Intentional Tech

The Endgame Handheld Doesn't Exist…

Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Chasing the Holy Grail

We have access to so many brilliant handhelds right now, and that abundance is quietly its own problem. Each one is built differently, with its own strengths. Some are raw powerhouses. Others are modestly specced but run exactly the games you actually want to play. Some are ideal for a cosy evening on the sofa; others are the perfect travel companion. And yet, despite all of this choice, we keep searching for that one holy grail device. The endgame handheld that can do absolutely everything. The question is whether it actually exists.

In reality, nobody needs ten-plus handhelds. But there is a genuine case for owning a couple of complementary ones, precisely because no single device can do it all. The people who design these machines face an intricate set of tradeoffs with every release, and each decision shapes the kind of experience you end up with.

An Impossible Set of Tradeoffs

Take the display. Do you go OLED for its stunning colours and dynamic range, knowing that may limit the panel size and carry implications for refresh rate? What about orientation? A landscape display is more comfortable for modern gaming, but a vertical form factor takes you back to the Game Boy's roots and suits those 4:3 titles beautifully. Then there's performance: does the device need to be a beast, and are you willing to trade battery life for limitless frames per second? That's before you even get into operating systems, front-ends, and all the other decisions that fundamentally shape what it's like to actually use one of these things day to day.

The result is that there are so many different characteristics and use cases that settling on a single endgame handheld is genuinely impossible. Collections grow. Devices pile up. And you can start to feel a little guilty about the money and time you've poured into the hobby.

We Were Never Really Buying Handhelds

But step back for a moment, because it's worth asking why we're here in the first place.

A lot of us were never really buying handhelds to game on, we were buying a dream. We're commuters. We're in relationships. Many of us have families. We can't justify two or three hours a night tucked away at a desktop in the corner of the room. We want to sit on the sofa while other people are in the same space, still present, still connected. Even those small windows feel rare. We might have the money to spend on new devices, but not much time to actually use them.

And so each new release arrives with an implicit promise: this could be the one that finally unlocks gaming for you. Sometimes it delivers. Often it doesn't and we fall into one of two camps: those who buy the device and still never find time to play, and those who love the process of setting it up far more than actually using it. There's genuine satisfaction in that tinkering. It has a value of its own. But it's worth being honest with yourself about which camp you're in.

The Tinkering Trap

There is something deeply satisfying about taking a device and making it feel like yours. Installing HD texture packs for Ocarina of Time. Calibrating settings until everything looks and feels exactly right. Trying different accessories. Swapping out buttons to add your own touch. Building up a curated selection of ROMs and systems that makes the whole thing feel like a definitive personal gaming platform.

The problem is that a lot of us don't stick with a device long enough to reach that point. We move on before the magic happens. A device that doesn't immediately feel like an endgame often could become one, if you gave it the time and attention it deserves. It's hard to resist the pull of hype when something new drops but before you reach for your wallet, it's worth scrolling back through your collection. The endgame handheld you've been searching for might already be sitting in a drawer.

The Endgame Is Already in Your Pocket

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. Even with an Analog Pocket in my collection, I find myself reaching for my old Game Boy Advance SP, purely because it takes me straight back to being a kid.

The endgame handheld is often just the one you've already got.

This feels especially worth remembering as we head into what's shaping up to be a difficult period for the hobby. The RAM supply situation means new devices may become less frequent, with smaller generational leaps and noticeably higher price tags. The era of constant, affordable upgrades might be winding down. So rather than doom-scrolling subreddits waiting for the next thing, I'm going back to the handhelds I already own and actually figuring out whether they were the endgame all along.

Lenovo is Giving Up on Handhelds (But You Don't Have To)

Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

My Go-To Recommendation Just Got a Lot More Complicated

When the Legion Go S launched in 2025, it hit a sweet spot that very few handhelds manage: great performance, genuine comfort, and a price that actually made sense. The £699 I paid for my Z1 Extreme SteamOS model stung a little at the time, but it quickly became my daily driver and the device I recommended to almost everyone. Unfortunately, Lenovo are now making that very hard.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Let's look at what's actually happened to the pricing. Here in the UK, that same Legion Go S I bought for £699 now costs £899 — a 1.2x increase in just over six months. But the situation in the US is significantly worse. The same model has nearly doubled, going from $829.99 at launch to $1,579.99. And if you want the Legion Go 2 with the Z2 Extreme and 1 TB of storage, that'll be $2,000. Worth noting, too, that UK prices include VAT — so what you see is what you pay. In the US, sales tax is added on top, which means these devices are even more expensive than the listing price suggests.

It's tempting to chalk this up to a broader industry problem, and to an extent that's fair. AYN revised the specs of the Thor to keep it affordable. Retroid had to halt some configurations of the Pocket 6. AYANEO have had to deprecate entire models because they can no longer guarantee parts availability. Tariffs and component costs are affecting everyone. But there's a meaningful difference between a scrappy Kickstarter-funded outfit struggling with supply chains and a company the size of Lenovo deciding to nearly double the price of a handheld in six months. The scale of these rises, on Lenovo's part, doesn't feel like necessity. It feels like a decision.

Cooling Off on Their Customers

Price isn't the only issue. Actually getting hold of a Legion Go S or Legion Go 2 has been difficult since launch, with staggered regional releases and a fair few reported problems around pre-orders and deliveries. Driver updates for the original Legion Go have been sporadic enough to make people genuinely nervous about long-term support — though it's only fair to note that an update did drop in the final week of April.

