While I’ve bemoaned the expensive state of handheld gaming PCs at length, that doesn’t mean I find a cool concept model any less head-turning. Enter Acer’s latest Project DualPlay creation: a handheld gaming PC with a flippable screen that can turn into a laptop. The Project DualPlay Mini was shown off on-stage at IFA 2026, […]
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Valve’s handheld launched in February 2022, opening the door to playing your Steam library on the go. Now, almost half a decade later, 30,000 games either enjoy the green stamp of being Steam Deck verified, or are at least considered ‘playable.’ According to the latest numbers from SteamDB that breaks down to 8,964 Steam Deck […]
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Handhelds aren’t exactly the most exciting devices right now given just how prohibitively expensive they’ve become, but you’d better bet my ears perk up a little when I hear of more possible budget-oriented hardware. That’s what we could soon have from Intel, if prolific hardware leaker Jaykihn’s recent X post is correct. Decoding the string […]
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I love my Steam Deck. Although the internals are starting to look a bit long in the tooth these days, it still feels like the archetype of what a handheld gaming PC should be. It’s a bit large and in charge though, which is why my ears pricked up when I heard of the Steam […]
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Though it’s a chunky handheld gaming PC, we highly rated the original Lenovo Legion Go (though we liked the Legion Go S SteamOS a fair bit more). Unfortunately, owners of the two-year old hardware are now reporting that a recent BIOS update is bricking their handhelds. The BIOS update in question is version N3CN42WW for […]
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Last month I reported that replacement batteries for the original LCD version of the Steam Deck would return to the iFixIt store after a brief absence. Well, Valve sent more batteries, and you can purchase these replacements from iFixIt right now. Unfortunately, the replacement battery alone now costs $130. Purchasing a new L-shaped battery without […]
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Have you ever been sick of your family using your electronics without asking, and thought ‘boy, I should put spikes and a taser on this thing’? If the answer is yes, then you’re like Redditor ConroyyJenkinss (presumably no relation to Leroy), who has done just that. Taking to the Steam Deck subreddit, they recently announced […]
Read MoreThe Steam Deck was once a budget champion, but no longer. Ever since the price hikes earlier this year, Valve’s handheld has become difficult to argue for as a value proposition—and according to recent sales estimates by Boiling Steam, it appears that consumers may agree. The site has attempted to estimate the number of Steam […]
Read MoreAyaneo said it was suspending pre-orders for its Next 2 gaming handheld earlier this year, after rising storage costs and the ongoing memory crisis made it “no longer sustainable.” Well, it’s now listed on Ayaneo’s website—with an asking price for the top model of $5,299. I’ll wait for you to pick up your jaw. Back […]
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Andy Edser, hardware writer (Image credit: Future) This month I’ve been: Testing the Steam Machine, and trying to get my head around its price tag. Also, I’ve suddenly found myself surrounded by refreshed gaming laptops. A nice problem to have, ey? I like handheld gaming PCs. Note that I’ve carefully used the word “like,” rather […]
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SteamOS, once the purview of the Steam Deck alone, eventually opened itself to other handhelds. Officially that extends only to the the Legion Go S, but beta versions of the operating system have since supported the Asus ROG Xbox Ally and “Other AMD powered handhelds.” The key term there being ‘AMD’, because until very recently, […]
Read MoreWith the RAMpocalypse doing its very best to ruin PC gaming, with memory and storage now ludicrously expensive, the handheld market has struggled to keep things affordable. Acer’s solution to all this is simple: bin everything needed to play games locally, and just make a streaming device instead. Officially called the Nitro Blaze Link, Acer’s […]
Read MoreIf you recognise the name ‘Anbernic’, it’s likely because you’ve had your eyes on the company’s gorgeous retro gaming handhelds. You might want to think twice before buying one, though, as some folks have accused it of quietly downgrading the DDR4 memory to DDR3 and cutting memory size in half, with Anberic reportedly only denying […]
Read MoreIntel has just announced some new processors for handheld gaming PCs, and everyone knows what that means: a new MSI Claw. While other handhelds were lapping up AMD chips, the MSI Claw boasted Intel, so it’s almost a given that the new G-series chips will tuck themselves inside a new Claw—and now it looks like […]
Read MoreThe once budget handheld gaming PC, the Steam Deck, recently received an astronomical price hike, with Valve citing “global logistical challenges” (otherwise known as the global memory crisis) for this decision. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney soon weighed in on the matter, drawing attention to Gabe Newell’s $500 million superyacht in the process. Commenting on X, […]
Read MoreIt feels like about time that we get some new and exciting handhelds, don’t you think? Yesterday, Intel announced new Panther Lake chips designed specifically for handhelds, called the Arc G-Series (Arc G3 and G3 Extreme), and while we’ve already seen MSI’s expensive Claw offering featuring one of the new chips, Acer has now also […]
