyboard. The layout of the keyboard is fine but as soon as you switch between symbols or numbers, it's a bit of a mess. It'd be better off mimicking the simplicity of Gboard on Android, where the keys largely remain in the same place whether they're displaying letters or numbers. Also, the scroll function on the trackpad weirdly uses a pinching motion, which I'd stored in my brain as the zoom in/out shortcut. That's tough to get used to and I find myself reaching for the analogue sticks instead.

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)

The analogue sticks on the Flip DS are sunken into the chassis to make way for the folding screen. It's not actually as awful as it sounds, however, as they move pretty freely under thumb within their little wells. Both use Hall effect sensors to accurately measure your movements and should remain reliable constant and without drift thanks to this technology—I wouldn't buy a controller without Hall effect sticks these days.

Usually a bit of a faff to navigate the desktop with, Ayaneo has cleverly devised a system of speeding up the mouse cursor movement depending on whether you're holding either of the triggers on the device—left for fast, right for slow. The slow option is just slow enough to actually hover over tiny buttons on the 7-inch screen and makes a world of difference to the experience of using this handheld gaming PC as an actual PC.

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)

Lastly, there's the nubbin. That's not the official name but it best describes it. When I first pulled the Flip DS out of the box for review, I didn't realise what this was, thinking it to be an extra programmable shortcut button. It sits right next to the fingerprint scanner/power button, too. But it's actually a touch-responsive touch pad, or what I believe Ayaneo describes as an "optical finger mouse". I'm not sure that actually makes it clear what it is, though.

It's just a nubbin. You rub it and the mouse moves accordingly. Press it for the primary mouse button. Nubbin is good. Nubbin is life.

For the limitations with any one of these methods of navigating around the Ayaneo Flip DS, when combined they are extremely powerful. I found it became second nature to tap on one screen, scroll on one analogue stick, and rub the nubbin to get around the desktop. The analogue sticks are the best solution when it comes to actually playing games, but for everything else, there's the nubbin.

In terms of performance, the Ayaneo Flip DS is a known quantity. That's true even though we've never actually tested the Ryzen 7 8840U inside it. The reason is we've seen what the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor can do inside the Ayaneo Air 1S and OneXPlayer OneXFly, and what the Ryzen Z1 Extreme can do inside the ROG Ally X or Lenovo Legion Go. The Ryzen 7 8840U is basically the same; a 7840U rebrand.

An Ayaneo Flip DS running a game while sat on a desk.

(Image credit: Future)

That's paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5X inside the machine I have here for testing. That's less overall memory than the Ayaneo Air 1S I reviewed in the past, which had 32 GB. That makes for only around 8 GB to split between CPU and GPU, but this hasn't been a major detriment paired with the quality settings I've used throughout testing of medium or medium-equivalent. I'd even suggest maybe bumping down to low if you're chasing performance, as you don't notice the dip in quality quite as much on a smaller screen. Importantly, though, medium and low settings generally make lower demands of VRAM.

As such, there are no surprises when it comes to the gaming performance in my testing. The 8840U performs as expected in Cyberpunk 2077, F1 24, Horizon Zero Dawn, Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, and Black Myth Wukong's benchmark tool. It's best with upscaling enabled for that little extra kick, and I opted for FSR Quality where upscaling is specified.

The chip may be pretty familiar, but at least I can confirm it's not being overly constrained by thermal or power limitations. I say overly because every handheld is pretty severely limited by thermal and power constraints… the Flip DS isn't any more so than most, however. I ran the handheld at its 'Extreme' profile, which lets the processor run at the full 28 watts, and it never got loud or too hot to handle. That said, it does get a little toasty on the rear.

Buy if…

✅ You want a truly portable machine: The Steam Deck and Legion Go are portable in the way that an eighteen-wheeler is, technically, portable. The ROG Ally X is more portable. The Ayaneo Flip DS is better to stuff in a backpack than all of them.

✅ You want the easiest handheld experience: Navigation is a pain for all handheld gaming PCs—especially those using Windows—but the Ayaneo's clever trackpad and mouse solutions are simply the best there is. Especially since there are so many to choose from for different scenarios/applications.

Don't buy if...

❌ You want the best battery: I'd still recommend the ROG Ally X for someone chasing longevity away from the outlet, even though the Flip DS does perform well in battery tests.

❌ You want the best specification for your money: You can buy an ROG Ally X for $50 more than this, maybe the same price with a decent sale, and you'd score a bigger battery, more memory, and a larger 1 TB SSD with the Asus option. That is tough to ignore.

What's most impressive about the Ayaneo is the battery life. A steady 116 minutes of gaming up time in PCMark's gaming battery test. That's with the Wi-Fi disabled and both screens set to 50% brightness. That's still shy of the best handheld gaming PC right now, the ROG Ally X, but it's nevertheless a really impressive showing for a 45 Whr battery.

That said, if Ayaneo could stuff a bigger battery in here somehow, I'd certainly take it.

I've talked around this handheld a lot by now, and I'm yet to mention some other highlights such as the vibrant screen, good balance, extra programmable shoulder buttons, and lovely construction. I guess I just did, but I really must wrap up this review sooner or later.

At $749 for the model I'm reviewing here (512 GB SSD/16 GB RAM), you're not expected to pay a hefty sum for the novelty of the clamshell design and second screen. That's $50 less than an ROG Ally X. That said, if you're comparing these spec-for-spec, you'll find a good few reasons to spend more on the Asus model: more memory, more storage, and a bigger battery. It's difficult to ignore the ROG Ally X, and I think for most people it's still the better choice.

I have to commend Ayaneo, though. It's put together a handheld with user experience at its core. The Flip DS is different, and not just for the sake of it. From the many mouse options and on-screen keyboard to the clever clamshell design, the Flip DS is better to use for being just a little odd.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/ayaneo-flip-ds-review/ J8UpGVfUpH3Dkfs4KAqC9m Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:00:33 +0000 <![CDATA[ Valve says its 'not really fair to your customers' to create yearly iterations of something like the Steam Deck, instead it's waiting 'for a generational leap in compute without sacrificing battery life' ]]> Valve Deck duo, Lawrence Yang and Yazan Aldehayyat, have been doing the press rounds recently as Australia is finally getting itself a proper Steam Deck release in that territory. As part of that, Yang and Aldehayyat have had to field the now-standard questions about a potential Steam Deck 2.

Unsurprisingly, their answer in an interview with Reviews.org (via Eurogamer) remains the same as last year, namely that Valve wants to wait until there is a tangible improvement in the technological ecosystem around handheld gaming PCs before even thinking about a new version.

Obviously the release of the Steam Deck OLED, the year after the original came out, might have led some folk to expect some sort of yearly cadence of Valve-y handheld tech updates. Though, probably not anyone who has had anything to do with Valve and PC hardware releases...

You only have to look at the Valve Index VR headset, and all the noises about a second version or sequel to that smart bit of tech, to see that Gabe's gang isn't about to spit out new, barely iterative hardware just for the sake of tacking a '2' onto the box. And if we want to talk about long-lost sequels, you could make a nod to Valve's software devs and a certain Freeman-related series.

And Valve's Deck team was also determined to make it clear when the OLED device came out that it absolutely wasn't a sequel. All of which means no-one should have expected it to be repeated this year.

For reference, Yang said in this latest interview that: "It is important to us, and we've tried to be really clear, we are not doing the yearly cadence."

"We're not going to do a bump every year," he continues. "There's no reason to do that. And, honestly, from our perspective, that's kind of not really fair to your customers to come out with something so soon that's only incrementally better. So, we really do want to wait for a generational leap in compute without sacrificing battery life before we ship the real second generation of Steam Deck. But it is something that we're excited about and we're working on."

This almost precisely echoes what Yang told me around the launch of the OLED version last year: "It needs to be the right time," he tells me. "And we have to have the right parts for it. So we really want there to be a generational leap in performance for us to be able to comfortably call it a Steam Deck 2.

