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handheld

Call of Duty Black Ops 7, Borderlands 4, and Ghost of Yotei
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Modder turns Lego Game Boy into real working handheld

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The Lego Game Boy set was officially released on October 1, 2025, but one modder has already gone further than Lego and Nintendo. Australian creator Natalie the Nerd has turned the brick-built handheld into a functioning console.

Lego first announced the 421-piece Game Boy replica at San Diego Comic-Con in July, with preorders opening the same month.

The set, priced at $59.99, includes swappable cartridges styled after Super Mario Land and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, along with lenticular screens that simulate motion. While the buttons press and the cartridges slot in, Lego confirmed the model was never intended to play games.

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Now, one modder has managed to turn the sought-after Lego set into a playable device straight out of the ’90s.

Modder makes Lego Game Boy play actual games

Instead of using an emulator or Raspberry Pi, she designed and built a custom circuit board with genuine Game Boy chips, small enough to fit inside the Lego shell.

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The biggest change is that the screen is backlit, making it a lot easier to see while playing a game on it.

The build plays real cartridges, supports working buttons, and charges via USB-C with a rechargeable battery. She told The Verge she had to remove a few bricks to fit in the smallest available display kit, and is currently working on mounting the buttons to a 3D-printed Lego-compatible piece.

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The project is still in progress, but Natalie confirmed she plans to release the design once it’s finalized. Already known in the modding scene for aftermarket Game Boy components, she said the Lego version will eventually join her shared circuit board projects.



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Xbox's new ROG Ally handheld now available to pre-order, but it's pricier than a home console
Game Reviews

Xbox’s new ROG Ally handheld now available to pre-order, but it’s pricier than a home console

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Microsoft has finally revealed the price of its ROG Xbox Ally handheld, and it’s more expensive than an Xbox Series X.

Launching globally on 16th October, the handheld (much like its home console siblings) comes in two flavours:

  • ROG Xbox Ally X (£799) – comes with 24GB RAM and 1TB storage
  • ROG Xbox Ally (£499) – comes with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage

ROG Xbox Ally Pre-Order TrailerWatch on YouTube

For comparison, an Xbox Series X currently costs £499.99 for its disc drive edition with 1TB of storage. The all-digital Series S costs £299.99 for its 512GB edition.

The ROG Xbox Ally is in direct competition with Valve’s Steam Deck, offering a handheld device that merges Xbox and PC capabilities.

While its user interface is inspired by the Xbox console, it has controller-like grips, and there’s a dedicated Xbox button offering a Game Bar overlay, the device also offers an aggregated gaming library across Xbox and other leading PC stores like Steam.

It also offers both Cloud Play to stream your games, and Remote Play to play games from your console.

Microsoft even offers a Handheld Compatibility Programme to indicate which games play well on handheld, just like Valve’s Steam Deck Verified system.

Full details can be found on Xbox Wire.

For further comparison, Valve’s Steam Deck costs £479.99 for its 512GB OLED model and £569.00 for its 1TB OLED model. The Ally isn’t OLED, but then neither is the Switch 2 and that has a gorgeous screen.

The handheld’s release is all part of Xbox’s Play Anywhere campaign, allowing players access to its games wherever they are and across a range of devices.

There’s no denying, though, that this comes at a hefty cost.



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We Finally Know How Much the Xbox Handheld Will Cost
Gaming Gear

We Finally Know How Much the Xbox Handheld Will Cost

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Xbox has a pricing problem, and that’s not changing with the company’s first officially branded handheld. Microsoft and Asus’ ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are set to launch on Oct. 16, and after weeks and weeks of making everyone wait, we finally know how much they will cost. If you’re planning on buying one, do it at launch before tariffs force Microsoft to jack up prices like it has with Xbox consoles.

Xbox Ally preorders started later Thursday, Sept. 25. The regular Xbox Ally will sell for $600. It comes at base with an AMD Ryzen Z2A processor, with specs that hint it could be equivalent to Valve’s $550 Steam Deck OLED in performance. It also packs 16GB of RAM and a 60Wh battery with a 7-inch IPS LCD display. At that price, Asus and Xbox are trying to claim some small part of the PC handheld market dominated by Valve’s handheld, even if it lacks the prettier OLED display. The Xbox Ally is a bit larger than a Steam Deck, though it feels more ergonomic thanks to its controller-like grips.

The one you actually want, the Xbox Ally X, will demand $1,000 from your already-stretched wallet. The darker handheld contains an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, the long-awaited SoC—or system on a chip—that should have better performance in games compared to handheld PCs from the last two years. How much more powerful is a question with a big red “to be determined” sign hanging over it, but earlier leaks have suggested it won’t be too much better than before running at the highest possible power settings. It may do better at lower power, so you may be able to game for longer at a stable frame rate. The more expensive Xbox Ally also comes with 24GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and an 80Wh battery—equivalent to last year’s $900 ROG Ally X. The more powerful handheld will only be available through Best Buy.

