I Love Handhelds, But I’m Worried the RAM Crisis is Going to Kill Them

Over the past 5 years oregon so, handheld gaming PCs person go 1 of my favourite ways to play games. And, it helps that they’ve been getting amended beauteous overmuch each year, acknowledgment some to much almighty hardware – outcry retired to the Intel Arc G3 Extreme – and some Microsoft and Valve improving their respective operating systems.

If I was capable to wholly disregard costs, I’d consecutive up conscionable accidental that the handhelds that person travel retired successful the past twelvemonth are incredible, astir crossed the board. The Xbox Ally X brought a controller-friendly UI to Windows for the archetypal clip and the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, acknowledgment to its unthinkable innards, is capable to play games astatine higher than minimum settings with a framerate that doesn’t springiness maine question sickness.

But I can’t disregard the price, tin I? Even though the Xbox Ally X someway hasn’t gone up successful terms (yet), the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ volition acceptable you backmost $1,799. And for that price, the calculus gets really hard to justify.

Let’s spell backmost successful clip a small bit. Before the Steam Deck came out, I dabbled with the Nintendo Switch a small bit, but for immoderate reason, astir of Nintendo’s games person ne'er truly clicked with me. So astir of the clip I’d bargain games I already owned connected Steam, similar Shovel Knight and Stardew Valley, conscionable for the privilege of taking them connected the spell with me.

The Steam Deck changed everything. Yeah, it was a small bulkier, but that made it much comfy successful my hands, and I nary longer had to re-buy my favourite games conscionable to play them connected a handheld. The lone existent occupation was that if I wanted to play a graphics-intense AAA game, I’d person to standard down the solution and the settings to the bottom, portion inactive surviving with 30-40 fps a batch of the time.

It was inactive worthy taking my indie games with me, and it adjacent led to maine conscionable playing much indies successful general, due to the fact that I could beryllium much flexible with however and erstwhile I was playing them. But arsenic clip went on, caller handhelds to rival the Steam Deck started hitting the market. The archetypal ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go made 1080p gaming a spot much viable, but they were inactive based connected the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme. And portion that spot had much graphics cores than the Steam Deck, it was inactive built connected the RDNA 3 graphics architecture, which was already a twelvemonth aged erstwhile the Z1 Extreme archetypal came out.

Then, astatine CES 2025, Lenovo showed disconnected the Legion Go S, which would extremity up being the archetypal non-Valve handheld officially powered by SteamOS. At Lenovo’s booth, I crossed paths with Valve technologist Pierre-Loup Griffais, who told maine for the archetypal clip that Valve was waiting for a “true next-generation” spot for the Steam Deck 2. At the clip I thought the Z2 Extreme would person been it, but that surely didn’t extremity up being the case.

The archetypal handheld I tested with the Z2 Extreme was the Legion Go 2, and it was really a small spot disappointing. It was faster than the Z1 Extreme, but AMD decided to merchandise its “next-gen” handheld spot with an RDNA 3.5 GPU, alternatively than opting for RDNA 4. That did pb to amended artillery life, but determination were respective tests wherever the Legion Go 2 was slower than the ROG Ally X, contempt the latter’s older chip.

At this point, it was wide I needed to brace myself for a agelong long of incremental growth. That’s not needfully a atrocious happening – aft all, that conscionable meant that radical would beryllium capable to get their hands connected somewhat older handhelds without losing overmuch successful the mode of performance. But astatine CES 2026, Intel announced Panther Lake, its caller mobile CPU lineup with incredible integrated graphics. From the infinitesimal I got my hands connected the Asus ZenBook Duo, I knew I wanted that spot successful a handheld.

Gaming hardware has grown much costly than ever crossed the board.“

Luckily, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ came retired astir 6 months aboriginal with the Arc G3 Extreme, which is fundamentally a Panther Lake spot with immoderate of the CPU cores disabled. That handheld blew each Z2 Extreme-powered instrumentality retired of the water, but unluckily it besides came retired during the ongoing RAM crisis, erstwhile gaming hardware has grown much costly than ever crossed the board.

I’m not definite however overmuch the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ would person outgo successful the before-times, but its predecessor, the MSI Claw 8 AI+, launched for astir $899 earlier seeing its terms leap up a fewer times successful 2025. The 8 EX AI+ does hitch the level with its predecessor, and adjacent has a overmuch amended bundle experience, but I’m not definite it justifies much than treble the price.

But astatine the precise least, the Claw 8 EX AI+ tin astatine slightest assertion that it has the implicit champion show successful a mainstream handheld gaming PC. That unsocial mightiness person radical with heavy capable pockets to marque that investment, astatine slightest for now.

In a akin story, successful caller months the Lenovo Legion Go 2 exploded successful terms too. Lenovo’s OLED-strapped handheld present costs $1,999 connected Best Buy, adjacent much costly than the Claw 8 EX AI+ contempt its weaker performance. You can find Lenovo’s handheld connected Best Buy for $1,334 arsenic an open-box model, but that’s with the weaker non-extreme AMD Ryzen Z2.

It’s not conscionable the fancy top-end handhelds that person been going up successful price, either. I conscionable knocked the unthinkable Steam Deck disconnected my database of the champion handhelds for the archetypal clip since it came retired successful 2022, due to the fact that it conscionable got excessively expensive. Valve raised the terms by up to $300, truthful you present person to walk $789 astatine minimum to get your hands connected a new, non-used one. That’s conscionable not worthy it, astatine slightest successful a satellite wherever the non-X Xbox Ally inactive costs $599.

Asus’ 2 Xbox handhelds are the lone agleam spot for handhelds close now. Whether you person the fund for a $600 handheld oregon a $1,000 one, the Xbox Allies are the lone decent woody close now. But I can’t shingle the feeling that Asus is yet going to rise the prices connected those too. Asus has already raised the terms successful immoderate regions, according to Windows Central, adjacent though the US is exempt truthful far.

Just similar with the Steam Machine, RAM makes up much of the outgo of a handheld gaming PC than a much almighty rig, conscionable owed to the little outgo of the chips. If the outgo of 32GB of RAM goes from $150 to much than $400, that’s going to rise the terms connected an $800 handheld much than it would a $3,000 operation with an RTX 5080. We’ve already seen the Steam Deck’s request crumple aft Valve raised the price, and portion I haven’t seen immoderate information connected the Lenovo Legion Go 2, I tin lone ideate that’s slowed down arsenic well.

Before the prices started going up, thing similar the Steam Deck was appealing arsenic a secondary device, that’s surely however I utilized it. But erstwhile you commencement nearing a 1000 bucks, it’s lone earthy to expect thing with a spot much oomph to it. Now, with prices being the mode they are, much almighty hardware is besides getting much expensive, truthful the quality betwixt a handheld and a operation hasn’t really changed each that much. But, it definite seems similar it has, and that feels similar Kryptonite to handheld PCs successful general.

It’s tempting, then, to conscionable fell my caput successful the soil until the RAM situation abates. But I’m progressively skeptical that prices are going to spell backmost down. The large 3 RAM companies person already reportedly sold done their manufacturing capableness for 2027, truthful representation prices aren’t going to fto up immoderate clip soon. So I’m stuck successful this weird spot wherever I’m ace excited to spot what aboriginal handhelds are capable to do, but terrified astatine however overmuch they’re going to cost. Because if they get excessively expensive, we mightiness get to the constituent wherever the Lenovos and Asuses of the satellite nary longer deem handhelds viable.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra