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