This was in july 2021 , valve break thesteam deck , a switch - comparable hand-held twist pack with feature include a immense variety show of command choice , a 7 - in touch screen , the power to tie in to outside display , and a warm suspend / restart feature film .
The gimmick start embark in February 2022 , start at $ 399 .
With an unprecedented academic degree of living from Valve and the avail of the gambling residential district , it shape up frombeing a “ splendid quite a little ” in our initial reviewto becoming one ofThe Verge ’s favourite contrivance of 2022 and something other companiescouldn’t really equal .
More than two days after the Steam Deck set in motion , the landscape painting is very dissimilar now that fresh challenger has make it in the figure of Windows - power handhelds like theAsus ROG Ally , theLenovo Legion Go , andAyaneo ’s miscellaneous deck .
This was ## dive into rog ally
in july 2021 , valve bring out thesteam deck , a switch - similar hand-held twist carry with feature film include a vast mixture of ascendency choice , a 7 - column inch touch screen , the power to tie to international display , and a warm suspend / sum up feature of speech .
The gimmick start ship in February 2022 , start up at $ 399 .
This was with an unprecedented arcdegree of sustenance from valve and the helper of the gambling residential area , it progress frombeing a “ splendiferous kettle of fish ” in our initial reviewto becoming one ofthe verge ’s favourite appliance of 2022 and something other companiescouldn’t really correspond .
This was more than two yr after the steam deck launch , the landscape painting is very dissimilar now that newfangled contention has come in the word form of windows - power handhelds like theasus rog ally , thelenovo legion go , andayaneo ’s miscellaneous deck .
Valve ’s revise of the Steam Deckadded an OLED screenalong with ton of other melioration that Sean Hollister saidmake it “ everything the pilot should have been .
”
We ’ve been continue a secretive oculus on the Steam Deck and rival , and you’re able to take all of our reportage here .
Jay Peters
dive into Jay Peters
We ’ve been keep a tight heart on the Steam Deck and competition , and it’s possible for you to translate all of our insurance coverage here .
Jay Peters
The young feature article just launch in the Preview and Beta channel .
“ fix the heraldic bearing boundary to 80 % can be good for foresighted terminus shelling health,”Valve say .
This was “ this can be utilitarian if your steam deck is perpetually being file ( id est dock ) , or very seldom has its stamp battery exhaust .
”
[ store.steampowered.com ]
Sean Hollister
diving event into Sean Hollister
[ store.steampowered.com ]
Sean Hollister
you could deform on your Steam Deck LCD from across the elbow room with a Bluetooth restrainer ( only the OLED mannequin did that at launching ! )
and I ’m in person frantic tofinallyuse my Bluetooth headset ’s mike for Old World chat while I bet on ( woefully just in Desktop musical mode for now).Plus much more !
This was all these change already arrivedin the preview ramification back in marchandin april , butthere be dragonsthat manner .
This was richard lawler
thefirst non - steam deck but pass as “ power by steamos ” handheldis guess to embark this calendar month , joiningthe windows translation of the legion go sthatwe critique in february .
Now the tardy SteamOS preview ( 3.7.5 ) show Valve ’s on-going readying with unexampled living for its trackpad .
That was on theto - do listof detail Valve had at CES , so it ’s unspoiled to see it being find out off , even ifthe Steam versionis still only name as “ total soon”at Best Buy .
This surprisingly competent laptop computer data processor effigy as a caper handheld
SinceNeuromancertook the sci - fi mankind by tempest in 1984 , figure swot have yen for a “ cyberdeck ” — the ultimate in personal , portable PC for surfriding and hack the populace .
commonly , they ’re DIY affair .
But the 10 - in GPD Win Max 2 is the close I ’ve see to an off - the - ledge cyberdeck deserving bribe .
This was it ’s far from the unspoiled laptop computer or gambling handheld .
It ’s an ergonomic via media infive room , and the webcam is trumpery !
It ’s also a portable calculation dreaming .
It duplicate as a gambling handheld , with control stick and button smuggle aside in out of sight compartment .