Lenovo have also gone quiet on the Legion Go 2's SteamOS launch, which is supposed to happen in June. That's barely a month away at the time of writing. Are they still finalising the price? Have they quietly shelved it? It's hard not to wonder whether the price rises are actually a way of kicking the can down the road — keeping hardware on shelves without having to invest in developing anything new. With the broader chip shortage showing no signs of a quick resolution, that logic, as cynical as it is, would at least make a kind of sense.

The Handheld Space Isn't Dead — Just Reconfiguring

Here's where I try to stay optimistic, because I genuinely think there are reasons to be.

The Steam Deck is, once again, the most sensible place to put your money if you want a PC handheld. Valve are dealing with their own availability issues right now due to RAM shortages, but the crucial thing is that they're still deeply committed to the platform — regular SteamOS updates, ongoing open-source contributions including work on Wine, and the quiet expansion of the Steam ecosystem with things like the new Steam Controller and Steam Machine hints. Valve aren't going anywhere.

Meanwhile, Android handheld gaming has genuinely come on. Devices from Retroid and AYN can now run a substantial chunk of PC titles through platforms like GameHub and Game Native, and the results are increasingly impressive. I've been playing Yakuza 4 Remastered on my Retroid Pocket 6 via GameHub and it runs at a solid 30fps. It's not going to replace a dedicated PC handheld for the most demanding titles, but for most people's libraries — mine included — it covers far more ground than it did even a year ago.

When you can pick up just shy of ten Retroid Pockets for the price of a single Legion Go 2, Lenovo's positioning starts to look genuinely out of touch.

Where This Leaves Us

I'm not ready to write Lenovo off entirely. The Legion Go S proved that they know how to build a great handheld, and I hope they find their way back to doing that at a price people can actually justify.

If you're in the market for a handheld today, my honest advice is to look at the second-hand market — a used Steam Deck or Legion Go S at a sensible price is a much better proposition than either of Lenovo's current new listings. And if your game library skews towards older or less demanding titles, seriously consider an Android handheld; the gap between those devices and a PC handheld is narrowing faster than most people realise.

Time will tell how the industry navigates the next couple of years. Maybe we've been living through a golden age of handheld hardware. I really do hope that Lenovo and others find a way through it and come out the other side building great things at sensible prices again. But in the meantime, we've got options. You don't have to wait for them to figure it out.

This Laptop was Struggling… But then I ran Linux

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

A Promising Spec Sheet

On paper, the TIVIQUE LX15 looks like a compelling budget laptop. For under £300 you get a Ryzen 4300U processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB M.2 SSD. The headline feature is a 15.6-inch OLED display running at 1080p and 60Hz — that's a genuinely impressive inclusion at this price, and it shows in everyday use. The 1920x1080 aspect ratio gives plenty of room to multitask and makes the screen a natural fit for watching video content.

The 5,000mAh battery lasts a couple of days under light use, and the port selection is more generous than you might expect, including a micro SD card slot that opens up some interesting possibilities for emulation. In a landscape where budget laptops often feel like compromises in every direction, the LX15 reads like something thoughtfully put together.

Clearly Budget, But Surprisingly Solid

Pick it up and the budget origins are evident, but not embarrassingly so. The chassis feels sturdy and spacious, and TIVIQUE have included a few small touches that show some care in the design — a silicone keyboard mat, for instance, which softens the feel and reduces noise noticeably. The keyboard itself is a little clacky but responsive, and I had no real issues with typing accuracy.

The annoyances are there if you look for them. The lid won't open one-handed without the base lifting off the table. There's some wobble when typing on a flat surface. The stickers on the palm rest are attached with what I can only assume is industrial adhesive. And the numpad — which pushes the main keyboard off-centre — took genuine adjustment to get used to coming from a centred layout.

These are the kinds of things you learn to work around on a budget machine. None of them are dealbreakers, and the OLED display is attractive enough to make sitting down with it feel like less of a compromise.

The Problem: Windows

Where things fell apart was performance. I've reviewed a number of PCs from TIVIQUE's sister brand Nepo G over the years and always found their budget hardware to punch reasonably well, so the sluggishness here was a surprise.

My main test was a practical one: I've been building out the Intentional Tech website using Astro, and I wanted to work on it using VS Code on the LX15. Running the project locally in a browser was possible, but painfully slow — the kind of slow that kills the urge to work on something. General Chrome usage felt similarly laboured. Light gaming, in theory within reach of this hardware, wasn't really happening either.

The MacBook Neo has made this a harder conversation than it used to be. At a similar price point, it sets a performance baseline that reframes what "acceptable" looks like on a budget laptop. The LX15 on Windows wasn't meeting it.

That's what led me to try Linux.

Linux Changes Everything

Because the LX15 runs an AMD processor, it's a solid candidate for Linux — AMD's open-source driver support has made it one of the more reliable choices for a first installation. I went with Fedora, one of the more beginner-friendly distributions, and one flexible enough to handle both productivity and some light gaming.

The process is more straightforward than it sounds. Download Balena Etcher, flash a USB stick with the Fedora ISO, reboot and follow the installer. Start to finish, it took about an hour. I came in with essentially no Linux experience beyond running Steam OS on gaming handhelds, which doesn't really count.

The difference was immediate. Everything felt snappy. Heavy Google Slides documents that had ground Chrome to a halt on Windows ran without issue. More importantly, my VS Code setup — the same Astro project that had crawled before, complete with GitHub Copilot for debugging — ran exactly as it does on my MacBook. I spent a good chunk of time going through my back catalogue of videos and converting transcripts into written articles for the website, and the LX15 handled all of it without complaint. I even debugged a tricky issue using VS Code's built-in Copilot, which took longer than it would have done with Claude Code on the Mac, but the fact that it was manageable at all felt like a minor revelation.

