Best handheld gaming PC in 2023

Are you looking for the best handheld gaming PC? Valve ignited the handheld PC arms race in 2022 with the release of the Steam Deck. Still, it wasn’t the first, as a few older players have been iterating and improving their designs, alongside new competitors in the Asus ROG Ally and soon-to-be Lenovo Legion Go throwing their hat into the ring.

To make sense of this rapidly changing market, we’ve collated a list of all the best handheld gaming PCs. Unlike the best gaming PCs, these models have a portability factor that means you can carry them anywhere. We’ve taken a look at specifications, build quality, value, and software to sort the wheat from the chaff, even including something that might technically fit on our best gaming laptop list too.

We’ve already mentioned the venerable Steam Deck but you may be after something with a little more oomph – a question best answered by the Asus ROG Ally with its Z1 Extreme chip. If portability is your main concern, perhaps the Aya Neo Air may tickle your pickle with its minuscule footprint and vibrant OLED display.

If you’re all work and play then the GPD Win Max 2 and its novel convertible design may just hit two birds and one stone with its unique pairing of a controller and traditional laptop design.

There’s plenty to choose from, so read on to see what handheld gaming PC might be best for your hands.

These are the best handheld gaming PCs in 2023:

1. Asus ROG Ally

Best handheld gaming PC overall.

Asus ROG Ally specs:

Pros

• 120Hz VRR display
• Fast Ryzen Z1 chip
• Big company backing

Cons

• MicroSD card overheating
• Armory Crate isn’t as good as SteamOS

The $699 (£699) Asus charges for its ROG Ally is a pittance compared to what smaller production-run companies such as OneXplayer, GPD or Aya Neo offer up, and whilst they cook up their own Zen 4-based handhelds, the ROG Ally stands head and shoulders above them.

The Z1 Extreme chip is enough to power most of the latest and greatest PC games, including Starfield mods designed to enhance the game’s performance.

The VRR display will greatly increase consistency when gaming too, with no screentearing. This means that you won’t have to stress about reaching a specific target like you have to with the Steam Deck. You can enhance the experience further by pairing it with the best Asus ROG Ally accessories.

One of the few areas for critique comes from a known issue with MicroSD cards. If you accessorize your Ally with a high-capacity NVMe drive, you’ll be fine, but in some cases, MicroSDs have gotten frazzled after overheating.

Armory Crate also isn’t the best handheld interface. Going in and using it can be a little clunky at the best of times, especially in the early days. Fortunately, you can just set up Steam Big Picture mode to initiate on launch and you will essentially have a very close experience to the Steam Deck – just without precompiled shader compilations.

The souped-up hardware and great build quality land it our top spot. If you love playing modern titles in particular, the Asus ROG Ally’s spec put it in a position to long out-last the Steam Deck.

Read our Asus ROG Ally review.

2. Steam Deck

Best value handheld gaming PC.

Steam Deck specs:

Pros

• Unmatched price-to-performance
• Huge aftermarket ecosystem
• SteamOS

Cons

• Lackluster screen
• Game compatibility
• Verification program isn’t always correct

Though the Steam Deck wasn’t the first handheld gaming PC, it is certainly the most important – and successful. Millions have been sold for a reason. The seamless integration with Steam and console-like experience means it can be as plug-and-play as you like – with the benefit of having a completely user-tweakable OS under the hood.

The lower-end 64GB model is one of the best discount handheld gaming PCs on the market, and it’s even cheaper if you opt for a refurbished model. You can also expand the storage and pair it with the best Steam Deck accessories to bring it up to snuff.

That said recent titles such as Starfield, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Remnant 2 cause the Steam Deck to misstep. Whilst we’re a little away from all major AAA releases being unplayable, the clock is ticking and you may feel you get more value if you opt for something a little newer.

The Steam Deck Verification program doesn’t always deliver either There have been a number of games that have been verified but clearly don’t work very well on the Deck. Sites like ProtonDB can offer a more nuanced take though so if you do your research – you shouldn’t run into too many snafus.

If you fancy customizing your Steam Deck, we’ve got guides on the best Steam Deck docks, cases,  screen protectors, and skins.

Read our Steam Deck review.

3. OneXPlayer 2

Best screen on a handheld Gaming PC.

OneXPlayer 2 specs:

Pros

• Beautiful screen
• Detachable controllers
• Hall effect triggers

Cons

• Expensive
• Post-launch support

It might not have an OLED or VRR but the sharpness of such a resolution in such a small size makes for some unbelievably crisp visuals.

2D games – especially those with a pixel art design – will be as sharp as a pin. Though most new games won’t be able to make use of this resolution, OneXPlayer recommends bumping it down to 1200p which will scale nicely to its native resolution.

The controllers are detachable in a similar way to the Switch and the upcoming Lenovo Legion Pro meaning the OneXPlayer 2 is great as a small impromptu tablet. It’s worth keeping in mind that the controllers can’t connect together without a special bracket that is sold separately.

OneXPlayer has released a few products now but they don’t have the industrial might behind them like Asus or Valve do – making post-launch support a concern.

There is a good range of accessories to choose from to further enhance the OneXPlayer 2 experience though. There is a clip-on keyboard if you want to get some work done and the aforementioned controller bracket which means you wouldn’t have to bring a separate controller with you.

It is also very expensive but that price does afford you features you won’t find elsewhere right now. All of these features make it a great choice for someone who wants the most versatile gaming handheld PC with a gorgeous screen to drool over.

Like other smaller manufacturers on this list, GPD may not have the production of scale to keep costs down but they have been in the business longer than anyone else with the original GPD Win debuting in 2016 and this expertise shines through in their products.

This limits the Air to less processing intense games, but that still covers a lot of ground. 2D pixel games particularly and literally shine on the OLED panel, for example. That may well be more than enough for you – especially when combined with its smallness.

If you want to find out more about the process that goes into creating these lists, read our how we test page. Still questions? Read the FAQs below: