Handheld

It is looking likely that we are finally going to see Intel Panther Lake Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme processors for handheld gaming consoles in the coming months. But, you don't need to wait for Intel to officially release the Arc G3 processors to know how they perform, as ETA Prime has simulated the performance of the SoCs.

Anbernic has officially confirmed full specifications for its next retro gaming handheld. At the same time, the company has showcased the Anbernic RG Rotate as part of the same lengthy unboxing video, too.

The Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo previews how the game will perform on the Switch 2. While most players praise the port's graphics, frame rates occasionally fall into the 20s. Showing limitations of the handheld’s specs, frequent pop-in as well as sporadic crashes are also reported.

The Steam Controller is in the spotlight, but Valve hasn’t forgotten about the Steam Deck 2. A programmer for the company reassured followers that the gaming handheld exists. A release date before 2028 is unlikely, but its specs may borrow the more comfortable layout of the new controller.

Square Enix announced at Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest 2026 that the MMORPG will launch on Nintendo Switch 2 in August 2026 with Early Access, offering a new portable option alongside its existing PC, PlayStation, and Xbox versions. The move comes with a notable drawback: Switch 2 players must pay for the game and then maintain a separate monthly subscription on top of any existing FFXIV sub, though no Nintendo Switch Online membership is required and current owners elsewhere will get 50% off Switch 2 Entry/Standard subscription tiers.

Anbernic has finally confirmed the gaming capabilities of its new RG Rotate handheld. Supposedly capable of emulating up to PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii titles, the Anbernic RG Rotate should be particularly compact thanks to a tiny 3.5-inch and 1:1 display.

The source claiming that a Star Fox Switch 2 game would appear in April isn’t backing down. NateTheHate believes Nintendo will soon pinpoint a June release date for a Fox McCloud comeback. However, multiplayer rather than solo rail shooting could be a priority for the spinoff.

One store isn’t risking losing sales to the eShop on new Switch 2 games. Nintendo revealed that digital first-party titles would cost less than the MSRP of physical versions. Walmart is matching the prices on Yoshi and Mysterious Book and Splatoon Raiders, despite declining profit margins.

Invincible VS' Story Mode is noted as "an original experience from the team behind the show," and tackles a parallel timeline with Omni-Man remaining loyal to Viltrum and attempting a takeover of Earth with four other Viltrumites, including Conquest, Thula, Lucan, and Anissa.

Valve has introduced new useful tools to give developers better insight into how their games actually run on the Steam Deck.

Once again, Lenovo has granted its Legion Go family a massive price bump, with the latest victim being the Ryzen Z1 Extreme-powered Legion Go S. Clearly, the ongoing DRAM crisis is far from over for gamers on the prowl for new hardware.

Anbernic has shared a new teaser video for its long-awaited compact handheld. Launching globally, it is still a mystery as to the hardware that powers the Anbernic RG Rotate.

A new leak has revealed two unreleased Intel Panther Lake chips. The Arc G3 Extreme and Arc G3 are tailor-made for handheld consoles, and they are expected to surface sometime in Q2 2026.

Valve has quietly published the first official Proton 11 beta with ARM64 and FEX emulation baked in, and the enthusiast community has wasted no time. Thanks to the Rocknix Linux distro, YouTuber ETA Prime has demoed native Steam running on three ARM-based Android handhelds, with Hollow Knight: Silksong cruising past 100 FPS on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Costco has reduced the sale prices of Nintendo Switch 2 games well below any prior Amazon discount. Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and Kirby Air Riders are at least 50% off. Costco members can use the store’s app to see what locations have the titles in stock.

Rocknix now has support for Steam, allowing select Android handhelds to natively run Steam games. The feature is still in beta and has some kinks, but should get better as time goes on.

Valve has released Proton 11.0-Beta 1, and one of the most important additions is ARM64 support. This opens another gate to run Windows games on ARM devices running Linux, and the first-gen Nintendo Switch has just been showcased running Steam.

AYN has once again raised the price of the Thor dual-screen handheld just a little over a month after the last increment. It has also announced a new configuration, bringing the available options to five.

Denuvo aims to curb piracy, but it can also frustrate legitimate buyers. Pragmata Steam Deck and Linux players who update their PCs may not be able to run the game. The DRM has a 5-machine activation limit per 24 hours, and these changes count toward that restriction.

The next OneXPlayer has now been confirmed to receive a global release. Featuring powerful AMD Strix Halo processors and an OLED display, the OneXPlayer X2 Mini will serve as One-Netbook's alternative to the existing Lenovo Legion Go 2.

AYN has stated that it has had to make a significant change to a major component of its two top handhelds, the Thor and Odin 3. Both handhelds will now ship with UFS 3.1 storage instead of UFS 4.0 due to the high cost of the latter.

Nintendo fans sensitive to choppy graphics may find the Pragmata Switch 2 port disappointing. A performance review reveals how frame rates plummet into the 30s and 40s. The PS5 has less of an advantage with image clarity, but the PlayStation console produces smoother visuals.

Asus has announced a special giveaway to celebrate the launch of Mongil: Star Dive, and the prize is a ROG Xbox Ally powered by the Ryzen Z2 A processor.