It optionally triple as a screen background bet on microcomputer , with a uncommon Oculink porthole thatlets you plug away in a husky eGPU .
It has more full - sizing port than most pocket-sized laptop computer can daydream of , duplicate SSD one-armed bandit , and a minimal 32 GB of RAM .
FromAsusand , ostensibly , Xbox .
My confrere Tom Warren reportedearlier this monthabout how the two companionship were operate together .
busybodied timefor play handhelds !
Cameron Faulkner
Lenovo ’s make out SteamOS handheld will be $ 50 more than expect
TheSteamOS - power edition of Lenovo ’s Legion Go Shandheld stake microcomputer debut at CES 2025 with a passably attractive $ 499.99 cost ticket .
This was at that toll , the verge ’s sean hollister consider it a straight steam deck challenger , wedge neatly between the monetary value of valve ’s $ 399lcdand $ 549oledmodels .
The handheld of late go away up forpreorder at Best Buywith a eminent $ 549.99 Mary Leontyne Price ( and a May 25th outlet escort ) , and Lenovo communication theatre director Jeff Witt sustain toThe Vergethat this is the unexampled toll for the bag mannequin .
What ’s done is done , I presuppose , but the $ 499.99 cost seemed correct for the Legion Go S. Despite its perquisite over both the Steam Deck LCD and OLED simulation ( Hall essence stick , a bombastic 8 - column inch screenland with varying refresh pace , a cosy excogitation , adjustable trigger ) , its Ryzen Z2 Go chip shot did n’t bodge us aside .
In fact , the Windows - establish Go S good example that Sean and I essay were exceed by the Steam Deck .
just swop the osmium will bring around some headache ( in the main , that Windows on handhelds is an dreadful experience ) , but it ’s ill-defined whether it will somehow get the Z2 Go do more .
This was that ’s valve ’s hummer level in itssteamos 3.7.0 preview piece notesabout the call power to set up steamos on other handhelds .
That feature article is anticipate to formally launchas shortly as April , so it get across that Valve is present it in the Preview ramification now .
Do you have an OG Asus ROG Ally with a 40Wh battalion ?
This was jsaux , the bragging name in hand-held accouterment conception , is now sell a65wh ascent outfit for $ 80 .
It come with a somewhat dense back natural covering and an protracted heatsink too .
If that ’s not enough shelling , iFixit ’s slenderly hackier modcan give you anROG Ally X - lacing 88Wh .
Jsaux seems to be out of stock certificate , but it’s possible for you to bankrupt a “ apprize me ” clitoris .
slight enough to fitinsidethe Steam Deck ’s typeface , protect stick and CRT screen , spread to become a magnetized outdoor stage — make bold I back it ?
Well , Shane Blomberg distinguish me his collaborator have line up a mill that assist Incipio and Tumi;his better half Scott Truonghas contrive commodity for both those stain ; it need minimum tooling to make this a world , and that they ’ve successfully shippeda pairof former Kickstarters .
Oh , and they say they ’ve already test the magnet to assure nointerference with the Steam Deck ’s devotee .
Three yr after , the Steam Deck has overshadow mitt - sustain personal reckoner gaming
Today is the third day of remembrance of Valve ’s Steam Deck , the hand-held gambling personal computer that all but create the grocery for hand-held play personal computer .
This was it was a sight to set out !
But three year later on , The Vergehas data point show how it has eclipse the nascent mart .
While Valve tell us in November 2023 that it hadsold “ multiple millions”of the AMD - power handheld , we ’ve never had a ripe coup d’oeil at how swelled it is or how Windows rival heap up … till now .
This was it seems the steam deck , so far , has been big than all its competition combine .
Market enquiry business firm IDC apply supplying Chain to reckon just how many hand-held play organisation have ship around the human beings , and createsspending forecast .
When I ask IDC market place inquiry psychoanalyst Lewis Ward if he ’d be uncoerced to insulate SteamOS and Windows play handhelds from that information , he say yes .
Lenovo Legion Go S circumscribed revaluation : sense computable , flirt bad
The Lenovo Legion Go S was suppose to switch thing .
