Best Gaming Handhelds

Once upon a time, handheld game consoles were a rapidly expanding sector of the entertainment medium, and for some, the best way to play games. The way we play games these days has grown to include a multitude of platforms, but handhelds are still one of the favorites, and there are more than a few excellent options out there. Especially now, thanks to the emergence of PC gaming handhelds.

Handheld game consoles provide some of the best experiences for their portability and their ability to be played basically anywhere. This makes them the optimal choice for travel. As well as lounging on the couch, playing in bed, or anywhere else you may choose to relax. They’re also great for when someone else wants to use the TV. No matter the reason, handhelds are great. With that in mind, this guide includes the best gaming handhelds you can buy if you’re looking to give yourself another way to play games.

Even if you already own a handheld of some kind, you might be looking to expand your collection of hardware and get something new. Or maybe you just want to give someone else in the family a way to play games in a more portable manner. Whatever the case may be, you’ll find all the best gaming handhelds below.

Best Gaming Handheld Overall: ASUS ROG Ally X

If you want the best handheld experience across the board, go with the ASUS ROG Ally X. As a PC gaming handheld, it’ll be more expensive than the Nintendo Switch OLED. As well as handhelds that are strictly for cloud gaming. However, it’s still the best gaming handheld available right now. Especially for PC games. Not only does it put out exceptional performance, but it’s reasonably priced compared to some PC gaming handhelds that have similar specs.

It also has better battery life than the Steam Deck. Meanwhile, it puts out better performance for games. Even if the performance boost is only marginal. It runs on Windows 11 as well. This opens it up to a world of different game clients. All without having to do any messing about with the system or files. That being said, Windows 11 is also a double-edged sword for the ROG Ally X, because if I’m being completely honest, Windows still doesn’t have the best user experience for this kind of device.

It’s simply Windows 11, just like you’d find it on a PC. It’s just scaled down to fit a smaller screen. ASUS has tweaked the UI some to make it more convenient to navigate. But it’s not as good as what Valve has done with the Steam Deck’s UI. And in this regard, the Steam Deck will always win. Still, the ROG Ally X can install Steam, but also install all of the other PC game clients that the Steam Deck can’t install out of the box.

That’s a big leg up if your PC gaming isn’t limited to Steam. For example, I’ve been playing a lot of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. I own it through Ubisoft Connect instead of Steam because I got it at a discount. With the ROG Ally X, I didn’t have to do anything special to install Ubi Connect. The ROG Ally X is also more comfortable to hold than the original ROG Ally and ASUS fixed the microSD card issue that it had as well.

Not to mention, it has more RAM, more storage, and overall just runs games better. At $799, it is neither the most expensive nor the least expensive PC gaming handheld. Price-wise, it’s kind of right in the middle. The price is also part of what makes this the best option. It’s less expensive than some handhelds, but it provides a better experience. If you’re looking at handhelds and you have a higher budget, definitely go with the ROG Ally X.

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Best Gaming Handheld For Nintendo Fans: Nintendo Switch OLED

The Nintendo Switch OLED is easily one of the best gaming handhelds available today. Even with the Switch platform being several years old at this point, the Nintendo Switch OLED has a lot to offer anyone who wants something portable that plays games on the go. In fact, how old the Switch is is partly why the Switch OLED is such a great handheld. It has a MASSIVE library of games to choose from.

While it’s relatively the same size as the original Switch, it has notable upgrades like the much wider kickstand and the updated dock. Best of all is the OLED display and the reason for its namesake. Games look way better on the OLED model than the regular model, which uses an LCD display. Colors are simply more vibrant and it really helps games pop.

Another reason the Switch OLED is so good is because of its battery life. Compared to the PC gaming handhelds that are on this list, it lasts considerably longer on a single charge. It also doesn’t need to draw as much power to charge up during use. So it’s easier to plug it in if the battery gets low and actually power up the battery again. With PC gaming handhelds, you’ll need a charger that’s about 100W. That is, if you’re playing games at the highest settings the handheld can manage. Otherwise, a 65W charger should suffice.

That isn’t an issue for the Switch OLED, and it’s a big reason why I love it. Of course, a handheld is all about portability. The Switch OLED is extremely portable because it’s so lightweight and thin. I can easily toss it in my cross-body sling bag (the bag was actually designed for the Switch platform specifically) and not feel weighted down. While the Switch OLED doesn’t have a large internal SSD, it has enough storage to get you started, and most Switch games are fairly small compared to PC games.

Plus, you can slot in a microSD card and store the games on that. They run just as well from the microSD card, too. Then there’s the other alternative, which many people who own a Switch OLED will no doubt opt for – buying the physical versions of games and just popping in the cartridge. In terms of cost, the Switch OLED is pretty reasonable, coming in at around $340, depending on whether there’s a sale or not.