Settling In: Apps, Gaming, and a Few Trade-offs

Switching to Linux means leaving some applications behind. The biggest loss for me was Bear, which I use for writing and previewing markdown. Obsidian covers the same ground well enough, and a VS Code preview extension fills the remaining gaps. For moving files between devices, LocalSend does the job of AirDrop without needing to be in the Apple ecosystem.

On the gaming side, the results were more impressive than I'd expected. Yakuza Kiwami ran at around 30 frames per second — not silky, but entirely playable, and something I wouldn't have believed possible under the Windows installation. This still isn't a gaming laptop, and nobody should buy it expecting one, but for lighter titles and emulation the hardware has more headroom than it initially appears.

Final Thoughts

The honest conclusion is that the TIVIQUE LX15 is two different laptops depending on what you run on it. On Windows, I couldn't recommend it — the performance ceiling is too low, and the MacBook Neo makes the value proposition difficult to argue. On Fedora, it's a genuinely capable machine for the price.

Whether that's a recommendation depends entirely on you. If you're comfortable spending an afternoon on the Linux setup, this is a solid option for basic productivity, light development work, or as a first machine for someone learning to code. It's a meaningful step up from a Chromebook. The problem is that the people most likely to benefit from it — a student, a retiree, someone who just needs a laptop for everyday tasks — are also the least likely to go through the installation process. That's the conundrum the LX15 can't quite escape.

My recommendation: At under £300, the LX15 earns a cautious recommendation — but only if you're willing to install Linux. If that's not you, spend your money elsewhere.

It's Finally Time to Get a Switch 2

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Everything Else Got More Expensive

Even as a day-one Switch 2 owner, I found it pretty hard to recommend the console to anyone who already owned a Switch. My reservations were never really about the hardware itself. It was more about what you were paying for that hardware relative to what else was on the market. But over the past month or so, I've found myself reaching for the Switch 2 more than I ever have before, and I think the calculus has finally shifted.

The Switch 2 is still available at its launch price, which now makes it a considerably better deal against competing PC handhelds than it was at release, many of which have been rendered unavailable or unaffordable by the RAM-pocolypse. Nintendo's pricing strategy around individual games still raises eyebrows, but on a hardware level, the value proposition is legitimately strong. We've even seen third-party titles like Resident Evil where the Switch 2 can go toe-to-toe with PC handhelds on a performance basis, thanks to Nvidia's DLSS technology. That's not nothing.

A Launch Lineup That Left People Waiting

Of course, most people buying a Switch 2 aren't primarily there for third-party ports — and this is where the early months felt a little thin. Mario Kart World was a solid system seller, but for many it didn't quite hit the highs of previous entries in the series. Donkey Kong Bananza looked like a consolation prize on paper, a game most people hadn't been asking for, until they actually played it and found it genuinely impressive. Even so, it wasn't the kind of title that carries a console for the better part of a year.

Things filled in gradually. A new Metroid arrived, Animal Crossing received a substantial update, and both felt like genuine service to fans of those franchises. But they were additions rather than arguments. We were left asking where Nintendo's big showcase titles were — and honestly, most of us were sleeping on Pokopia.

The Game Nobody Saw Coming

Let's have it right: the first time I saw Pokétopia teased, I assumed it was a cash grab. Throw a Pokémon skin over Animal Crossing, call it a day, collect the money. As it turns out, I was completely wrong. Pokopia is by far the best game on the Switch 2, and it's every bit the system seller the launch lineup was missing.

I've put just over 50 hours into the main game — building environments, exploring, settling into its rhythms — and then gave myself a deliberate breather. But this is a game where some players will log thousands of hours without blinking.

But as someone who sank over 400 hours into team-building and online battles in Sword and Shield, Pokémon champions is the game I've really been waiting for. The appeal of a dedicated competitive Pokémon platform that allows you to build teams and experiment without grinding through a mainline game first — is genuinely exciting to me.

A lot of the criticism aimed at Champions reflects something broader: Pokémon has become such an enormous franchise that no single game can speak to everyone. The re-release of Fire Red and Leaf Green landed for a different audience; Pokémon Legends: Z-A's battle system made its own case for the direction many fans want Game Freak to head. However, it may prove impossible to commit to that vision in mainline games without branching off the official VGC format into a game like Champions. In any case, there's now genuinely something for every Pokémon fan on Switch 2.

Your Old Games Got Better Too

One aspect of the Switch 2's recent evolution that doesn't get enough attention is what Nintendo has done for the back catalogue. A significant operating system update shipped recently, bringing features like Handheld Boost Mode — which runs original Switch games in handheld mode at the same performance settings they used when docked on the original hardware. For games like Fire Emblem: Engage, this is a meaningful upgrade, and it quietly fixes a lot of the inexplicable jank that crept into certain titles when running on Switch 2 at launch.

It's the kind of update that doesn't make headlines but genuinely improves the experience of owning the console day to day.

The Case Is Now Clear

The Switch 2 that exists today is a substantially more compelling proposition than the one that launched. It's been built up through incremental system improvements, a slow but steady stream of quality releases, and a couple of genuine surprise hits — Pokopia chief among them. A healthy accessory ecosystem is starting to take shape around it too, which is always a good sign for a console finding its footing.

If you've been sitting on the fence, the wait has done you a favour. The library is stronger, the software is more polished, and the value case is clearer than it's ever been. I'd say it's finally time.

Your Backlog is Not a Burden, It's a Goldmine

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Backlog Doesn't Have to Feel Like a To-Do List

As a busy dad, I've already got enough games in my backlog to last a lifetime — and I know I'm not alone. For a lot of gamers, that backlog has become a genuine source of stress. It makes you rush through games you're actually enjoying, and feel guilty every time you buy something new.

