Another short blog post, but I wanted to follow-up on my January reviews of the various handheld gaming devices out there. When I wrapped my evaluation At the end of January I sort of settled on these evaluation: The Xbox ROG Ally X was a decent $1,000 handheld but if you could afford the extra to get a Legion Go 2 it would be the superior experience. I loved the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and also found the Xbox ROG Ally Base Model to be a decent budget entry, and I also suggested that the Steam OS edition of the Legion Go S with the Z1 Extreme Processor was probably all anyone really needed, especially if you could find it on sale. So....semi noncommital on any specific direction other than to point out that the cheapest two options (Steam Deck and Switch 2) are probably all anyone really needs for some occasional on-the-go gaming.
So now cut to April 2026, prices are soaring, the RAM market is causing shockwaves in lower cost products, Lenovo is allegedly doing a terrible job of rolling out driver updates for its Windows-based products, and I just learned that the Legion Go 2 is now retailing in the US fro $1849 if you can even find it. WTF
So! As a brief public service message, I would suggest that if you are interested in handheld gaming right now and have not yet bought in, that you consider one of these options:
Are you a casual handheld gamer? Is the goal to bring it along on trips or use as a second device in the house to play games when the TV is occupied or you don't feel like sitting at a desktop terminal? Then I would suggest that (in order of price point) you consider these options:
Switch 2 - get one before it goes up in price! Still MSRP $450 right now. Sure you have to exist within Nintendo's walled garden, but these days that's not much of a problem as its stacked with good stuff.
Xbox ROG Ally base model - it really is a nice little device, even with Windows, just make sure to keep it updated on drivers and bios updates. Best Buy has itr for $549 right now.
Steam Deck - if you can find one, it's still worth it, but be aware its getting long in the tooth and you will not be playing many current AAA titles on it.
Legion Go S Steam OS edition - If you can find the Z1 Extreme version on sale, ignore all of the above suggestions and just get this. I have not rried the Z2 chip version but it is cheaper and online reviewers suggest it works well, so that might be an option given its low price.
Okay, maybe you are more of an enthusiast, and you are willing to pay extra for a more premium experience? Well, here's my suggestions:
MSI Claw 8 AI+ - you can find one for cheap on the used market, and it's currently retailing at around $1150 but I have seen it on Ebay for half that price. It's proven to be my most consistently reliable handheld in terms of performance to cost, and has the best sound system. If someone (say, a wife or something) were to force me to dump all my handhelds except one, this is the device I would keep.
The Xbox ROG Ally X - it's holding steady at $1000 MSRP and its performance is great, but I do run into lots of bugs and gave up on the Windows Full Screen Experience which was just too annoying, buggy and unreliable for me. It's also almost twice the cost of the base model which may be slower but runs most stuff just fine.
Legion Go S - Despite a slightly older Z1 Extreme Chip, this Steam OS edition is honestly superior in every way imaginable, especially if you can find it on a good sale. It seems to run for around $900 MSRP but can be found on sale occasionally for less than $700. I still think I could have just stuck with this as my Steam Deck replacement and not bought any of the other devices and I'd be happy.
Is there anything I wouldn't reccommend now? Well, I wouldn't suggest the Legion Go S Windows edition unless you really want to play Destiny 2 or something on it. I would advise that the Legion Go 2 is, while the best of the lot, simply not worth the current prices its going for right now, and Lenovo needs to step up support for drivers more. Stay away from the other MSI Claw models; I can't really comment on the MSI Claw A8 series, which uses the Z2 Extreme drivers instead of Intel, but the others are reportedly subpar in design or out of date (though I've seen the A1M sell for under $400 new online which does make it tempting to pick up just to see how it fares). I also think that the Steam Deck is now just old enough to be better for those who love Linux gaming and don't mind sticking to their older portfolio of games, but if you want to play something new, stay away from it. This is based on my Steam Deck OLED model, which also gives me lots of hardware issues these days, annoying given I've only had it for about two and half years now.
