So I am ignoring my monthly challenge for a moment to post more on handheld PC gaming. I guess I could spin it into a weird article, as in, "Isn't it weird that the handheld console-like PC market has gone insane, let alone that it has such a high level of interest?" And I say this as someone who currently owns no less than four handheld devices (not counting the Switch or Switch 2), and I have sold at least three other handhelds. I have a problem, and I think this obsession is rather weird....and also weird that it seems to afflict so many other people.
Before we analyze the weirdness, let's pin down the practical aspects of handheld PC gaming:1. For many, carrying a handheld PC around for some quick gaming is very convenient. This makes sense; the console handheld market has been super popular for a long time now, and the idea, in principle, makes sense for PC gaming, too. Right? Well...see the cons below for the counterpoint to this.
2. A lot of people have invested heavily in their preferred storefront for PC gaming, so being able to access their games in an on-the-go format makes sense, right? Right??? Hey, it does mean you don't have to restart in a different walled environment like you would with the Switch 2, for the most practical example.
3. A handheld PC can provide a more dedicated gaming experience, something that may be more tempting than the next rung up the ladder, gaming laptops. This part is (mostly) a solid truth; a dedicated handheld that runs well may indeed prove to me more consistently satisfying as a gaming experience, especially on the road traveling.
4. For a lot of people it's not even about travel, but instead about convenience. You can pull out the handheld and play in areas not at your PC desk or in front of the TV. You can play games while others are using the TV, and in rooms you ordinarily couldn't game in. So the same value for portability as the Switch 2.
But, there are many cons to the PC handheld market! These are largely unique to the PC market, too, as console-based handhelds (of which the Switch family is the only current option; the new Xbox branded Asus handhelds are well-established as being just PC handhelds) are generally designed to solve these problems. These cons include:
1. Battery life is not great. You are not getting phone levels of battery life out of handheld PCs. The first generation of handheld PCs are relatively infamous for lasting maybe 1-2 hours at most unless you were willing to tinker heavily with the power wattage and performance metrics, which these devices mostly give you a lot of tools to manipulate. The battery power has gotten better, starting with the Steam Deck OLED and Asus ROG Ally X, but the performance levels you set the devices at can dramatically alter battery life. This leads to problem 2....
2. To really make these devices work for your needs you need to tamper with their settings, a lot. In fact, I think there are really two kinds of players for handheld PCs: those who are fairly into or at least savvy about altering the specs on a device to optimize performance to improve battery life, and those who (like me) kind of can't stand dealing with that, and set it to the highest performance you can get, then just make sure you have a plug in handy nearby when playing. This level of complexity is lessened with the SteamOS based systems (such as of course the Steam Decks and the Legion Go S), but the windows based devices are all going to make this more complex because not only are you dealing with the device's overlay setting but you will also be diving into Windows, and if you're not technically savvy on this stuff you will be watching a lot of videos on how to make your device feel like you imagine it should. I just got a MSI Claw 8 AI+, for example, and spent close to 6 hours with the device trying to figure out why it ran like crap, and in the end it was all because the device had no obvious and easy path to updating the Intel integrated graphics drivers without going to Intel's site and downloading their latest drivers, something I would have thought could be done through the MSI overlay....but nope, even their updater seemed not to see the latest updates. Still, after all that tinkering I now have it running better than any of my other devices, but it really shouldn't have required that I jump through all those hoops imo.
3. If you get a Switch 2 from Nintendo you are locked into their store and games designed for their system, but in general those games run straight up and without issue. The only variable is the extent to which the studio provided the proper resources to optimizing the game for the Switch 2 (or original Switch), and you don't have to worry about anything. Even the battery life on the Switch 2, while not amazing, is consistently always better than the same experience on a handheld, even the ones with really good battery lives. But handheld PCs just can't manage this. You can access multiple storefronts, sure....but you are limited on some games, especially those using anti-cheat, on SteamOS systems. For Windows 11 devices you're dealing with a cumbersome OS not designed for handhelds, and can run into many unexpected performance issues. This means you may be loading, testing, modifying setting and then reloading multiple times before you are happy with a game's performance.
4. Ditching a gaming laptop for a handheld is not practical either if you use your PC for work or other non-gaming tasks. A handheld can be souped up to handle non-gaming tasks for the most part, but now you're adding a Bluetooth mouse, keyboard and maybe even a screen; when you're done, your setup consumes as much or even more space than the laptop probably does, especially something like the compact 14 inch ROG Zephyrus which is what I use for work travel.