Read MoreSo, Intel has announced its new chips for handheld gaming PCs, the Intel Arc G-Series. And you know what? They’re probably going to be pretty good given they’re basically versions of the well-received Panther Lake processor. In fact, they could well be the fastest handheld chips on the market. Well, at least at launch. There […]
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The Nintendo Switch 2 felt quite pricey at launch, what with its $450 price tag and all. However, the memory crisis has hit everyone, and the Japanese company is feeling pressure to raise its prices. This is all according to a recent report from Bloomberg. It notes that Nintendo’s stock price has been on a […]
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Although the AI-induced global memory crisis is currently doing its very best to wipe out the consumer PC market, that doesn’t mean system vendors are giving up on releasing new products. In fact, we’re just a month away from Computex, and you can be sure to see a whole raft of new desktops, laptops, and […]
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Over four years ago, we were already reporting that Valve was working on a Steam Deck 2. In 2023, Valve said the Deck 2 was at least a couple of years away. So, what the current sitrep? Short answer: still in progress, likely waiting on a decent new chip. Speaking to IGN, Valve rep and […]
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RPCS3: Improving the Handheld Experience – YouTube Watch On Considering it’s emulating one of the most complex consoles ever made, PS3 emulator RPCS3 is remarkably easy to use. On desktop it has a load of helpful tooltips explaining the basic, recommended settings, with lots of graphical settings and checkboxes for the tinkering-inclined to play with […]
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Crimson Desert is one of those games that seems to be able to wrangle together all kinds of disparate gamers to attempt to master the bizarre behemoth of a multi-tool RPG. So it’s a little unfortunate that it has had far from perfect hardware support. We witnessed the game’s lack of Intel Arc support ourselves, […]
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Not so long ago, I was primarily a console gamer. One thing I definitely don’t miss about those bad old days is that, unlike with a gaming PC, when things went wrong, cracking the console open myself was rarely a real option. Well, thanks to the EU’s right to repair bill, some significant repairability hoops […]
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Valve is still beavering away at the internals of SteamOS, and the latest update notes for the 3.8.25 Beta release mention the addition of “initial gamepad support” for several non-Valve gaming handhelds. The mighty MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is on the list, as are two offerings from Ayaneo. These are the Ayaneo Pocket S2, […]
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It’s busy and crowded out there in the world of handheld gaming PCs. If you want to stand out, what you need is some kind of unique feature. Hummm. How about the world’s first glasses-free 3D handheld PC? We give you the Abxylute 3D One. Actually, this huge handheld has quite a bit more going […]
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From my time playing around with the new Panther Lake-powered MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ I’ve found some seriously extreme things about this handheld gaming PC. Mostly that’s a good thing, but it being 2026—and the fact I’m talking about a new gaming handheld mere days after the Steam Deck price hike—you can probably already […]
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As much as I like the sound of bedtime gaming, I haven’t yet committed to a handheld gaming PC of my own. Part of that is down to pricing, but a not insignificant part of it is also to do with the question of long-term hardware support. Lenovo, for one, is saying it’s in the […]
Read MoreComputex has not even really started yet and already I’ve seen the two most exciting gaming developments I’ll see this week. One is the new Nvidia RTX Spark Arm-based hardware, and the other is Intel’s G3 family of handheld processors. It’s a game-changing bit of hardware that is delivering on the twin pillars of gaming […]
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If after installing BIOS version N3CN42WW on your Lenovo Legion Go, you have found it unable to get past the BIOS or entirely bricked, Lenovo says it’s not your fault. The good news is that you will likely be able to get it fixed for free. Taking to the Lenovo forums (via VideoCardz), Lenovo clarified […]
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I enjoy a weird prototype as much as the next person, but it’s not CES, and I’m a bit surprised to see Lenovo whipping out the big guns for Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026. The Legion Go Fold is rather large for a mobile device. The Legion Go Fold is a concept handheld gaming PC […]
Read MoreThe Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is undeniably a great device, but it’s an expensive one. So when I saw Asus had unveiled an upgraded anniversary edition, bundled with a pair of AR glasses, I felt a little pain for my bank account. Announced today for Computex 2026, the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 bundle […]
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