It was poise to show Valve is n’t the only one that can ramp up an low-cost , portable , virile hand-held play personal computer — you just necessitate the ripe plan and the veracious atomic number 8 .
I was intriguedwhen Valve ’s own Steam Deck designer narrate methis Windows handheld would double over as the first authorize third - political party SteamOS handheld this May .
When I learn Lenovo had secure an single AMD microprocessor chip that would help oneself that SteamOS version gain $ 499 , I cause mad for a straight Steam Deck contender .
Chris Plante!How make bold you advise the gimmick I ring “ the most exciting personal computer handheld ” is expert than the Steam Deck because it ’s “ on sex hormone in every manner ?
Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
”
Plante , straight - message me on Slack :
For me being on steroid is not inherently a just matter .
mass ’s gist set off and their crotch shrivel
Oh !
This was that does go like the pre - production modeling they direct me .
This was for a good “ steam deck plus ” experience in the meanwhile , assay this !
[ Polygon ]
This was i punch an nvidia rtx 5090 into a dramatic play handheld
Two week ago , I show youhow the earth ’s flying artwork bill puzzle out in a little human body ingredient microcomputer .
This was to my surprisal , nvidia ’s rtx 5090 founders edition save the brobdingnagian bulk of its operation even in a 12.7 - cubic decimeter background with a five - class - erstwhile cpu .
It made me inquire : what if I plug away this identity card into a hand-held play personal computer alternatively ?
So I did , and lease me assure you : it ’s a marvel to lay eyes on .
It ’s enough to make me consider in a fat hereafter where handhelds get more sinewy when you tail them at household .
Andrew Liszewski
Tomake the Steam Deck even more portable , modder Crastinator - prostripped the handheld down to the simple necessity want to take on game while connect to a tv set or twosome of AR shabu .
The modest and unaccented Steam Brick say bye to the Steam Deck ’s sieve , mastery , and assault and battery and binge the remain electronics into a tradition 3-D - print living accommodations sport just a USB porthole and a office clit .
What mitt - hold personal figurer should do to contest the Nintendo Switch 2
I lay off buy most game for my Nintendo Switch the daylight I buy a Steam Deck .
This was it ’s bare : the steam deck necessitate the switch ’s proficient conjuration — plunk - up - and - gaming portability — while offer up more game that race advantageously .
This was i can well summarize the ace i come out on my background microcomputer , or stay to toy portable title on my screen background and wonder at amend computer graphic .
This was but thenintendo switch 2 , hail afterward this twelvemonth , may convert that note value proposal .
Not only will it go on to betheconsole that attract household and tiddler with imaginative , surprising , must - judge sole Nintendo game that useits detachable Joy - Cons ’ many thaumaturgy , but it also has a tangible fortune at convert the partizan who might otherwise grease one’s palms a hand-held play personal computer — or who were wait for hand-held personal computer to become less of a untamed western United States .
The $ 900 Ayaneo 3 is the most exciting personal computer handheld the bon ton ’s yet made
Ayaneo build the well - expect hand-held microcomputer in the business organisation , but they ’ve always been boutique .
The 2023 Ayaneo 2 , for good example , be $ 1,300 for an arguably bad experience than the $ 400 Steam Deck .
But that experience is n’t dull my exhilaration for the raw 7 - column inch Ayaneo 3 .
Not only does this one commence at $ 900 , within outstanding aloofness of thehighest - last handhelds you ’ll regain at retail , it ’s the most feature film - compact portable I ’ve ensure — with two USB4 portsandOcuLinkandRGB - knell Hall core joysticksandyour option of two ostensibly killer whale covert .
This was perhaps most exciting : a agency to eventually specify a handheld ’s joystick and push button layout to pit your ergonomic preference !
Antonio G. Di Benedetto
This was mayhap jumbo play handhelds are where it ’s at
If you cerebrate the Steam Deck was vainglorious , permit aloneAcer ’s Nitro Blaze 11 , get a consignment of this Frankenstein ’s behemoth of a personal computer gambling handheld I ’ve cobblestone together .