Trump tariffs have caused havoc with PC and gaming prices. Last week, Microsoft hiked prices of all its Xbox Series S and Series X consoles. Now, if you want the Xbox with a disc drive, it will set you back $650. The Galaxy Black version with 2TB of storage now costs a whopping $800. This year, Asus hiked the cost of its Ally X by $100, up to $900. Lenovo raised prices on its Legion Go S handheld PCs with SteamOS to $650 at base. Lenovo originally cited $550 back when it announced the handheld back during CES 2025. The Legion Go 2, with its 8.8-inch OLED display and a Ryzen Z2 Extreme, starts at $1,350. If you want a handheld PC that can run some AAA games at somewhat stable frame rates, you’ll end up paying through the nose for it.

Asus and Xbox stalled out in August and refused to share the preorder date and price. I’ve wrapped my hands around the handheld’s comfortable Xbox controller-like grips, but it wasn’t nearly enough time to say if the handheld is worth the money. The new Xbox Ally devices will sport Microsoft’s new version of Windows 11 built specifically for handhelds. Compared to other handheld PCs running the OS, the new version will make selecting games across your various distribution platforms easier. It may also finally fix the aggravating issues when putting these devices to sleep. Most importantly, they should increase performance by nixing background tasks.

The ROG Xbox Ally X runs a handheld-optimized version of Windows 11. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

Some users have managed to get a version of the Xbox handheld experience working on other Windows devices. We still have to see how the final version shakes out. In the end, SteamOS may still prove to be a much cleaner, console-like experience thanks to three years of updates from Valve, plus an active developer community. The Steam Deck hardware is looking a little long in the tooth, but it’s still the cheapest handheld around—at least until Valve inevitably hikes prices just like every other company.



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A ROG Xbox Ally X floats against a green background.
Game Reviews

The Biggest Reason To Buy The Xbox Ally Handheld Just Leaked

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Windows may prove a perfectly suitable platform for gaming on a traditional PC, but on handheld devices like the ROG Ally, Legion Go, or even the Steam Deck, it’s another story. Microsoft’s operating system is often too clunky and frustrating when you’re restricted to a gamepad for input. The upcoming Xbox-branded Ally from Asus, however, has promised a solution with a dedicated, controller-friendly user interface for running PC games on the go. These devices have yet to hit shelves, but a downloadable preview of a new version of Windows 11 is giving folks access to the new interface on just about any Windows handheld device.

Read More: Steam Ate Microsoft’s Lunch On PC, It’s About To Do The Same On Handhelds

As noted by The Verge, The upcoming 25H2 update for Windows 11 lets you launch the new gaming-focused, fullscreen Xbox app for Windows with just a few tweaks to the registry and the help of a third-party tool (a Reddit post by user Gogsi123 outlines the whole process). Unlike the overlay that software companies like Asus provide for their Windows handhelds, this new Xbox app skips the entire Windows desktop environment in favor of a fullscreen, controller-friendly experience. And people are finding, by way of the preview workaround, that it seems to lead to marginal performance gains as well.

Read More: The Xbox Ally PC Gaming Handheld Feels Great, But At What Price?

While this version of the fullscreen Xbox app requires some legwork to get working, its availability across Windows handhelds undercuts one of the main appeals of the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X–which is distinctly different from Asus’ ROG Ally X–which is expected to arrive on October 16, 2025.

The ROG Xbox Ally X is less than a month away, and we’re still not sure of pricing

Though the best graphical experiences are still had on well-kitted PCs and cutting-edge consoles, we are in the midst of a handheld arms race kicked off by Valve three years ago when it launched the Steam Deck. Since then, other PC manufacturers have jumped in with Windows-based options. More recently, the power of the Switch 2 has made it something of a competitor in this space as well.

It’s all the stranger, then, that we’re not actually sure exactly how much Microsoft and Asus’ collaboration is going to cost. According to a report from former IGN writer Destin Legarie, a local Best Buy indicated that a $549 version and an $899 one would be available when he called to ask about it. If this is accurate, that puts the lower-tier version of the Xbox Ally at the same price as the smaller-capacity Steam Deck OLED, and within competitive pricing range of the current ROG Ally and Ally X, which retail for about $649 and $899, respectively.

Having enjoyed my time with the ROG Ally X, I can definitely attest to the value of having more games available on a handheld that’s running Windows instead of Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS, though I typically prefer the form factor and controller-focused interface of the Steam Deck. Now, if a few tweaks to the Windows registry can also give people that experience on a non-Xbox Ally X, I imagine it’ll be harder to find a use case for the Xbox Ally for those who already own a handheld gaming device and aren’t afraid to tinker with their machines.



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Man Creates Most Dangerous Handheld Xbox Ever
Game Updates

Man Creates Most Dangerous Handheld Xbox Ever

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Have you ever dreamed of playing Halo on an original Xbox, but you didn’t want to use a big TV? And you also wanted to risk damaging your game disc and/or fingers in the process while holding a large technological monstrosity in your hands? Well, that’s a strange dream you have, buddy, but I got just the video for you.

On September 16, as spotted by GamesRadar, YouTuber, retro console enthusiast, and modder James Channel posted a new video to his wonderful channel all about his wild and wacky experience turning an OG Xbox into a portable handheld console in the most janky way possible. It’s a fantastic video that involves Channel getting shocked, ripping apart multiple electronic devices, and covering the entire beast in a bunch of duct tape. Here’s the video, which is admittedly 33 minutes long, but totally worth watching.

