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Best Handheld Gaming Console 2025 Bracket | Tom's Guide Handheld Showdown Ep1
Sep 19, 2025
Welcome to Handheld Showdown, a bracket-style competition series in which our hosts Paul and Tony battle out the best handheld gaming consoles out now. The bracket of 8 was set based on our audience's rankings and input from our gaming editors, and now, we need YOUR help to determine which 4 move on to the semi-finals round. In this video we introduce the consoles in contention, compare the pros/cons in every matchup, and give our takes on which gaming handhelds deserve to win. Whether you have your favorite picks already, or Tony and Paul convinced your choices, make sure to vote in the polls in the community tab now! The battles ⚔️ Asus ROG Ally X vs. Nintendo Switch 2 Steam Deck OLED vs. Steam Deck LCD Lenovo Legion Go S vs. MSI Claw 8 Lenovo Legion Go vs. Asus ROG Ally
View Video Transcript
0:00
Do you think this dethrones the Steam Deck
0:02
Yeah, absolutely. I want people to get the best, right? Trash. Trash
0:06
Why would you want to pay $70 for Cyberpunk when you could pay way less than that
0:11
Welcome to the very first episode of Tom's Guide's Handheld Showdown, where the best gaming handhelds available right now in 2025
0:17
will battle it out to see which one is crowned the ultimate handheld gaming console
0:22
It feels like more and more companies are getting into the handheld space, and this feels like the new frontier for gaming
0:28
We asked you guys on socials to rank your favorite handhelds, and after tallying up the most mentioned devices and where they landed, we vetted the picks with our team
0:37
People who've actually used these devices to make sure the matchups make sense
0:41
So we've settled on eight devices, but even though more have been announced, I'm looking at you, Acer
0:46
They're still not available to purchase. If you disagree with the seating, well, it's our bracket, our video, so I hope we can get over it
0:52
Tony and I will be using our years of experience to give you a rundown on each device and why we
0:58
think it should go through to the next round. We'll then throw it back to you, the audience
1:02
to vote and see which device progresses. Voting will take place here on the channel and
1:07
tomsguide.com, so make sure you're subscribed and you hit that bell so you don't miss the
1:11
notification when the poll drops. We will then tally up the votes each week and announce the
1:16
winners in the next video, where four will become two and finally two will become one when we
1:22
announce our winner at the end of the month. So Tony, what are you feeling about this competition
1:27
I am super excited. We have some of the best handhelds out there and this is a market that
1:32
just keeps growing and growing and growing and I'm eager to see which one comes out on top
1:37
So without further delay, let's find out who's going head to head in episode one. starting things off we have the ROG Ally X in our first seed and the Switch 2 surprisingly in
1:53
our eighth seed Tony I see you already making a face I know you have some really strong opinions
1:57
on the Switch 2 so let me take that one but why don't you kick us off with the ROG Ally X
2:03
all right so the ROG Ally X is basically like the original but just a lot better it has longer
2:09
battery life, but still retaining some of the best aspects of its predecessor. That is the 7-inch
2:14
1080p display, same ergonomic design, same processor, the Z1 Extreme chip, and it comes
2:22
in black, which I prefer more than the white. I mean, I think you, but you brought up same
2:26
processor. How's this a successor to the Ally when we've basically got the same exact performance
2:32
and now they're charging like another $300? Yes, it is more expensive, but, you know
2:36
that battery life if you're out on the road bro like you want as much battery life as possible
2:41
you don't want to just dying on you like 30 minutes in you know and if you want to give and
2:45
use this to actually get work done on so i don't think there's a contest yes it might be more
2:49
expensive than the switch but a lot more expensive yeah but but you could do way more with it but
2:54
what's the thing you always mention yeah that you hate about this yeah the only main con about this
2:59
is that even though it does let you play windows 11 games it's still windows 11 and it's annoying
3:05
navigating through especially on the touchscreen yeah especially on touchscreen that could be a pain
3:10
but you at least get a big library yeah so if you try to buy this on asus's website which you
3:16
actually can't because it's sold out it's 799 yeah 799 but everywhere that you can actually buy
3:22
bestbuy.com it's 899 so it's even actually gone up in price which is not good all right so that's
3:28
the ally x but the newest system that we have here is the switch too and i think this has definitely
3:33
been the one with the most buzz, the most hype. It has a lot of meaningful upgrades over the
3:38
original Switch, at least for me. I mean, you've got the nicer, bigger display. You have a lot more
3:44
processing power here. So it actually feels more comparable to these other systems now. It doesn't