"We're keeping an eye on chips and APU that are available. The things that are available right now are not right yet. But maybe in two to three years, there will be something that is good in the same way that our current APU is, in terms of the power envelope, with performance, with battery draw. All of those things have to be in the sweet spot for a real move to a new chip."

"For us to make a second version," Aldehayyat then chimes in, "we will be able to have a substantial performance improvement while sticking to a similar kind of power range and weight to battery life. And that's not going to happen next year or the year after that. It's probably going to be more than that."

So, don't expect even some nominal update to the Steam Deck this year or even next year. I also asked the question about a Steam Deck Lite, and was told that wasn't something it was looking at. "I think that the next thing that we're working on moving forward is Steam Deck 2," Yang tells me.

I mean, at least we can be sure one is coming, just don't expect it anytime soon. And nor should you have.


Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/valve-says-its-not-really-fair-to-your-customers-to-create-yearly-iterations-of-something-like-the-steam-deck-instead-its-waiting-for-a-generational-leap-in-compute-without-sacrificing-battery-life/ AuGPWdWStV7vomvfeRbX5F Mon, 21 Oct 2024 16:57:32 +0000 <![CDATA[ Lenovo looks to be doing a Nintendo Switch with leaks suggesting a Legion Go Lite and a Legion Go Gen Two ]]> The Nintendo Switch really did change the public perception of gaming handhelds, didn't it? While the Switch is far from a powerful device, it sold (and still sells) remarkably well, and the much smaller Nintendo Switch Lite was a bit of a barnstormer, too. 

Now it looks like Lenovo might be taking a leaf out of Nintendo's book, as a mix up with some Legion Go Dock specs seems to have revealed the existence of not just a Legion Go Gen Two, but also a Lite version, err, too.

If this is still a secret, it's one Lenovo has been keeping particularly badly. We recently reported on some text spotted on the Legion Go's product page that seemed to reference both a smaller device, and potentially a refreshed version. Now specs released for the Legion Go USB-C Dock appear to have given the game away once again, with the supported systems mentioning the Legion Go Gen One, Legion Go Gen Two, and the Legion Go Lite.

All mention has since been erased, but it was Videocardz that first spotted the new product listings. Leaked images of the supposed shell of the Legion Go Lite have also been posted by a YouTuber, so at this point Lenovo might as well throw in the towel and give us a proper look, I'd venture.

The casing itself appears to show a smaller Legion Go chassis without the detachable controllers of the original, which is no surprise on a model that appears to call itself "Lite". Still, we were big fans of the original Switch-like detachable modules, so it's a shame to see them go.

It was a bit of a chonker though, so a Lite version strikes as a smart move. PC gaming handhelds are often substantial devices to carry around—and while this new model still doesn't look like it'd fit in your jeans, I'd say it's got a better chance of being chucked into an overly-full backpack without sticking out like a sore thumb.

And as for a fully-fledged Gen 2? There's always a chance we might see some new, more powerful internals. The original made use of the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, but things have moved on in the APU world since then. 

Personally I'm looking forward to any Lunar Lake handhelds we see coming our way now we're starting to see the chips in action—but I've got a feeling it might simply be a screen refresh (fingers crossed for OLED!), or perhaps a subtle refinement of the original's design, like the Asus ROG Ally X.

More on the Steam Deck

Steam Deck set up as a PC

(Image credit: Future)

Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

We really won't know anything for sure until Lenovo says something official about the new models, which it may as well do at this point. Still, whatever they turn out to be, if they both manage to refine the recipe (albeit in different ways), Lenovo may well have a pair of hits on its hands.

The OG Legion Go might have been a chunky affair, but it was quite an impressive machine nonetheless. And while the world anxiously awaits more news on the Nintendo Switch 2, perhaps a more refined Legion Go, in conjunction with a compact model, might help Lenovo scoop up some new customers.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/lenovo-looks-to-be-doing-a-nintendo-switch-with-leaks-suggesting-a-legion-go-lite-and-a-legion-go-gen-two/ J4hP29GgJ3ZovSkLW8aMua Fri, 27 Sep 2024 16:05:53 +0000 <![CDATA[ Here's why I'm hoping to score Lunar Lake inside my next handheld gaming PC: Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V tested in games ]]> Usually we'd gloss over processors like Intel's 200V-series for a gaming laptop, favouring instead a chunky desktop part stuffed into a chunkier chassis. Though that's changing pretty quickly. With handheld gaming PCs on the rise and thin-and-light gaming laptops offering impressive gaming performance, there's more of a case for picking up a device with a low-power processor. And seemingly few better for the task than Intel's latest.

Before me sits the Asus Zenbook S 14—created for the productivity improving, super synergising office elite. This Zenbook S 14 comes with the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V. That's an eight-core processor: half of which are Lion Cove P-cores, and the other half, Skymont E-cores. Alongside the CPU component sits a new and improved iGPU, the Arc 140V.

Despite the GPU improvements and sleek build (ooo, ceramic aluminium finish) this device is not our usual cup of tea here at PC Gamer. But I find myself drawn to it more and more for one simple reason: you can game on this miniscule thing. Like, really.

I've run this little laptop through a gauntlet of games at 1080p to find out how it stacks up, and I've come away thoroughly impressed on most counts.

For comparison, I've tested the Asus Zenbook 14, with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H; and the Asus Zephyrus G16, with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 complete with AMD's latest iGPU. All devices are set to performance mode and with Windows set to 'best performance'.

The Zenbook 14 makes for a near-perfect comparison—it offers pretty much the same form factor as the Zenbook S 14 and both Ultra 7 chips run at around 28 W in Performance mode within their respective models. Similarly, I measured both laptops running at 40 W during intensive workloads, which is more or less the 37 W maximum noted for the 258V. 

Both offer near-identical 14-inch OLED screens, ports, fan modes, and power saving settings. The major difference between the two is the different choice of chip, notably the improved iGPU component and the lack of threads on the newer 258V.

The 258V doesn't offer Hyper-Threading. Where usually we'd expect to see at least the P-cores offering two threads for every physical core, the 258V offers just one. That makes for just eight threads total from its eight physical cores. Not very many, indeed. The 155H offers 22 threads. The HX 370, 24.

The Zephyrus G16 is admittedly less aligned with our 200V-series test machine—I had hoped to secure a Zenbook 16 in time for testing but it wasn't meant to be. Nevertheless, the Zephyrus here comes with AMD's HX 370 chip, codename Strix Point, but while that is a 28 W chip, this laptop does allow its processor to run up to a much higher 70 W maximum (reported in HWInfo). 

It's good to keep this power difference in mind when you check out these performance charts, which, all things considered, paint Intel's latest 200V-series in a very good light.

Gaming test

The 140V easily outpaces the 'Intel Arc Graphics' found within the 155H across all tests. That's all performance from improvements to the underlying architecture, too. Both iGPUs have the same number of Xe-cores at eight a piece, and what's more, the 258V's GPU is clocked lower at 1.95 GHz max to 2.25 GHz max on the 155H. That's a clock speed difference I note in my own testing averages, too.

The 258V also competes with, and even defeats at times, the HX 370. Despite AMD's pedigree among handhelds and Strix Point's beefier iGPU, which I've rated highly in the past, it wasn't enough to hold back Intel's 140V in Hitman 3. The 140V is 5% faster than the HX 370 in this game.

It also closed part of the gap to the AMD chip's performance in Cyberpunk 2077, though can't quite muster the performance to match it.

The two competing chips are neck-a-neck in Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, a ray-traced game, both managing 27 fps with Intel slightly pulling ahead on the 1% low frame rate.

An Asus Zenbook S 14 with a Core Ultra 7 258V processor inside.