I don't see it that way. Especially now, as games and hardware keep getting more expensive alongside everything else in our lives, I think it's time we started looking at the backlog differently. Not as a burden, but as a gold mine.

I'm not here to judge anyone who genuinely wants to work through their backlog or complete a specific series — I think that's a worthwhile goal. But if you're someone who feels a sense of dread every time you open your Steam library, or apathy when you can't decide what to play, then I think there's a better way to think about all of this.

Toxic Productivity in our Hobbies

I wonder if the whole obsession with clearing the backlog is really just toxic productivity spilling over into our hobbies, as it's done with so many other parts of our lives. We're comparing our game collections to an overflowing inbox or a work to-do list — but why? We don't treat books or records that way. People stack their shelves with both and nobody expects them to have read or listened to everything on there. So why does a collection of video games carry so much weight?

Part of it comes down to cost. Games are generally much more expensive than books, and seeing them all laid out in a digital storefront is a constant reminder of what you've spent. The internet doesn't help either — spoilers are everywhere, so leaving a game unplayed for too long feels genuinely risky.

Then there's the environment those storefronts create. Steam in particular is full of triggers designed to get you spending rather than playing. And a lot of the games clogging up our backlogs aren't even ones we actively chose — they arrived via PlayStation Premium or Game Pass, filler titles bundled in to make subscriptions feel like better value than they are. From there it's a short hop to Steam sales, where a game you were only mildly curious about suddenly looks unmissable at 80% off, even though you're far more excited about something releasing next week at full price.

Being patient and waiting for the right price on specific titles is a smart approach, but it takes planning and real discipline. Switching off sale notifications or removing the store apps from your phone entirely is a small change that can make a surprisingly big difference.

Know Your Own Patterns

There's also something to be said for actually knowing yourself as a gamer. I took the time last year to go through my Steam and Nintendo year-in-review data and tried to work out which games I was genuinely playing and for how long. A clear pattern emerged: I tend to reach around the 18-hour mark in a game and then either stall out or commit fully and sink hundreds of hours into it.

That data was genuinely useful. It gave me a clearer sense of which games have the staying power to keep me engaged all the way through, and it also helped me identify the trigger points that cause me to drop something — whether that's burnout, fatigue, or just a type of game I should probably stop buying in the first place.

It's a simple exercise, but understanding your own habits takes a lot of the guilt and guesswork out of how you engage with your library.

Your Backlog is a Rainy Day Fund

Here's the reframe I've found most useful: think of your backlog as a rainy day fund. There are almost certainly titles sitting in there that you're genuinely excited to play — you just haven't got around to them yet. In a period where new releases are getting harder to justify financially, that backlog could easily see you through the next two or three years without having to spend a penny.

This is a much more forgiving way to approach it. Don't dwell on the money spent or the storage space taken up. Instead, see it as an opportunity — a ready-made library of games waiting for the right moment. It's also a great excuse to dust off some older hardware and revisit games you haven't touched in years.

Play at your own pace. Drop something if it's not holding your attention. And don't feel like you can't buy a new game if you're genuinely excited about it — I'm looking forward to Pokémon Champions next week, and I'm not going to feel bad about that. There's already far too much grinding in video games themselves for us to treat the entire hobby like a job.

The backlog isn't a list of failures. It's a collection of possibilities. Start treating it that way.

XGIMI MoGo 4 | A Truly Portable Projector

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Built to Go Anywhere

The MoGo 4 has exceptional build quality for a product in this price range, and that matters — if you're going to be carrying this thing around, you need to trust it'll survive the journey. It's a shame the base unit doesn't come with a carrying case, though third-party options are easy enough to find on Amazon. Beyond that, this is a solid, well-considered design. The body reminds me of a Sonos One speaker: roughly the same footprint, a little taller, and with a similarly premium feel in the hand.

There's a lens protection feature built into the hinge that keeps the business end of the projector safe when it's not in use. A small magnet point on the lens housing lets you attach the optional creative filters, which unlock the ambient display modes. Hidden beneath the hinge you'll find an HDMI port and a USB-A port for connecting a flash drive or powering something like a Fire Stick. On the opposite side there's a power button and a USB-C port, used both for charging via the built-in cable and for connecting to the power stand.

That power stand is genuinely worth picking up. It doubles as a tripod, extends battery life from two and a half hours to five, and is built from quality materials that inspire real confidence — it has never felt remotely likely to topple. It also has a standard tripod thread if you'd rather use your own mount. Unscrew it and it's portable enough to take with you. When the MoGo 4 is attached, it can rotate a full 360 degrees on both a vertical and horizontal axis, which means it can truly be pointed at any surface in any room.

Smart Setup, Smart Features

Getting up and running is straightforward. The MoGo 4 runs Google TV, so all your usual streaming services are available over Wi-Fi, and the setup process is quick and painless. The auto-adjustment and keystone correction kick in noticeably faster than other projectors I've used, which is a small but genuinely appreciated quality-of-life win.

You get two remote controls in the box. One is a compact travel remote covering the basics, handy if you don't want to carry the full controller around. The main remote is where you'll do most of your navigating — it handles source switching, has dedicated buttons for YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video, a customisable shortcut slot, and an angular volume slider that gives it a bit of personality compared to something like an Apple TV remote. Both are battery powered, and a set of batteries is included out of the box.

The ambient mode is a nice touch. When you're using the MoGo 4 as a Bluetooth speaker, it displays generative colour visuals rather than sitting there looking like a blank screen. It's a small detail, but it adds to the sense that this is a thoughtfully designed object rather than just a functional one.

Picture Quality: Good Enough Is Actually Great

On paper, the MoGo 4's specs could seem unimpressive. 1080p at 60fps and 450 lumens is not going to win any benchmark comparisons. But specs rarely tell the full story with a device like this, and the MoGo 4 is a good example of why.