Something I really appreciate about this video is how committed the modder is to making sure this handheld Xbox looks and feels hacked together. It’s like a Frankenstein’s monster of a console, with pieces and parts from an old iPod dock crammed on top of an Xbox’s motherboard. And while it takes him a few attempts and a lot of tinkering, he does eventually pull it off and is able to play Halo in one of the wildest ways possible. It also seems very dangerous, as there is a DVD spinning incredibly fast just a few inches away from his fingers and face at all times.

This monster of a thing even sports a relatively impressive 9 minutes and 40 seconds of battery life. That might not sound like a lot, but keep in mind this slapdash device relies on nearly 20-year-old batteries from an iPod dock. The fact that it can even run at all on just those ancient chemical husks is incredible. And if you were then wondering, “Can this thing play Steel Battalion?” well, yes. Yes, it can.



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Microsoft’s Xbox handheld is a good first step toward a Windows gaming OS
Gaming Gear

Microsoft’s new Xbox mode on Windows has leaked for any handheld

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Microsoft is getting ready to launch its Xbox full-screen experience on the new Xbox Ally devices next month, but it looks like you won’t need new hardware to get it. Windows enthusiasts have discovered a way to enable this new Xbox mode early in Windows 11, thanks to the latest 25H2 update to the operating system.

The method, which involves installing a Release Preview version of Windows 11 and lots of tweaks, works on a variety of handheld gaming PCs — including MSI’s Claw devices and Asus’ ROG Ally range. I’ve been trying it out on the original ROG Ally today, and it allows the device to ignore Asus’ own software in favor of Microsoft’s Xbox app at boot.

The new Xbox full-screen experience doesn’t load the full Windows desktop or a bunch of background processes, freeing up more memory for games. It’s essentially not loading the Explorer shell and saving around 2GB of memory by suppressing all the unnecessary parts of a typical Windows 11 installation.

You launch straight into the Xbox PC app instead, which includes all of your PC games from the Microsoft Store, Battle.net, Steam, and other storefronts. There’s a Game Bar for navigating around, and a new task view that’s a lot more handheld-friendly.

You can also still swap into a Windows desktop mode, or access Windows apps and games directly in this full-screen Xbox mode. Microsoft warns that you’re exiting to the Windows desktop and that you should use touch or a mouse and keyboard “for the best experience,” and it’s the exact same Windows experience that exists on multiple devices right now.

If you want to try this out for yourself, it’s a relatively easy process to get going. But be warned, fiddling with registry settings or the Windows Feature Store (known as Velocity) could result in system instability. If you’re willing to risk some issues that might need rolling back or require a reinstall of Windows, there’s a handy guide on Reddit for all the settings required.



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The Xbox handheld showed me that handhelds are better with prongs
Product Reviews

The Xbox handheld showed me that handhelds are better with prongs

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Here’s a hot take: gaming handhelds are better with prongs.

How do I know? I hold a lot of handhelds (and gamepads) here at The Verge, but Microsoft and Asus’s upcoming Xbox Ally X might take the cake for the most comfortable to hold. And that handheld has basically the exact same design as the existing ROG Ally X I’ve reviewed not once but twice — except for two big prongs that let you grip the device.

Seriously, check out my comparison photos: the Xbox Ally X is an Ally X with upside-down antlers. It’s the one distinguishing design change, and that change alone instantly makes it feel comfortable, familiar, and secure.

From the front, it looks like Microsoft got Asus to ape the Nintendo GameCube (or better yet Wavebird) controller, but it’s more than that. I have a GameCube controller right here, as I type these words, and my hands delightfully melt into it too — but the Xbox Ally X doesn’t abandon the tips of my pinkies like the GameCube’s shorter kids-to-adults prongs do.

These are more like Sony’s PS5 DualSense prongs, or, I suppose, the prongs on a modern Xbox pad. They let me get my whole fingers around them, with that all-important notch at the bottom for my fingertips.

I can’t yet say that the Xbox Allys are the most comfortable to play, partly because I didn’t get to play much and partly because Microsoft and Asus, like other competitors, are all still firmly rejecting Valve’s superior thumb ergonomics. The Steam Deck places the thumbsticks, D-pad, and face buttons up top, all within perfect reach of my thumb’s natural arc, so I barely have to bend.

But though the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go S, and MSI Claw 8 all have substantial grips, and the Ally X wasn’t bad, I can’t get my fingers fully around any of them. I can with the prongs and notches on the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. It’s worth it, even though it makes the console look a bit like a box with handles. My colleague Ash, who doesn’t appreciate the Steam Deck’s ergonomics, said in June that the Xbox Ally “felt like a literal dream.”

But when I visited Asus to check out the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, the company wouldn’t talk about price, and wouldn’t let me evaluate the new Windows experience. I spent my time comparing the hardware, then zeroed in on one core truth that, I expect, will ripple across the handheld industry: prongs rock.

These handhelds will ship on October 16th, which suggests that pre-orders will open soon. But despite my praise for prongs, I hope you’ll wait for the reviews. Meanwhile, here are some additional photos that Tom didn’t get to use from when he took the Xbox Ally X for a spin in August.