(Image credit: Future)
Zenbook S 14 specs

Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
Graphics: Integrated (Intel Arc 140V)
RAM: 32 GB LPDDR5X-8533
SSD: 512 GB (Gen4)
Display: 14-inch, 2880 x 1800 OLED
Refresh rate: 120 Hz
Battery: 72 Whr
Connectivity: USB 3.2 Gen 2 x1, Thunderbolt 4 x2, HDMI 2.1 x1, 3.5 mm x1, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Dimensions: 31.03 x 21.47 x 1.19 ~ 1.29 cm
Weight: 1.2 kg
Price: ~$1,499 | ~£1,499 (1TB)

I did run into a few bugs through my testing, however. The Zenbook S 14 wasn't able to run F1 24, which could be down to that game's previous issues with some GPUs combined with pre-release hardware, or part of what appears a slightly more widespread issue with game compatibility on the initial Arc drivers for the 140V. Here's hoping that's not a sign of things to come, as Intel has been known to struggle with driver incompatibility and inconsistencies, and Xe2 is supposedly meant to be a little easier to work with.

I also ran into multiple issues trying to get the Zephyrus G16 to favour the AMD iGPU, rather than the RTX 4070 also packed inside it. This issue led to multiple failure to boots in games with ray tracing, and the best remedy was uninstalling Nvidia's driver package altogether. Not ideal if you're trying to switch to the iGPU for a spot of light gaming on the train.

F1 24 aside, however, and actually the job of setting up all three of these iGPUs for gaming was pretty straightforward.

CPU test

The GPU might be the star of the show for gaming, but we mustn't forget the CPU component. As I mentioned earlier, the 258V is actually an oddity when it comes to its core make-up. More than that, even, it actively looks a bit rubbish from specs sheet alone. An eight-thread CPU going up against 20+ thread chips? It's surely a bloodbath.

But it's easy to underestimate the 258V here. Even I'm surprised by how much it can hold its own against much more highly-threaded processors. Hyper-Threading clearly is not the be-all and end-all of multithreaded performance. This is not a chip that gets smacked around in multithreaded tests. It's a hair faster than the 155H in 3DMark Time Spy. And a touch ahead of the 155H in Cinebench R24 nT.

There are a few signs that make me slightly trepidatious for a future without Hyper-Threading on the desktop, should that come to pass. One being the lower Hitman 3 Dartmoor (a CPU intensive benchmark) results for the 258V compared to the HX370 (though Meteor Lake is also pretty poor here, which might be a sign of Intel/Zenbook limitations more so). Another being 7zip, which gobbles up as many threads as you're happy to throw at it. It's not that surprising that more threads plus more power equals more performance, but sometimes it's spelled out in all caps and thrown in your face a little more.

An Asus Zenbook S 14 with a Core Ultra 7 258V processor inside.

(Image credit: Future)

Still, considering what you'll see in the next section on battery life, this is actually a rather impressive leap for Intel on the architectural front. It's reduced core counts, thread counts, power consumption, and kept clock speeds largely the same as Meteor Lake… and yet Lunar Lake still comes out on top. Considerably so, if you take the Cinebench R24 ST scores—the 258V is 53% faster than the 155H.

If these architectural gains are scalable, I'm starting to feel hopeful for the power-savvy desktop CPUs on our way next month. These Arrow Lake chips use the same core architectures for P/E-cores as Lunar Lake, though are more like Meteor Lake in other ways.

Battery life test

Most of all, I am eyeing up Intel's chip for my next handheld gaming PC purchase because of the battery life. From the figures, it's clear just how well this 258V chip is working with limited wattage available to it.

The Zenbook 14 offers 125 minutes of uninterrupted gaming in 3DMark's gaming battery life test. Pretty darn good, but no match for the 155 minutes posted by the Zenbook S 14. That's a mighty long time to be gaming away from the plug.

The Zenbook S 14 and Zenbook 14 come with 72 Whr and 75 Whr batteries, respectively. The Zephyrus G16 is a bit of a lump with a 90 Whr battery, a bigger screen, and a higher wattage chip. That's hardly apples to apples, so I won't make too much of it, but for the record it managed 70 minutes. 

The MSI Claw 8, a new handheld with a Lunar Lake processor.

(Image credit: Future)

What's more important, though, is that the 258V manages to get within spitting distance of the AMD chip despite a much lower wattage. That's a hearty thumbs up for Lunar Lake, and a great sign of what sort of performance we can expect out of a handheld PC fitted with this chip—i.e. the MSI Claw 8 and anyone else that follows.

In fact, any 200V-series chip should do well in a handheld. There's only a single Xe-core between the high-end and low-end 200V-series processors, with the lower-end Arc 130V coming with seven. The core counts remain a steady 4P/4E throughout the lineup, too, as does the choice between 16 GB or 32 GB of on-package, speedy LPDDR5X memory.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/heres-why-im-hoping-to-score-lunar-lake-inside-my-next-handheld-gaming-pc-intels-core-ultra-7-258v-tested-in-games/ L2nPBEmUJEw2MyU94LsArd Wed, 25 Sep 2024 17:05:33 +0000 <![CDATA[ Wait, you can change the Steam Deck boot animation? This TikTok account posts custom Steam Deck boot vids and now I want mine to start up to the Scrubs intro ]]> If I had a major critique of the Steam Deck, it'd be the battery life. But if I had a minor critique of the Steam Deck, it'd be the power button. It's a little bit fiddly to my clumsy fingers, although I admit that's probably a me thing. Still, after that you get a simple logo to tell you that handheld gaming PC experiences are on their way, followed by a little swirly animation. It's a bit default looking, if you ask me. Dull, even.

While the power button itself remains a small bugbear, it's been brought to my attention that I need not suffer from the tyranny of a boring boot sequence any longer. TikTok user bradleyparks5 has been posting videos of custom boot animations on their particular Deck, and each has been modified to great effect. My favourite so far has to be this modified Scrubs intro:

@bradleyparks5

♬ original sound - Bradley Parks

Glorious, isn't it? Far from simply playing the time-trodden opening credits of a show that I associate with daytime TV on a rainy afternoon, they've even gone the extra mile and added custom text. "Created by Gabe Newell" indeed. Him, and a team of very clever Valve engineers, at the very least.

The fun doesn't stop there, either. How about the Xbox 360 loading screen, with customised "SteamDeck" text? Or perhaps the Persona intro, with a particularly splashy stylised display?

There's even the "Gabe Boy", which features a sound effect that causes something in the back of my brain to tingle in the same way it might if I remembered a childhood holiday. Actually, lets face it, I'm a gaming nerd. Playing Game Boy games by the pool pretty much was my childhood holiday, and darned proud of it I am, too.

@bradleyparks5

♬ original sound - Bradley Parks

While editing the videos to create appropriate text may be a step too far, it turns out modifying your Deck to show a custom boot animation isn't all that complicated. There's plenty of YouTube tutorials to show you how to set it up, with various different methods to choose from—from the simple to the slightly more involved.

Voila, ta-da, and there you go. You are now officially a Steam Deck modder (although on the lowest rung, I would venture), and your intro video now sets you apart from the rest. If you're in a multi-Deck household this might even be an easy way to tell your various handhelds apart, although I'd still get something like this standing case to really make myself stand out (forgive me) from the pack.

Or even one of these freestanding cushions, which might not do wonders for your image, but will let you watch your new-intro-equipped Steam Deck while laying in comfort on your sofa. A bit much, isn't it? Still, I want one.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to PC Gamer-ify my Deck boot animation to really stand out from the pack. That or the Game of Thrones intro, with a rubbish MS Paint over the title text. I haven't quite decided yet, but the possibilities are endless, ey?

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/wait-you-can-change-the-steam-deck-boot-animation-this-tiktok-account-posts-custom-steam-deck-boot-vids-and-now-i-want-mine-to-start-up-to-the-scrubs-intro/ eJtG8ZEiKTVkc3g7ZDY9pc Mon, 23 Sep 2024 14:20:54 +0000 <![CDATA[ The Steam Deck's rare but troublesome 'loading throbber' issue has been fixed ]]> The Steam Deck is often rated for its simplicity and ease of use compared to other handhelds, but it's not immune to bugs. Valve's latest bug fix for the device has fixed a particularly pesky "loading throbber" problem.

