Handheld gaming systems are no longer niche. Today, you can buy anything from a $50 retro-style emulation box to a $1,000 Windows PC with a screen and gamepads built in. The right handheld for you is the one that fits your library, your hands and your price range.
At a glance: The best picks for 2026
- Steam Deck OLED: $549 · Best balanced handheld PC
- Steam Deck LCD: $399 · Best budget handheld PC
- Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS, Z1 Extreme): $829.99 · Best premium PC handheld
- ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X: $999.99 · Best Windows handheld
- Retroid Pocket 5: $219 · Best value emulation handheld
- Retroid Pocket Flip 2: $229 · Best clamshell emulation handheld
- AYN Odin 2: $299 · Most powerful Android emulation handheld
- Analogue Pocket: $220 · Best for original cartridges
Steam Deck OLED and LCD: still the best for most people
If you want to play your Steam library on the couch, the Steam Deck remains the safest recommendation. The $399 LCD model is a fantastic deal; the $549 OLED model is the one we would suggest if you can spend extra. The OLED version has a 7.4-inch screen with HDR, a 90Hz refresh rate, up to 1TB of storage and a larger 50Whr battery. Valve redesigned the internal cooling, making it quieter and more efficient. The LCD model uses the older 7nm AMD chip, but for 2D indie games and many older 3D games it is still plenty fast.
SteamOS is by far the most polished handheld gaming operating system. Booting into Big Picture-style menus, suspending and resuming games, and tweaking per-game performance profiles is easy. However, the Deck cannot play every Windows game, and anti-cheat protected titles remain a problem. It is also heavy and thick.
Performance has aged since launch. Many 2025 AAA games need lower resolutions and frame caps, but the Deck remains ideal for more than half of the Steam library. It is also an exceptional emulator for everything from NES to PlayStation 2 with tools such as EmuDeck.
Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS): power upgrade for Steam gamers
Lenovo's Legion Go S is the first third-party handheld with official SteamOS. The Z1 Extreme model is a big step over the Steam Deck in terms of compute power and memory. For $900 it brings 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD. The 8-inch display is sharper than the OLED Deck, has 120Hz and VRR, but the screen does not produce as high contrast and has no HDR. Battery life is usually worse than the Deck.
The controls are comfortable and the chassis feels solid, but the device is heavier than the Deck. There is only one useful touchpad, which makes desktop navigation tedious. The fan gets loud under load. If you want a SteamOS device capable of sustained 30W+ power draw, the Legion Go S is currently your best ticket.
ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X: the Windows handheld to beat
Windows handhelds can run games from every PC storefront, and the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X is the best of them. It costs $1,000 and ships with
Source: Engadget News