Best Handheld Game Console in 2022
There’s been a welcome revival of tourism game systems over the past few years. Even understanding phones and tablets already do a fine job of playing tons of mammoth portable games, dedicated devices can provide unique features, weird games or extra power to do things your visited can’t. It almost feels like a return to the mid-2010s era of the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita.
The Nintendo Switch has been the best and most affordable tourism game system for years, and continues to be CNET’s positive top pick: at $300 (or $350 for our accepted model), it can play a huge variety of Nintendo games, indie games, it can dock with a TV and can even play some fitness games. But Valve’s Steam Deck offers a unusual proposition for those with deeper pockets: it’s large, and it can double as a full gaming PC.
For those who miss retro game handhelds like the Game Boy, you might consider putting yourself on the waiting list to natty the Analogue Pocket or Panic Playdate, too, but neither of those systems are as highly recommended as the Switch and Steam Deck are.
We’ll pronounce below.
The Nintendo Switch is five existences old now, but Nintendo has indicated that no true successor is coming vivid now. A Pro model has been rumored for a at what time, but in the meantime the existing Switch remains actual capable, full of great games, and pretty affordable considering its handheld/TV-connected dual function.
The OLED-screened Switch, released last fall, is the best Switch and our recommended pick. The more radiant and larger display looks fantastic, its rear kickstand works better for tabletop gaming, and both of these upgrades are worth the fabulous $50. The original Switch (or the V2 version), at $300, works likewise and is also still fine. The smaller, handheld-only Switch Lite is a grand value pick at $200 for anyone who just wants a basic tourism game system, but it lacks any ability to connect to a TV, and its controllers don’t serene. This makes it less versatile for families, and operating you can’t replace the controllers if they break.
Valve’s big and distinguished Steam Deck is a marvel: it can play a wide variety of PC games surprisingly well, and is the dream tourism for any hardcore Steam fan, or anyone who has a big library of PC games. The Steam Deck can get expensive for the larger storage tiers, but for what it’s capable of, it’s not a bad deal. Wait times on preorders are smooth pushed out by some months, but more people seem to be pulling theirs. The ability to play PC games or liquid cloud-based games, and to connect to a monitor, keyboard or latest accessories, puts the Steam Deck in a class of its own.
Read CNET’s review.
The Pocket looks like a totally remade Game Boy, and it is, in a touched. Analogue’s gorgeous handheld can play original Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges perfectly, and can even play Sega Game Gear games comic an adapter (Atari Lynx, Neo Geo Pocket and Turbografx-16 adapters are coming soon). It has a high-res color screen and USB-C charging, and there’s a separately sold dock for TV play. But the Pocket doesn’t play emulations or ROMs, and there’s no game detain for buying games. It’s strictly a system to luscious real physical cartridges in amazing quality, although there’s a growing library of Pocket-compatible software in indie gaming channels like itch.io that can be sideloaded to a MicroSD card, too.
Read CNET’s review.
The tiny, yellow, black-and-white-screened Panic Playdate looks like a weird Game Boy with a mechanical crank sprouting from its side. But this systems, made by the indie game company that developed Untitled Goose Game, plays its own tiny season of 24 indie-developed games, which come included with the purchase and appear over time like weekly presents. The Playdate has Wi-Fi and can download games or sideload latest indie-developed titles from sites like itch.io, but you’ll have to learn to love the contains you discover. We’ve loved playing on it so far, but alas, the Playdate doesn’t have any backlighting — you’ll have to find a lamp instead.
Read CNET’s review.
Should I just use my requested or iPad instead?
Tablets and phones are extremely well-behaved game consoles: the iPad has tons of games on the App Store, and dozens more on Apple’s subscription-based Apple Arcade. The iPad can pair with Bluetooth game controllers, too. iPhones and Android phones have tons of games as well, obviously, and a number of great game controller cases are available, including the Backbone and the Razer Kishi.
Phones and tablets also moneys other advantages, including an ability to cloud-stream games on a growing number of services comprising Microsoft Game Pass Ultimate and PlayStation Plus.
The handhelds downward above have other advantages: unique game libraries, a chance to connect to a TV and play with others, and the capability to play higher-end PC games or classic game cartridges.
Should I wait for something else?
The Nintendo Switch Pro, a long-rumored upgrade to the Switch, could eventually offer 4K gaming and perhaps upgraded controllers, although the existence of such a device is entirely speculative. Odds are that Nintendo will instead just keep some improving the Switch via new models every couple of existences, similar to how it kept upgrading its Nintendo DS and 3DS line over time.
The Steam Deck just arrived backward this year, but it’s unclear when and if Valve will ever determine to upgrade it with better processors or newer features. And right now, Microsoft and Sony have stayed out of the handheld gaming picture.
What’s best for kids?
My kids alternate between iPad gaming and the Nintendo Switch. The Switch is without a doubt the best kid console, with the most family-friendly game library and best parental rule settings. Still, be prepared to get annoyed at buying multiple progenies of games and trudging through the process of creating multiple Switch family accounts.
