Handheld

According to a US retailer, it has now informed of estimated release dates for two new Miyoo gaming handhelds. Reportedly, both the Miyoo A30 and Miyoo Mini Flip will be here within the next few weeks, contrary to earlier rumours.

The new Linux-based OS for gaming handhelds throws shade at Windows and SteamOS for being closed platforms. Playtron aims to be a lightweight alternative to Windows and SteamOS, built on open-source software, to offer wide hardware and software compatibility for handheld gaming PCs.

A YouTuber named TommyB has built a DIY gaming handheld using a Framework laptop motherboard. This board currently has a sale price of $300, and it packs an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU. With a 3D-printed body, a battery from Framework, an 8-inch touchscreen, and a custom-built controller, the project is nearing its final state.

The PiBoy DMGx is a new retro gaming handheld kit designed for the Raspberry Pi 5. Arriving soon for $149.95, the kit contains a compact display, six action buttons and a 4,500 mAh battery, among other components.

Miyoo has showcased its Game Boy Advance SP-inspired retro gaming handheld. Launching later this year after the Miyoo A30, the Miyoo Mini Flip will feature a flip-up display, two joysticks and enough power to emulate up to PlayStation 1 games.

Miyoo has revealed details about its next retro gaming handheld. Not only has the company shown what the Miyoo A30 looks like, but it has also confirmed when it intends to begin selling the device.

Steam’s Spring Sale is in full swing, with some of the most popular games seeing great discounts. But if you’re looking for new games to purchase for your Steam Deck and don’t know where to start, Valve has your back. It revealed the top 100 games that are deemed popular for handheld gaming, and most are enjoying generous discounts.

Both configurations of the Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld have seen a price cut on Best Buy. The one with the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme is currently at $599.99, while the unit with the regular Ryzen Z1 is $399.99. With these prices, the MSI Claw with the Intel Core Ultra processors is even less attractive than before.

The Miyoo Mini, a popular retro handheld, is currently on sale for just under $60. The handheld is a compact retro console that can play games up through the PlayStation 1 era, though it lacks some features found in similarly-priced handhelds.

The R36S is a Gameboy-styled handheld emulation console with enough power to play most titles through the PlayStation 1 era of gaming. It is currently on sale for 30% off with a promo code.

One-Netbook has announced the release date of its ONEXPLAYER 2 Pro refresh, as well as launch pricing. Like its peers, One-Netbook has elected to only offer the gaming handheld with the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U initially, which combines an octa-core CPU with a Radeon 780M iGPU.

Despite advancements in reliability, concerns persist regarding OLED technology, particularly regarding issues such as image retention and burn-ins. Early testing of the Steam Deck’s OLED version revealed potential risks associated with prolonged usage, including significant image retention in HDR mode after only 750 hours of use and slight burn-in effects in SDR mode after 1,500 hours of use.

One of the variants of the MSI Claw has become available for purchase. It’s the base config that comes with the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H CPU, and it can be ordered at $699 on the official website.

CheckMag So. Yuzu is dead. The expected headline-grabbing battle ended with a whimper, with Tropic Haze, the team behind the emulator, settling almost immediately to the tune of a whopping $2.4 million. This wasn't just a slap on the wrist, it was a message.

Lenovo already set apart the Legion Go from its peers with its unusual design and feature set. However, a new leak has revealed that the company plans to release first-party skins aimed at jazzing up the gaming handheld's stock all-black look.

GPD has begun selling the Win Mini 2024, a refresh of a gaming handheld that the company originally unveiled last year. Now sporting an AMD Ryzen 7 8840U APU, the new model also has a native landscape and VRR display, among other hardware changes.

The GKD Pixel is another compact gaming handheld that can emulate up to PlayStation 1 titles. Built around a metal housing and a 2.4-inch display, the GKD Pixel comes in four colours, all four under $80.