3:48
feel like, you know, just a Switch or it doesn't just feel like I'm running my Nintendo games. You
3:53
can actually run games like Cyberpunk 2077 and you're getting comparable performance to the
3:59
what was it the xbox series s yeah which is just insane to think about it's basically an xbox in
4:04
your hand now especially with the the new custom nvidia processor i also think like a really big
4:10
win with this is the portability like nintendo hasn't forgotten that the whole point of this is
4:16
taking it on the go and compared to every other system that we have on the list now this is the
4:20
one that feels most comfortable using for a long time yes maybe the the the joy cons aren't the most
4:27
ergonomic, especially for certain games, but it's lightweight. You still have a really big screen
4:32
and you're not going to get tired as quickly when you're playing this. Until Nintendo can
4:35
release some first-party games that are truly, like, compelling. I don't know, maybe Pokemon
4:41
Zazie will convince me to finally make the plunge and spend $450 on this
4:47
But here's another bummer, and you brought this up when you mentioned the Ally X
4:51
we have access to not just Windows games. We can buy games on Steam
4:56
GOG, Ubisoft, whatever. Sales. Nintendo is always going to be charging us full price
5:01
if we buy them. Every single time. Every single time. And they're the ones pushing for the $70 and $80 games
5:11
That now a lot of other people are like, oh, we can charge that much for games
5:15
And like, you know, you kind of made my point for me. Yeah, this is great for Nintendo games
5:20
If you're a Nintendo fan, fantastic, but I think more people want third party support
5:28
right? And you're gonna get it on something like this. Those are our thoughts on the Ally X and the Nintendo Switch 2 and now it down to you Once you finished watching here go to the post tab on our channel and leave your vote Are you going with the ROG Ally X or the Switch 2 It all up to you I mean R up to us but it all up to you
5:47
The next matchup as we head across to the other side of the bracket is the Battle of the Steam Decks
5:56
I think it makes sense to give a little context. Let's start with the original Steam Deck LCD
6:00
Right, so this is the one that pretty much launched the revolution when it comes to handhelds
6:06
And even though some people may go, hey, let me get the OLED one
6:10
This is still a fantastic console. It's light, sturdy, great ergonomics. You get access to, like, so many Steam games
6:18
And it only costs $399. So, yes, it has been outclassed somewhat, but it's still fantastic
6:25
Somewhat. Yeah, somewhat. In every what. Okay. There's better displays. I mean, before we even get into that, I mean, let's talk about the OLED
6:33
So what do we get with the upgraded OLED here? Obviously, the better display
6:37
I tested a lot of handhelds, and it's been a while since, like, I actually had one side-by-side with one of these
6:43
But this does dominate every other handheld when it comes to display. Yes, it's only 720p, but colors pop more
6:49
It works a lot better outdoors. And if you're playing on the go a lot, that makes a huge difference
6:55
But yes, it's only 720p. You have a really old processor in here. Same one as that
6:59
So that was a bit of a bummer as well that we didn't get like a performance boost. But like you're saying, Tony, when it comes to value gaming consoles, these two are still really great choices
7:10
And it comes down to do you have a really tight budget or can you spend a little bit more money and upgrade to the better display that you get with the OLED version
7:17
Yeah. And for some people, the $150 difference really does factor into this
7:22
Yes, the OLED does look absolutely gorgeous. But if you're really tight on a budget, especially with the way the economy is now, you may want to consider that
7:29
Because you're still, at the end of the day, getting the same core experience. You're still getting all the games, the same ergonomic design, the cool back buttons, all the same stuff as this one
7:37
This one is a little bit lighter because of the OLED. I think that's something important
7:43
But you're not really missing out on much if you decide to go for the GPU. You also get better battery life, right
7:49
Yeah. Bigger battery in here? Yeah. Yeah, so this, yeah, you get a better battery life
7:54
This is a 50-watt-hour battery versus a 40-watt, so it does last longer
7:58
What do you usually get when it comes to battery life? So generally, it's about an hour and a half, which isn't great, to be honest
8:06
But I am also, you know, playing with the display a little bit brighter settings and, you know, a little bit up
8:13
Because I just want to experience games looking at its best. But even though, like, you know, an hour and 30 minutes isn't great
8:20
that's still also comparable to a gaming laptop, so it's not, like, you know, crazy bad
8:24
When you compared both of these, did you notice, like, a significant boost in battery life when you switched to the OLED
8:30
Maybe about 10 or 15 minutes. That's anecdotal, you know, because we can't test these
8:34
