2025 seems to be an enormous yr for handheld gaming. After a few years within the wilderness, pushed apart by the rise of cell video games and the departure of PlayStation from the hand held market, there’s now a medley of moveable consoles and gaming PCs having fun with a renaissance in high quality on-the-go gaming experiences.
The greatest title amongst them: the Nintendo Switch 2. The firm pulled off an unbelievable comeback with 2017’s Switch, reversing its fortunes after a limp response to the Wii U, promoting 150 million models over the following seven years, recycling its underutilised Wii U library, and launching two of one of the best Zelda video games ever made. With a brand new model anticipated in early 2025, everyone seems to be ready with baited breath to see what Nintendo has up its sleeve, although it’s possible Nintendo will play issues secure to proceed its present successful streak.
The Switch 2 seems to be much less of a revolution, and extra of an evolution, with backwards compatibility for Switch video games and the same type issue to the 2017 console. However, whereas we’re low on official particulars, we’re excessive on leaks.
Reports up to now counsel an expanded 8-inch LCD display screen, 1080p output in handheld mode, 4K upscaling in docked mode, electromagnetic Joy-Cons that ditch the present Switch’s rail attachment system, and a customized model of Nvidia’s T234 cell processor that ought to not less than beat the PS4 and Xbox One for efficiency. You would possibly even be capable of use a Joy-Con as a mouse!
While I’ll personally miss the advantages of the Switch OLED’s show, I can’t deny the draw of a extra highly effective LCD Switch, and it’s very more likely to be a scorching buy for a few years to come back. It’s simply price asking whether or not the Switch 2 goes to be fairly as profitable, or fascinating, in a market now crowded with glorious handheld opponents,
Alongside the continuing success of Valve’s Steam Deck, we’ve simply seen a fleet of latest gaming PCs unveiled at CES, lots of which construct on earlier 2024 gadgets and have allowed producers to iterate quicker than Nintendo’s near-decade-long console cycles. So can the Switch 2 repeat its victory lap in 2025, or not?
The First Switch Era Comes to a Close, Will a New One Begin?
For the primary few years of the Nintendo Switch’s lifespan, there was no significant competitors – handheld gaming had been largely deserted by different electronics producers, content material to go away the house to cell gaming and the regular succession of Nintendo DS consoles.
The Switch blew aside the idea that handheld consoles had fallen out of favor with the gaming public, displaying a large urge for food for on-the-go gaming bolstered by trendy show applied sciences and a pinch of Nintendo ingenuity (Home console? Handheld? Why not each?).
However, success naturally breeds imitators. In 2022 we bought Valve’s Steam Deck, a gaming PC that value a bit of greater than the mainline Switch, however managed to journey on Nintendo’s popularisation of handheld gaming whereas providing a definite modus operandi – bringing a PC gamer’s whole Steam library on the go.
The Steam Deck cleaves fairly near the Switch in lots of areas, together with an equal 1280×800 decision and a price ticket solely barely greater than the $350 Switch OLED (for the bottom Steam Deck mannequin, not less than). However, it’s set aside by entry to the Steam library, and a chunkier, extra ergonomic construct that isn’t as centered on becoming a baby’s palms.
While there’s no instant Steam Deck 2 in sight – possible not till 2026 or past – Valve’s machine continues to be very a lot in demand, and now surrounded by opponents. There’s a variety of handheld gaming PCs operating on the Windows working system, from the Asus ROG Ally X to the GPD Win 4, which supply the complete advantages of a Windows desktop PC, with entry to Steam, Epic Games, Xbox, GOG, and itch.io shops alongside different apps and companies.
And with a brand new suite of AMD Z2 chipsets launching in 2025 for improved efficiency and battery life, these moveable gaming PCs look higher positioned than ever to tackle a Switch successor.
Who’s the competitors?
The greatest story in new handhelds is the Lenovo Legion Go S, a more moderen, lighter model of final yr’s Legion Go that ditches the previous’s detachable controllers for an all-in-one design, doubles its RAM to 32GB, and packs a 120Hz show.
