Like many people, we thought smartphones would put an end to handheld consoles. Why buy a dedicated handheld when your smartphone can not only access thousands of mobile games, but also select ports from PCs and consoles? However, the Nintendo Switch has turned pretty much everything upside down, showing people just how big the market is for gaming handhelds.
More recently, Valve shook things up with the Steam Deck, a $399 handheld PC that lets you play AAA Steam games on the go. That’s right, no mobile games and no Nintendo games, but full-fledged PC titles on a relatively affordable portable handheld.
Of course, the Switch and the Steam Deck aren’t the only games in town. Several attempts have already been made, as well as new ones on the horizon, that want to fly the flag for portable button-mashing. Of course, most of them don’t have the Switch library of exclusive Nintendo products or the mind-bogglingly affordable price of the Steam Deck, but they offer a viable option for those who want to game on the go without further draining their smartphone’s batteries.
These are the best gaming handhelds available today.
Analog pocket
Just want a handheld to play the old Game Boy cartridges you’ve somehow been holding onto all this time? Analogue’s handheld console is the way to go, with its Game Boy-esque form factor, familiar controls, and a high-resolution 3.5-inch color screen (1600 x 1440 resolution) so you can play those old titles on a machine it feels sufficiently contemporary. Out of the box, it’s compatible with the nearly 2,800 Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advanced cartridges out there, while it all has optional cartridge adapters for Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Atari Lynx, and more retro -handhelds. Like their regular home consoles, it uses FPGA chips to run the original games at the hardware level, without software emulation, resulting in graphics, sound, and gameplay that reflect the developers’ vision. It comes with assignable buttons, up to 10 hours of runtime, stereo speakers, multiplayer support (up to four players), a built-in DAW, and an optional dock for playing the games on a TV. Note, it’s still on pre-order, with deliveries scheduled for next year.
Nintendo Switch
While the Switch is well into its fifth year in the tooth for a games console, it remains the only way to truly enjoy modern Nintendo titles, keeping it completely relevant until the house Mario and Zelda built decides to finally build a new one. release the machine . The fact that you can play it on the go and then dock it to a TV at home for big screen gaming makes it even better. Some even claim that it is the best system Nintendo has made.
After being out for half a decade, there are several Switch models to choose from, with the 7-inch OLED variant being our current favorite. Those who want the most affordable version can also opt for the Switch Lite, which ditches the TV dock for handheld only gameplay.
AYN Odin Pro
This handheld console runs on Android 10, so it plays pretty much all the games your smartphone plays. It even has a 6-inch IPS display (1920 x 1080 resolution) that is comparable to larger smartphones. The big difference is that it comes equipped like a game console, so you have a custom interface that makes it feel like a real gaming device, along with a full set of tactile controls that should make gaming much more satisfying compared to tapping and swiping on a screen. As such, it’s certainly an interesting option if you’re into mobile titles. Plus, it should be a great option for cloud-based game streaming so you can enjoy PC and home console games if you have the connection to meet the bandwidth requirements.
Logitech G Cloud
Logitech’s handheld console is currently available for pre-order and is outfitted in much the same way as the Odin Pro above. It has a larger 7-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a frame rate of 60 Hz, along with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. It also has a modified version of Android complete with access to the Play Store so you can download and use any app you want. The main difference between them is that this console is optimized for both Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now, ensuring the best game streaming experience on both platforms. The real selling point, though, is battery life, as the outfit claims a whopping 12 hours of playtime between charges, which is a true godsend for portable gaming.
Valve Steam Deck
If you’re interested in portable gaming, you’ll want Valve’s handheld console, with its AMD Zen 2 APU, 1.6-teraflop RDNA 2 GPU, and 16GB of four-channel DDR5 RAM capable of playing real PC games on the go. . The 7-inch screen is also quite large, so you can enjoy those game visuals in a way that the smaller screen of a smartphone won’t allow. Plus, it can be hooked up to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse once you get home for a true, if slightly underpowered, desktop gaming experience. Also, being a full-fledged Linux PC, it also supports cloud-based game streaming while getting a ton of homemade apps and games that are likely to grow significantly over time.
The problem is that the waiting list is long and there is no telling when that will change. However, if you’re willing to wait, there’s no better game in town, especially at the price points that Valve has set.
Aya Neo Air
Aya Neo already makes a pretty powerful handheld, which we’ve also included below. However, with the popularity of the Steam Deck, they needed something a little closer to the price. That’s the whole reason for the Air, which combines an AMD Ryzen 7 5825U APU, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to 512GB SSD in a gaming case with a 5.5-inch OLED display with 1920 x 1080 resolution. 404 PPI and wide viewing angle of 175 degrees. If you want a small, lightweight handheld gaming PC, this might be the best option out there, measuring just 0.7 inches thick and weighing just 14 ounces.
Oneplayer Mini
This portable gaming PC combines a 7-inch IPS display (1280 x 800 resolution) with an AMD 5800U APU, 16 GB DDR4 RAM and up to 2 TB SSD storage. It’s slightly more compact and lighter than the Steam Deck, with a standard asymmetric control layout that should be familiar to fans of console gaming. A heatsink and heatsink should help keep it from overheating, not much of a risk when playing on the go, as the 12,600mAh battery is only good for about two hours of AAA gaming before needing a recharge. However, it can play video for eight hours, if you want to use it to watch movies and shows. The device comes with Windows 11 pre-installed.
Aya Neo Next Pro
If you’re willing to spend premium money, Aya Neo has a portable gaming PC that you can pick up right now, without the need to make a reservation or go on a waiting list. Equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen (1280 x 800 resolution, 60 Hz frame rate) and a full set of physical controls (complete with magnetic hall effect joysticks and triggers), it’s a truly portable gaming device, albeit with good PC hardware. in the housing. The specs include an AMD Ryzen 7 5825U with Radeon Vega 8 graphics, up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage, so it should deliver on the promise of 60fps gaming in many titles, provided you’re prepared, of course. to sacrifice some of the more demanding graphics settings. It also has two USB-C slots (with Thunderbolt) so you can connect it to a monitor and other peripherals for use as a desktop PC, which should work great, especially since it has a full Windows 10 build.
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