No matter how you slice it, the Nintendo Switch OLED is one of the best gaming handhelds out there. Even with the Switch 2 coming in the near future, the Switch OLED is still worth buying. Not to mention, it may go down in price when the Switch 2 launches.

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Best Gaming Handheld For Steam Users: Valve Steam Deck

Raising the price a little bit can move you into a slightly larger, but more capable, handheld device. The Steam Deck. While not technically a console per se, it can be thought of as one since it fits into the same category as the Switch OLED when it comes to playing games portably.

While the cost is $50-$60 more than the Switch OLED (and that’s just the base model), the Steam Deck does more. It can play a huge library of Steam games. Which is vastly larger than what’s available on the Switch. But because it’s also a PC, you can install emulators onto it and play games that way. You can also install apps for PlayStation Remote Play, Xbox Game Pass, and more. And if you really want to, you can install Windows on it and access games from other stores like Epic, Battle.net, EA, and more.

The big downside here is that if you want to keep the price a little more reasonable, you have to stick with the $399.99 model. The nice thing is that the $399 model used to have only 64GB of storage. Valve has since done away with that model and has replaced it with the mid-tier, which was 256GB. Now, the 256GB is $399, while the 512GB has moved down to $549, and the 1TB model now sits at the top at a price of $649.

Whatever model you go with, if you need more storage, you can always slot in a microSD card just like with the Switch OLED. One of the things I loved most about the Steam Deck, too, is that games load really just as fast from the microSD card as they do from internal storage. While the internal storage is probably slightly faster on paper, I think in actual practice the difference is negligible. I loaded games from both quite a bit, and I didn’t notice any differences at all.

So this is something I wouldn’t worry about. And it’s a great way to expand the storage capabilities, so getting a microSD card is highly recommended. There are a lot of other really cool things about the Steam Deck that make it worth getting, but the most important reason to consider it over other options is if you play a lot of games on Steam. The Steam Deck UI is still better than other PC gaming handhelds to this day.

One of the really fun features is the Steam Deck boot animations. Initially this was something that Valve didn’t officially support. It didn’t block people from using them, but it never had the feature natively added. Now, Valve has added the boot animations as a native feature within the settings. So, you can download and change them whenever you want. This is just a really neat way to customize your Deck.

What I didn’t expect was that the Steam Deck would play PC games so well. Even demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 run pretty well if you tweak the settings. This can be a great way to play through your Steam library. And in terms of PC gaming handhelds, it’s the least expensive option, making it an amazing value.

Buy on Steam

Best Gaming Handheld For Cloud Gaming: Logitech G Cloud

Not everyone wants to deal with downloading and installing games, and this is what makes the Logitech G Cloud such a great option. It was purpose-built for cloud gaming with services like Xbox Game Pass and NVIDIA GeForce NOW in mind. The nice thing is that it runs on Android, so you can also install Android games and play them if you wish.

The one thing worth mentioning is that cloud gaming can be temperamental. If you have a really strong wireless connection, games should run flawlessly. However, if your wireless connection is weaker, you may end up getting some inconsistencies with the streaming quality. That’s really the only major downside to this handheld when it comes to playing games.

Putting that aside, the G Cloud is a wonderful alternative for the gamer who lives in a house with other people. Even if you have a console hooked up to the TV, sometimes other people want to use the TV. With the G Cloud you could still play games. And because it’s a handheld, you could even sit on the couch with those people watching TV so you’re still technically part of the family lol.

Specs-wise the G Cloud isn’t stacked for high-end performance, then again, it doesn’t really need to be. Streaming games doesn’t require a lot of performance power. It does have a 1080p display, which is nice. As games will look great at 1080p on a display this size. It’s also extremely lightweight. At $299, it’s a bit pricey for something that’s mostly meant for cloud gaming.

That being said, $299 is still cheaper than the $399 it will cost you for a Steam Deck. And if you don’t care about playing the games locally, this is a nice option to have in the back pocket for games.

Buy at Best Buy

Best Gaming Handheld For PlayStation Fans: Sony PlayStation Portal

Keeping with the theme of cloud gaming, Sony’s PlayStation Portal is without a doubt one of the best gaming handhelds. For starters, it’s a viable way for you to play PS5 games without having to sit in front of your PS5. You do need a reliable internet connection just like with the G Cloud. But if that isn’t an issue, then you should have no problems with stream quality.

For me, the PlayStation Portal has been one of the best handhelds I’ve ever used. I love playing on my PS5 locally, but sometimes I just want to kick back on the couch, or in bed, and play some games in a more relaxed setting. The Portal makes this possible. Sure, I could just pick up the Switch OLED if I wanted to play something on a handheld. However, if I still want to play PS5 games this gives me a way to do that without actually having to sit in front of the monitor my PS5 is hooked up to.