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Lenovo Legion Go 2 Handheld Is Up For Preorder
Game Updates

Lenovo Legion Go 2 Handheld Is Up For Preorder

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The Lenovo Legion Go 2 is officially available to preorder ahead of its October release, and we also now know how much each of its SKUs will cost: $1,100 for the standard Z2 model and $1,350 for the higher-specced Z2 Extreme version. That makes the handheld gaming PC quite expensive, but the device does have some high-quality hardware inside of it.

Internally, the base model is powered by the AMD Z2 SoC, while the premium model has more power with its AMD Z2 Extreme chip. Other specs include a high amount of LPDDR5X RAM, with the Z2 model getting 16GB and the Z2 Extreme having 32GB. Both of these devices are equipped with a 1TB PCIe SSD–with an option to add up to 2TB of extra storage via MicroSD–an 8.8-inch 1200p OLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate, and a 74Wh battery.

The Legion Go 2 also has Switch-like functionality, as its TrueStrike controllers are detachable. This allows the unit to shift between handheld, tabletop, console, or FPS modes. Switching to FPS mode is especially interesting, as the TrueStrike controller adopts a joystick position.

The Legion Go 2 also has an updated thermal design that delivers up to 45% more airflow, 2W speakers with Nahimic and spatial audio, near-field dual mics, and a 3.5mm jack for wired gear. You’ll also get a voucher for three months of PC Game Pass, so you’ll have a library of games you can access right out of the box, like Hollow Knight: Silksong.

$1,350 | Releases October

Processor:

Display:

Refresh rate:

Battery:

RAM:

Storage:

Speakers:

  • 2W speakers with Nahimic and Spatial Audio

Connections:

  • 3.5mm jack and dual USB-C ports with DisplayPort 2.0 and 40Gbps transfer speeds

$1,100 | Releases October

Processor:

Display:

Refresh rate:

Battery:

RAM:

Storage:

Speakers:

  • 2W speakers with Nahimic and Spatial Audio

Connections:

  • 3.5mm jack and dual USB-C ports with DisplayPort 2.0 and 40Gbps transfer speeds

This isn’t the only handheld gaming PC coming out soon, as the ROG Xbox Ally is expected to launch during the holiday season. Xbox partnered with Asus on this Windows-based handheld, which will be available in a base model and a premium “X” edition.

The white base model Xbox Ally is equipped with an AMD Ryzen Z2A chip, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD with a 60Wh battery, while the black Xbox Ally X has an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme APU, 24GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and an 80Wh battery. Both devices have the same 7″ 1080p screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and in terms of ergonomics, they’re designed to feel more comfortable with their sculpted handles. The Xbox Ally targets a resolution of 720p, while the Xbox Ally X aims for a 1080p resolution.

The other big thing to note here is that both handhelds are running on a version of Windows that’s designed to make accessing games easier and smoother. The main issue with Windows-based mobile gaming PCs is that the flexibility they give users with accessing various storefronts is countered by an unintuitive desktop experience. At the end of the day, they’re still PCs, and accessing apps on them can be awkward due to the size of the screen.

With the Xbox Ally, the Xbox App now supports multiple storefronts like Steam, GOG, and Epic Games, allowing you to gather all of your downloaded games into a centralized launcher.

While the new Legion Go 2 is pricy, you can still get several of the previous models at a lower price. For an entry-level option, there’s the Lenovo Legion Go S for $650, which has an 8-inch 120Hz Lenovo PureSight display and an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip with Radeon graphics. This one doesn’t have detachable controllers, but with 16GB of RAM and a 512TB SSD, it’s still a solid option that can easily play a wide variety of games.

Best Buy also has the first-generation Lenovo Legion Go for $740. This model does have detachable controllers, the Z1 Extreme processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It’s not as advanced as the upcoming model, but it’s still surprisingly powerful.

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I called the MSI Claw an embarrassment, so imagine my surprise: its successor is the best Windows handheld yet
Product Reviews

I called the MSI Claw an embarrassment, so imagine my surprise: its successor is the best Windows handheld yet

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I wrote that no one should buy MSI and Intel’s original handheld gaming PC. I literally called it an embarrassment, and the company blacklisted me after that. MSI stopped pitching me news, and stopped answering my emails, even after the company began to write off its dud of a handheld.

So you can imagine my surprise to find: MSI and Intel have gone from worst to nearly first. In many games, it’s twice as fast as the original Claw. And with new drivers that bump its performance up to 30 percent higher since launch — I tested — the newer $1,000 MSI Claw 8 AI Plus might just be the best Windows handheld you can buy.

The Claw 8 has become a fixture in my life as I carve and puzzle through the hauntingly beautiful painted worlds of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Blue Prince, respectively. I have a lot of other handheld review units floating around, but I rarely want to reach for a different one.

Let’s get this out of the way: it’s called the “AI Plus” because this “AI Engine” is supposed to automatically configure performance using Intel’s NPU. But it’s very dumb in practice and not a reason to buy.

Yes, it runs Windows, and if you’ve read any of my handheld reviews you’ll know how I feel about that. Windows 11 has become a bloated mess filled with annoying upsells and unwanted AI cruft, is annoying to navigate by controller alone, and often wakes up poorly from sleep. I can’t count the number of times I’ve sworn at Windows handhelds for popping awake in the middle of the night, or spontaneously deciding it was time to turn their remaining battery life into hot exhaust in the middle of my sealed backpack.