GPD has now released a new version of its Win 4 gaming handheld. Dubbed the Win 4 2024, the updated device combines an AMD Ryzen 7 8840U APU with a 6-inch display for now, although cheaper Ryzen 5 8640U variants should be launching soon too.

The Powkiddy RGB10 Max 3 is now available generally following a short pre-order period. The retro gaming handheld combines a Rockchip RK3566 chipset with a 720p display and 1 GB of RAM, among other features.

Valve has released new stable updates for the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED. While delivered simultaneously, Valve has split the refinements into a Client Update, a fresh version of SteamOS and dedicated firmware updates for both gaming handhelds.

The developers behind Yuzu, a Nintendo Switch emulator, have officially shut the project down after settling a lawsuit filed against them by Nintendo earlier this month. In the proposed settlement, the developers will also have to pay Nintendo $2.4 million in damages and will not be allowed to maintain or distribute any code used in the Yuzu emulator.

The R43 Pro from M18 is a new gaming handheld now available at a very affordable price and is designed to play a wide range of video games. The model is equipped with numerous input options.

MSI Claw made its debut as the first gaming handheld device with Intel Meteor Lake CPUs. With the Intel Arc iGPU, the new processors make the device stand as a proper competitor against the ones featuring AMD APUs with Radeon 780M integrated graphics. The handheld with Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is now available for pre-order in the US.

GPD has revealed the Win Mini 2024, a refresh that brings AMD Ryzen 8000 APUs to the 7-inch gaming handheld. The GPD Win Mini 2024 also borrows the display from the ASUS ROG Ally but loses its predecessor's OCuLink connector, among other changes.

CheckMag The MSI Claw A1M may well be the introduction of Intel to the world of portable gaming devices, but that's a long way from breaking the dominance of AMD's APUs on the space, especially in regard to Valve's incumbent handheld.

Serial leaker Moore’s Law Is Dead has added to the ever-growing library of Nintendo Switch 2 leaks by confirming previously revealed specifications and divulging the possible reason for the Switch 2 delay. Interestingly, the leaker also mentions AMD’s failed bid for the next-gen Switch.

Funnyplaying is now selling its Game Boy Color clone globally. Built around an FPGA chip that plays Nintendo Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, the Funnyplaying FB-GBC also wildly undercuts the Analogue Pocket by coming in at under $100.

Nintendo's next console will supposedly launch in March of next year, corroborating earlier reports that the console would be delayed until Q1 2025. The delay is apparently to ensure ample supply upon release.

The Pocket Go is Tecno's first handheld gaming device. Surprisingly, the Tecno Pocket Go does not look like a conventional gaming handheld at all, although it may prove to be more powerful than the likes of the Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally, among others.

One-Netbook is upgrading the OneXPlayer 2 Pro with the latest Ryzen 7 8840U "Hawk Point" APU, promising improved performance. Featuring Zen 4 & RDNA 3 architecture, the device offers high-end features like a 2.5K 8.4-inch screen, up to 64 GB of memory, and a up to a 4 TB Gen 4 SSD.

The GPD Win Max 2 gaming handheld sacrifices efficiency in the name of performance in a recent in-depth test, achieving marginally less battery life than its predecessor but performing better in games and synthetic benchmarks, largely due to improved high-speed RAM compatibility.

Valve has furnished SteamOS and Steam Deck gaming handhelds with another set of improvements. All contained within new Steam Deck Beta Client updates, the bug fixes touch various aspects of SteamOS, including its dedicated Desktop Mode.

The E6 is a relatively new retro gaming handheld built with the task of emulating up to Sony PlayStation Portable games. Available for under $50, the E6 gaming handheld resembles the Valve Steam Deck, albeit on a much smaller scale.

In a significant breakthrough in console gaming tech, hackers claim to have unlocked native gaming capabilities for the PlayStation Portal system originally designed for streaming content from the PlayStation 5 console. With the potential to run select titles natively, the hack opens up new possibilities for gamers while raising concerns about system security and compatibility.

