This month I have been: Inducting my daughter into a lifetime of crime in Magical Princess, and establishing cozily cluttered dioramas in Shanty City—two video games I am assured would even be improbable on a handheld.
The concept of taking critical {hardware} horsepower on the go was all the time the dream of my misspent, console-gaming youth. Do not get me improper, I’ve all the time liked how older handheld programs made a calling card out of their limitations (and within the case of Nintendo, supplied a {hardware} gimmick or gaming expertise you could not discover anyplace else). The truth that now you may play most of the similar video games on a conveyable gadget you could additionally play in your gamer den would’ve blown my youthful self’s thoughts.
Sadly, the dream-come-true of handheld gaming PCs appears like it’s coming to an finish.
Our Andy updates our handheld gaming PC offers every week and not too long ago shared a stunning revelation: ‘Someway, the $1,000 Asus ROG Ally Xbox X is the most effective worth gaming handheld I can consider proper now.’ In case you’ve acquired the money then, positive, the Asus ROG Ally Xbox X with its AMD Ryzen Z2 Excessive chip, 24 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of onboard SSD storage is smart for the asking worth. However the place does that depart you if you happen to’re on a a lot tighter finances?
The reminiscence provide disaster has raised the pricing flooring of all handhelds. Working example, the gadget that we nonetheless price as the most effective finances handheld gaming PC is the Steam Deck. The extra inexpensive LCD fashions had been quietly discontinued final 12 months, leaving these trying to purchase a Steam Deck new with solely the very shiny OLED fashions to select from. Years after launch, the value for the bottom 512 GB OLED mannequin has elevated from $549 to $789. The 1 TB mannequin has seen an virtually 50% worth improve, leaping from $649 to $949. The reply, then, to the place that leaves the extra budget-conscious? With out a paddle.
Regardless of this worth hike (and the hand-held’s aged internals), each fashions of the Steam Deck bought out in North America shortly after the rise was introduced again in Might. The 1 TB mannequin, which goes for £779 the place I am based mostly within the UK, seems to be out of inventory once more on the time of writing. However I doubt this can be a sustainable development.
Chances are you’ll like
Let’s zoom out a smidge. I replace our greatest SSD offers each week, so I’ve not had the luxurious of ignoring how storage costs have been climbing for the reason that tail finish of final 12 months. Analysis means that reminiscence costs are more likely to rise as a lot as 50% in Q3 alone. Current evaluation by Bernstein suggests costs will not dip till 2028, when main producers are anticipated to finish numerous capacity-increasing builds.
However right here and now in 2026, it is not simply gaming PC parts which have seen worth will increase on account of the reminiscence provide disaster. For instance, the Ps 5 has seen three totally different worth will increase over the past six years and now prices a minimal of $650. I’ve written about it earlier than however, regardless of shopping for a launch day PS5, it is turning into more and more unlikely I will decide up a PS6 day one. In spite of everything, if the PS5 Professional prices $900 right now, how way more will the PS6 value?
Hey, perhaps Bernstein’s predictions will bear out and {hardware} pricing will look much more smart by the point Sony’s next-gen console drops in 2028 and even 2029. However within the right here and now, handheld gaming PCs stay in an arguably way more troublesome place inside the shopper market.
For individuals who do not have already got a gaming PC, there’s little doubt {that a} $650 base PS5 goes to seem like the extra economical choice (significantly as Sony will not be bringing its handful of exclusives to PC in future, however perhaps it is simply me mourning the lack of, like, 4 video games). In case you already personal a gaming PC, you may seemingly wish to save your pennies for more and more costly part upgrades. The place would a handheld characteristic in both finances?
The information suggests players typically are nonetheless keen to half with the money for brand new {hardware}—although they don’t seem to be essentially choosing up a handheld gaming PC. A latest Circana report shared that the hand-held of alternative was overwhelmingly the Nintendo Change 2, with the hybrid console largely credited for a year-over-year {hardware} spending improve that grew by 69%, climbing to $500 million this previous March.
What to learn subsequent
The Change 2 noticed its personal worth improve introduced again in Might, so it is value pondering how a lot of this latest shopper clamour was motivated by a need to scoop the console earlier than it turned dearer. Even so, Nintendo’s handheld is about to value $500 from September 1 within the US.
There are many PC players who’ve little interest in what the large N is doing as of late, however a broad-view of right now’s gaming viewers suggests a number of players are extra platform-agnostic. For example, a 2023 Comscore report discovered 76% of players play throughout a number of platforms. Subsequently, it is exhausting to disregard handheld gaming PC’s most evident competitor, even when the Change 2 is underpowered in comparison with most of the accessible moveable gaming choices.
Briefly, probably the most performant handheld gaming PCs ask a worth that is far too wealthy for my blood, and the most effective finances choice is arguably not fairly as compelling as Nintendo’s providing (even after the value hike comes into impact later this 12 months).
To paraphrase Andy’s level, there’s an opportunity gaming handhelds ultimately revert to occupying a boutique area of interest for players with particularly deep pockets. That is how they had been within the earlier than occasions previous to the Steam Deck’s launch, with smaller Chinese language outfits, resembling OneXPlayer, releasing costly, weak, poorly optimised units. That is probably not the long run I need for handheld gaming PCs, however it’s a robust chance. Nonetheless, given the state of, nicely, all the things, I discover myself taking a bleaker outlook.
Essentially the most performant handheld gaming PCs ask a worth that is far too wealthy for my blood, and the most effective finances choice is arguably not fairly as compelling as Nintendo’s providing.
In the long run, it would not really feel like handheld gaming PCs are probably the most economical proposition for manufacturers or producers both. For instance, again in March Ayaneo suspended pre-orders for its uber-powerful Subsequent 2 gaming handheld after prices approached ‘twice the value we initially set’. To be clear, I strongly doubt Valve goes to pack it in with the Steam Deck any time quickly. Nonetheless, smaller firms with a a lot much less numerous portfolio than, say, the corporate behind one of many largest storefronts for digital video games, are more likely to wrestle.
What appears sure is that costs will proceed to rise and significant chunks of the units’ viewers might be priced out. My concern is that the maths might merely now not math, and {hardware} firms will more and more determine that handheld gaming PCs particularly simply aren’t value it. For my wide-eyed youthful self, I hope I am improper.
