Best handheld gaming consoles in 2025 including Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck and more

1. Nintendo Switch 2

The Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t reinvent the hybrid formula – but it seriously refines it. After years of waiting, we finally have a console that feels like the Switch we always wanted. It’s more powerful, better built, and easier to use across modes, whether docked, handheld or in tabletop play.

We’ve spent hours with the Switch 2 in real-world testing – on planes, sofas, desks, and yes, even dragging it around the house mid-Zelda session. And while it’s not without flaws (poor battery life being the biggest), it’s a solid evolution.

The biggest improvement is performance. Games like Cyberpunk 2077 – which struggled on older consoles – now run at a stable 40fps in handheld mode, complete with DLSS upscaling for sharper visuals on a 4K TV. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet finally run smoothly, and even titles that haven’t been patched, like Bayonetta 3, benefit from better framerates.

We loved the larger 7.9in 1080p LCD screen. No OLED here (yet), but the bump to 120Hz and HDR support makes games feel smoother and more vibrant. Audio has had a similar boost, with better speakers and a noise-cancelling mic that genuinely impressed us – it picked up clear voice chat even with a vacuum cleaner running nearby.

Physically, the Switch 2 feels more premium too. The Joy-Cons are slightly larger, more comfortable, and now attach via strong magnets. They’ve added a curious mouse mode – sliding one Joy-Con across your sofa works surprisingly well, but it’s more gimmick than game-changer. Still, compatibility with older controllers is a big win.

Backwards compatibility is a highlight. We brought over our entire library, and many older games run better or have been updated entirely. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom even get visual boosts and faster loading. But storage is tight – 256GB fills quickly, and expanding it with microSD Express cards isn’t cheap.

Battery life? Not great. Expect anywhere from two to six hours. Playing Deltarune lasted just under four and a half, while Cyberpunk drained it frighteningly fast. A power bank is essential.

Despite a slow start for new games, the Switch 2 feels like the future of Nintendo’s hybrid vision. We wanted more power, better visuals and smoother performance – and we got them. It’s not a revolution, but it is a proper upgrade.

2. Steam Deck OLED 

We really liked the original Steam Deck, despite not being overly impressed with its weight, battery life or LCD display. All three were addressed by Valve with the Steam Deck OLED, making the first effort feel a bit like a rough draft in comparison. The new larger 7.4in HDR display, with its 1000-nits maximum brightness, has been blowing us away since we started using the device. It has hugely improved contrast and colours, while OLED’s trademark inky blacks make it hard to go back to LCD. The Deck OLED is also slightly lighter than Valve’s first effort, which you definitely do notice, and it lasts longer between charges too. 

The Steam Deck OLED is a handheld PC, but its custom-built OS makes it feel like a console in all the right ways. If you want to access your Steam library with minimal faff you can; desktop mode then welcomes tinkerers who want to emulate old games and install other launchers. 

Not every game will function as you want it to out of the box, and the Deck struggles to run modern AAA titles with any finesse.

The Steam Deck OLED enhances visuals with vibrant colours and deep blacks, making visually striking games even better. But games like Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3 benefit greatly from the OLED’s superior contrast and detail, while Cyberpunk 2077 makes full use of the updated version with Ray Tracing: Overdrive mode.

It’s also still a big bulky handheld, which might prove too much to handle for smaller hands. But if you want to play PC games portably, the Steam Deck OLED is our top pick. And if you want to save some cash, the equally powerful LCD model is still available at a lower price. 

3. Asus ROG Ally X

If you’re new to the whole PC gaming handheld thing, and want to play more than just your Steam library without messing about with Linux, the Asus ROG Ally X is now the obvious choice. It lasts longer than the original, has an easily upgradeable SSD, and has more RAM than any Steam Deck. The refined ergonomics also put both the MSI Claw and Lenovo Legion Go in the shade.

It’s not perfect: Windows 11 still doesn’t feel entirely happy on a small screen, and the display’s colours and contrast aren’t a match for the Steam Deck OLED – even if Ally’s higher resolution and refresh rate levels the playing field a bit. The price is a lot spicier than Valve’s handheld, too – it’s now almost in gaming laptop territory.

The Ally X’s high-performance hardware is ideal for AAA gaming, and Game Pass access adds plenty of options, from Forza Horizon 5 and Starfield, to Halo Infinite and Street Fighter 6.

Original ROG Ally shouldn’t be in a rush to upgrade, then, and the Steam Deck OLED remains my top pick – but the gap is narrower than ever.

