The Best Handheld Gaming PCs to Take Your Games on the Go

The Asus ROG Ally X we reviewed past twelvemonth mightiness usage the aforesaid AMD Z1 Extreme processor arsenic the archetypal ROG Ally, but Asus has made capable small changes to the handheld that catapult it into its spot arsenic the champion gaming handheld connected the marketplace close now. The Z1 Extreme is accompanied by 24GB of LPDDR5 memory, clocked astatine 7,400MHz, a monolithic summation implicit the 16GB of RAM connected the archetypal model. And due to the fact that the RAM is faster this clip around, too, it results successful a astonishing show assistance that averaged astir 12-15% successful my testing.

Asus besides made the chassis a small thicker and heavier. It's not capable to announcement astir of the time, but there's a crushed down the madness. The Asus ROG Ally X has an improved cooler and a artillery that's doubly arsenic ample arsenic the archetypal model. This means you tin play games for aggregate hours earlier you person to commencement moving for the charger. The improved cooler besides helps agelong gaming sessions by wicking blistery aerial distant from the interaction display, avoiding the blistery interaction surface contented that plagued the archetypal model.

The Asus Mobile XG larboard connected the archetypal exemplary has been removed, and has been replaced by a 2nd USB-C port, which is compatible with Thunderbolt 4. Asus has besides replaced the arguable MicroSD paper slot with 1 that volition hopefully beryllium a small much resistant to damage. (After all, Asus got into immoderate blistery h2o with the archetypal ROG Ally acknowledgment to immoderate lackluster lawsuit enactment that was documented by YouTuber Gamers Nexus.)

Despite that, the Asus ROG Ally X, by itself, is the champion handheld gaming PC acquisition you tin get close now.

Responsible for popularizing the handheld gaming PC revolution, the Valve Steam Deck doesn’t really travel with Windows installed. Instead, it uses Valve’s customized SteamOS, and acknowledgment to the API Proton, the Steam Deck supports dozens of games optimized for the portable from Cyberpunk 2077 to Forza Horizon 5.

There are ways to get Windows moving connected the 7-inch show portable by booting straight from the USB-C port. Beyond that is 1 of the champion input controls disposable for immoderate portable gaming handheld. See our afloat examination betwixt the Steam Deck and ROG Ally here.

There’s besides the OLED mentation of the Steam Deck to see for users who similar a larger, brighter, and much vibrant screen. While inactive displaying astatine 1200x800, the Steam Deck OLED offers a noticeable difference, providing much clarity for a amended ocular experience. You'll besides get improved artillery life, a higher refresh rate, and much retention than the 256GB offered successful the tradtional LCD model.

When you're mounting retired to bargain immoderate benignant of gaming PC, there's a equilibrium you request to look for: You privation thing with unthinkable performance, but inactive looks similar the premium merchandise that you paid for. Handheld gaming PCs are nary different, and that's wherefore the Lenovo Legion Go is specified a catch. The Legion Go measures successful astatine a monolithic 11.76 inches agelong and 5.16 inches gangly with the controllers attached, and that's chiefly due to the fact that of the ample display.

Unlike different handheld gaming PCs similar the Steam Deck oregon the Asus ROG Ally Z1 that instrumentality a batch of inspiration from the Nintendo Switch, the Legion Go sports an 8.8-inch 1600p display, astir making it a Windows 11 tablet with a controller stapled onto it. Luckily, Lenovo was capable to support the value down a small bit, conscionable 1.41lbs. Even if it's lighter than it looks, it's astir apt going to beryllium hard for folks with smaller hands to usage it.

The 1600p show causes a spot of a hassle, too. Because this is utilizing the aforesaid AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset arsenic the ROG Ally, immoderate games tin person a spot of occupation moving astatine the autochthonal resolution. This is easy solved by tinkering with your in-game settings to little the resolution. If you're not comfy doing the hands-on troubleshooting, this mightiness not beryllium the merchandise for you. But if you're a long-time PC gamer similar I am, you'll emotion conscionable however flexible – and beauteous – the Lenovo Legion Go is. This is the handheld gaming PC for the hardcore PC gaming crowd.

If the analyzable quality of the Lenovo Legion Go is simply a spot of a turnoff, the Lenovo Legion Go S did conscionable travel out. However, successful my review, I recovered it to beryllium slower than the archetypal Legion Go and astatine a higher terms point. There volition beryllium a mentation launching aboriginal this twelvemonth with a somewhat lower-end configuration and moving SteamOS, and that's going to beryllium the lite-version of the Legion Go to support an oculus unfastened for.

If you’re aft a Windows-based handheld that puts the Steam Deck’s Linux-based SteamOS to shame, look nary further than the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme we reviewed backmost successful 2023. It runs connected Windows 11, truthful conscionable astir immoderate PC crippled and storefront are casual to usage and bounce betwixt with this device, including Xbox Game Pass and Epic. There are nary important caveats, similar erstwhile attempting to play non-Steam games connected the Steam Deck. However, during our review, we recovered the Armoury Crate bundle a spot clunky.

Equipped with a speedy Z1 Extreme mobile processor offering an 8-core Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3-powered graphics, the ROG Ally has 1 of the astir almighty chips disposable – if you’re looking for thing cheaper with a small little oomph, cheque retired the ROG Ally Z1. During testing, the Z1 Extreme could play galore games astatine precocious oregon adjacent ultra settings portion hitting commendable framerates with conscionable a spot of tinkering, thing that can’t beryllium said for the Steam Deck. But pushing those higher settings comes astatine a important outgo to artillery life, making a powerfulness slope a dependable investment.

The ROG Ally is sleek and lightweight, featuring a vibrant 7-inch touchscreen with an adjustable solution from 1080p to 720p and a creaseless 120Hz refresh rate. The controllers flanking the screen’s sides person responsive ABXY look buttons and a somewhat inexpensive feeling D-pad. We privation a touchpad were disposable for mouse-based games, but luckily the joysticks are reliable. A wireless rodent tin ever beryllium connected if request be. Still, with everything connected offer, the ROG Ally is fundamentally a mini Windows PC masquerading arsenic a gaming handheld.

More similar a mini laptop than gaming handheld, the GPD Win 4 we reviewed looks astir similar Sony’s PSVita until you look beneath the surface. The portable has a AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and AMD Radeon 780m GPU. All of that is hiding down a 6-inch 1080p screen. One of the item features of the GPD Win 4 is simply a sliding Windows keyboard, which makes utilizing the desktop operating strategy connected the spell a breeze.

There are 3 versions available, including a basal configuration with 16GB RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, going up arsenic precocious arsenic $1,599 for 32GB and 2TB of SSD storage.

One of the smallest handheld gaming PCs available, the Ayaneo Air has a 5.5-inch OLED FHD screen. Performance-wise, you should beryllium capable to get rather a spot of horsepower of the 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 CPU and AMD Radeon GPU. A small nether 2 inches thin, the Ayaneo Air besides weighs 2.6lbs. With 512GB SSD storage, there’s besides country to grow via Micro SD slot. Though it whitethorn deficiency the sheer powerfulness of galore portable Windows handhelds connected the list, the size unsocial makes it a worthy buy.

If you similar the looks of the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme but privation thing astir arsenic almighty for little money, drawback the Asus ROG Ally Z1. Running the amusement is Windows 11 and a 30W AMD APU featuring a Zen 4 processor paired with a GPU with 4 RDNA 3 CUs. Admittedly, those graphics volition conflict to support up with AAA games astatine their highest settings connected this 120Hz FHD handheld with a 7-inch display. Turning down the settings does assistance marque games much playable, but the instrumentality genuinely shines successful indie games.