All of the other devices are for the enthusiast with money to burn, and in the case of myself and possibly many others, apparently not enough common sense. I think I have reached a point where I feel like I'm at a satiation point....and the new devices are all coming in at $1000 or more, which really is past my tolerance limit for cost on this sort of device. Even some of the older devices which came out earlier this year and last year have gone up in price, so I am happy as an example that I got my SteamOS edition Legion Go S before the price hikes (and even on sale when I snagged it). I would be reluctant to pay any of the prices out there now....and only grudgingly caved on snagging the MSI Claw 8 which came in at $1049. Much as I'd like the Legion Go 2, I just can't justify the $1350 price tag for a handheld.
One of the problems I have run in to with handhelds is that the performance value on the device has an element of diminishing returns with cost. While running a game on the MSI Claw 8 or the Legion Go S (Z1E edition) definitely shows better performance than the Steam Deck OLED, they do not in fact provide enough value on this performance for me to feel like the Steam Deck is somehow no longer a viable product....it's still totally useful as a handheld device* (though I would like to know what SteamOS seems to be a much more stable experience on the Legion Go S than it is on the Steam Deck OLED, but that is a question for another time....)
The weird part of all this for me is that I feel like there is a real driver happening behind these handheld PCs which defies their conventionality as portable devices. Many of the games I can get to run well on these devices are still going to be better games to enjoy on a large screen with a dedicated desktop or laptop running them.** So this gets back to the weird part: why are they somehow as attractive as they are to a certain segment of the population? I have two working theories beyond what were mentioned above in the initial "pros" section:
First, I think that there are a lot of Gen X level gamers and maybe Millennials as well who either grew up in an era where the concept of a handheld was dominated by consoles, with the likes of the Gameboy, Game Gear, PSP and later PS Vita. There's always been interest in the ability to play games in this convenient format, and I know that growing up in the 80's I often dreamed of the idea of having a handheld device that could do what these modern handhelds do. This is a generational thing, is what I am saying; and it's one of the reasons that so many people are so fascinated with these handhelds, and will pay ridiculous prices for them, even though the actual practical experience of a much cheaper handheld makes far more sense.
Second, I think that despite the fact that so many of these devices are allowing you to play and enjoy these games on a suboptimal level of experience, the truth is that the transition to digital services for games going back to 2004 with Steam has led to a generation of gamers who have far, far more game in their backlog than they will ever have time to play. As an aging population of gamers increases, and their catalogs of unplayed and ignored games explodes, the handheld PCs provide a unique and effective way to quietly load and enjoy some of that backlog, and the trade off on fidelity is often worth it, because the gateway of a desktop PC or a console on the family TV has proven to be too big an obstacle for many busy gamers to ever get ahead of the tide of available gaming at their fingertips. Handhelds actually help to stave off a bit of this.
For those of you who have read some of my prior articles on handheld PCs, here's my current rundown: I sold by original Rog Ally (white model) and upgraded it to a ROG Ally X. I am done with the ROG Ally's for the foreseeable future, and plan to skip the Xbox branded editions. Then I did upgrade to a Steam Deck OLED a while back and greatly appreciated the experience, and donated my older Steam Deck. I had and enjoyed the original Legion Go but after I got the Z1E SteamOS edition of the Legion Go S I realized I liked the performance of a Linux-based SteamOS version of the Legion, as well as the better ergonomics so much more that I sold my original Go. I also really didn't like the detachable controllers, which were okay but fiddly; rumor is the Legion Go 2 makes its detachable controllers much better.
Finally I just added the MSI Claw 8 AI+ to the collection, and am so far startled at how well it runs everything...after I spent six hours updating it. Despite all these lovely devices I still find half my handheld gaming is happening on the Switch 2, which is the best bang for the buck as long as you like Nintendo's offerings.
Okay! Maybe this was just an excuse for me to talk about handhelds again, but I do think the phenomenon of this exploding and now very expensive market is just very, very weird....so there ya' go!
*I used Senua's Saga: Hellblade II as a test example, since I have four of these devices. I was surprised to discover that while I could get the most graphical fidelity out of the MSI Claw for the best overall experience, the actual feel of the gameplay and overall look felt smoothest and cleanest on the Steam Deck! I think this is at least partly because the way SteamOS works, and the way Linux handles optimization on the graphics drivers, allows for publishers to very specifically target the Steam Deck performance almost as if it were a console. I'm still going to play it on the MSI Claw, but only because I need to cost justify my purchase....
**Example: Senua's Saga: Hellblade II which is a gorgeous game, especially on a 48 inch OLED screen.
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