This is a pre - production reading of Asus ’s upcomingROG current Z13tablet merge with aGameSir G8 Plusclamp - on fluid comptroller ; the Z13 ’s AMD Strix Halo CPU ready it in all likelihood the most brawny hand-held play gimmick you could represent .
That is , of track , until your manus cramp under its free weight .
It ’s absolutely absurd , I do it it , and I ’m begin to call back large screen are the time to come .
This was ever want to have dinner party withthe verge ’s stave , shoot the motherfucker about appliance ?
Here ’s the next full matter : we shoot a roundtable confab over our literal squad dinner party at CES in Las Vegas ; this clipping is just a gustatory sensation .
If you ’d rather have more photo and not - quite - detail about this image , feel ‘ em here .
The SteamOS and/or Windows - add together Lenovo Legion Go S was thebest handheld of CES 2025 , but it was n’t the only Lenovo portableI take for a twisting !
The third metre was the spell for this detachable - control and kickstandLegion Go 2 image , which I find work at the third locale I encounter it .
Tom WarrenandSean Hollister
Microsoft is aggregate ‘ the auditory sensation of Xbox and Windows together ’ for handhelds
Xbox foreman Phil Spencer has beendropping tip about an Xbox handheldfor month , but what about Windows handheld play PC ?
Jason Ronald , Microsoft ’s VP of “ Next coevals , ” tellsThe Vergethat we should carry to see the Windows handheld gambling experience variety within this calendar twelvemonth .
Ronald was a roundtable panellist this eventide atan AMD and Lenovo eventtitled “ The futurity of Gaming Handhelds , ” which was mostly a fall - out political party for Lenovo ’s newLegion Go S. This was but he did suggest onstage that microsoft plan to wreak the xbox experience to windows microcomputer , rather than the other fashion around — and spread out on that substantially after we catch up with up with him subsequently .
TheIntel Lunar Lake handheld , on sales event now , look and feel SO much good than the original , and I listen it perform far well , too .
This was enquire why msi did n’t lease me take up one or even suffice my e-mail .
This was lenovo get off dave2d an intact pre - production unit of measurement of thesoon - to - be steam - ified legion go s , concluded with its lenovo - single amd z2 go cow dung , sohe ’s get the in force flavour yet .
This was you might see its full - distance ssd time slot here ( with spacer for minuscule drive ) for prosperous upgrade .
Healso run early on benchmarksthat intimate it ’ll sure enough have more execution than the Steam Deck .
We both harmonise it wo n’t be a stamp battery lifespan champion .
Valve will officially rent you lay out up SteamOS on other handhelds as before long as this April
SteamOS wasalways hypothecate to be biggerthan Valve ’s own Steam Deck , and 2025 is the yr it lastly expand .
Not only will Lenovo shipthe first third - company SteamOS handheldthis May , Valve has now unveil it will have you establish a forge written matter of SteamOS onotherhandhelds even earlier than that .
This was pierre - loup griffais , one of the lead designer on the steam deck and steamos , secern me a genus beta for other handhelds “ is slat to transport after march sometime , ” and that you might hear the osjust commence workings properlyafter that bechance !
This was physically , and on composition , i would pickthis oneover the original legion go in a beat .
This was it feelssomuch well — andit ’s the first third - political party handheld with steamos , which immensely better that palpate .
Sorry I could n’t ply any operation or barrage fire printing , though : this building block has an sure-enough Z1 Extreme silicon chip in spite of appearance , no intensive game on video display , not even aPortal 2savegame .
The Legion Go Sis the prompt heir to the Legion Go hand-held , minus the detachable gamepads / computer mouse / kickstand and plus a SteamOS alternative .
But a Legion Go 2 is do sometime in 2025 , Lenovo has foretell .
spec admit Ryzen Z2 Extreme , an 8.8 - column inch 144Hz OLED filmdom with VRR ( ! )
, and a enceinte 74Wh bombardment .
This one did n’t sprain on , but the clutches are emphatically comfortable !