The sharpness is genuinely impressive. Blowing a 1080p image up to 120 inches sounds like a recipe for soft, unfocused visuals, but the image stays crisp and the overall experience is immersive in the way that only a big projection can be. The MoGo 4 simply adapts to whatever surface you point it at, scaling the image to fill the available space without any fuss.

There are a couple of areas where it falls short, though. The hardware locks the projection into HDR10, but at 450 lumens there isn't enough brightness to handle that dynamic range properly — you'll notice clipping in bright areas when watching HDR content, particularly on Netflix. Colour accuracy in general isn't quite where you'd want it out of the box, with some colours skewing oversaturated or slightly warm, though there are enough settings to dial things in if you're willing to spend time tweaking. These are real limitations, but whether they matter depends entirely on what you're looking for. If you want reference-grade colour fidelity, this isn't the projector for you. If you want a big, immersive screen that you can point at the ceiling or a bedroom wall, the MoGo 4 delivers exactly that.

Sound That Works for the Room

The Harman Kardon speakers built into the MoGo 4 are solid for a device of this size. The clarity is good, though they lack a little in the low end and can sound slightly trebly as a result. More interestingly, XGIMI have opted for a 360-degree speaker configuration, which means the audio sounds consistent regardless of where you're sitting relative to the projector.

Higher-end systems tend to fire sound in a fixed direction to match your visuals, which can create a mismatch if the projector isn't directly in front of you. The MoGo 4 makes no assumptions about placement, and the omnidirectional approach is the right call for a portable device that could end up in any configuration. Sit in front of it or slightly behind it for the best experience, but the honest answer is that it sounds decent from almost anywhere in the room.

Gaming on the Go

The 60Hz refresh rate might look like a limitation on a spec sheet, but in practice it's not much of a compromise for the kind of gaming this projector is built around. The latency is impressively low, which makes it a genuinely good match for handheld consoles like a Steam Deck or a Legion Go S — and realistically, those devices are unlikely to push much beyond 60 frames per second for most games anyway. Gaming on a projected image that fills your wall is a different experience entirely from gaming on a handheld screen, and the MoGo 4 makes that jump feel natural.

Final Thoughts

The MoGo 4 has made me think differently about how I watch content and play games at home. So much of what I do — handhelds, tablets, phones — has become a solitary experience. This is the first device in a long time that has made me want to bring people together: get some mates round, watch a Liverpool game, turn the living room into something closer to a shared experience. It invites people in rather than shutting them out.

At full price you're looking at £509, though it was down to £359 at the time of filming, with additional cost for the power stand and accessories. I'd strongly recommend the stand — it genuinely transforms the experience. Disclosure: this unit was sent out to me by XGIMI.

My recommendation: If you want a versatile, truly portable projector for movie nights, gaming, and everything in between, and you can live with the HDR and colour limitations, the MoGo 4 is one of the most well-rounded options available at this price.

Retroid Pocket 6 (8GB) | A Casual Gamer's Review

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Doing It All Wrong

It's so easy to get drawn into the hype of more exciting and dynamic handheld designs than the Retroid Pocket 6. But having played it for over a month now, I've realised I've been doing it all wrong, because this is exactly the kind of form factor I should have begun with.

Let's be fair to Retroid here, because they did initially give the community a choice between the form factor we see today and one that looked a little more like a PSP. Arguably, the alternative design had a bit more punch to it, but at least Retroid gave us the option of choosing between D-pad up top or joysticks up top. Alongside a choice between 8 GB and 12 GB of RAM, you actually get a decent amount of customisation in terms of how you want your Retroid Pocket to look. In my case, I went with D-pad up top and 8 GB of RAM because I always envisioned this as more of a sidekick to my more powerful PC handhelds.

Right after I finished recording this video, Retroid announced they would have to discontinue the 12 GB version of the RP6 and increase the price of the 8 GB model to $244 before shipping. It's a pretty bitter pill to swallow, especially because it's all down to surging RAM prices at the hands of AI companies. This video does focus on the 8 GB version, though, so perhaps it's even more useful in that context. You've still got that Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, which is really compatible across loads of different systems and can even stretch to some Windows emulation. It is a real shame, but all is not lost.

You're also getting a 5.5-inch AMOLED display that runs all the way up to 120 Hz with a 550-nit max brightness setting. Combine that with a 6,000 mAh battery and Wi-Fi 7, and this is a seriously capable device.

The Perfect Starter Handheld

If you own a previous generation of the Retroid Pocket, you probably won't be running to pick this up in a hurry. But if this is your first handheld, what you'll find is something specced out to perfection for beginners. Even the setup and onboarding process is made a lot easier for people new to handheld emulation than some of the other devices I've tested recently.

The Retroid Pocket 6 game launcher is something you want to avoid no matter what your experience level, but at least Retroid gives you the option to install some of the common emulators as part of the onboarding flow. You'll want to check out some of these projects on GitHub or the Android Play Store to grab the most up-to-date versions, but it's a nice way of walking you into the hobby if you're completely new. After that, there will be quite a bit of tinkering to get everything set up exactly how you like it, but there are loads of guides online that will help you through it. I wanted to keep this a pretty simple, low-maintenance device, so I've personally gone with a front end called Beacons, which is just a really straightforward way of getting into your games.

From GBA to GameCube (and Beyond)

I've got an original GBA cartridge of Pokémon Leaf Green. I've also just bought Fire Red on the Nintendo Switch 2, but the Retroid Pocket 6 is kind of the perfect form factor for playing through games like this, and no amount of Switch 2 cope is going to convince me otherwise. Sure, you can get a perfect aspect ratio on some other handheld devices, but the OLED display means those black bars aren't quite as distracting as they would be on an LCD, and this form factor just creates such a cosy experience for GBA games, helped further by having that D-pad up top.