But the MSI Claw 8, with Intel’s Lunar Lake, isn’t as bad as the Windows norm. When you combine that with the newly improved performance, the longest battery life of any handheld in all but the most lightweight games, and an excellent 8-inch 120Hz VRR screen, it’s enough to knock the Asus ROG Ally X off its high perch — at least until the Xbox version arrives this October.

$999

The Good

  • Best battery life in a handheld
  • Excellent performance after updates
  • Great variable refresh rate screen
  • Fewer Windows annoyances than usual

The Bad

  • $1,000
  • Windows is bloated and can’t be trusted to sleep
  • Iffy rumble for games
  • AI tuning feature doesn’t work well

The MSI Claw 8 AI Plus is the biggest mainstream handheld, at nearly a foot long, 5 inches tall, and an inch thick, and it’s the only current-gen handheld with an Intel chip. Last year, both size and Intel pedigree were liabilities — but thankfully every handheld maker is paying more attention to ergonomics this year, and Intel’s Lunar Lake is a big improvement.

Scalloped grips and balanced weight distribution make the Claw comfortable for me to hold, it no longer looks like a ROG Ally knockoff, and while it isn’t light at 1.75 pounds (795g), that’s only a quarter-pound heavier than the Ally X. That’s despite the Claw having an extra inch of diagonal screen real estate and the same 80 watt-hour battery capacity as Asus.

The MSI Claw is wider, taller, and roughly as grippy as the Asus ROG Ally X…

And it’s bigger and grippier than the Lenovo Legion Go S, which also has an 8-inch screen.

I honestly found it tough to go back to playing Expedition 33 on the Asus ROG Ally X after using the Claw 8, partially because its 8-inch 120Hz 1920 x 1200 VRR IPS screen is more colorful and more spacious (with a far smaller bezel), and partially because the game ran smoother. (I beat the game, including the entire Endless Tower and four of the game’s toughest boss fights, on the Claw 8.)

But before all that, I had to tangle with Windows 11 — and was surprised how little detangling was needed.

The first time I fired up the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus, I couldn’t believe how fast Windows setup had become. Instead of the typical 45 minutes of annoying upsells and mandatory updates, I was able to get to the Windows desktop just seven minutes after I pressed the power button.

MSI’s “Quick Settings” are now part of the Xbox Game Bar in Windows.

That’s still slower than setting up a SteamOS handheld, but fast enough I thought there must be some mistake! (Did this really get past Microsoft certification?) Another curiosity: When I hit the button that pulls up the Claw’s quick settings menu to adjust brightness, volume, and my processor’s TDP (giving it more wattage/gas), it launched a new widget in the Xbox Game Bar with those handy controls instead of a dedicated MSI process! Did somebody accidentally slip me a preview of Microsoft’s “best of Xbox and Windows together” that’ll ship on the Xbox Ally later this year?

But I won’t lie and say the Windows experience was flawless after that. MSI’s Game Bar widget turned out to be incredibly sluggish and unreliable out of the box. It got better after I changed the Windows power mode from “Balanced” to “Best Performance,” but it still isn’t nearly as fast as Asus’ Armory Crate, which has gotten extremely responsive since the Ally first launched, or as reliable as SteamOS, which doesn’t require a separate utility at all.

Here’s how much MSI has improved:

Game and power mode

MSI Claw 8 AI Plus (Aug ’25)

MSI Claw 8 AI Plus (Jun ’25)

Claw 8 3-mo improvement

Claw battery drain (August)

Claw battery drain (June)

Claw 7 (Meteor Lake, Jun ’24)

Claw 8 Lunar Lake vs. Claw 7 Meteor Lake

AC Valhalla, 15-watt TDP664934.69%20.5W (~3.9h)23W (~3.5h)N/AN/A20-watt TDP785932.20%25.5W (~3.1h)29W (~2.8h)33136.36%25-watt TDP846921.74%32W (~2.5h)36W (~2.2h)5358.49%30-watt TDP85797.59%38W (~2.1h)39.5W (~2h)5457.41%Plugged in86833.61%N/AN/A5459.26%Cyberpunk 2077, 15-watt TDP51486.25%20W (~4h)20.5W (~3.9h)N/AN/A20-watt TDP60575.26%25W (~3.2h)26W (~3.1h)3287.50%25-watt TDP71659.23%31.5W (~2.5h)31.5W (~2.5h)4944.90%30-watt TDP76725.56%37.5W (~2.1h)37W (~2.2h)4185.37%Plugged in7779-2.53%N/AN/A4957.14%DX: Mankind Divided, 15-watt TDP796619.70%22.5W (~3.6h)21.5W (~3.6h)N/AN/A20-watt TDP938114.81%29.5W (~2.7h)27W (~3h)45106.67%25-watt TDP1059115.38%31W (~2.6h)32W (~2.5h)49114.29%30-watt TDP11410014.00%37W (~2.2h)37W (~2.2h)48137.50%Plugged in11910711.21%N/AN/A58105.17%Returnal, 15-watt TDP403033.33%20W (~4h)22W (~3.6h)N/AN/A20-watt TDP483633.33%26.5W (~3h)27W (~3h)2965.52%25-watt TDP524126.83%36W (~2.2h)32W (~2.5h)3836.84%30-watt TDP544325.58%42.5W (~1.9h)37.5W (~2.1h)3938.46%Plugged in564427.27%N/AN/A3751.35%Shadow of the Tomb Raider, 15-watt TDP55517.84%21W (~3.8h)23W (~3.5h)N/AN/A20-watt TDP666010.00%27W (~3h)30W (~2.6h)32106.25%25-watt TDP73687.35%35W (~2.3h)35.5W (~2.2h)3892.11%30-watt TDP81749.46%42W (~1.9h)41W (~2h)39107.69%Plugged in81758.00%N/AN/A4292.86%HZD Remastered, 15-watt TDP31310.00%21.5W (~3.6h)24.5W (~3.3h)N/AN/A20-watt TDP37370.00%28W (~2.9h)30W (~2.6h)Did not testN/A25-watt TDP42412.44%34.5W (~2.3h)36W (~2.2h)Did not testN/A30-watt TDP44424.76%40W (~2h)39W (~2.1h)Did not testN/APlugged in46452.22%N/AN/ADid not testN/A

