Many technology and gaming companies, such as Xbox and Lenovo, have been creating their own handheld consoles for the market, as of late. This includes models, like the ROG Xbox Ally and the Nintendo Switch Two, which were all made in the last two years as of October 23, 2025.
What causes all of these billion dollar industries to all make handheld consoles?
Part of the reason for this was changing demands from consumers. According to Gearbrain, customers often want to be able to play a game whenever and wherever they want.This change in customer preference has forced tech companies to respond, which increased advancements in technology.
Another reason for the recent resurgence of handheld consoles is that these consoles have been drastically improved in the last few years. One of these changes was a better processor being implemented into consoles. The C.P.U of a computer handles the task of executing instructions, as well as performing calculations for computers and the G.P.U focuses on the visual parts of the screen such as running animations and images according to hp tech takes article. With better processors, more complex games can be played and graphics improve. This increases the catalog of games that are featured in handheld consoles.
Along with more games available on the console, more storage space is also a feature. This allows gamers to be able to play more games and switch between games easily by not having to uninstall a game and install another just because of changing interests. For reference, the Nintendo Switch 2 has 256GB of internal storage, while the Nintendo Switch One only has 32GB of internal storage.
With all these new models to buy, which one should you choose?
The Steam Deck OLED has a price of $549 and does not offer the best performance, but it is more affordable than others. This console has a colorful screen and has 512GB of storage. The ROG Ally X is more expensive, reaching a price of $1000, but it has better performance than the latter. This console has more comfortable grips, as well as 1TB of internal storage. The Steam Deck (LCD) is considered one of the best budget handheld consoles at only $400; it’s comfortable to hold and SD cards work with it. However, the console has a tendency to run out of power quickly while playing certain games and also games that are non-steam games require Windows to be downloaded according to tom’s HARDWARE. Lastly, the Playstation Portal is considerably cheaper than others, but one big problem with it is that you need a PS5 for it to be usable, but regardless, it can work from anywhere. It comes at a pretty affordable price of $200, but that doesn’t include the cost of the PS5 that brings it to about $800.
A lot of gaming companies are trying to win the handheld console market by adding their own additions to it. Additions such as the Playstation Portal or the updated model of the Lenovo Legion, are just two of the many handheld consoles made in the past two years by major gaming companies.
