Alternatives
These aren’t our top picks, but are still handheld options we’d recommend over others.
MSI Claw 8 AI+ for $1,000: MSI has had a roller-coaster few years with its handheld game consoles, but all the deeply broken and flawed hardware has finally led to the Claw 8 AI+, which is a powerful entry. The hardware is beautiful, the button layout is well-done and ergonomic, despite the large size, and performance has been great. I’ve enjoyed failing miserably in Sekiro and have collected far too many acorns in Squirrel With a Gun. The 1080p screen has a 120-Hz refresh rate and is sharp and smooth. Unfortunately, the biggest problem is the fact that it runs Windows. MSI’s Center M software is also not intuitive to use, and I’ve run into a few bugs where the controls stop working. Worse yet, the console is difficult to find in stock. It’s a shame because this is finally a good MSI handheld, but its high price and availability issues just make it inaccessible to most.
Asus ROG Ally X for $900: The Asus ROG Ally X (6/10, WIRED Review) still can’t entirely overcome the jank that comes with Windows. It also doesn’t have as many unique and interesting features as the Lenovo Legion Go. But it does have one thing that the other Windows handhelds don’t have: a massive battery. With an 80-Wh battery, this thing can store more juice than many gaming laptops. That’s not just a nice-to-have; it’s essential, since Windows tends to burn through battery faster than other platforms. It’s still not enough to reach good battery life, per se, but it’s what I would consider acceptable. I got nearly three hours out of Doom Eternal and a little longer playing Hades II. No other Windows handheld I’ve tested (including the Legion Go) lasts that long, which is a bit sad, but it still makes this the best option for longer gaming sessions.
Nintendo Switch Lite for $197: The Switch Lite (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the cheapest version of the Switch, but not by a ton. It lacks detachable controllers, and you can’t dock it to play on your TV. This is for portable gaming exclusively. If you’re fine with that, then you can save a little money with this version, but if you want to play with separate controllers or on your TV–or if you’re just unsure–then it’s probably worth spending a little extra on the Switch OLED. I don’t think it’s worth buying an original Switch anymore.
Try Cloud Streaming Instead
Instead of buying a new device just for gaming on the go, you could use the phone you already have in your pocket. The latest phones have high-resolution and high-refresh OLED panels, great battery life, and fast data connections required for multiplayer or streaming. For all of these options, a proper controller will help the experience a lot. We have a guide with clamp and stand-alone controllers that work with iPhone and Android, so make sure to check that out if you decide to go the streaming route.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Steam Link (iOS, Google Play): If you have a gaming PC and a fast internet connection, you can run games locally and then stream them to any device that can run the Steam Link app. I’m really impressed by how easy this option is to get up and running, and it even has built-in customizable touch controls, so you can fire it up without any additional hardware. This is my preferred option for gaming on my phone, assuming I’m not just crushing hands of Balatro.
Nvidia GeForce Now: Nvidia was one of the early options for cloud gaming, and GeForce Now (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is still a great option for PC gamers who don’t have the latest hardware. It uses your existing library of owned games from various platforms, but runs them on Nvidia servers for more consistent performance. There’s a free version with an hour session cap, among other limitations, but a premium membership allows you to skip the queues and play for longer, while getting more performance.
Xbox Cloud Gaming: Though technically still in beta, Microsoft has been slowly expanding the Xbox walls to include PC gamers, and now streaming. Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can stream a selection of Game Pass games to their mobile device. This option has a subscription fee and limited games compared to the other options, but if you’re already on Game Pass Ultimate, it’s worth checking out.
Avoid These Gaming Handhelds
This space has been flooded with handhelds, and not all of them are great. Some of them are so bad that I would argue no one should buy them at all.
Asus ROG Ally: The ROG Ally had a lot of potential, but it didn’t pan out. It has the same jank as other Windows-based handhelds, and unreasonably low battery life, even by gaming handheld standards. Updates, since it came out, improved it enough to merit including this one in our Honorable Mentions in the past, but now that the ROG Ally X is out—and often for not much more money than the original—it’s hard to recommend this one anymore.
Logitech G Cloud: For this handheld, Logitech took a page out of the PlayStation Portal’s playbook, focusing on streaming first. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do it as well. For starters, it’s considerably more expensive at $300, plus it requires a subscription to streaming services like GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming. It struggles more than other devices I’ve tested at streaming games, and its ability to run games locally via Android is similarly not very robust.
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