Like, we can Windows handhelds, but that little bit could, like, you know, take you home or whatever
8:39
Like, you're on the train, and you've got to walk, you know, from the train station. Like, those 10 minutes could actually make a difference
8:45
but it's not like miles apart. But again, at the core experience
8:50
hasn't fundamentally changed. So you're not really going to go wrong with it. But if you want to save $150
8:55
you've got the original model right here. And this is still a great handheld for people who are not only new to handhelds
9:01
but PC gaming, right? This is a lot more affordable than even like the cheapest gaming laptop
9:07
So if you've never played PC games before, you know, you've heard about them
9:11
This is a great entry point for both of those PC gaming and handhelds. That said, if one of these had to go through it in the bracket, I mean, I'm leaning towards the OLED
9:19
Yeah, again, the original Steam Deck is awesome, but I want people to get the best, right
9:26
It's got to be the OLED. All right, let's now move on to our third matchup
9:31
And Tony, I think you're going to find this one really exciting. We've got the original Ally, and we've got the Steam OS version of the Lenovo Legion Go West
9:40
Yeah, this is what I've been waiting to talk about. So let's get into it. All right, so on a previous video, I said that I would love this handheld with SteamOS
9:55
Now, this handheld has the Z1 Extreme processor, so does this one, has SteamOS, and it is amazing
10:03
I can't even convey to proper words how awesome this is. It's the Legion Go West, which is already awesome, but has SteamOS
10:12
The fact that I was able to get this up and running in five minutes was just incredible
10:18
When we were updating this thing for this video, it took like 50 years. So not 50 years, but it was many, many hours
10:24
Yeah. So I had reviewed so many like different Windows 11 handhelds that when I finally just started getting this set up, I'm like, oh, my God, look how easy this is
10:34
Like this is SteamOS is just built for handheld gaming. And like the fact that you get like such a strong processor, great ergonomics, like it just puts it over the top for me
10:44
I know we just talked about the Steam Deck, but do you think this dethrones the Steam Deck
10:50
Yeah, absolutely. Which I know is shocking because, you know, I've been standing the Steam Deck for years on this channel
10:56
But like this is just so much better. Shut up, Siri. But this is just so much better
11:02
It's amazing. It's basically the Steam Deck, like, I don't wanna say illicit drugs here
11:08
but it is a souped up version of the Steam Deck, and it is great. What drug are you gonna say
11:12
I was gonna say steroids I don think I say that You can say steroids Wait Tony what happened though You were so loyal to the Steam Deck That what I saying Yeah Look how easily he caves Like oh we got better hardware now That what I been saying
11:24
That's what I've been saying. Get better hardware with SteamOS, and it's a great combo
11:29
I still think I'm being consistent, right? Because what is the main thing I loved about the Steam Deck? SteamOS
11:35
So you give me SteamOS on better hardware, that's it. You know
11:39
So, like, I don't think this is, like, so we've got a bigger 8-inch screen here
11:43
You don't think that's like too big now? The bigger 8-inch screen does make a big difference
11:47
Although I will admit, you may not always want to play games at 1080p
11:51
They may not look as great. You may want to keep it down to 720p. But that also helps with not only performance, but battery life
11:57
And also since it's only 8 inches, it won't look terrible as compared to something like the Legion Go, which has an almost 9-inch display
12:06
So I think it hits that sweet spot 8 inches. But what do you think about this
12:09
We've got the smaller, older, but way more affordable ROG Ally. It starts at, what, $599 now
12:15
Yeah, at the time of this recording. With the Z1, which isn't too far from the Z1 Extreme
12:20
The Z1 Extreme, I think, goes for like $699. So for $100 more, you get basically the same exact performance
12:26
But that starts at, what, $829? Well, it actually starts at $599
12:33
With the Z2Go. But with the Z2Go, which is not a great chip. Trash
12:37
You have trash. Let's just be honest here. You would want to go with the Z1 Extreme, which is going to bump it up to $899
12:43
pretty hefty. I think that's too much. But you still get 32 gigs of RAM
12:47
That's too much. You can't take advantage of the full 32 gigs. Well, what is the key difference
12:51
SteamOS. SteamOS. I can get SteamOS on here for free. I can do it right now
12:55
I can do it right now. Yeah. How long is that going to take you? Who cares
12:59
Who cares? It's probably going to take you a long time. Probably once and done. Yeah, but you know what I need to do to get SteamOS running on this
13:05
Turn it on. That's it. That's all I got to do. I don't have to go through installing Linux and all this other crap
13:10
I will spend the 40 minutes or whatever to save 300 bucks
13:14
Like, listen, if you want to go through the hassle, be my guest. But if you just want a simple handheld experience, this is the one to get
13:21
