2025 seems to be an enormous yr for handheld gaming. After a few years in the wilderness, pushed apart by the rise of cell video games and the departure of PlayStation from the handheld market, there’s now a medley of transportable consoles and gaming PCs having fun with a renaissance in high quality on-the-go gaming experiences.
The most important identify amongst them: the Nintendo Switch 2. The corporate pulled off an unimaginable comeback with 2017’s Switch, reversing its fortunes after a limp response to the Wii U, promoting 150 million models over the subsequent seven years, recycling its underutilised Wii U library, and launching two of the finest Zelda video games ever made. With a brand new model anticipated in early 2025, everyone seems to be ready with baited breath to see what Nintendo has up its sleeve, although it’s probably Nintendo will play issues secure to proceed its present successful streak.
The Switch 2 seems to be much less of a revolution, and extra of an evolution, with backwards compatibility for Switch video games and an identical type issue to the 2017 console. Nevertheless, whereas we’re low on official particulars, we’re excessive on leaks.
Studies to date recommend an expanded 8-inch LCD display screen, 1080p output in handheld mode, 4K upscaling in docked mode, electromagnetic Pleasure-Cons that ditch the present Switch’s rail attachment system, and a customized model of Nvidia’s T234 cell processor that ought to at the very least beat the PS4 and Xbox One for efficiency. You would possibly even be capable of use a Pleasure-Con as a mouse!
Whereas I’ll personally miss the advantages of the Switch OLED’s show, I can’t deny the draw of a extra highly effective LCD Switch, and it’s very more likely to be a scorching buy for a few years to come back. It’s simply value asking whether or not the Switch 2 goes to be fairly as profitable, or fascinating, in a market now crowded with wonderful handheld rivals,
Alongside the ongoing success of Valve’s Steam Deck, we’ve simply seen a fleet of new gaming PCs unveiled at CES, many of which construct on earlier 2024 units and have allowed producers to iterate sooner than Nintendo’s near-decade-long console cycles. So can the Switch 2 repeat its victory lap in 2025, or not?
The First Switch Period Involves a Shut, Will a New One Start?
For the first few years of the Nintendo Switch’s lifespan, there was no significant competitors – handheld gaming had been largely deserted by different electronics producers, content material to go away the house to cell gaming and the regular succession of Nintendo DS consoles.
The Switch blew aside the assumption that handheld consoles had fallen out of favor with the gaming public, displaying a large urge for food for on-the-go gaming bolstered by trendy show applied sciences and a pinch of Nintendo ingenuity (Residence console? Handheld? Why not each?).
Nevertheless, success naturally breeds imitators. In 2022 we acquired Valve’s Steam Deck, a gaming PC that price a bit of greater than the mainline Switch, however managed to experience on Nintendo’s popularisation of handheld gaming whereas providing a definite modus operandi – bringing a PC gamer’s total Steam library on the go.
The Steam Deck cleaves fairly near the Switch in lots of areas, together with an equal 1280×800 decision and a price ticket solely barely increased than the $350 Switch OLED (for the base Steam Deck mannequin, at the very least). Nevertheless, it’s set aside by entry to the Steam library, and a chunkier, extra ergonomic construct that isn’t as targeted on becoming a toddler’s palms.
Whereas there’s no fast Steam Deck 2 in sight – probably not till 2026 or past – Valve’s machine continues to be very a lot in demand, and now surrounded by rivals. There’s a variety of handheld gaming PCs operating on the Home windows working system, from the Asus ROG Ally X to the GPD Win 4, which provide the full advantages of a Home windows desktop PC, with entry to Steam, Epic Video games, Xbox, GOG, and itch.io shops alongside different apps and companies.
And with a brand new suite of AMD Z2 chipsets launching in 2025 for improved efficiency and battery life, these transportable gaming PCs look higher positioned than ever to tackle a Switch successor.
Who’s the competitors?
The most important story in new handhelds is the Lenovo Legion Go S, a more moderen, lighter model of final yr’s Legion Go that ditches the former’s detachable controllers for an all-in-one design, doubles its RAM to 32GB, and packs a 120Hz show.
What’s most attention-grabbing is that it is available in each Home windows 11 and SteamOS configurations, which means you may go for a third-party Steam Deck or a extra fleshed-out Home windows ecosystem. You’ll additionally be capable of select between fashions with the new Z2 Go chipset and an older Z1 processor, which means a variety of costs from $599 to $729 when taking all the completely different configurations under consideration.
A next-gen Legion Go 2 can be on the horizon this yr, packing in a brand new AMD Z2 Excessive processor and doubling its battery capability – useful given the Legion Go tended solely to final an hour or two between prices.