According to the latest Steam Deck client update notes, the new client has "fixed a rare case where the UI could get stuck showing a loading throbber at startup while in Offline Mode". 

Nobody likes a loading throbber at the best of times, but getting stuck being shown one at startup doesn't sound fun.

However, loading throbbers, while sometimes the bane of our existence, are in fact useful for letting us know our device is actually doing something and not just twiddling its thumbs. For that reason, love them or hate them, loading throbbers are here to stay.

It's particularly egregious that there were loading throbber problems with Offline Mode, though. Considering the Steam Deck's often used in places with spotty signal such as long-haul flights, being able to use it without an active internet connection can be quite important.

I've had all kinds of loading throbber problems over the years, from Windows hourglasses to seemingly never-ending in-game spinners. When it persists for too long, probably the most annoying loading throbber is, in my opinion and despite it being relatively small and unobtrusive, the little blue Windows circle. Just the fact the little throbber's there irks me.

But I've never experienced the Steam Deck's loading throbber. If I had, I might think that to be the most annoying of the bunch. Offline Mode, after all, is meant to resolve annoyances, not create more.

Valve does say that, prior to the fix, this persistent loading throbber condition was a "rare" one. I'm not sure how many people were previously stuck looking at Valve's throbber upon an offline boot, but "zero" is better than "some" in this case, so we can be grateful that this throbber's been fixed.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/the-steam-decks-rare-but-troublesome-loading-throbber-issue-has-been-fixed/ F3HALkFsG76CAWKPoy2KiQ Wed, 18 Sep 2024 14:55:57 +0000 <![CDATA[ Should you buy a Steam Deck instead of a PS5 Pro? How about instead of a new car you buy a boat?—these things are not the same ]]> The PS5 Pro and Steam Deck couldn't be further apart. One is a home console requiring controllers, cables, and a TV. The other is a handheld Linux-powered PC. So why am I seeing more people than I'd expect compare these two since Sony's PS5 Pro announcement?

There's a certain shock factor to the PS5 Pro's price tag. That's a big part of it. The digital-only, mid-generation console is priced at $700. In other words, a console for the cost of a gaming PC. That's not high-end PC money—who are we kidding, it's half the price of an RTX 4090 alone—but genuine gaming PC cash nonetheless.

Pertinently, the PS5 Pro is the same price as not one, but two 256 GB Steam Deck LCDs, or $100 more expensive than a 1 TB Steam Deck OLED. I won't belabour the point, but you could get a Steam Deck and a helluva lot of PC games for the price of a PS5 Pro. 

So, should you buy a Steam Deck instead of a PS5 Pro? And is that even fair to compare these two devices anyways?

My guy reaction is, no, it's not a fair comparison. For one, these are entirely different form factors, and I feel most would agree that comparing the Nintendo Switch and the Xbox Series X would be a fool's errand. Same goes for the PS5 Pro and Steam Deck.

But, call me a fool, I'll compare the two anyways. Just to give an idea of how ludicrous any direct specs comparison really is.

From what we know about the PS5 Pro, it appears to be a relatively powerful device for the money. It's true that in console terms, the PS5 Pro is the most expensive yet. Yet in PC gaming terms, in some respects, it's a bit of a bargain.

Sony has mostly focused on the GPU for its 'Pro' improvements here, with a vastly increased GPU component within the PS5 Pro's AMD-designed APU. This new chip features 60 Compute Units (CUs), for a sum total of 3,840 cores, likely of RDNA 3 origin. That makes for a serious step up over the 36 RDNA 2 CUs found on the standard PlayStation 5 model.

A screenshot from a Sony presentation announcing the PS5 Pro

(Image credit: Sony)

The desktop graphics card equivalent would be the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, which also has 60 RDNA 3 CUs. That GPU was first launched just over a year ago for $499, though it's a little cheaper today. It would be a big chunk of your PS5 Pro budget should you wish to try to build a comparative PC for the same money (you can't without some serious bargain bin diving or second-hand snooping).

CUs are an important metric, as more of these means a bigger chip with more performance in games. But this isn't entirely an apples-to-apples comparison. The RX 7800 XT has dedicated VRAM, thermal and power limits in excess of what Sony's console will surely handle, and it has the benefit of flexibility to choose what you pair it with inside a PC. That will amount to higher performance from the PC part.

But not the Steam Deck.

The Steam Deck might be a pocket-sized PC, and also come with an AMD-designed APU, though it's an entirely different beast to both console and gaming PC. An APU complete with a mere eight CUs of RDNA 2 graphics—or 86% smaller than the PS5 Pro—it's made to meet different design goals. It's a compact device with a low TDP to improve its battery life, which isn't even a consideration for PC or console, and it balances thermal and power constraints with game performance to offer a portable experience that's half-decent away from the outlet.

At least both devices are pretty evenly matched in the CPU department. Eight cores, 16 threads, Zen 2, bish, bash, bosh. 

Clearly, there's nothing much to compare here. So, what causes more people than I would have expected to jump to the Steam Deck as the viable alternative to the PS5 Pro? These two devices clearly couldn't be much further apart.

It comes down to an argument for the holistic gaming experience. 

The PS5 Pro offers an improved experience. You sit down in front of the TV to play some games at the end of a long day and you'll find it delivers a higher quality, higher frame rate, experience than the standard PS5.

Valve Steam Deck with GeForce Now app overlaid on screen.

(Image credit: Future)

The Steam Deck offers a novel and new way for accessing PC games. Perhaps, for some, a new experience. That's why so many feel so strongly about its value proposition: you don't play the Steam Deck instead of your gaming PC, you play it when you don't have access to your gaming PC. That means more time to play games and more opportunity to try new ones. You might find you stop caring so much about frame rate, even.

This isn't an experience limited to the Steam Deck. Any handheld gaming PC, or handheld console, offers the same sort of flexibility. It's why the Nintendo Switch is so immensely popular. I just think a lot of PC gamers' eyes were opened to the modern portable gaming paradigm when they first got their hands on the Steam Deck. Even as a Switch owner, I found myself praising the Steam Deck not for its specs, but for the time it afforded me to play PC games when I wouldn't have been able to previously.

It's a strong case to be made for the Steam Deck, and combine that with the relatively weak argument for upgrading to a PS5 Pro, and the recommendations to 'Just buy a Steam Deck' make marginally more sense.

But I still think telling someone to go buy a Steam Deck instead of a PS5 Pro is pretty weak advice. They're categorically not the same thing—they don't even aim to appeal to the same audience.

More on the Steam Deck

Steam Deck set up as a PC

(Image credit: Future)

Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

For the record, I don't think you should buy a PS5 Pro, either. Save your money for the next generation or pinch pennies long enough to buy a gaming PC. Oh, you forgot you were reading PC Gamer?

If you'll afford me one little PC Gamer rant about consoles, I've never understood why consoles insist on degrading ease of use and adding complexity for customers and developers when simplicity and affordability are their strongest traits? Why make a new 3DS that hardly any developer will support? Or two Xbox consoles, except one is hamstrung by its memory? Or a massively improved mid-generation overhaul for a console generation that's frequently cited for having few must-play games? It all feels unnecessary—a way to bump up sales while threatening the entire point of consoles to begin with.