What’s most attention-grabbing is that it is available in each Windows 11 and SteamOS configurations, which means you’ll be able to go for a third-party Steam Deck or a extra fleshed-out Windows ecosystem. You’ll additionally be capable of select between fashions with the brand new Z2 Go chipset and an older Z1 processor, which means a variety of costs from $599 to $729 when taking all of the totally different configurations into consideration.
A next-gen Legion Go 2 can also be on the horizon this yr, packing in a brand new AMD Z2 Extreme processor and doubling its battery capability – useful given the Legion Go tended solely to final an hour or two between fees.
Elsewhere, Acer’s Nitro Blaze vary is increasing with an 11-inch handheld with a 2560×1600 120Hz show that ought to make the Switch’s display screen look positively scrawny – even when it prices $1199 and appears like a literal handful. And the MSI Claw 8 AI+, an replace to the MSI Claw, has a brand new Intel Lunar Lake chipset, an improved 80WHr battery, an 8-inch 120Hz show, a $899 price ticket, and so much to show after the dour reception of final yr’s mannequin.
I additionally wouldn’t rule out the Asus ROG Ally vary. The $799 ROG Ally X topped our finest handheld gaming PC information final yr, due to a hefty 80WHr battery, 1TB of storage, and good on-the-go efficiency. We stated in our evaluate that, “with extra and quicker reminiscence and double the battery as the unique Ally, the Ally X will run any trendy sport with out dying in an hour and a half.” There’s no official announcement for a 2025 successor, however the Ally X may nicely discover a 2025 viewers, or get a substitute later within the yr.
Which Handheld Will Win 2025?
These souped-up Windows (and SteamOS) handhelds have some key advantages over the Switch 2. They largely sidestep the sub-$400 market, leaving that easily-won territory to Nintendo or much less succesful gadgets, and specializing in extra spectacular specs.
Compared to the Switch ecosystem, you’ll be able to typically anticipate extra highly effective processors, greater resolutions and body charges, and the openness of a Windows ecosystem that may entry a number of sport storefronts and due to this fact a better number of video games. Even in the event you’re locked into SteamOS, Steam alone has over 70 thousand games, in comparison with solely a handful of thousand on Nintendo Switch. So it’s price remembering that the Switch, for all its appeal and first-party exclusives, has a a lot smaller record of obtainable titles total.
However, Windows 11 isn’t a really perfect interface for a handheld gaming PC, given it was by no means designed with that function in thoughts. There’s one thing to the main target and ease of Nintendo’s working system, which is commonly what attracts folks to a devoted console within the first place.
A brand new Switch will possible fall quick on specification in comparison with many handhelds launched in 2025, with out the pure energy that comes with pricier processors and a concentrate on enjoying AAA PC video games. But an improved handheld expertise, and a few AI upscaling to spice up its capabilities in docked mode, ought to go some option to plugging the hole. And given its domination of the sub-$400 market, and the energy of the Nintendo Switch title, I don’t suppose any of those opponents are going to meaningfully dent the Switch 2’s success, or come near its gross sales numbers, and I’d name Switch 2 the only option for many players in 2025.
For dedicated PC players, or anybody with much more than $400 money to splash, then the Lenovo Legion Go S could also be one of the best shout – particularly with a SteamOS possibility for many who don’t need to trouble with Windows 11’s nonoptimal interface. Until we see an official Steam Deck 2, that is possible one of the best ways to play your Steam library on the go.
For a Windows handheld, it will get a bit of trickier. I don’t have too excessive hopes for MSI’s newest handheld, and whereas Acer might have cornered the 11-inch handheld market, it in all probability received’t be a superb match for many, uh, palms. I’d in all probability suggest the Legion Go S in a Windows formulation, or stick with the Asus ROG Ally vary.
A decade in the past, a surge in moveable consoles would have appeared ludicrous, however the class is seeing explosive progress with no signal of letting up simply but. Now, there’s an enormous suite of choices to take pleasure in, whether or not you’re after a transportable Steam library, a Windows gaming handheld, or a souped-up Zelda machine. There’s just one actual winner in 2025 – and that’s handheld players.
