0:04 2025 has been a gold mine of x86
0:07 handheld gaming PCs. In this video, I'm
0:08 diving into my top picks of the year,
0:10 breaking down the performance,
0:12 ergonomics, screen quality, battery
0:14 life, and of course, the overall appeal
0:16 and fun factor for each of these
0:18 devices. By the end, I'll let you know
0:20 which one was my favorite, and I
0:22 definitely love to know which one was
0:24 yours in the comments below. Now, keep
0:26 in mind, we're only talking about x86
0:28 handheld gaming PCs. We're not talking
0:31 about ARMbased Android handhelds or
0:32 anything like that. And it really
0:33 doesn't matter if it came out of the box
0:36 running Windows or Steam OS. I've picked
0:38 eight devices, some of my favorites
0:40 here, and not all of these were released
0:43 in 2025, but they definitely still hold
0:45 up and should be an option even going
0:51 So, jumping right into it here with some
0:53 of my favorite handhelds, the first
0:55 question I always get is, how powerful
0:57 is it? I want to talk about the most
1:00 powerful handheld of 2025. We had some
1:02 Z1 Extreme devices released, some Z2
1:05 Extreme devices, a couple Intel powered
1:06 devices, but one of these really does
1:08 take the cake when it comes to raw
1:10 performance, and that's going to be the
1:12 GPD Win 5. There's actually two
1:13 different variants that you can get of
1:17 this one with a Ryzen Max 385, eight
1:20 cores, 16 threads, and the Radeon 8050SI
1:23 GPU with 32 compute units. It
1:26 outperforms the Z2, the Z1, and even the
1:28 Intel powered handhelds. But the big boy
1:31 is the Max Plus 395 version coming in
1:34 with 16 cores, 32 threads, and the
1:38 Radeon 8060S. This also has that 80Wh
1:39 detachable battery, and you can buy
1:41 extra batteries for it, so you can hot
1:43 swap these when you're on the go. But
1:45 when it comes to raw performance, none
1:46 of the other handhelds out there beat
1:49 this. Whether you go with that Max 385
1:53 version or the Max Plus 395 version, it
1:55 just trucks through anything. And if you
1:57 want to go to dock mode, take the TDP up
1:58 on this while it's plugged into power,
2:01 you can even do some 1440p gaming on it.
2:03 So, there's no doubt this is the most
2:06 powerful handheld of 2025 here.
2:08 Since we're talking about performance
2:10 here, let's talk about the second most
2:11 powerful handheld, and it's not a Max
2:15 Plus device. It's not even a Z2 Extreme
2:17 device. Now, I've done a lot of testing
2:19 with the Z2 Extreme versus the Z1
2:21 Extreme. There's not a huge difference
2:23 in performance at certain wattages. In
2:25 certain games, the Z2 Extreme does
2:28 outperform the Z1, but then you turn
2:29 around in other games at different
2:32 wattages, the Z1 Extreme outperforms the
2:35 Z2. So, the Z1 and the Z2 kind of trade
2:37 blows with each other. To tell you the
2:39 truth, the second most powerful handheld
2:42 on the market is the MSI Claw 8 AI. Now,
2:44 this is not a Max Plus powered device.
2:47 It's an Intel Lunar Lake powered device.
2:49 One downside here is compatibility, but
2:51 Intel has been working really hard for
2:54 the past two years on their Arc drivers.
2:57 It does outperform the Z1 and Z2 Extreme
2:59 in about 80% of the games that I've
3:02 tested. This has been a bit hard for
3:03 people to get their hands on, and
3:06 pricing on all of these newer devices is
3:08 ridiculous anyway. But yeah, I mean, if
3:10 you're looking for something that does
3:11 give you some really great performance,
3:13 plus a bigger screen, something like the
3:16 Steam Deck or the ROG Ally, then the MSI
3:19 Claw 8 AI is actually a really good choice.
3:21 choice.