Despite unveiling two new handhelds in early February, MagicX is yet to release them. Now, the manufacturer has explained why the Two Dream Light and Two Dream Pro handhelds are yet to launch.

The handheld version of the Sony PlayStation 6, the PlayStation 6 Portable, is expected to launch alongside the main console. With an RDNA 5 GPU and a 6-core Zen 6 CPU, the PS6 Portable is shaping up to be a beastly handheld that will reportedly be able to play games that launched for previous consoles.

The free-to-play Overwatch Switch 2 upgrade has arrived, but many players report horrific performance. Frame rates top out at 30 fps, well below the 60 fps that Blizzard promised. With blurriness and input lag also issues, the publisher plans to release a patch to address the shortcomings.

OneXPlayer has shared initial details about its next gaming handheld. A rival to the Legion Go 2, the OneXPlayer X2 Mini will be far more powerful than Lenovo's latest handheld thanks to AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chipset.

Anbernic has officially confirmed the existence of its next retro gaming handheld. Another pocketable device, the Anbernic RG Rotate should be powerful enough to emulate classic consoles while also serving as an MP3 player alternative.

The Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS hasn't escaped the price increase that is sweeping across handhelds and consoles. Lenovo now sells it for almost double its launch price, but Best Buy still has the more powerful version with more RAM and storage at a lower price tag.

The Lenovo Legion Go 2 has already been in the spotlight for its rising price, and things have now taken another major turn.

A new Raspberry Pi-based handheld comes with both a keyboard and a touchscreen and should also be well suited for a range of different projects. The model supports multiple versions of the single-board computer. The PocketTerm35 is now available.

The TrimUI Brick Pro may soon be released as a leak has revealed what its retail box looks like. A handful of its specs have also been revealed.

The OnePlus gaming handheld is reportedly in the works, and the company is expected to announce it soon. A new leak from Digital Chat Station, a credible leaker, suggests it will come with a tweaked Dimensity 9500 with a GPU that delivers "console-level" performance.

Ayaneo has announced that some of its products will be costing more soon. The affected devices include the Pocket Vert, Pocket S Mini, Mini PC AM03, and Mini PC AM01S. However, they are still available to buy at their original prices for now.

Despite Microsoft’s best efforts, many publishers prioritize Steam and the PS Store. As a result, there are fewer Xbox Play Anywhere games than anticipated. A leak reveals that to bolster support for Windows handhelds and Project Helix, devs will receive a higher percentage of revenue.

In addition to the four colors it launched in, Retroid has announced two new colors for the Pocket 5. These colors, which were originally exclusive to the now-discontinued Pocket G2, are available to buy now.

Morbid Metal is a new 3D hack-n-slash game from Screen Juice that combines the fast-paced, heavy-hitting combat from the likes of Warframe with traditional roguelite mechanics and challenging boss fights from games like Elden Ring. It has officially launched in Early Access, and it supports the Steam Deck on day one with very lightweight system requirements.

Ayaneo has raised the price of its cheapest Android handheld, the Pocket Air Mini. The new prices will take effect on April 9, but is currently limited to China.

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally has a lot going for it, especially its comfortable design, but the overall experience is marred by its weak processor. Now that it is on sale, its lower price makes it more appealing and worth considering.

RPCS3 developers release a simplified set of 2026 system requirements, broken into "Minimum", "Recommended", "Optimal", and "Max Performance" tiers. All told, these requirements look pretty reasonable, as they should following years of optimization efforts.

Nintendo is again facing the prospect of an anticipated game leaking early. There are reports of a bootable Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Switch ROM already in the wild. A retailer displaying physical copies may be the source of the Switch emulator compatible file.

At launch, AYN marketed the Odin 3 as a Snapdragon 8 Elite gaming handheld, but it turns out that the device isn't actually powered by that SoC. Instead, it packs a modified version, without the camera processing and 5G modem, and the chip is called Dragonwing Q8.

It can be frustrating when a Steam game doesn’t run as well as developers promise. New code in the store’s client hints that listings will display user-generated performance data. Valve also started anonymously tracking FPS counts on SteamOS devices, which will soon include the Steam Machine.

The Lenovo Legion Go 2 with Ryzen Z2 Extreme was launched with a $1,349 price tag, but it now costs $650 more than its MSRP after multiple price hikes.

A new leak has confirmed fresh information about Anbernic's next gaming handheld. With the Anbernic RG Rotate name now locked in, the leak has also confirmed battery and charging information ahead of schedule.

More than a month after it was supposed to revert to its full price, AYN still has the Odin 2 Portal available at a discount. Pricing starts at $249 for the 7-inch Android handheld and goes up to $449 for the highest configuration.

PlayStation 3 emulator RPCS3 has completed the first wave of updates to its brand new controller UI, which resembles Steam Big Picture and is considered "the Handheld Experience."

Enterprising gamers continue to look for ways to expand Switch 2 storage. In the latest promising development, the handheld has recognized an external M.2 SSD drive. Other adapters connected to the system’s MicroSD Express card slot produced error messages.

Lower cost digital Switch 2 games have given budgets a slight reprieve. Even so, a former retail-focused Nintendo employee believes a more expensive console could wipe out those savings. If the memory shortage prompts a price increase, the company might counter with other discounts.