But here's arguably the biggest deal breaker. And, you know, I pre-ordered this day one
13:27
I've owned this for over almost two, three years now. The reason I didn't install SteamOS, even though I really want to
13:33
is that some games like Overwatch 2 and other games with, like, anti-cheat software
13:37
just won't run on SteamOS. So if you want to play the most amount of games
13:43
if you want to play emulators and all your other game libraries super easily without jumping through a bunch of hoops
13:48
Windows 11 is actually the winner. And even though the Ally X was overwhelmingly the number one seed
13:54
I think the original Ally is still a really great pick for a lot of people
13:57
especially if you don't need the extra battery life that the more expensive Ally X offers and the 24 gigabytes of RAM
14:03
which a lot of games aren't going to take advantage of. If you want to save money and get the best value Windows 11 gaming handheld, this is it
14:10
And finally, rounding out our bracket in style, we have the Lenovo Legion Go versus the MSI Claw 8 AI+
14:17
Okay, I really want to talk about the Claw first because I've been following this literally around the world
14:28
Literally. Literally. Like between, you know, the rumors between seeing it under glass where we could look at it but we couldn't touch it
14:35
to finally getting it in hand, I think this is the story of redemption
14:39
because literally it addresses so many of the issues we had with the original Claw 8 when that came out
14:45
So Intel struggled at first with their drivers and some games just weren't running really well
14:50
but then they came with the updated Intel processor and it delivered much better performance
14:55
It was actually, in a lot of games, better than the Z1 Extreme, which is exactly what I've been wanting for years
15:00
We've been basically stagnant in terms of performance. Games just basically ran the same
15:04
this had more juice to just run a little bit smoother and not just for games but like yes this
15:11
is a windows device uh love it or hate it but if you want that productivity machine this feels like
15:17
a laptop replacement if you're someone weird like me who docks their handheld and actually uses it
15:21
as a desktop replacement this is probably one of the best devices that can do it today yeah so
15:26
everything you said about the claw i pretty much agree with it is better the original claw was not
15:30
that great this addressed a lot of the same problems and a lot of the pros you said about this actually apply to this guy as well, right? Windows 11, good for productivity, access to all
15:39
your games, which is great. But this still has AMD, which I still think is a little bit more
15:45
reliable when it comes to drivers and all that. Intel's getting better. So that's why if I had
15:51
to make a choice, I would side with Allegiant Go. And it's also like still kind of the most
15:57
unique handheld out there in this category. It's like if the Switch 2 and this had a baby
16:04
I mean, I can't disagree with that. Basically, that's what it is, right
16:08
You get a large 8-point-inch display. Larger. Yeah, larger. I mean, it is literally the largest handle. Right
16:15
I mean, this is 8-inch. Yeah. That's 8.8-inch. Yeah, you can tell a difference, yeah
16:18
They got the smaller bezels there, so that's a pro for it. I'll admit that. And just like the Switch, you can actually detach the controllers, which is actually really cool
16:27
And then one of my other favorite features is the fact that it has this big kickstand
16:31
Because I will admit, this thing is heavy. It is big, so I actually like to just keep it on the desk and play around with it that way
16:38
Right now, it's actually more expensive than it used to be at $749, but there's always a bunch of sales
16:44
Like, currently at the time of this recording, it's $500, so not too bad at all
16:49
That's a steal. Steal. And when I first got to try this out I like why don more handhelds have a built kickstand Seems like a no Maybe you won want the detachable controllers but it nice to have But with a console this big like this is pushing it
17:04
This is at, what, 1.75 pounds, nearly two pounds of this guy. It's already big, yeah
17:08
This is heavy. So sometimes it would be nice to just be able to have a kickstand propped out
17:13
Even if I'm just playing on a table like this, I think that extra support there would be really nice
17:17
Yeah, because not everybody wants to hold a handheld all day. And even when I was reviewing this guy, I just literally just played it like this
17:26
It was just a lot more comfortable. But other things I like about it, like the ogs are nice and smooth, big D-pad, and the screen is just, like, enormous
17:35
Like, you could actually get work done on this. Like, obviously, you maybe want to plug into, like, a monitor
17:41
Probably. You know, but let's just say, you know, you have to get work done in a pinch
17:46
This pointer right here, let me see if I can attach it, because it's the opposite of the Switch
17:51
You have to pull it down. You actually can kind of use it like a mouse
17:54
You ever do that? I have when I was testing it. It's not the greatest, but it does work
17:58