The screen is nice and big and has surprisingly good visual clarity. Audio quality isn’t too bad either, with the built-in speakers that Sony used. You will get a better experience with earbuds or headphones, though. This is the one area that the PlayStation Portal kind of feels lacking. If you want to use headphones, you either need to use a wired pair of headphones or earbuds, or buy the only two (yes, only two) audio products that can connect to the Portal wirelessly – Sony’s PlayStation Pulse Explore earbuds or the Pulse Elite headset.

This is because the Portal uses a proprietary wireless connectivity technology for wireless audio. And right now, only Sony’s two offerings work with it. Outside of this one admittedly minor flaw, the Portal is a very solid investment if you have and use a PS5 often. It even has the same adaptive triggers and advanced haptics as the DualSense controller. So you won’t lose out on any of those features for games that support them.

Another thing to take into account is that the PlayStation Portal is only $199.99. That’s incredibly inexpensive compared to most other handhelds. Now, if you don’t own a PS5, then this is not the right fit for a gaming handheld. Since the PS5 is required to make this work. If you own a PS5, however, then you definitely should consider buying the PlayStation Portal.

Buy at PlayStation Direct

Buy at Amazon

Best Gaming Handheld For First-Person/Third-Person Shooters: Lenovo Legion Go

If you like first-person shooters, then the Lenovo Legion Go is worth your consideration on the handheld front. It’ll be similar in experience to the ROG Ally X and the Steam Deck. However, with less battery life than both. It runs on Windows 11 just like the ROG Ally X and several other handhelds. However, it has a big advantage over every other option. It’s better suited for playing shooter games.

See, the Legion Go comes with those removable controllers. The right one can be used as a vertical mouse for controlling your aim. The triggers on it can be used as mouse clicks for shooting. Then you can use the left one for character movement. If shooters are a major part of your PC gaming habits, then this is definitely worth looking into over the other options. Because it’s the only one with that vertical mouse function.

You could just buy a mouse and keyboard to use with the other PC gaming handhelds. But that’s way less convenient. The Lenovo Legion Go also has a pretty nice display, and it’s big at 8.8 inches. Plus, it has a 144Hz refresh rate, which is faster than the other options. It’s powered by the same Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset as the ROG Ally X, too, which definitely helps with the performance. You won’t be paying any more for it either, as it starts at $799.99. That being said, you can get one with 32GB of RAM for $899.99

Buy at Best Buy

Best Gaming Handheld For Classic Games: Retroid Pocket 4

If retro games are your thing then you should heavily consider the Retroid Pocket 4. This was built specifically for running emulators to play classic games, and it comes in at a price of $199.99. In terms of cost, this is a really good value. You get a nice big screen and plenty of performance power for playing classic games. You get a solid set of controls, and it even comes in multiple colors. So, there’s a little bit of personalization.

It’s powered by a MediaTek Dimensity D1100 chipset which is more than powerful enough for the kinds of games you’re going to play on this thing. It also runs on Android so you could use it for playing Android games. It can even be used for cloud gaming with the available GeForce NOW and Xbox Game Pass apps. At 251 grams, it doesn’t weigh a whole lot either, which makes it very portable and easy to carry around with you everywhere.

Plus, it has a 5,000mAh capacity battery to help last longer for gaming. In other words, you can easily get several hours of game time out of this.

Buy at Amazon

Best Gaming Handheld For Android Games: Ayaneo Pocket S

Android games can be pretty demanding these days, so you’re going to want something powerful enough to run the most demanding games at the highest settings if you like playing your games at their peak potential. Ayaneo’s Pocket S is the best option for this.

It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 chipset, which easily allows you to crank the graphics on any Android game and still end up with a smooth frame rate. Now, to be clear, I’d have selected the newly announced Ayaneo Pocket S2 for this. As it’s been improved in many ways. One of which includes the use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 chipset. However, that handheld is not yet available. So, Ayaneo’s original Pocket S is the best option for Android games at the moment.

In terms of specs, it has a 6-inch 1080p screen, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. It also comes in black and white color options. Additionally, you can get a 1TB storage model for a little bit more money if you so desire it. For handhelds, it’s pretty lightweight, and the controls actually feel really, really good. The triggers and action buttons are snappy and responsive, but don’t feel too spongy or anything like that.

The Pocket S also lets you map controls for games that don’t natively support controllers. So you shouldn’t have any issues playing a game on this. That being said, there will be some games that just aren’t designed in such a way that a controller input would work well. For any games that use a virtual controller, though, like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, this will be great.

Buy at Amazon