Where this device really feels at home, though, is playing PSP games. It just makes me wonder if that alternative form factor would have been even better in this regard. Either way, it runs through PSP titles without so much as a hiccup, and the form factor feels really native. Even some PlayStation 1 games were quite D-pad-centric at the time, so playing something like SmackDown! 2 with all the movement on the D-pad feels great. I've actually found this to be an amazing little device for playing through wrestling games.

GameCube games run really well on the Dolphin emulator, and having access to two back buttons is pretty useful if you need to map the Z button somewhere. The RP6 is also a great device for Dreamcast emulation; you can get your widescreen cheats running and everything performs smoothly.

It is very easy, though, to pick up one of these devices with aspirations of playing through all your old nostalgic classics and then just end up emulating Steam games through Game Hub. This is where the amount of RAM starts to make a difference. Blueprints, for example, is playable but kind of a stuttery mess, not really hitting a consistent frame rate just under 30. I've struggled through it at nighttime purely because it's so convenient on this form factor, but it's definitely not the best experience. The Steam game that's actually sucked me in the most on the Retroid Pocket 6 has been Shogun Showdown. It really makes the most of that OLED display, and it's the perfect bedtime game to just knock out before you fall asleep.

Silver, Nostalgic, and (Mostly) Beautiful

I've already covered the aesthetics and general ergonomics of the Retroid Pocket 6 in my first impressions video, but I want to recap on how comfortable and appealing I find it about a month later. I'm approaching my late thirties, and this silver aesthetic really reminds me of being a teenager. It's got such an amazing nostalgic kick, and I also think it's beautifully put together. At the same time, I do find myself a little jealous of people who've got the purple colourway, because I think that is gorgeous. For me, it really is a toss-up between those two.

To give you an idea of how it looks compared to other devices, it's a lot glossier than the iPhone Titanium or the Apple Silver line of MacBooks. It's actually a lot more like the silver section on my Miyoo Mini Plus, which is stainless steel, so the RP6 is a little lighter and a bit more robust than that plastic might suggest. It definitely feels like a glossier, shinier silver than some of the other silver products you're likely to own.

Upon closer inspection, though, I have started to notice that sheen disappear slightly. It's not as well put together as some other handhelds I've used. If you look really closely, you can see the join lines where the plastic mould has been put together. It's particularly noticeable on the main mould line that goes all the way around the device, and up by the triggers it can be a little unpolished and distracting. That said, I have not been babying this device. It's mostly lived on my bedside table, and I haven't taken much care to keep it in pristine condition. There are no noticeable scratches or rough-and-tumble damage so far, which bodes well for the future. That was my biggest concern when I first saw the painted plastic on the back, but it has held up well.

Controls and Comparisons

I'm still really happy I got the D-pad up top version, because even the Steam games I've been playing on this device have been D-pad-focused, and having the base model means it's not really powerful enough to rival other handhelds for modern titles. In my case, having the D-pad up top actually helps it fulfil a niche that some of my other handhelds don't really fill.

I feel like I've worked the buttons in quite a lot, particularly A and B, and now they are really silent, very responsive, and just overall great quality. I haven't used the joysticks too much. They do feel like they're slightly in the way of the face buttons at times, but there's quite a lot of tension in them, and for this size of handheld, they're pretty solid.

For a sense of scale, the Retroid Pocket 6 pretty much fits inside the screen of the Nintendo Switch 2, which is kind of cool and shows just how much more portable it is. Compared to the original Nintendo Switch, it's a little narrower but a little thicker because of those grips on the back. The Steam Deck, of course, is so wide to accommodate those touch pads that there's really no contest when it comes to throwing one in a bag. And compared to the Legion Go S, it's almost ridiculous how much smaller the RP6 is.

Final Thoughts

If I didn't have this channel, I'd probably find it a bit silly to own so many different handhelds. But I definitely think I'd be able to find a place for the Retroid Pocket 6 alongside any of my more serious options. It fulfils a great niche for me: something I can take in my bag or keep on my bedside table and play at nighttime without disturbing anyone.

Many of the RP6's quirks in design, and even that silver-and-purple aesthetic, make me think Retroid were really hoping the alternative form factor would win. It feels like a lot of the smaller decisions around this handheld were made with that other design in mind. Sure, these Retroid devices are converging into a very similar form factor, but if you're new to the hobby, that's actually perfect. For a more casual gamer who's fresh to the experience and maybe coming from a Nintendo Switch, it's better to have a design that isn't as opinionated as something like the AYANEO Pocket DMG or the Ayn Thor. The Retroid Pocket 6 offers a tried-and-true design that's fairly easy to pick up and start playing.

For that reason, I think most people should probably start here, or pick this up as a companion device to something much bigger like a Legion Go S for when you don't want to lug a large handheld around.

abxylute N6 | A High Stakes Handheld Pro Controller for Switch 2

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

What Is the abxylute N6?

The abxylute N6 is a Deck-style controller for the Nintendo Switch 2, designed to address two of the Joy-Con's most persistent criticisms: comfort and control quality. It's not an entirely new idea — the CRKD Nitro Deck has been doing something similar for a few years, and a Switch 2 version of that is also due soon. But abxylute brings enough of its own thinking to make the N6 worth a proper look.

One important caveat: this is a review unit provided by abxylute, and it's not the final retail version. There may be some differences between what's described here and what ships to customers.