Average frame rates at 720p and low settings, save Cyberpunk at “Steam Deck” setting.

And no, I can never, ever trust the Claw 8’s power button to keep it asleep. I always have to explicitly put the system into hibernation mode instead, which is thankfully the first option in that Game Bar widget. (Microsoft really needs to get out of its own way and let manufacturers set the power button to hibernate instead of Modern Standby.)

It’s also a little frustrating to go back to a world where I have to manually download the latest Intel graphics drivers because they never showed up in MSI Center’s updates tab. But once I installed those new graphics drivers and learned to avoid the power button, I was rewarded with some of the highest performance and the best battery life I’ve seen from a handheld yet. It’s just better at the whole turbo mode thing, with higher frame rates and higher TDP options than the Ally X with Windows, and it’s more power-efficient than the SteamOS Lenovo Legion Go S, even if Lenovo’s Steam handheld got higher frame rates in half my benchmarks.

Claw 8 vs. Ally X vs. Legion Go S vs. Steam Deck performance

Game and power mode

Claw 8 fps

ROG Ally X (Windows, Z1E) fps

Legion Go S (SteamOS, Z1E) fps

Steam Deck OLED fps

Claw 8 vs. Ally X

Claw 8 vs. Legion Go S

Claw 8 vs. Deck

AC Valhalla, 15-watt TDP6652665726.92%0.00%15.79%20-watt TDP787184N/A9.86%-7.14%N/A25-watt TDP848092N/A5.00%-8.70%N/A30-watt TDP858996N/A-4.49%-11.46%N/APlugged in86899257-3.37%-6.52%50.88%Cyberpunk 2077, 15-watt TDP5141575024.39%-10.53%2.00%20-watt TDP605973N/A1.69%-17.81%N/A25-watt TDP716579N/A9.23%-10.13%N/A30-watt TDP767182N/A7.04%-7.32%N/APlugged in777186508.45%-10.47%54.00%DX: Mankind Divided, 15-watt TDP7959746133.90%6.76%29.51%20-watt TDP938492N/A10.71%1.09%N/A25-watt TDP1059199N/A15.38%6.06%N/A30-watt TDP11493100N/A22.58%14.00%N/APlugged in119931026127.96%16.67%95.08%Returnal, 15-watt TDP4031242529.03%66.67%60.00%20-watt TDP484030N/A20.00%60.00%N/A25-watt TDP524332N/A20.93%62.50%N/A30-watt TDP544633N/A17.39%63.64%N/APlugged in5646342521.74%64.71%124.00%Shadow of the Tomb Raider, 15-watt TDP555262575.77%-11.29%-3.51%20-watt TDP666583N/A1.54%-20.48%N/A25-watt TDP737089N/A4.29%-17.98%N/A30-watt TDP817693N/A6.58%-12.90%N/APlugged in817696576.58%-15.63%42.11%HZD Remastered, 15-watt TDP3128373310.71%-16.22%-6.06%20-watt TDP373047N/A23.33%-21.28%N/A25-watt TDP422850N/A50.00%-16.00%N/A30-watt TDP443452N/A29.41%-15.38%N/APlugged in4634553335.29%-16.36%39.39%

Average frame rates at 720p and low settings, save Cyberpunk at “Steam Deck” setting.

We’re not talking about a step change in performance here: this pricy $1,000 handheld still doesn’t have near the frame rate of a similarly priced gaming laptop. It’s just enough extra power to make games feel smooth on this handheld that were borderline choppy on its peers, like Expedition 33 (even then, these handhelds need AI upscaling to get there).

But I didn’t have to sacrifice battery life to get that extra power. I often even push the Claw 8’s chip to 30 watts, a power mode that the Asus ROG Ally X doesn’t offer unless plugged in, for an extra frame rate advantage — while getting roughly the same battery life as the Ally X gets at its 25W unplugged maximum.

MSI Claw 8 vs. Asus ROG Ally X ports and width. The Claw still has handy raised dots on each port to find them by feel.

