Handheld gaming systems are all the rage. People have been playing games on the go since the days of the Game Boy, but in recent years there have been a number of devices that let you play all kinds of games no matter your preferences.
With new machines coming out every week, figuring out which ones are actually worthwhile can be tricky. You already know the Nintendo Switch is great, but depending on your preferences, the right handheld could be a $70 emulation device or an $800 portable PC.
To help you make the right choice, we’ve researched the best handheld gaming consoles, tested several of the top contenders, and broken down the consoles we like best right now.
Steam Deck OLED – Display: 7.4-inch HDR OLED, 1,280 x 800 resolution, 1,000 nits peak HDR brightness, 600 nits SDR brightness, up to 90Hz | Processor: Custom 6nm AMD APU | RAM: 16GB LPDDR5 6400 MT/s | Storage: 512GB, 1TB SSD | Battery: 50Whr | Dimensions: 11.73 x 4.6 x 1.93 inches | Weight: 1.41 pounds | Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 | OS: SteamOS
Steam Deck LCD – Display: 7-inch IPS, 1,280 x 800 resolution, 400 nits brightness, 60Hz | Processor: Custom 7nm AMD APU | RAM: 16GB LPDDR5 5500 MT/s | Storage: 256GB SSD | Battery: 40Whr | Dimensions: 11.73 x 4.6 x 1.93 inches | Weight: 1.48 pounds | Wireless: Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 | OS: SteamOS
Valve’s Steam Deck offers the best balance of price, performance, and usability in the gaming handheld market. And the new Steam Deck OLED is a complete upgrade over the original model. Starting at $549 for 512GB of storage, this model has a 7.4-inch OLED display that’s now brighter, faster, slightly larger, and more vibrant than the 7-inch IPS panel on the entry-level model.
The OLED screen’s high contrast and rich color makes every game look better by default, but this display also supports HDR, with significantly brighter highlights at its peak. The maximum refresh rate is increased from 60Hz to 90Hz, which can help many games look smoother.
Thanks to a less power-consuming display, a more efficient AMD APU, and a larger battery, the Steam Deck OLED lasts longer than before. Neither handheld can play resource-intensive “AAA” games for very long, but Valve says the OLED model can last three to 12 hours, depending on the game, while the LCD model lasts two to eight hours.
A large fan keeps things cool and quiet, and the chassis feels lighter. Performance is about the same, though the OLED model’s increased memory bandwidth can help it gain a few extra frames in some games.
Still, $549 is a big investment. The entry-level Steam Deck, which uses a more basic IPS LCD display but comes with a 256GB SSD as standard, remains a fantastic value at $399.
The hardware is starting to show its age in any case: many of the biggest games released last year simply don’t run well, if they’re supported at all. Problems with Linux and anti-cheat software have even rendered live-service games like Destiny 2 and Apex Legends unplayable.
Yet both decks can run hundreds of games that aren’t possible on the Nintendo Switch, from Elden Ring to Baldur’s Gate 3, and they remain a natural home for the mountain of little gems scattered across Steam. (Hello, Balatro!) While official game support is limited to a subset of the Steam library, the list of officially verified and still playable titles is vast, varied, and constantly growing.
There are workarounds for accessing other storefronts, too. A constant stream of updates has turned Valve’s SteamOS into a flexible but user-friendly platform. You’ll still need to make changes from time to time to get games to run optimally, but the process is usually straightforward. This power, combined with third-party tools like EmuDeck, makes the decks great for emulation, too.
Some PS3 and original Xbox games can be tricky, but nearly everything else works beautifully. You can even cloud stream Xbox games with a little bit of setup.
The Steam Deck’s biggest problem is its size: At two inches thick and nearly a foot long, it stretches the definition of a “handheld” device, even if the OLED model is comparatively light. The LCD deck can also get hot and noisy quickly, and the D-pad on each device is somewhat soft.
But the contoured grip on the back helps balance out the heaviness, and both versions feel sturdy, with responsive face buttons and triggers, smooth joysticks, and useful dual touchpads.