Handheld Gaming Gets Worse!!!

 128KB is a great channel of two brits who like to talk handhelds and they keep pretty up to date on news in this niche industry. Unfortunately it looks like not only is the Legion Go 2 pricing at $2,000 or more now, but the Legion Go S series has exploded in price, too.

So, as an addendum to my last post, I want to declare that you should, if you are keen on handheld gaming, restrict your consideration to the Nintendo Switch 2  or one of the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally models (before they go up in price, too!) 

I do still stand by my MSI Claw 8 AI+ purchase, but concede even it is both going up a bit in price (not as badly as the Legion Gos are, though) and also somewhat hard to find. So as such....I declare victory as a tie between the Switch 2 and the Xbox Ally X (and base model), which I suspect are only remaining cheap right now because ASUS produced a very large number of them before the RAM and chip prices skyrocketed. 

State of Handheld Gaming in April 2026

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. 

The Legion Go S SteamOS Edition - A Short Review

Legion Go S (SteamOS Edition, version reviewed has the Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 8" 120Hz refresh display, integrated RDNA graphics)

The Legion Go S is the intermediary step in Lenovo's attempt to dominate the handheld gaming PC market. Released after the original Legion Go and before the Legion Go 2, Legon Go S comes in no less than four flavors: A purplish edition with SteamOS as its operating system and a white edition with Windows 11 as the operating system, and each of those editions has either a Z2 GO chip or a Z1 Extreme chip. The model I picked up early on last year was the SteamOS Z1 Extreme edition. The price of these units varies wildly, but when I got mine it was $829 MSRP. During a sale I snagged another unit for my nephew for a measly $649 (Z1 Extreme, no less), and that was a very nice price indeed. At this exact moment Best Buy is listing it as on sale for $799 which is honestly not a bad price for what you get.

It was immediately clear from my first hands-on with this machine that it is a spiritual sort of Steam Deck 2, and the device effectively behaves in all ways like a Steam Deck, except with overall better performance. I can't comment on the Z2 Go version of the Windows 11 powered versions....but can say I wouldn't even want to bother with those myself, this is the one to get just for sheer performance and expectations at this price point. 

Unlike its fellow Legion Go and Legion Go 2 cousins, the Legion Go S does not have detachable controllers, and is instead a very solid feeling, comfortably ergonomic unit that feels like it can handle lengthy play sessions without discomfort. Until I got my legion Go 2 it was pretty much my default device for road trips, and the only devices I feel are more comfortable than it to hold for long play sessions is the Xbox ROG Ally models. It smokes the poor MSI Claw 8 AI+ in terms of comfort. It is also fairly lightweight in feel compared to the other devices; the distribution of weight in the Legion Go S feels just right.

Of all the devices I have written about this month, the Legion Go S has the biggest soft spot in my collection for just being friendly to use. It's got all the good features of the Steam Deck and none of the faults, and its better performing hardware means that you encounter very few glitches in software that is Steam Deck friendly when running on the Legion Go S. Just like the Steam Deck, because it is a Linux-based operating system with some restrictions on games that lean on Easy Anticheat and other services, that means you won't be able to play, say, Destiny 2 on this thing easily. But like any Linux based system, you can go into the OS proper and find work arounds for most non Steam game stores if you want. 

The screen on the Legion Go S is also my favorite non OLED screen of the batch. It is really clear and honestly if someone told me it was OLED I would have just believed them (though if you compare it to the Legion Go 2 the difference stands out). This screen's slightly larger size also makes it stand out against the ROG Ally lineup, which feel petite by comparison.

I really don't have a lot to say that is negative about the Legion Go S. It's....um....I guess it's main failing is that there isn't a Z2 Extreme version of it (I mean, there is the Legion Go 2 of course) but its performance is so good that for many I doubt the Z2 Extreme chip performance gain is worth paying $550 extra just to get. 

Oh, and while it's controllers are not detachable Joycon-style devices, this leads to a very solid design and something else no other handheld has: switches to set your preferred tactility of the trigger buttons. You have three level settings you can use, and it is a nice feature to have.

I've run a lot of games on the Legion Go S, and it was my go-to handheld for most of last year. I continue to reach for it just for chilling out, even if I can see better performance in the MSI Claw and Legion Go 2, simply because it is so comfortable and easy to use; none of the very annoying Xbox Full Screen Experience problems here, just good old SteamOS. 

It is with this review that I will give the Legion Go S SteamOS Edition a solid A+ and suggest that if you want to dive into handheld gaming and want to spend less than $1,000 to do so, that this is my top suggestion, especially if you can find it on an even cheaper sale this year! I would also advise jumping on it at such a price given we have no idea how long the market will bear lower prices on these devices with the cost of RAM going through the roof. 

The Legion Go S is absolutely the best overall experience of all the handhelds relative to price that I have in my collection. That said....if you've got money burning a hole in your pocket, the Legion Go 2 is also a no-brainer, but if you got the Legion Go S you would find this thing will serve you quite well. We shall consider this the Winner of the Best Mid-Tier Handheld Category; we'll reserve the "Best Budget Priced Handheld" for Switch 2, and the "Best Prestige Handheld" goes to Legion Go 2. Lenovo keeps knocking these out of the park, and I am intrigued to see what comes next....albeit with the caveat that I'd like to wait a couple years before I upgrade any of these devices, I need some proper time to really get my money's worth out of all these gadgets I have.

