All articles tagged with #handheld
Lenovo has pulled its G02 handheld, a Game Boy-like emulation device pre-loaded with dozens of copyrighted Nintendo and Sega ROMs, from sale worldwide after a controversy and mixed messaging; the company said the G02 was a China-only regional license product, not part of its official global portfolio, and it was briefly rebranded as the Sunyao G02 before being discontinued.
Lenovo has quietly ended sales of its licensed Game Boy–style G02 handheld after reports that the device came preloaded with pirated games. The device later resurfaced under new names—“Sunyao G02” and then “Gusgu H7”—but Lenovo says it does not authorize or support these products or pirate content. With Lenovo distancing itself, buyers can still find similar retro handhelds from other brands at affordable prices, highlighting a crowded, lower-cost market for handheld emulation devices.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger on Switch 2 offers two modes (Quality and Performance) with 4K/30 docked or 1080p/30 handheld in Quality and around 1080p/60 handheld in Performance. It’s a surprisingly strong portable version, but it suffers from jagged edges, softer textures, and inconsistent frame pacing, with 60fps not consistently stable even after patch 1.2.1. It remains cheaper than PS5/Xbox/PC versions and shows potential for further improvements through updates.
Gizmodo questions Ayaneo’s Next 2 handheld, which can cost up to $5,300 with 128GB RAM and 2TB storage. Despite a premium 9-inch OLED screen and high-end controls, the piece argues the device is far pricier than capable gaming laptops or cheaper handhelds (e.g., the Xbox Ally X at $1,000, the Claw 8 EX AI+ at around $1,800). Memory shortages and the need to trade off graphical fidelity, frame rate, or battery life make such a device a luxury rather than a smart buy, suggesting most buyers should skip the $5k-plus price tag.
Sony says the next PlayStation generation will offer experiences beyond the living room and may emphasize handheld play via peripherals like the PS Portal, while pricing will avoid significant hardware losses. The Verge notes a rumored handheld and mentions a potential launch delay to 2028–2029 amid RAM shortages (RAMageddon).
Sony confirms it will keep pushing live-service games through the PS5 era, planning PC releases to maximize player counts while keeping single-player first‑party titles console‑exclusive. The company also teases a PlayStation 6 handheld and continues to develop portable play experiences (like the PlayStation Portal) to suit evolving gamer lifestyles and hardware challenges.
ASUS ROG is upgrading its Xbox Ally handheld with the X20, packing a larger OLED display and TMR joysticks, with a 2026 release likely. Prices are expected to be high due to component shortages, potentially €1,000 or more, and no official standalone price or date has been confirmed yet; existing Ally models remain more affordable.
ASUS' ROG Xbox Ally X20 fixes most flaws of the original with a bigger 7.4-inch Nebula OLED, brighter HDR, thinner bezels, improved cooling, TMR sticks with RGB tracking, rubberized back grips, and a transforming D‑pad, all powered by the Ryzen Z2 Extreme with 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD, with pricing rumored under $1,500 and a late-2026 release.
The Verge’s Sean Hollister tests the MSI Claw 8 EX AI Plus handheld powered by Intel’s Arc G3 Extreme, which MSI touts as a leap in portable gaming. In two hours of hands-on play, it delivered around 60–73fps in Forza Horizon 6 at 1200p with a 43W system draw and about 1.8 hours of runtime on an 80Wh battery; Intel claims high efficiency (even 12W at 1080p and as low as 4W for long battery life). The 8-inch, 120Hz VRR screen and prongs add comfort and style, but the $1,699.99 price tag and June 23 launch turn this into a premium, luxury handheld—signaling a new wave of high-end portable gaming.
Asus unveils the ROG Xbox Ally X20, an upgraded handheld with an OLED display, tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) joysticks, and a transparent shell, powered by the same Ryzen AI Z2 processor as the original. It will ship only as a bundle with the ROG XREAL R1 Edition 20 AR glasses, with no price or release date yet (the glasses alone run about $850, so the bundle could exceed $2,000). The X20 adds a transforming d-pad, rubberized rear grips, and 20th-anniversary gold accents, while the AR glasses project the handheld’s screen to a 171-inch, 240Hz virtual display.
MSI officially unveils the Claw 8 EX AI+ handheld powered by Intel Arc G3 Extreme (Panther Lake) with a 14-core CPU and 12 Xe3 GPU cores (Arc B39 graphics). It sports an 8-inch FHD+ IPS display (48–120Hz, VRR, up to 500 nits), up to 32GB LPDDR5X RAM, a Gen4 NVMe SSD, Wi‑Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, dual Thunderbolt 4, an 80Wh battery, and a light chassis similar to the Claw 8 AI+. Pricing hasn’t been confirmed, but rumors point to about $1499, with a June 23 release date.
MSI’s Claw 8 EX AI packs Intel’s Arc G3 Extreme into an 8-inch handheld with hall‑effect sticks, refined grips, and improved haptics, delivering up to 45W thermal headroom but at an expected $1,500 price and a June 23 release, as RAM-cost pressures push gadget prices higher even in Computex’s gaming lineup.
A Korean NRA listing and a social media leak suggest ASUS is prepping a successor to the ROG Ally/Xbox Ally handhelds (model RC74XA) with a 7-inch display, powered by the Ryzen Z2 Extreme and offering multiple M.2 2280 SSD configurations from 512GB up to 2TB. There’s speculation about an OLED screen, but nothing official has been confirmed, and a Computex unveiling is anticipated with pricing and exact release details still undecided.
The Arduboy FX-C is a 5mm-thin handheld with six buttons, a 1.3-inch monochrome OLED screen, and USB‑C, preloaded with 300+ games drawn from the Arduboy community. It emphasizes quick, pick‑up‑and‑play sessions over long campaigns and, while its library and pocketable design are strong draws, it lacks a color screen, Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth, and expandable storage. USB multiplayer is still in development, so some buyers may want to wait for that feature to mature.
Lenovo unveils the G02 retro handheld in China as an affordable way to play nostalgic games, packing a 4.5-inch Full HD display, support for 30+ emulators, a 4,000mAh battery (3–6 hours), USB-C fast charging, an ergonomic design, and 1GB RAM/4GB storage expandable up to 1TB for flexible retro gaming.