It cramps my hand way too fast. Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't use it all the time, but it is kind of cool
18:03
It even has a little touch pad here, just like the Steam Deck, which is kind of cool
18:08
Again, very unique system that people kind of have forgotten about. Because this thing's so much bigger, performance does take a hit
18:16
You'll have to drop the frame rate to 720p, which does not look good on such a big screen
18:23
But again, some of the other features could just make it worth it for people. The detachable controllers and the fact you can just prop it up on a table like this
18:31
And again, like you said, it's such a unique design. And at $500, if you can find it on sale for that price, I mean, if you're okay with something this big
18:40
and you like the idea of detachable controllers and a Switch Lite experience. I mean, this is super cool
18:44
Yeah. But at $899, if you have the budget for it, this is the best-performing handheld
18:50
and this form factor for under $1,000 they can get today. Now, one of the questions out there is like
18:56
should you buy this now? Because like I said, $500 is pretty good, right? But there is a Legion Go 2 on the horizon
19:04
May come out this year. And I actually got to check it out at CES, a prototype version of it
19:09
uh oled display which is already a huge uh advantage uh the z2 go extreme chip that's
19:15
going to be one of the configurations so even though yes this is cheap right now or cheap
19:21
uh you know or affordable you may want to wait okay surprise surprise i would say you probably
19:29
should wait as well because we have the claw a8 yeah they changed up the name scheme but we've got
19:36
the claw a8 on the way so they dropped ai plus they're also dropping intel and they're going for
19:42
the z2 extreme as well and i got my first look at that at uh computex a few months ago and
19:49
in addition to like all the super fun colors like yeah we're going to get better performance we're
19:53
going to get a really great battery life and it's going to be in a bit more of a compact form okay
19:58
that's good yeah yeah because it is kind of big and let me ask you this do you think them switching
20:03
over to AMD is giving people options or admitting defeat. Haven't like articles come out that Intel's basically like bowing out
20:12
Yeah. Like, I think they basically said that, what, NVIDIA and AMD, they're the main players
20:19
So I don't even know if we'll see like a version of this in the future with newer Intel hardware
20:24
This is unique, but this without question has the best performance. So for under $1,000, if you want the best gaming performance that you can get in a handheld in this form factor, it's got to be the Claw 8 AI+
20:37
You know, I've noticed that you said every single one of your picks has been the best
20:41
How can all of them be the best, bro? Because they're the best for different categories
20:45
I'm trying to help everyone out here. So if you're on a budget, if you want the ultimate console, like there's one for everyone
20:50
Just making sure you, you know, we're consistent. I'm very consistent. I mean, I'm not just shilling or defending one console here
20:58
I think there's like a lot to love and hate fairly about a lot of these consoles
21:03
And the reason we make these videos is because we love playing on these so much
21:06
And each year we're seeing them improve. And just like the last video, we saw like a weird Frankenstein between two of the consoles we loved come out
21:14
Who knows? Maybe next year we are going to get something more like a Switch 2, super portable, still easy to take on the go
21:21
But with the performance of something massive like the Claw 8, AI Plus
21:25
And here's the thing. There's nothing wrong with loving multiple. Like you said, at the end of the day, we love all handhelds
21:30
But in this contest, there could be only one. And Tony, you said it best
21:35
We can only have one. We've given you every reason why these consoles deserve to move on to the next round
21:40
And now it's your decision. It's up to you. Check out the poll posted in the channel and at tomsguy.com to vote for which device you want to send to the next round
21:49
Oh, by the way, if you liked any of the handhelds we talked about in this series, you can find them all in the links down below
21:54
On the channel, you can find our reviews for the Asus ROG Ally X Lenovo Legion Go S
21:59
with SteamOS, MSI Claw 8 AI+, and the Nintendo Switch 2, as well as all the other great gaming content that we have
22:05
Don't forget to vote for each round's winner and stay tuned for next week's semifinals episode
22:09
to see which devices make it through. You can find us everywhere at Tom's Guide
22:13
and you can follow Tony and I to see what other gaming and cool tech we're checking out
22:16
And we'll catch you in the next episode of Handheld Showdown. That was pretty good
22:27
What do you think? It was all right. It was all right? Yeah. Well, you're just mad because your precious RG ally isn't going to win, is it
22:34
You don't think it's going to win? No, I don't think so. I don't think it's going to win either
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