3:23 The next thing we need to talk about
3:25 here is battery life. And this is really
3:27 going to be dependent on what kind of
3:28 games you're playing and what kind of
3:30 wattage you're playing at. But one of
3:31 the big things here is going to be
3:33 battery size, no matter which way you
3:36 look at it. The ROG Xbox Alli X has an
3:39 80watt hour battery. The MSI Claw A8 and
3:42 the MSI Claw 8 AI also have an 80watt
3:44 hour battery. And heck, even the ROG
3:47 Alli X has an 80Wh battery. All four of
3:49 those devices do get really great
3:52 battery life. But in my testing, I've
3:53 been seeing better battery life out of
3:57 the ROG Xbox Alli X. In some cases, up
3:59 to an hour and a half more than
4:01 something with the Z1 Extreme and that
4:03 same size battery. And even the other
4:05 devices with these 80watth batteries
4:07 have a hard time matching the battery
4:10 life that the ROG Xbox Alli X is putting
4:13 out right now. The only real downside to
4:17 this device in 2025 or going into 2026
4:19 is going to be the screen and screen
4:20 size. Now, don't get me wrong. I mean,
4:23 it's a variable refresh rate 120 Hz
4:26 display. It's IPS, which still looks
4:28 great, but it's a 7 in display. And
4:30 after playing on like an 8.8 8 inch or
4:33 even the 8 in displays that we've been
4:36 seeing does feel a bit smaller.
4:37 The next thing I want to talk about here
4:39 are ergonomics and how the device feels
4:41 in the hand, how comfortable it is to
4:43 play on for an extended period of time.
4:46 And with the new ROG Xbox Alli X, we've
4:48 got these controller grips. A lot of
4:49 people do consider this the most
4:51 comfortable handheld on the market, and
4:53 I could see that. I mean, the way
4:54 they've got this designed, it's got the
4:56 handles just like an Xbox controller,
4:58 and it is a really comfortable handheld
5:00 for extended periods of time. Yeah,
5:01 you're not going to worry about hand
5:03 cramps or anything like that with these
5:06 controller grips on the side. But my
5:07 personal favorite, the one that I think
5:10 is the most comfortable is the Legion Go
5:11 S. And it really comes down to these
5:14 large lumps around back. The way they've
5:15 got this designed, I mean, it falls
5:16 right in your palm. And it doesn't
5:18 matter if you've got the lower-end
5:19 version, the Steam version, the Windows
5:22 version, they're all the same. It's just
5:24 a really comfortable handheld and I find
5:26 once I hold on to this thing, I mean, it
5:28 just falls right into place and I could
5:30 play on this thing for hours and hours.
5:33 I've got the Z1 Extreme version here and
5:35 it came out of the box with Steam OS
5:37 installed. This is one that I can highly
5:39 recommend, but only the Z1 Extreme
5:42 model. The other one, if you know you're
5:43 only going to be playing indie games and
5:45 you can get it for a good deal, then be
5:47 my guest. But if you want better
5:48 performance, at least better than the
5:50 Steam Deck and on par with something
5:53 like the ROG Alli X, the Z1 Extreme
5:56 version is definitely the way to go.
5:58 In my opinion, the screen on these
6:00 handhelds is one of the most important
6:01 things because that's what we're going
6:02 to be playing on. We're going to be
6:04 connected through that screen. And the
6:06 Steam Deck OLED does have a beautiful
6:10 OLED display. It's a 7.4 in 90 Hz
6:12 display. I mean, it looks great. really
6:14 awesome viewing angles. But there's a
6:16 new screen king on the block and that's
6:19 got to be the Lenovo Legion Go 2. This
6:23 thing is amazing. It's an 8.8 in OLED up
6:26 to 144 hertz. It does support variable
6:29 refresh rate. It supports HDR and it
6:32 looks amazing. It doesn't do it justice
6:34 seeing it in a video or a picture.
6:36 Lenovo really came through with the
6:38 display on the Legion Go 2 and that's my
6:40 favorite part about it. It's also pretty
6:42 comfortable. It's definitely a heavier
6:45 unit. It doesn't quite have an 80watth
6:47 battery, but it's got that Z2 Extreme
6:49 and performance is awesome. But the
6:51 screen here really does make the Legion
6:54 go too in my opinion.