Comfort and Ergonomics

Hold the N6 for a few minutes and you'll immediately understand the appeal. Where Joy-Cons are long, thin, and awkward to grip for extended sessions, the N6 sits naturally in the hands. Rounded sections slide into the palm, and the textured grips on the reverse give you something to actually hold onto. The Switch 2 slides into the dock securely — tight enough that there's no wobble around the USB port, which matters for long-term port health.

abxylute have also rotated the face buttons and left joystick away from the right joystick and D-pad, making it easier to rotate your thumbs between inputs. It's a small change, but one that makes a noticeable difference in day-to-day play.

Controls: A Genuine Step Up

If you spend any time with the N6's controls, it's clear that this is where abxylute have invested their energy. The D-pad is a traditional membrane style with good inputs and a satisfying bounce — a world away from the Joy-Con's individual directional buttons, which only exist in that form so they can double as face buttons in tabletop mode. For anyone picking up Pokémon Fire Red or any side-scrolling platformer on Switch 2, a proper D-pad like this is genuinely transformative.

The joysticks are noticeably more rigid than the Joy-Cons, which makes them better suited to shooters and anything requiring precise analogue input. They're also hall effect, which should help them hold up over time without developing drift. The ABXY buttons — fitting, given the brand name — are springy, smooth, and click back into position with confidence. Precision gaming on this device feels considerably better than on standard Joy-Cons.

The shoulder buttons and triggers are both clicky and well-positioned, sitting far enough down the grip that you don't need to arch your finger to reach them. The triggers in particular suit fast inputs rather than analogue control, so they're better suited to action games than something like Cyberpunk where nuanced trigger pressure matters.

abxylute have also included programmable back paddle buttons, set up by holding the end button and recording an input. They're well-placed, unlikely to be pressed accidentally, and clicky in a satisfying way. A dedicated camera button mirrors the Joy-Con's own, too — useful if that's something you actually reach for.

Sound and Haptics

One unexpected highlight is the speaker design. The N6 routes the Switch 2's downward-firing speakers into a small echo chamber, projecting sound out through two cutouts on the grip. abxylute claim a 10% volume increase and a fuller, bassier sound profile — and having used it, it does sound noticeably louder and rounder than the Switch 2 alone.

Haptics are a more complicated story. The Joy-Cons are genuinely class-leading when it comes to nuanced vibration, and the N6 doesn't replicate that subtlety. What it does offer is power — strong, adjustable rumble that you can dial in using the D-pad while holding the M button. It's a different experience rather than a worse one, but worth knowing if HD Rumble is important to you.

The Exposed Corners Problem

Here's the issue that will make or break the N6 for most people: the corners of the Switch 2 stick out completely. There's no protection around the edges of the screen, and no case is going to fix that while the N6 is attached. It's reminiscent of an upside-down PlayStation Portal — a device that has survived over two years of use without damage — but the Switch 2 simply isn't designed to have those areas exposed in the same way.

For home use, it's a reasonable risk. For putting the device into a rucksack, taking it on holiday, or anywhere it might get knocked around, it's a different calculation entirely. At $79, that's a meaningful concern — for that price, you'd want something that felt safe to travel with.

Final Thoughts

The abxylute N6 is a genuinely comfortable, well-built grip controller that makes a real difference to the Switch 2 experience at home. The controls are improved across the board, the ergonomics are a step change over the Joy-Cons, and the speaker enhancement is a welcome bonus. But those exposed corners are a hard limit on how versatile it can realistically be, and that's a significant trade-off at this price point.

My recommendation: If you primarily play in handheld mode around the house — especially if D-pad games are your thing — the N6 is worth serious consideration. If you need something you can confidently throw in a bag, keep looking.

Retroid Pocket 6 | Serious Y2K Vibes...

Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

A New Device, A Familiar Feeling

The Retroid Pocket 6 gives me serious Y2K nostalgia, and not just because of the silver aesthetic. It feels a little rough around the edges in a way that a lot of tech devices did back then, and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible.

This is my first ever Retroid device, and I'm coming to it directly from the AYN Thor, which is considerably more premium in terms of build quality and noticeably heavier. When I first picked up the Retroid Pocket 6, I was genuinely surprised at how light it is. Weight can be deceptive, though. We tend to associate heft with quality, but after ten or eleven hours of playing over the past few days, I've come to appreciate that the build quality here is actually quite good. The issues are more about design and ergonomics than construction, and those are what stop the RP6 from reaching up into the same category as something like the Thor.

The Retroid Pocket 6 ships with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and is configurable both in terms of storage and D-pad layout. You can get the D-pad above the left joystick, as I have, or below it in the more traditional position. I went for the base 8GB model with the D-pad on top, partly to lean into that Y2K portable aesthetic I was already drawn to.

The Silver Aesthetic

I'm really glad I went with the silver colourway. I originally had a different colour on my order, but I emailed Retroid to switch it over and they got back to me within a day or two. They also kept my original position in the queue, which meant I still received the device in an early batch. It was a small but genuinely appreciated gesture.

The silver itself is a layered, textured affair that reminds me strongly of early 2000s consumer electronics. I still have my old MiniDisc player from my teenage years, and the parallels are striking: the way different shades and finishes of silver are stacked onto the design, with metallic-looking ring plates around the thumbsticks and face buttons, and similar accents around the front-facing speakers. The faceplate running over the display has an almost metallic sheen, and if you look closely, there's a subtle sparkle in the paint underneath it. It's a surprisingly complex-looking finish for what is, in theory, a monochrome design.