And though the Steam Deck has long reigned as the efficiency champ, I found the Claw 8 can even beat the Steam Deck on both performance and power use when set to the same 15-watt TDP, often draining its battery 2 or even 3 watts slower. When you combine that with its big 80-watt-hour pack, it handily beat competitors in my Dirt Rally drain test, lasting nearly 19 minutes longer than the Asus ROG Ally X with Bazzite, 28 minutes longer than the Steam Deck OLED, and 80 minutes longer than the Legion Go S with SteamOS and AMD’s Z1 Extreme chip.

Below, you can see how battery life might compare at each performance tier. For example: the Claw 8 and Legion Go S with SteamOS both offer the same 66 frames per second when you offer their chips 15 watts of electricity, but you’ll probably get 3.9 hours of battery from the Claw versus 2.3 hours from the Legion. That’s because MSI’s Intel chip is drawing less power from a larger battery.

Battery life vs. performance

Game and power mode

Claw 8 fps

Claw battery drain

ROG Ally X (Windows, Z1E) fps

Ally X battery drain

Legion Go S (SteamOS, Z1E) fps

Legion Go S battery drain

Steam Deck OLED fps

Deck battery drain

AC Valhalla, 15-watt TDP6620.5W (~3.9h)5224W (~3.3h)6624W (~2.3h)5723.5W (~2.1h)20-watt TDP7825.5W (~3.1h)7130W (~2.6h)8430.5W (~1.8h)N/AN/A25-watt TDP8432W (~2.5h)8036W (~2.2h)9236W (~1.5h)N/AN/A30-watt TDP8538W (~2.1h)89N/A9643.5W (~1.3h)N/AN/ACyberpunk 2077, 15-watt TDP5120W (~4h)4122W (~3.6h)5725W (~2.2h)5023.5W (~2.1h)20-watt TDP6025W (~3.2h)5929W (~2.7h)7332W (~1.7h)N/AN/A25-watt TDP7131.5W (~2.5h)6535W (~2.2h)7938W (~1.4h)N/AN/A30-watt TDP7637.5W (~2.1h)71N/A8244.5W (~1.2h)N/AN/ADX: Mankind Divided, 15-watt TDP7922.5W (~3.6h)5922W (~3.6h)7425.5W (~2.2h)6122W (~2.2h)20-watt TDP9329.5W (~2.7h)8430W (~2.6h)9232W (~1.7h)N/AN/A25-watt TDP10531W (~2.6h)9136W (~2.2h)9938.5W (~1.4h)N/AN/A30-watt TDP11437W (~2.2h)93N/A10045W (~1.2h)N/AN/AReturnal, 15-watt TDP4020W (~4h)3123W (~3.5h)2425.5W (~2.2h)2523W (~2.1h)20-watt TDP4826.5W (~3h)4030W (~2.6h)3032W (~1.7h)N/AN/A25-watt TDP5236W (~2.2h)4336W (~2.2h)3238.5W (~1.4h)N/AN/A30-watt TDP5442.5W (~1.9h)46N/A3345.5W (~1.2h)N/AN/AShadow of the Tomb Raider, 15-watt TDP5521W (~3.8h)5223W (~3.5h)6225W (~2.2h)5723.5W (~2.1h)20-watt TDP6627W (~3h)6530W (~2.6h)8331.5W (~1.7h)N/AN/A25-watt TDP7335W (~2.3h)7036W (~2.2h)8937.5W (~1.5h)N/AN/A30-watt TDP8142W (~1.9h)76N/A9343.5W (~1.3h)N/AN/AHZD Remastered, 15-watt TDP3121.5W (~3.6h)2823W (~3.5h)3725W (~2.2h)3323W (~2.1h)20-watt TDP3728W (~2.9h)3030W (~2.6h)4732W (~1.7h)N/AN/A25-watt TDP4234.5W (~2.3h)2836W (~2.2h)5037.5W (~1.5h)N/AN/A30-watt TDP4440W (~2h)34N/A5244W (~1.3h)N/AN/A

Average frame rates at 720p and low settings, save Cyberpunk at “Steam Deck” setting.

All this said, you still can’t ease off the gas quite like with AMD chips, at least not out of the box. Officially, the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V is a 17W–37W chip, and while MSI lets you set the chip’s TDP as low as 8 watts, I still saw the Claw empty my battery at a rate of at least 11W in Balatro, the magic poker game I use as my best-case-scenario test. That means at minimum screen brightness, with wireless off, I’m getting around seven hours max — whereas the Steam Deck OLED can get nine hours and the Asus ROG Ally X can manage 10 in such lightweight games.

I have some quibbles with the Claw’s hardware. Though the speakers are above average, the rumble is annoying and weak. Hall effect joysticks and dedicated gyro modes are nice, but aiming felt sloppy out of the box, like MSI didn’t bother tuning either to a console controller standard, and I still haven’t quite nailed it with tweaks in either individual game settings or MSI Center. It’s also not the fastest handheld to charge or download games, despite its two Thunderbolt 4 ports and Wi-Fi 7, though not slow either.

But the real hurdles for the Claw 8 are that $1,000 price — and that MSI might only have one more whole month atop the Windows heap. Microsoft and Asus’ Xbox Ally is coming October 16th, with a revamped OS, and it could reshape the whole handheld market.

Handheld power, explained

You might have noticed I write about two different kind of wattage measurements (W) in my handheld reviews: 1) the TDP of each handheld’s chip, which basically translates to how much power you’re letting it use, and 2) the handheld’s total battery drain.

