IGN’s Jackie Thomas has reviewed every major handheld gaming PC, from the Steam Deck to the ROG Xbox Ally, playing games, running benchmarks, and testing their gaming performance, battery life, ergonomics, and more. After 100+ hours of testing, these are the 4 best gaming handhelds in 2026 – and why we don’t recommend the Steam Deck anymore.
Where to buy:
Asus ROG Xbox Ally –
Asus ROG Xbox Ally X –
Lenovo Legion Go S –
MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ –
For more, check out our full guide to the best handheld gaming PCs in 2026:
Lenovo legion go 1 best huge screen
Legion go S steam os z1e 1tb I got for 859 out the door was a solid upgrade over my deck and z1e ally
Wich one can do dlss5 on it?
Still have my steam deck OLED 1tb and i love every second of it, dont care about the performance, and with loseless scaling its life changer
I love the form factor of handhelds BUT I’ve fallen back to my PC (laptop) for almost all of my gaming. Still the all-in-one machine for me. I just gotta have my keyboard, mouse and screen built-in.