The review assesses four handheld gaming PCs released between February 2025 and July 2026, comparing specifications, performance, pricing, and user experience.

The market for portable gaming devices has expanded since Valve introduced the Steam Deck in 2022, prompting manufacturers such as Asus, Lenovo, and MSI to release competing models that run Windows or SteamOS and target different price segments.

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, priced at $999, achieved up to 44 frames per second in Cyberpunk 2077 at high settings with quality upscaling, according to the review, and provided approximately 2.5 hours of battery life at a 15W power setting. It features a 7‑inch 1080p IPS display and boots into a full‑screen Xbox app that minimizes desktop interaction, though controller navigation in third‑party stores varies.

Lenovo’s Legion Go S, listed at $829, delivered about 9% higher benchmark scores than the Ally X and reached 60 frames per second in Baldur’s Gate 3, as reported in testing. It includes an 8‑inch 1200p LCD display, rounded edges for grip, and a battery life of roughly 2.5 hours. The model runs SteamOS and is positioned as a performance upgrade over the earlier Legion Go.

MSI’s Claw 8 EX AI+, priced at $1,799, uses an Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor and demonstrated up to 55 frames per second in Cyberpunk 2077 while supporting multi‑frame generation up to four times, according to the review. It has an 8‑inch 1200p LCD panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate and no OLED option.

Lenovo’s Legion Go 2, starting at $1,099 for a base configuration and $1,349 for a higher‑spec version with an AMD Z2 Extreme processor and 32 GB RAM, includes an OLED display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and 1920 × 1200 resolution. Performance was reported to be 10–20% faster than the Z1 Extreme, and the device retains removable controllers with repositioned buttons for improved usability.

MSI’s Claw A8, announced at £850 and expected to cost about $1,145 in the United States, offered up to three hours of battery life during Cyberpunk 2077 testing and used an AMD Z2 Extreme processor. Its software interface was described as less polished than Asus’s, and it lacks an OLED display.

The Steam Deck 2 has not been announced, and Valve has indicated it will wait for a more significant generational improvement, leaving the release timeline uncertain amid ongoing component price challenges.