At least the Switch (mostly) bumps the trend with only an OLED upgrade, and look how well that's worked out for Nintendo. But if consoles are going to tune their appeal to be more about flexibility, options, and premium experiences—the PC already does it better.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/should-you-buy-a-steam-deck-instead-of-a-ps5-pro-how-about-instead-of-a-new-car-you-buy-a-boatthese-things-are-not-the-same/ Jkudo53LF6unJRZ79ntyun Wed, 11 Sep 2024 13:26:46 +0000 <![CDATA[ Acer says it has 'no business relationship with the company' that designed essentially the same handheld gaming PC 8 months prior ]]> Acer's shiny new "AI-powered" handheld gaming PC, the Nitro Blaze 7, is a little unoriginal in specs, as we pointed out in a previous story, but it turns out this might apply to its design and build too. 

According to tech YouTuber ETA Prime (via GamesRadar), the Acer Nitro Blaze 7 is suspiciously similar to the Terrans Force Handle 5. At first glance, the comparison is undeniable. Buttons are in the same place, and the curves of the machine appear to be identical, from what I can see. The only real differences, aesthetically, are Acer's model has a Nitro button down the bottom left and it has a few more decals around the thumbsticks, D-Pad and corners.

As ETA Prime points out in the video, Terrans Force had plans to launch a Handle 7 device, with a Ryzen 7 8840U chip. That is actually a little different to the 8840HS found in the Acer Nitro Blaze 7. That said, the U-series chip makes more sense than the HS model, given it is designed for more power-intensive devices with an up to 5 W lower TDP. 

Outside of this, the display is the same size on both handhelds and both offer the same refresh rate at 144 Hz. The battery for both devices is exactly 50.04 Wh, too. 

However, an Acer representative told me "We have no business relationship with the company mentioned in the article. This is an Acer design that comes with Acer Game Space software for a seamless gaming experience." 

Though we don't know the inner workings of a company like this, both companies could have potentially bought this same design from a third party, effectively allowing both companies to work around the R&D costs of designing their own build. We don't yet know how both companies ended up with such similar designs. 

It's worth noting that innovation in the gaming handheld space, in regards to specs has slowed down, as of late, with many of the best handheld gaming PCs functionally having very similar specs and doing similar things. 

Most of what sets others apart is how it is built, how it looks, or what price it comes in at. Part of this is that handheld gaming PCs are a convenient bit of tech, so relying on experimental builds could cost that user experience. Another is that there really aren't many handheld-friendly chips to choose from, though AMD is working on the Ryzen Z2 chip right now. This is why it's not too strange that Acer's upcoming device emulates most of the most popular handheld gaming devices right now. 

This could soon change as early testing suggests the HX370 found in the Radeon 890M could be a good handheld gaming chip too. 

We still haven't received the price point yet for the Acer Nitro Blaze 7 but the Terrans Force Handle 5 sells for close to $1,000. It will need to approach half of that to really capture my attention, though. 

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/acer-says-it-has-no-business-relationship-with-the-company-that-designed-essentially-the-same-handheld-gaming-pc-8-months-prior/ 4FGaGfFfk4WmDT3kQmnbFE Tue, 10 Sep 2024 11:40:40 +0000 <![CDATA[ AMD confirms it's working on a Ryzen Z2 chip for next-gen handheld PCs, even though only two vendors currently use the Z1 ]]>

AMD's Ryzen Z1, the all-in-one processor that powers the Asus ROG Ally and Ally X, and the Lenovo Legion Go, has been confirmed to be replaced with an updated sequel. Officially called the Ryzen Z2, the semi-custom chip won't appear until next year and it's hoped that more vendors will use it than the original Z1.

Even if you only have a casual interest in handheld gaming PCs, you surely will have noticed that when it comes to the chip that powers the device, almost every vendor goes with an AMD Ryzen APU. The Steam Deck uses a custom chip, designed specifically for that handheld, but most handhelds use something like the Ryzen 7 7840U.

The aforementioned devices from Asus and Lenovo, though, use a customised version of that APU, called the Ryzen Z1 or the much better Z1 Extreme. I say custom but it's really the same processor, just with a different TDP (15 W in the case of the Z1 Extreme, 28 W for the 7840U). Oh, and the AI part of the chip is disabled too.

With such few differences, it's not hard to see why so many handheld gaming PC vendors have chosen the standard 7840U and I assumed that this would become the norm for such devices. However, in an interview with PC World, AMD confirmed that a Ryzen Z2 was definitely in the works and the company expects that "it will be coming to market, probably in the early part of 2025."

Unfortunately, PC World couldn't prise any further details out of AMD so we're just left to make some educated guesses as to what APU the Z2 will be based on. The most obvious choice is Strix Point, aka Ryzen AI 300—the likes of the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 has the same TDP as the 7840U so it's clearly a suitable fit for most handhelds.

While the Z1 Extreme sports eight Zen 4 CPU cores and 12 RDNA 3 compute units (CUs) for graphics, the HX 370 boasts four Zen 5 and eight Zen 5c CPU cores and 16 RDNA 3.5 CUs. Both chips have the same CPU boost clock of 5.1 GHz but the latter has a GPU boost clock of 2.9 GHz compared to the former's 2.7 GHz.

In short, if the Ryzen Z2 is indeed just a renamed Strix Point design, then it should provide up to 43% better graphics performance than the Z1 Extreme. But if AMD properly customises it, such as reducing the amount of die space dedicated to AI acceleration and putting it towards more CUs, then the Ryzen Z2 could well be a mighty little processor for handheld PC gaming.

AMD is hoping that more vendors will choose the Z2 over an off-the-shelf chip but there are some barriers in the way of that happening. Firstly, semi-custom chips are generally more expensive than the standard ones and even if it's only a small difference, every penny counts in the PC industry.

More on the Steam Deck

Steam Deck set up as a PC

(Image credit: Future)

Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

Big vendors such as Asus and Lenovo might be happy to absorb the extra cost but smaller players such as Ayaneo certainly won't.

Then there's Intel with its Lunar Lake chips. We've yet to get our hands on one yet for thorough testing but early indications all point to it being a cracking little laptop chip and one that could be perfect for handheld gaming. If it turns out to be better than Strix Point, then unless it's really expensive, you can bet that handheld vendors will be choosing it over a semi-custom AMD chip.

Whatever happens, though, the handheld gaming PC market for 2025 looks like it's going to be really competitive and we're going to be spoilt for choice when it comes to the chip that powers each device. Looks like we've got a lot of testing on our hands for next year!

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/amd-confirms-its-working-on-a-ryzen-z2-chip-for-next-gen-handheld-pcs-even-though-only-two-vendors-currently-use-the-z1/ rnvrv43qHgmdQPrNtfs9Ro Tue, 10 Sep 2024 10:29:53 +0000 <![CDATA[ Acer joins the handheld gaming PC market with the Nitro Blaze 7 but it's late and lacking innovation ]]>
Image 1 of 3

Acer Nitro Blaze 7 handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Acer)
Image 2 of 3

Acer Nitro Blaze 7 handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Acer)
Image 3 of 3

Acer Nitro Blaze 7 handheld gaming PC

(Image credit: Acer)

The handheld gaming PC market has become so much more interesting in the last few years in the wake of the Steam Deck, yet with all that competition can come a miasma of forgettable entries. Not one to be easily outdone, Acer has just come crashing onto the scene with its own "AI-accelerated" build, whatever that means to you. 

Starting with its design language, it takes a little bit from pretty much all of the best handheld gaming PCs out there, like the angular corners of Ayaneo's 2021 models, the stick and button layout of the OneXPlayer OneXFly, and the accents of Asus' ROG Ally offerings. 

Interestingly, it's fitted with a Ryzen 7 8840HS, which is a more laptop-oriented version of the 8840U you will find in the higher-end Ayaneo Air S1. Thanks to its underlying architecture, this is very similar to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme in the Asus ROG Ally X, and the Ryzen 7 7840U which has previously dominated the market. This less configurable laptop chip, however, seems like a bit of a strange choice from the offset, as the HS chip is generally designed for rigs with a bigger power draw and more robust cooling systems. 