4. Nintendo Switch Lite 

In another arena, you might knock the Nintendo Switch Lite for lacking the big screen credentials of its pricier bigger brothers. Here, though, we’re exclusively about handheld consoles, which is exactly where the Switch Lite really sings. Its lighter weight and smaller design not only make it more comfortable to hold than the big Switch, but more portable to boot. You even get a proper D-pad here, which the standard model lacks, arguably making the Lite the retro platformer champ. 

Once you’ve played games on the Switch OLED it’s really hard to look at the Switch Lite’s 5.5in LCD screen, but if you can overlook its inherent inferiority it’s still a great display. And keeping the same 1280×700 resolution on the smaller panel means games look even sharper. 

Of course, you’ll still be able to play all of the awesome Nintendo exclusives such as Zelda, Mario and Animal Crossing.

Battery life is decent enough, and the fantastic Switch library is just as good here as it is on the regular Switch. You just have to ask yourself if you’ll miss the ability to dock it to a TV, or Joy-Con-exclusive features like HD Rumble. If a handheld is all you want and you can live without OLED, the Switch Lite is an excellent and affordable option.

5. Lenovo Legion Go

The Lenovo Legion Go makes its case with an enormous and quite stunning 8.8in, 1600p, 144Hz display and Switch-esque detachable controllers. A novel FPS mode then turns one of them into a vertical mouse. It works well and definitely makes you feel more accurate than when playing with analogue sticks. 

The Legion Go’s larger screen makes it great for immersive, long-play games such as Assassin’s Creed Mirage, The Witcher 3, and Diablo IV.

Like the ROG Ally you can run pretty much any game you like thanks to Windows. When it works you can have a lot of fun with Lenovo’s handheld, but we didn’t like the clunky Legion Space software. Most games can’t run well at the highest native resolution either. If they do, they’ll zap the battery dead in no time. 

Still, if you’re a Game Pass subscriber you can turn the Legion Go into a portable Xbox with a great screen. That’s a major advantage over the Linux-based Steam Deck, which can only stream Xbox Game Pass via the cloud unless you go through the messy process of installing Windows.

6. Logitech G Cloud 

This Android-based handheld comes with most of the major cloud gaming services (including Game Pass) pre-installed. It’s comfortable to hold and has a very decent 7in, 1080p display. But beyond the built-in controls, there isn’t a lot it can do that the phone likely sitting in your pocket right now can’t.

Whether you should buy one, then, depends on how much you already make use of apps like Xbox Cloud Gaming or Nvidia’s GeForce Now. There’s no doubt that playing Starfield is less fiddly on a dedicated gaming device than it is on your phone. If both your internet speeds and Wi-Fi strength are good enough, it can be pretty great. Plus the G Cloud is just an Android tablet at its heart, so you can download mobile games to play offline, too.

With servers in the cloud doing the heavy lifting, battery life is strong – up to 12 hours if you aren’t running many games natively. Some people will always be skeptical about cloud gaming, and there’s no denying that the G Cloud is an odd device –  and not a cheap one either. But if you’re all in on game streaming this handheld ticks a lot of boxes. 

7. PlayStation Portal 

Sony has a long history with handheld consoles, but the PlayStation Portal is not another PSP or Vita. In fact, unless wirelessly connected to your PS5 it’s about as useful as a brick. The Portal streams games from your console, exactly as your phone does when using the PS Remote Play app (which is free). The difference here is that you get proper DualSense controls on either side of the 1080p 60fps display that you play your games on. 

The PlayStation Portal is an unapologetically niche device, primarily aimed at PS5 players who regularly have to give up the TV to someone else in the house. If your home Wi-Fi isn’t fast enough you’re likely going to experience performance issues. That said, we really like playing PS5 games on that large and bright display, without having to give up the DualSense’s haptics and adaptive triggers. Battery life is surprisingly decent too.

As it isn’t really designed to be used outside the house and can’t do cloud streaming of any sort, the PS Portal is a slighter offering than a lot the devices on this list. But if you’re in the target market and your broadband is up to the job, it might just be the handheld you’re looking for. 

8. Panic Playdate 

The Playdate is very different from every other handheld console on this list. Rather than replicating the big-screen gaming experience on a portable device, its library consists exclusively of bespoke titles, most of them making use of its unique crank controller. 

This is an intentionally low-tech toy. Its black and white display isn’t even backlit and the majority of its games are bite-sized experiences, best played for a few minutes at a time rather than a few hours. 

It is, then, a decidedly more niche proposition than the Switch or Steam Deck. But if you like collecting beautiful objects, of which the cheerful yellow Playdate is undoubtedly one, and enjoy something a bit different from your handheld gaming, you can’t go wrong. 

How to choose the best handheld gaming console for you

As the above list attests to, the handheld console market is wide-ranging and varied, so Stuff is here to help you make the right choice based on your gaming habits.