That’s because of a sea change in how portable gaming works. Unlike traditional laptops, today’s handhelds let you configure their processor’s TDP at a moment’s notice, even while you’re in the middle of a game, to give you more oomph. But when you do that — or when a manufacturer sets a higher default TDP so their handheld seems faster out of the box — it’ll drain your battery faster.

How much faster? You can find the answers in my charts, along with estimates of how quickly your battery will go from 100 percent to zero if you choose that TDP in a given game. And make no mistake, some games won’t run well on a handheld unless you choose a high TDP.

But the battery drain wattage is not the same as TDP, because it doesn’t account for all the rest of the handheld’s systems, including its storage and screen, that each game might push differently. Frame rate per watt drained is what to look for if you care about battery.

Photography by Sean Hollister / The Verge

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A Cool Handheld Facing An Uphill Battle
Game Reviews

A Cool Handheld Facing An Uphill Battle

by admin


The ROG Xbox Ally X surprised me with how light it felt the first time I picked it up. Despite being one of the heaviest PC gaming handhelds, it doesn’t actually feel overbearing or burdensome. The controller grips on the sides might make it look goofy but they also make it more comfortable, so the battery life will stop me from playing long before tired arms or cramping wrists. And none of this will matter if the price isn’t right.

An October 16 release date for the Xbox-branded Asus hardware was revealed at Gamescom 2025. That was two weeks ago. Now we’re 42 days from launch and there’s still no pre-order page or even an official price tag. The latter is seemingly under review following the latest U.S. tariff updates from President Trump’s White House. But if, for whatever reason, it ends up costing double the price of a Switch 2 or Steam OLED as some leaks have suggested it will, it’s going to have some big shoes to fill. I’m not sure neat paddles on the sides, a new AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme chip, and a slick UI overhaul alone will be able to justify the experiment.

I went hands-on with the Xbox Ally X (the more powerful of the two upcoming models) at Microsoft’s offices last week in Seattle during PAX West and came away with what felt like a glimpse of where the tech giant could take Windows gaming in the future, as well as lots of questions about where it will actually be come this fall. When he tried it at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, Kotaku‘s Kenneth Shepard lamented handheld gaming’s newfound obsession with replicating high-end PC and console experiences on the go. I came away from my hands-on demo more curious about how the PC gaming handheld could reshape the Xbox home console experience moving forward.

The Xbox Ally is Microsoft’s attempt to bolt a gaming OS onto Windows so the average person can turn it on and boot up a game without ever having to navigate a task bar or desktop shortcut. Turn the handheld on and it boots directly into the new OS layer running on top of Windows 11. Accidentally crash it by trying to navigate around too fast or hitting a button when you’re not supposed to, as I did several times, and that dreaded error window will pierce through the overlay like an unwanted virus alert.

Kotaku

The experiment won’t be worth it if Microsoft and Asus can’t figure out a decent price tag, but it won’t mean anything at all if they can’t keep the new UI stable enough to successfully trick you into forgetting that the Xbox Ally, contrary to catchy marketing, is still actually a Windows PC. When it does work, the promise of the Xbox Ally shines through unmistakably: your PC game library made easy to navigate and play on already proven hardware. Tags for every game tell you if it can run at high settings or if it’s yet to be tested.

Much has been made of how the Xbox UI will automatically pull in games you already own on Steam, letting you launch them from within the Xbox layer without having to separately descend back into Windows and open them manually. Can you buy Steam games directly from within the Xbox layer as well? Microsoft hasn’t confirmed that yet.

The idea may simply be that most people will buy Steam games on their actual PCs, then have them easily accessible when they move over to the Xbox Ally where they will then also have Game Pass waiting for them. The Xbox Ally is the first step in a new race with Valve to see which company can make accessing its competitor’s products on its own devices more frictionless, and Game Pass on SteamOS is still a pain.

Perhaps the biggest coup for the Xbox Ally team within Microsoft is a feature that lets you hold down the dedicated Xbox button to quickly navigate between apps just like you might on a smartphone. It feels like an evolution of Quick Resume on console, by far Microsoft’s biggest contribution to the current console generation experience outside of Game Pass. If only every gaming handheld made it so easy to toggle between games, Discord, and the web. If only every gaming handheld even had Discord.

Speaking of the Switch 2, I brought it to the demo for size comparison purposes. I spent most of my time on the Xbox Ally playing Hollow Knight: Silksong, a game I will be buying on my Switch 2 when it comes out this week. The original game on the original Switch was an ideal handheld experience, as evidenced by how few of Kotaku‘s staff at the time even played it before it came to Nintendo’s console. The sequel only costs $20 and will not be testing any PC gaming handheld benchmarks. Do you really need a $600, $800, or even $1,000 PC gaming handheld to enjoy it?

Over 150 million Switches sold proves there’s a market for cheap gaming handhelds. Six million PC gaming handhelds sold, meanwhile, suggests there is not yet a market for the high-end ones, at least not one that can meaningfully profit a public company investing $80 billion a year in AI. But even if a trade war ultimately makes the Xbox Ally dead on arrival, at least in the U.S., I’m glad to see companies trying. There are a lot of cool ideas in there and I’d love to see how they could be applied to console gaming in the future.



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