GPD has announced its intentions to introduce new versions of its Win 4 gaming handheld and G1 eGPU. While the GPD G1 will gain improvements from refined I/O and additional buttons, the GPD Win 4 2024 will adopt AMD's new Ryzen 7 8840U APU.

Compared to its predecessor, the Phoenix series, the Ryzen 8000 series maintains core counts and clocks but showcases sizeable improvements. Initial reviews by tech expert Cary Golomb suggest promising performance, with the Ryzen 7 8840U outperforming previous generations and even the Steam Deck's Van Gogh at 10 watts. Market availability is underway, with companies like GPD planning to integrate the new APUs.

It seems that Intel has developed a new gaming handheld that will soon launch under various names. Previously seen bearing 'Tulpar' branding, the white label product has previously leaked as the Emdoor EM-GP080MTL with an 8-inch and 1200p display, LPDDR5X RAM and a powerful Intel Meteor Lake processor, among other features.

The official review embargo of the recently announced MSI Claw hasn't lifted yet, but Chinese outlets have already started to share performance results. One such gaming benchmark pits the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H of the gaming handheld against the Ryzen Z1 Extreme of Asus ROG Ally, and the reported results show that the latter has a noticeable lead.

Compared to the Steam Deck, Windows handhelds with the latest processors are often much more powerful. The operating system itself may also be a obvious factor for many users. But the Steam Deck has its own advantages.

Industry sources cited by Bloomberg suggest that Nintendo informed select game publishers about a March 2025 launch for the next gen Switch successor. Initially believed to launch later this year, the Switch 2 is allegedly pushed to 2025 in order to allow for a more robust exclusive game roster at launch.

The AYANEO Pocket S is edging towards release with its 1440p display and Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 chipset. While the gaming handheld is not expected to launch until early spring 2024, a prominent YouTuber has highlighted gaming performance in triple-A Android games as well as up to Nintendo Switch emulation.

The TrimUI Smart Pro is a retro gaming handheld that attempts to look like the PlayStation Vita. Equipped with a 4.96-inch IPS display and an Allwinner A133P chipset, the device also has a 4,000 mAh battery in a package that costs as little as $79.99 or roughly $100 with MicroSD cards of varying capacities.

Even though the Nintendo Switch 2 is yet to be officially announced, SEGA reportedly plans to release five big games announced at The Game Awards for the upcoming gaming handheld. This report comes from a known leaker named Midori (@MbKKssTBhz5 on X), who has a solid track record of sharing accurate information about Atlus games.

It seems that a third gaming handheld based around Intel Meteor Lake silicon is on the horizon. Soon joining the ranks of the ONEXPLAYER X1 and MSI Claw, the unnamed device is produced by Tulpar and appears to have a much simpler design than its two Meteor Lake counterparts.

CheckMag MSI was right to go to Intel for the Claw A1M, but the Core Ultra 7 155H isn't the right move. The Core Ultra 5 135H has a trick up its sleeve — a top-end iGPU combined with a more efficient mid-range CPU.

CheckMag The Mig Switch is real and it works. Or at least it does according to the YouTubers that have all received pre-release versions. While the Mig Switch is currently up for pre-order and hasn’t yet made it into the hands of the public at large, the big unanswered question about this device is whether it does anything else except pirate games.

Microsoft could be developing its own Xbox handheld console for launch in 2026. The latest rumor suggests that the handheld console is being prepared alongside a traditional console mimicking the company’s approach of releasing a less powerful and more powerful console.

According to Nintendo's recently published financial reports, the Nintendo Switch is continuing to sell like hot cakes. The total number of Switch units (across all models) hit 139.36 million as of the end of December 2023. However, console sales have declined by roughly 7.8% year-over-year.

Sugar Cubes has presented the Sugar Cubes X Jelly, a project that transforms a popular Android smartphone into a choice of two gaming handhelds. While one serves as more of a Unihertz Jelly Star controller, another overhauls the compact smartphone into a conventional-looking gaming handheld.