6:55 There's something else that I want to
6:56 talk about here, and this is really
6:58 going to come down to personal
7:00 preference for everybody out there, but
7:02 the way the device looks, the overall
7:04 design, uh the aesthetics of it, because
7:06 when you're playing on this, I mean,
7:07 you're staring down at the screen, but
7:09 you're going to be looking at this thing
7:11 quite a bit. And I got to say, my
7:14 favorite is the MSI Claw A8. This should
7:17 be releasing in the US in December, so
7:19 keep an eye out. I've got the green
7:21 version. I did have this imported from
7:24 China, but I love the Mecca style, and
7:25 that's just me. Some people hate the way
7:28 it looks, but I really do like this. And
7:32 at Computex 2025, MSI did show off a few
7:33 different color variants. I kind of wish
7:35 those would have hit. We've got a green
7:36 and a white. And I'm not sure if the
7:38 green is going to be coming to the US or
7:41 not, but I love the way this handheld
7:43 looks, even the back of it. Plus, we've
7:45 got a larger screen than the Ally line.
7:48 This is coming in with that 8 in 120 Hz
7:50 display. It's an IPS, but it does
7:52 support variable refresh rate. And I'm a
7:55 huge fan of Gundam. This just gives off
7:56 a Mecca vibe to me, and I think that's
7:59 why I like it so much.
8:01 The final thing here is pricing. And
8:03 pricing is absolutely ridiculous with
8:05 everything but the Steam Deck. Legion Go
8:09 2,300. ROG Xbox Alli X,000. You can get
8:12 a lower-end Steam Deck OLED for $5.49.
8:14 The Legion Go S is coming in at $8.99
8:17 with that Z1 Extreme. The MSI Claw A8 is
8:20 I think a,000 and a little over 1,100
8:23 for the Claw 8 AI. So the Steam Deck
8:26 does take the cake. And not to mention
8:28 the GPD Win 5. The price on that can get
8:30 pretty astronomical when maxing it out
8:33 with 128 GB of RAM. So, the Steam Deck
8:36 and the Steam Deck OLED do take the win.
8:38 And this is the special edition white
8:39 version, so it was a bit more, but you
8:42 can get a 512 GB Steam Deck OLED in the
8:45 regular black for 5.49 still. So, it's
8:47 the best pricing out there. You're still
8:49 going to have a lot of fun with it, and
8:51 it comes pre-installed with Steam OS.
8:52 And that's one of the big reasons a lot
8:55 of people still love the Steam DAG. It's
8:57 definitely one of the best handheld
8:59 gaming PCs on the market. It's the one
9:01 that started the mainstream trend with
9:03 these handheld gaming PCs. But if price
9:06 wasn't an issue, my favorite handheld of
9:10 2025 has to be the Legion Go 2. I love
9:12 the look. It's comfortable to hang on
9:13 to. It doesn't get the kind of battery
9:16 life like the ROG Xbox Alli X, but we've
9:18 also got these detachable controllers,
9:23 and that 8.8 8 in 144 hertz OLED screen
9:26 really makes this device. But in the
9:29 end, I'd say the best handheld of 2025
9:31 is the one that you have right now that
9:32 you've been enjoying playing your games
9:35 on. Doesn't matter if it's a Steam Deck,
9:37 if it's a Legion Go, if it's an ROG
9:40 Ally, an MSI. If you've got something
9:41 that you've been having a lot of fun
9:43 playing your favorite games on, then
9:45 that's the best device for you.
9:47 technology moves so fast that next month
9:48 we're going to see something come out
9:51 that has more power than the GPD5. We'll
9:53 see something that looks better than the
9:55 uh MSclaw A8, better screen than the
9:58 Legion Go 2. Nobody's going to be able
9:59 to keep up. But as long as you're having
10:02 fun on the device you have right now,
10:04 then that's a great device for you. And
10:06 I'd love to know if you've been playing
10:08 on an x86 device and been having a lot
10:10 of fun with it, which one it is. So,
10:12 leave a comment down below letting us
10:14 know what device you've been using, what
10:17 your favorite device of 2025 is. I'm
10:19 sure we'll see a lot of new handhelds in
