Our Top Reviewed Picks for 2025

The Asus Rog Ally X, which we reviewed last year, could use the same AMD Z1 Extreme processor as the original Rog Ally, but Asus has made ample changes to the handheld that catapults it into its place as the best gaming handheld on the market today. The Z1 Extreme comes with 24GB of LPDDR5 memory clocked at 7,400MHz, which is significantly more than the original model’s 16GB of RAM. And again this time, the RAM is faster, which means an amazing performance lift averages around 12-15% in my tests.

The Asas also made the chassis a little thicker and heavier. It’s not enough to notice in most cases, but there’s a reason behind the insanity. The Asus Rog Ally X has a better cooler and has twice the battery than the original model. This means that you can play games for multiple hours before starting to run the charger. The improved cooler helps long gaming sessions by sucking hot air from the touch display, avoiding the hot touch screen issues that bothered the original model.

The ASUS Mobile XG port on the original model has been removed and replaced with a second USB-C port compatible with Thunderbolt 4. ASUS hopes it will resist the controversial MicroSD card slot a little more damage. (After all, Asus went into some hot water along with the original Rog Ally thanks to some inactive customer support documented by YouTuber Gamers Nexus.)

Nevertheless, Asus Rog Ally X is itself the best handheld gaming PC experience you can get now.

Steam deck images

Valve Steam Deck, which is responsible for popularizing handheld gaming PC Revolution, does not actually have Windows installed. Instead, it uses Valve’s custom Steamos, and thanks to API Proton, Steam Deck supports dozens of games optimized for portables, from Cyberpunk 2077 to Forza Horizon 5.

There is a way to boot directly from the USB-C port and run Windows on a 7-inch display. Beyond that, it is one of the best input controls available in a portable gaming handheld. Check out the complete comparison between Steam Deck and Rog Ally.

There is also an OLED version of the Steam deck that is considered for users who prefer a larger, brighter, and more vibrant screen. It is still displayed at 1200×800 Steam deck OLED Provides a noticeable difference and becomes clearer for a better visual experience. It also improves battery life, has a higher refresh rate, and gives you more storage than the 256GB offered on the replacement LCD model.

Lenovo Legion Go

When you’re about to buy any kind of gaming PC, there’s the balance you need to look for: you want something with incredible performance, but still look like a premium product you paid for. The same goes for handheld gaming PCs. So the Lenovo Legion Go is such a catch. The Legion is a huge measurement of 11.76 inches long and 5.16 inches tall with the controller mounted on it, mainly due to the large display.

Unlike other handheld game PCs such as the Asus Rog Ally Z1, which takes a lot of inspiration from steam decks and Nintendo Switches, Legion Go features an 8.8-inch 1600p display, making it a Windows 11 tablet with almost a controller on its own. Luckily, Lenovo was able to keep it down a little and maintain it at just 1.41lbs. Even if it’s lighter than it looks, it’s difficult for people with small hands to use it.

The 1600p display also causes a bit of trouble. This uses the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset as Rog Ally, so some games can have a bit of a problem with native resolution. This can be easily resolved by tinkering with in-game settings to lower the resolution. If you’re not used to doing hands-on troubleshooting, this may not be the product for you. But if you’re a longtime PC gamer like me, you’ll love how flexible and beautiful Lenovo Legion is and how beautiful it is. This is a handheld gaming pc for the crowd of hardcore pc games.

If the complex nature of the Lenovo Legion is a bit of a turn-off, the Lenovo Legion Go S just came out. However, my reviews showed it was slower and more expensive than the original Legion Go. The version, which will be released later this year, will run Steamos with a slightly lower end configuration. This will be the light version of Legion.

Asus Rog Ally – Photos

After the Windows-based handheld that makes Steam Deck’s Linux-based Steamos embarrassed, Asus Rog Ally Z1 Extreme We reviewed Back in 2023, it runs on Windows 11, making it easy to use and bouncing on this device, such as Xbox Game Pass and Epics. There are no important caveats like when you try to play non-steam games on a Steam deck. However, during my review I found that the Armory Crate software was a bit clunky.

Equipped with a speedy Z1 Extreme mobile processor that offers 8-core Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3-capability graphics, the ROG Ally features one of the most powerful chips available. During testing, the Z1 Extreme was something that you can’t say on a steam deck, and I was able to play a lot of games in high or ultra settings while tinkering around a bit and hitting a complimentary frame rate. However, pushing these higher settings will cost a considerable amount of battery life, Power Bank Healthy investment.

The Rog Ally is sophisticated and lightweight, with a vibrant 7-inch touchscreen with adjustable resolutions from 1080p to 720p and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. The controller adjacent to the side of the screen has a responsive Abuxy Face button, giving the D-Pad a slightly cheaper feel. I hope the touchpad is available in mouse-based games, but fortunately, the joystick is reliable. a Wireless Mouse You can connect any time if you wish. Still, with everything being offered, Rog Ally is essentially a mini Windows PC pose as a gaming handheld.

GPD Win 4 – Photos

More like a mini laptop than a gaming handheld, the GPD Win 4 looks like a Sony PSVITA until you look under the surface. Portable features the AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and the AMD Radeon 780M GPU. All of these are hidden behind a 6-inch 1080p screen. One of the highlight features of GPD Win 4 is the sliding Windows keyboard. This makes it easy to use GO’s desktop operating system.

There are three versions, including a base configuration with 16GB RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, with 32GB rising $1,599 and 2TB of SSD storage.

Ayaneo Air – Photos

One of the smallest handheld gaming PCs available, the Ayaneo Air has a 5.5-inch OLED FHD screen. In terms of performance, you should be able to get a good deal of horsepower from a 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 CPU and an AMD Radeon GPU. Thin Ayano Air weighs 2.6 pounds, less than 2 inches. There is also room for expansion through a microSD slot with 512GB SSD storage. While it may lack the pure power of many portable window handhelds on the list, the size alone makes a valuable purchase.

Asus Rog Ally Z1

If you like the looks of the Asus Rog Ally Z1 Extreme, but want something almost powerful for less money, Asus Rog Ally Z1. Running the show is a Windows 11 and a 30W AMD APU with a Zen 4 processor and a GPU with four RDNA 3 CUs. Certainly, these graphics will struggle to keep up with AAA games with the best settings of this 120Hz FHD handheld with a 7-inch display. Turning down the settings will help make the game more playable, but the device really shines in indie games.