Essentially there's little material difference in the actual silicon—it's still an eight-core Zen 4 chip with 16 threads and the mighty Radeon 780M iGPU at its heart—but the key difference is in the configurable TDP (cTDP) of the chip. As the Ryzen 7 8840HS is designed for larger laptops, with bigger batteries and larger cooling arrays, it's specced out to be running between 20 and 30 W, whereas the Ryzen 7 8840U is the low-power version, aiming at thin and lights and handhelds, and will go down to 15 W as standard.

In reality, given the right software controls, you can run Ryzen-based handhelds right down to super low power states even below the rated 15 W cTDP. As the silicon is essentially the same between the two chips, it is possible Acer has its own application which can pull the 8840HS down to that level, too. Still, seems an odd choice out of the gate.

The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 is a decent bit smaller than the rather big Steam Deck, measuring 25.6 cm in width, 11.35 cm in depth, and 2.25 cm in height. It also comes in at 670 g, which is a single gram above the Steam Deck. However, rather interestingly, it appears to come with a full-size SSD in the back, which suggests it could be upgradable to some larger capacity. To round this out, it will also come with 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, capable of a transfer rate of 7500 MT/s. 

Moving onto the screen, it's a 7-inch full HD display with IPS. The screen also comes with a max brightness of 500 nits, a refresh rate of 144Hz, and a 7 ms response time, though we don't know more about how that response time is measured. To enable a smoother experience, it also has FreeSync Premium, AMD's screen tear software. 

We still don't have a final price for the Blaze 7, nor do we have a hint of a release date, but it's going to have to be incredibly competitively priced to be able to make a dent in what is already a pretty crowded market. And a market that already has some second generation devices hitting the shelves.

While the Acer handheld looks pretty nice and has specs to match other handhelds on the market, I don't yet see what makes the Acer Nitro Blaze 7 stand out. The specs are about you would expect, but the specific AMD chip seems like a strange choice for a device that needs to be cool and power efficient. There's certainly not much here that Acer's competitors haven't already done first, and some places where the others have already seen the error of their ways; notably the Acer's miserly 50 Wh battery. Battery capacity is one area where both Asus with the Ally X and MSI with its new Claw 8 devices have made big changes, and this is absolutely one place where the Blaze 7 feels very much like a first generation product.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/acer-joins-the-handheld-gaming-pc-market-with-the-nitro-blaze-7-but-its-late-and-lacking-innovation/ qRGEh6RzsoiB7b2LXqvz4X Wed, 04 Sep 2024 13:35:09 +0000 <![CDATA[ MSI is the first to bundle Intel's new Lunar Lake chip inside a handheld gaming PC alongside a chunky 80 Whr battery ]]>
Image 1 of 2

The MSI Claw 8, a new handheld with a Lunar Lake processor.

(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2

The MSI Claw 8, a new handheld with a Lunar Lake processor.

(Image credit: Future)

Over at Intel's Lunar Lake launch event, MSI had something on show that I was particularly excited to give a whirl. It's the new MSI Claw, the Claw 8, which is actually the second model of the handheld gaming PC. The important thing is that it's bigger in a few ways, including both battery and screen.

I had a chance to give the MSI Claw 8 a go over at the event. It's a neat design in a black and silver colourway, and slightly more eye-catching than the last, which was a little plain to look at. The MSI Claw 8 has an 8-inch screen, hence the name, which was pretty glorious to play some Hi-Fi Rush on. 

I've never played Hi-Fi Rush and was understandably terrible at the game, but I blame that on it being too loud at the event to match the music beat for beat. Importantly, it ran well on the Lunar Lake machine. MSI had no other games we could play on the device for a true test of its prowess, though Hi-Fi Rush ran smoothly. It probably should, as it's not the most demanding game around, but Lunar Lake's new Xe2 GPU does appear to keep up well.

Speaking to Damien Triolet, director of GPU technical marketing, he assures me that Xe2 scales down particularly well with low power, and this should make it a good candidate for more thermally sensitive designs, such as a handheld. I was hoping for some hint at how it scaled up in power, admittedly, hinting at Battlemage, but no dice.

Anyways, as for the handheld itself, it felt pretty well balanced in my hands. It's pretty big, from the 8-inch screen, but the buttons are easy to reach, if nothing spectacular, and there are a pair of macro paddles on the rear.

I'm told the design may change slightly, however—MSI is still working out all the details. The rep wasn't able to say much more than it's using an engineering sample of a Lunar Lake chip, the new Core Ultra 200V-series, and the battery has been improved up to 80 Whr. That's a big increase over the 53 Whr battery in the original Claw 7. That should put it right up there with the ROG Ally X, which has a similar battery capacity, and is all the better for it.

MSI is aiming to get the Claw 8 out come January, and if I were you, I'd wait around for that release to see how it fares in benchmarks, because there aren't enough reasons to be dropping cash on the Meteor Lake powered Claw 7 already available. That one didn't really impress us enough when we had some hands-on time with it, at least not enough to beat out the other options available today. But maybe a little Lunar Lake power efficiency and a new and improved GPU will help.

]]> https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/msi-is-the-first-to-bundle-intels-new-lunar-lake-chip-inside-a-handheld-gaming-pc-alongside-a-chunky-80-whr-battery/ 6oGBYaWC4uyuwSnrHu2QDH Tue, 03 Sep 2024 16:00:30 +0000 <![CDATA[ Just in time for Labor Day, Ayaneo handheld gaming PCs are now available in the US at Best Buy ]]>
  • Ayaneo Kun | Ryzen 7 7840U | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $1,199.99 $999.99 at Best Buy (save $200)
  • Ayaneo Next Lite | Ryzen 7 4800U | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $399 at Best Buy

    • It's taken a while but at long last, Ayaneo handheld gaming PCs can now be purchased in the US from a local retailer, bypassing the need to go down the import route. The retailer in question is Best Buy but at the moment, it's only offering two of Ayaneo's enormous portfolio of PCs.

    Even if you only have a passing interest in handheld gaming PCs, you will have almost certainly heard of Ayaneo. The Chinese manufacturer has only been around for four years but its catalogue of handheld, mini, retro, and pocket gaming PCs has taken the market by storm.

    We're big fans of Ayaneo's Air 1S, with its diminutive size, it's a genuine PC-in-your-pocket. It's somewhat hard to believe that there's a Ryzen 7 7840U stuffed inside the tiny package but if there's one thing that Ayaneo's really good at, it's taking AMD's APUs and using them to power all kinds of different form factors.

    Take the Ayaneo Retro Mini AM02, for example. It looks very much like an old Nintendo Entertainment System but it's actually a full-blown PC, with up to 64 GB of RAM and 1 TB of SSD storage.

    However, if you're a US resident, getting your hands on one was somewhat tricky, as none of the usual tech retailers stocked them. Pretty much the only option was to find a seller who was willing to import them. Well, here's some good news at last and it's timed perfectly to coincide with Labor Day.

    Best Buy now has Ayaneo handheld gaming PCs in stock, although the selection on offer is rather small—the Kun and the Next Lite. We reviewed the Ayaneo Kun earlier this year and found it to be almost the ultimate for handheld PC gaming. Unfortunately, our review sample had far too many quirks to justify its rather hefty $999 price—don't get me wrong, it's very good but compared to how good the OLED Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally X are, it's just not good enough.

    Best Buy's other Ayaneo model, the Next Lite, is at the other scale of things—$400 gets you a handheld with a seven-inch, 800p screen and an old, Zen 2-based Ryzen 7 4800U processor. That's fine for basic gaming or anything that doesn't use lots of modern 3D graphics, but you're unlikely to be enjoying a few hours of Baldur's Gate 3 on it.

    Hopefully, Best Buy will get some other models in, such as the Air 1S, 2S, or maybe even the new Snapdragon-powered Pocket Evo. Given what Ayaneo has achieved in just a handful of years, I suspect that other US retailers will be jumping in on the action too.