The Steam Deck OLED in 2026 Vs. The Competition

Despite all of the new handheld PCs coming out, with their fancy new Z2 Extreme chips and Intel processors, the Steam Deck OLED remains a thing and is still quite affordable. The question is: given how crowded the market is, how does the Steam Deck OLED hold up to all the new competition?

My own Steam Deck OLED as well as my original Steam Deck have both had hardware issues, meaning even if I wasn't stupidly obsessed with these handheld gadgets I would have had to upgrade at some point. The original Steam Deck had a HDD failure, so its toast without taking some time to repair. The Steam Deck OLED still works, but for reasons unknown if I leave it alone for a couple days I can only restart it by force booting into Bios half the time, and I have no explanation for why this is so. It is not impossible that the hardware in these devices is, similar to laptops, given to a shelf life of only a few years. Either way, it has made the Deck a frustrating experience last year, as I spent a fair amount of time researching online for solutions to the problem which often felt like they bordered on magical ritual.

So given that.....what to do when you think you need to upgrade?

We're going to ignore the expensive and prestige machines for purposes of this comparison because I am going to assume that if you are tired of the old Steam Deck OLED's level of performance you will find the funds to upgrade to one of the fancier new machines. So the real question is: does the Deck hold its own against other lower-priced models, specifically the Xbox ROG Ally base model, Lenovo Legion Go S, and other last generation models such as the older ROG Ally X and MSI Claws? 

Well, the very short answer is: absolutely. Steam Deck OLED holds up just fine in the current market, even if it is getting a bit long in the tooth. At least part of this is due to the fact that so many SteamOS compatible games have been released with deliberate Deck optimization, and it also helps that despite new and fancy tech like DLSS 4.5 coming out, the actual state of computer games has been fairly stagnant for the last four or five years now, meaning that while you can get games which don't run on Steam Deck or have suboptimal performance, it doesn't happen nearly as often as one might expect. As a result, if you just want some on-the-go playtime with your Steam library, odds are the Deck will cover you just fine.

Now, if you are looking at the Steam Deck from the perspective of "does this hardware feel long in the tooth, and should I upgrade anyway for a more modernized experience?" or you are thinking, "I would really like to play some games that only work on Windows 11," then yeah, maybe you would like to take a look at the alternatives. Assuming you are sticking to a similar budget in terms of cost, you will find that the top competition for Steam Deck OLED space is the Xbox ROG Ally base model (the white one), and I have had this device for about two months now and continue to play on it. While the XRA is a Z2 Go chipset and therefore closer in functionality to the Steam Deck OLED, it has a lot of modern features that make it stand out. For one thing, despite loving the old 720p OLED screen on the Steam Deck, I much prefer the nicer and newer looking 1080p 7 inch IPS screen on the XRA, which for whatever reason just looks and feels better to me with the extra resolution. It can run some games that the Steam Deck can't, though more graphically intensive titles may have long load times due to shader caching, though these games often have the same lengthy load and cache times on the Steam Deck. 

Although the Steam Deck has a pretty decent ergonomic design that I really like, the XRA and its bigger cousin (the "XRAX") beat all handhelds in this department with their controller-style grips, so that's a no brainer of comfort in play is your goal.....but noting that the Steam Deck grip feel is still really decent.

You can find the XRA for as little as $489 on sale right now, which makes it price competitive with the Steam Deck, too. 

The other competitor in the new handheld space is the Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS edition. This one I will review more shortly, but the short version is: you get a SteamOS experience (if you buy the Steam ready edition), and if you get the Z1 Extreme chip version you get the best last gen chipset you can find, along with 32GB of RAM (who knows if that will still be the case going forward, though), and that extra power essentially smoke the Steam Deck in terms of performance. The grip of the Legion Go S is also very comfortable....not as amazing as the XRA, but as good (imo) as the Steam Deck in feel. It's biggest drawback: the price varies wildly, though patience will usually net a sale where it can drop to as low as $650 for the Z1 Extreme model. If you can snag that version for a good price, grab it, it's worth the upgrade.

Finally, you don't have to buy new to get a decent replacement for an aging Steam Deck. If you are willing to brave the marketplace, I have found that there are a metric ton of decently priced used-market handhelds out there. Worth taking a look, as you might even be able to get a deal on a newer generation handheld. 

So, given that, if I had only picked one budget device to replace my Steam Deck, which one would it have been? The short answer would be the one I actually did pick to replace it originally: the Steam Deck 2.0, alias the Lenovo Legion Go S. With that said, I am surprised at how much I have enjoyed and continue to use my base model Xbox ROG Ally, which deserves more respect than it has gotten from the online community.....its a robust and comfortable handheld, even with a weaker processor.

Okay, next, time to talk in more depth about the Legion Go S!

Why are Handheld PCs so Popular?

The Handheld PC Gaming Market is Weird

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. 

This all sounds a little tedious when you line it up. There's also a new huge problem looming on a post-tariff horizon: these devices are getting more expensive, and the dollar value is going to really depend on your use case. If you're just looking for a device to play for an hour or two while commuting or in a hotel room somewhere, then there is really no reason not to get a Switch 2 or a Steam Deck base model, as you can spend $450 for the Switch 2 and $400 for the original Steam Deck new. You get a device that can handle a wide array of games which will be more than enough to keep you busy.

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.