    ]]>     https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/just-in-time-for-labor-day-ayaneo-handheld-gaming-pcs-are-now-available-in-the-us-at-best-buy/ b5vroYtYxNWFN7cmdt5s7B Mon, 02 Sep 2024 10:25:57 +0000     <![CDATA[ The Mechanism Gaming Pillow acts like a third arm for your gaming handhelds and I'm not ashamed to say I kinda want one ]]> I love my Steam Deck. Lying down on the sofa or sitting up in bed with the device might not be doing wonders for my partners' perception of me, but as portable PC gaming experiences go, it's pretty great. This bizarre-looking device for holding one aloft, however, initially caught my interest purely out of amusement—but the more I think about it, the more I reckon it's quite a good idea.

    The Mechanism Gaming Pillow is available for $59, and acts as a third hand for your handheld gaming devices (via The Verge). The 12-inch pillow is essentially a miniature bean bag chair filled with squishy foam granules, and is designed to sit on uneven surfaces, like your lap or your stomach when you're lying down. 

    The included Ball Socket Mount in combination with a custom grip (one included) allows you to hold aloft a Steam Deck OG or OLED, Nintendo Switch, ROG Ally or PS Portal at a comfortable height, thanks to an extendable arm. The listing states that the company's goal is for you to "fall asleep before your arms do", and there's even a hilarious animated .gif of a model repeatedly punching himself in the face with the cushion to prove how soft it is.

    We've all got to earn a living. Anyway, there's also an optional adhesive mount to attach your phone to the base, or potentially even a battery bank to extend the life of your chosen arm-mounted device. That's a clever little addition, and while it's not the first handheld gaming cushion I've seen, this one looks like some thought went into the materials and the design. And you'll still look less dorky than someone wearing augmented reality glasses to achieve the same effect.

    Is this a real problem though? I can tell you from personal experience, yes. I find myself either holding the Steam Deck up at eye-height—in which case my arms eventually become tired—or holding it in my lap and craning over the top of it, which is a pretty awful position for your spine to be in over an extended period of time.

    While I still thinks it looks silly, the benefits here might outweigh the potential pitfalls—namely that your living partners are going to make fun of you, and the inevitability of knocking it over, no matter how stable it is. Still, if you're not a complete klutz like me, I reckon it's got the makings of a device that'll make handhelds much more practical to use for long periods at home.

    Of course, it is sort of going against the point of portability, but then handheld gaming PCs like the Deck are multifunctional items. For a quick trip on the train or on the tray table during a flight, you're fine with the form factor as is. For knocking around the house though, I reckon this might just save you from the terrors of an aching back.

    ]]>     https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/the-mechanism-gaming-pillow-acts-like-a-third-arm-for-your-gaming-handhelds-and-im-not-ashamed-to-say-i-kinda-want-one/ jtYMWErBVnkWMijudXuERn Mon, 19 Aug 2024 15:53:27 +0000     <![CDATA[ Zotac Gaming officially launches its Zone handheld gaming PC with a super fancy AMOLED HDR screen ]]> All of us in the PC Gamer Hardware tower-of-tech love a good handheld gaming PC. Whether it's the luscious screen and brilliant software ecosystem of the OLED Steam Deck or the raw power of the ROG Ally X, the market is awash with all kinds of devices. And now Zotac, purveyor of GeForce RTX graphics cards and mini PCs, is throwing its gauntlet into the ring with its Zone handheld, replete with a 7-inch AMOLED screen.

    The display is probably the biggest selling feature of the Zotac Gaming Zone and we first laid our eyes (and sticky mitts) on it back in January, at the annual Computex event. In terms of size, resolution, and refresh rate, it's par course for the market (7 inches, 1080p, 120 Hz) but it uses an AMOLED touch-sensitive panel, with a claimed colour gamut of more than 100% DCI-P3 and 150% sRGB.

    With a peak brightness of 800 nits, it should be ideal for gaming outdoors, although it's not clear what that will drop to when it's displaying HDR content. According to fellow staff Chris, "...in a brightly lit environment, [it] really impressed with the brightness, contrast, and color reproduction."

    Zotac has also given the Zone (or how about ZGZ, for short?) a decent set of control options, with dual Hall Effect thumbsticks and two-stage adjustable triggers, radial dials around the sticks, two trackpads, plus two buttons around the back. Of course, we don't know how well these all work until we get our hands on a ZGZ and properly test it, but there's no shortage of control options, at least.

    The rest of the hardware is fairly standard fare for a modern handheld gaming PC—an AMD Ryzen 7 8840U, with 8 CPU cores, 16 threads, and 768 RDNA 3 shaders that handle all the gaming duties. That gets backed up with 16 GB of LPDDR5-7500 RAM, which is nice and fast, but having spent a lot of time using the ROG Ally X with its 24 GB of RAM, I think 16 GB is perhaps a little lacking.

    Image 1 of 3

    Promotional image of the features of the Zotac Gaming Zone handheld PC.

    (Image credit: Zotac Gaming)
    Image 2 of 3

    Promotional image of the features of the Zotac Gaming Zone handheld PC.

    (Image credit: Zotac Gaming)
    Image 3 of 3

    Promotional image of the features of the Zotac Gaming Zone handheld PC.

    (Image credit: Zotac Gaming)

    It's a similar story for the storage, as it's just 512 GB. Given the size of many games these days, that's really not enough, though the Zone does use a standard PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 interface which should make it easy enough to expand the capacity with a speedy gaming SSD.

    But you do get a built-in kickstand, WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connectivity, a UHS-II microSD slot, and two USB4 ports for handling external displays and peripherals. There's even a fingerprint scanner and a 720p front-facing camera, so it's not short on the extra goodies. Zotac also makes a dedicated dock and carry case.

    Weighing in at 692 g (1.53 lbs), I expected the Zone to have a large battery but it's only rated to 43 Wh. That was acceptable a year or two ago but with the ROG Ally X sporting an 80 Wh battery with a similar weight, I do think Zotac has missed a trick here.

    As with all handheld gaming PCs, the specifications only tell you half a story. How it feels in one's hands, how thermals and noise are managed, and the software ecosystem play a really important role in how enjoyable such devices are. If we get a Zotac Gaming Zone in for review, we'll be sure to let you know.

    ]]>     https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/zotac-gaming-officially-launches-its-zone-handheld-gaming-pc-with-a-super-fancy-amoled-hdr-screen/ ybyPYbDxbqYJtmWX7GCS6Y Mon, 19 Aug 2024 12:23:19 +0000     <![CDATA[ Valve is 'continuing to work on adding support' for other handhelds, but 'SteamOS isn't ready to run out of the box' just yet ]]> The release of Valve's SteamOS for handheld gaming devices other than the company's own Steam Deck hasn't quite reached Half-Life 3 levels of can-kick-down-the-roadery. But it's getting there.

    Last week we reported on a tantalizing hint that Valve's Linux-based gaming operating system might be just about to roll our for Asus's ROG Ally handheld. It still might be. But we've now spoken directly with Valve designer Lawrence Yang and, well, let's just say it doesn't seem imminently imminent.

    "SteamOS isn’t ready to run out of the box on other handhelds yet, but we’re continuing to work on adding support," Yang told PC Gamer when we asked about a new entry reading "Added support for extra ROG Ally keys" in the SteamOS release notes.

    So, SteamOS isn't ready to run on other handhelds today and Valve isn't putting a time frame on the release. Though at least with some third-party support starting to make it into beta releases of the OS, it does feel like we're starting to get somewhere. But, not to put too fine a point on it, but this is still becoming a teensy bit of a drag now. 

    The original Steam Deck launched over two years ago in February 2022, Valve said that a standlone version of SteamOS was coming soon. Then last year when the revised Steam Deck OLED was released, Valve confirmed that its focus was getting SteamOS onto other handhelds as opposed to a general release for pretty much any x86 PC or laptop.

    Here we are in mid 2024 and, well, nada. Valve is still working on it, but it doesn't seem like they are spooling up to announce anything. Of course, you could argue there's no particular reason why Valve needs to release SteamOS for competing handhelds or indeed as a general build with wide compatibility for PCs.

    It's very much what we'd like to see, but the incentives from Valve's perspective, what with SteamOS currently being a fairly significant USP for the Steam Deck, aren't totally straight forward.

    To be fair to Valve, ensuring a consistent experience across multiple handheld devices is never going to be easy. Even with similar hardware, performance characteristics vary. Likewise, detail spec differences, whether its a plethora of WiFi adapters or differing screen resolutions, all need to be supported or optimized for.

    Put another way, it's one thing providing a polished experience from SteamOS on a single in-house device, the Steam Deck, quite another to have it running slickly and consistently across a whole gaggle of third-party handhelds, let alone any old PC.

    ]]>     https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/valve-is-continuing-to-work-on-adding-support-for-other-handhelds-but-steamos-isnt-ready-to-run-out-of-the-box-just-yet/ BKZWi9ws23TSETXfR8oEVi Wed, 14 Aug 2024 10:13:02 +0000     <![CDATA[ New SteamOS beta hints at an imminent general install with ROG Ally support added ]]> Every now and then I wonder where SteamOS is. The obvious answer is: it's on the Steam Deck, dummy. But ever since Valve released the original Steam Deck it's been talking about creating a general install that would allow you to drop its impressive Arch-based Linux distro onto other, non-Decky devices. And finally, we have the first tantalising glimpse of a general SteamOS install almost within sight, because the latest beta release (via SteamDeckHQ) has one line that has got me rather excited: "Added support for extra ROG Ally keys."

    That's exciting because every SteamOS release has been purely tailored for installation on Valve's own Steam Deck, with a general install being always frustratingly just out of reach. This, however, is the first time I've seen the patch notes referring to a fix being in place specifically for an installation of the operating system on a different company's device. 

    For many years all we've had on that front has been a recovery image file that kinda allows you to drop SteamOS 3 onto other devices. Valve says "for all the tinkerers out there" that this is not quite SteamOS 3 as a standalone install, and it "may not work properly" if you try and install it on anything other than a Steam Deck.

    Basically, there has been no thought to support other gaming devices… until now. For reference, you have to read that last clause in Mr. Cinema Trailer voice. 

    There have been fixes made in previous SteamOS updates for third-party peripherals, and other things you might plug into a Steam Deck, but the added support for extra ROG Ally inputs is very new and rather pleasing. Sure, this isn't about to turn into an OS I can finally replace my Windows 11 install with on my regular gaming desktop, but it might hint a new SteamOS download designed for the raft of other handheld gaming PCs out there is coming soon.

    Which would be a good thing, because as much as I've made peace with Windows on handhelds when I've been playing with the ROG Ally X and Ayaneo Kun, I always feel kinda envious when I pull the Steam Deck OLED out of my drawer and give it another whirl. 

    It's an incredibly satisfying experience, and one tailored to the handhelds. Which is exactly why you're going to see SteamOS 3 hitting other handheld gaming PCs ahead of any installation which tries to run the Linux distro on a standard desktop PC with myriad potential configurations.

    When the OLED first came out I spoke with Valve's Deck designer, Lawrence Yang and asked specifically when a standalone install would arrive.

    "Oh, man," sighs Yang, "it's very high on our list, it's on our list and we are working on it. But a lot of the same people that would make the general install of SteamOS available are the same people that are making Galileo [Steam Deck OLED] work.

    "We're hoping soon, though, it is very high on our list, and we want to make SteamOS more widely available. We'll probably start with making it more available to other handhelds with a similar gamepad style controller. And then further beyond that, to more arbitrary devices. I think that the biggest thing is just, you know, driver support and making sure that it can work on whatever PC it happens to land on. Because right now, it's very, very tuned for Steam Deck."

    That was in November last year, and we're now nine months later and it feels like that gestation period might finally be about to give way to the official birth of a version of SteamOS you can jam on another AMD-powered handheld. Here's hoping it's not just the Ally and we get support for devices across the board. Though I wish you luck if you're hoping for a version that runs on a Meteor Lake handheld…

    I've reached out to Valve to see if there might be some more concrete confirmation coming soon, and will keep you posted.

    ]]>     https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/new-steamos-beta-hints-at-an-imminent-general-install-with-rog-ally-support-added/ XM5r6CrvnUAp5SdLZu3K4Y Fri, 09 Aug 2024 16:14:34 +0000     <![CDATA[ All the small things: Lenovo's website may have hinted at an upcoming Legion Go 'Lite' ]]> We're big fans of the Lenovo Legion Go. It's a cracker of a gaming handheld, with a fantastic screen, detachable Switch-like controllers and an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU that's capable of some great handheld gaming on the move.

    About that last bit: it's rather, how shall we say, large, and as a result not the most portable of handhelds. However, there have been whispers in dark corridors that Lenovo may have been cooking up a smaller, 'Lite' version of the substantial device, and some cryptic copy on Lenovo's own website may have given the game away.

    While the current Lenovo Legion Go has an 8.8-inch screen, some (now deleted) text on its product page reportedly mentioned that the device "comes with a 7-inch or 8-inch display" (via Videocardz). Not only that but there was also a reference to the inclusion of an HDMI port (which the current version lacks) and a cooling system with dual fans.

    Yep, you guessed it, the current Legion Go only has one. One solitary spinning fan. So what's going on here then?

    Well, the first eyebrow raiser here is the reference to both a 7-inch or 8-inch display. That does certainly suggest two models, one smaller than the other, although the fact that the current Legion Go's display is 8.8 inches makes the mention of an 8-inch unit particularly mystifying.

    Similarly, the dual fan reference is just plain odd. While a smaller device would almost certainly have to change up the cooling system, cramming two fans into a smaller chassis strikes as an unusual approach to a more compact design.

    So, are we looking at not just a reference to the Legion Go Lite, but potentially the upcoming Lenovo Legion Go 2? It's difficult to say, and let's face it—what could really be going on here is the result of an intern being let loose with some copy on the product page and getting the specifications all kinds of wrong.

    Still, a smaller Legion Go does make all kinds of sense. While the 8.8-inch display is a glorious thing to behold on the current model, we found that its 2560 x 1600 resolution was essentially overkill for the frames the APU could push to it. Dropping down to 1200p was a much more pleasant experience, although there's an image quality trade-off to be made.

    Handheld gaming PCs

    Steam Deck set up as a PC

    (Image credit: Future)

    Best handheld gaming PC: What's the best travel buddy?
    Steam Deck OLED review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld.
    Best Steam Deck accessories: Get decked out.
    Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life?

    Shrinking the screen down makes that much less of an issue, while also reducing our primary critique—in its current form, the Legion Go is pretty big and cumbersome. So much so, in fact, that while we rate it as our top pick for big screen handhelds in our best handheld gaming PC guide, it's with the caveat that the Legion Go is the sort of device that's best used at home, rather than out and about on your daily travels.

    A smaller, potentially lighter handheld would be a very smart move to address those concerns. As for the hardware inside, we're still left with best guesses at this point. Probably the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, again, or perhaps the regular Z1? Maybe even something Strix Point? There's also Lunar Lake to consider, for a wild card (and potentially very performant) option. That's if it's released in time, of course.

    All I know is this: I've desired a Legion Go since the first time I saw one, and a smaller, neater version with those trick controllers strikes me as a very desirable device indeed. Time will tell whether this is simply an erroneous bit of copy, or a strong hint towards Lenovo handhelds yet to come.

    ]]>     https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/all-the-small-things-lenovos-website-may-have-hinted-at-an-upcoming-legion-go-lite/ gEZnabnCbpPAy6pzkRHHtZ Mon, 05 Aug 2024 15:09:38 +0000