The main concern I have with the finish is longevity. The body is painted rather than moulded in colour, which gives it that brilliant glossy look but also means it's likely to show scratches over time, in bags, on tables, the usual wear and tear. You might want to think about some protection if you're precious about that. There's also been some discussion online about the lack of a grippy texture on the back, and I understand that criticism. The back does have some texture, but it's the sort that wedges the skin of your fingers into it in an uncomfortable way rather than actually aiding grip. Most people will probably care more about how a device feels after an hour of gaming than how it looks on a shelf, and on that front the RP6 makes some trade-offs.

Ergonomics: The Good and the Cramped

The best thing about the Retroid Pocket 6 is its size. The 5.5-inch AMOLED display looks absolutely beautiful, and having it in such a compact, portable form factor is genuinely brilliant. But being this small does come with real ergonomic compromises.

The buttons sit on a near-vertical axis and feel noticeably cramped. When I was playing Pokémon Leaf Green on the Game Boy Advance emulator, it wasn't too much of a problem, as that game leans heavily on the A button and D-pad, so your hands stay fairly spread out. But switch to PSP titles where you're regularly pressing the face buttons alongside the joystick, and things get uncomfortable quickly. The left joystick constantly butts up against your thumb as you press B to tap through dialogue, and I found myself having to adopt an awkward claw grip to compensate. That's not something you want to sustain over a long session.

A few other niggles: the volume buttons and power button sit in positions that require you to take your hand off the device to reach them, which is irritating mid-game. The rear triggers are sensitive enough that I find myself accidentally pressing them while just shifting the device in my hands, which is not ideal when playing Pokémon, where that brings up a screen I have no interest in. I've also noticed a small amount of input lag on the D-pad when transitioning from down to left; I have to fully release one direction before the other registers cleanly. I haven't experienced this on other hardware running the same games, so I suspect it's either a hardware quirk or something in the emulation.

On the positive side, the buttons themselves are satisfyingly quiet (great for late-night gaming), and I love the transparent effect on the silver model. With the joystick LEDs switched on, the light shines up through the translucent face buttons and illuminates them from below. It looks really lovely in the dark. The triggers also have a clicky, tactile feel reminiscent of the AYN Thor, and they worked nicely when I played a bit of Die Hard Vendetta on GameCube, with throwing grenades feeling appropriately satisfying.

Setup and Software

I've been focusing on Game Boy Advance, PSP, and dipping into GameCube, and one of the genuine pleasures of coming to the RP6 after the AYN Thor is just how straightforward it all feels. There are fewer in-device controls to navigate, and the quick-access panels keep everything close to hand without being overwhelming: swipe from the side for settings, swipe down from the top for things like frame rate.

I've installed Beacon as a front end, and it's the first time I've actually bothered to set one up on any device. It only took about fifteen minutes and costs around £2.50 in the UK, which is a negligible outlay for what you get: a clean, minimal interface with a nice selection of themes. I've set mine up with a rain background that shifts between light and dark mode depending on the time of day, and I've added some background audio too: a blend of ambient rain and a quiet piano track I put together from a couple of Epidemic Sound pieces. I want to feel calm when I sit down to game on this thing, not hyped up. Beacon makes it easy to organise favourites and browse by system, and it's made the whole experience feel a lot more considered.

Is It Worth It?

The display alone is a strong argument for the Retroid Pocket 6. At 550 nits brightness with full AMOLED dynamic range, it's gorgeous for the price, at just over $200, or roughly the same in pounds. In bed with the brightness wound right down, it's a near-perfect bedside device. The compact size, the aesthetic, the capable chip, and that stunning screen make a genuinely compelling package.

The ergonomic issues are real, though, and anyone planning to spend long sessions with games that demand more from the controls should factor that in. This is a first impressions piece, and things may shift as I spend more time with it, but right now the RP6 sits clearly in the mid-range: not a budget device, not a premium one, but a very stylish and capable handheld with a few frustrations that keep it from being truly great.

A full review is coming once I've had more time with it. In the meantime, I'm going to go and work on my Colin McRae Rally skills.

The Gamer Dad's Ultimate Survival Guide

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Gaming and Parenthood Aren't Mutually Exclusive

When you've got a child on the way, it's natural to feel anxious about how your life might change and whether you'll still have time for the passions that made your life special before. As soon as that child is in your arms, though, you'll realise that becoming a parent does fundamentally change who you are — and your priorities will shift, not because they have to, but because you actually want them to.

At the same time, if you want to be a good parent, it's important to hold on to some semblance of yourself and find space for your own hobbies and progression. Despite what you might have been told, gaming is a perfect outlet for exactly that.

What Games Can Teach You About Being a Dad

There's actually quite a lot about fatherhood we can learn from certain games. God of War and God of War Ragnarök tell the story of Kratos — someone who has to step away from the person he used to be and into the role of a father who wants to protect his son at all costs, and who later has to contend with the prospect of letting him go his own way. Similar stories exist throughout the Yakuza series and The Last of Us. Whether those stories end well or not, there's always something to take from them.

Gaming can also teach you habits you didn't know you needed. In my twenties, I was completely prone to procrastination — spending hours staring at the wall because I couldn't rouse myself from whatever paralysis I found myself in. During lockdown, I got into Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, and started to see the value of doing a little bit of something each day and building small micro-routines that cascade into something greater. I didn't fully understand what I was doing until I later read Atomic Habits by James Clear, but I was flexing that muscle of building good habits — habits that are essential when you're looking after kids.

The Three Big Constraints: Time, Energy, and Money

You don't need some grand moral justification to keep gaming after becoming a parent. But what you will need is a release. And if gaming is your favourite hobby or the place you go to escape the pressures of real life, then parenthood is actually a great time to find the games you enjoy — you'll just have to change the way you play them.

The three biggest constraints as a parent gamer are time, energy, and money. Your routine will keep shifting as your child gets older, and it's really about finding pockets of time you can use for yourself. If they're young enough to nap, that could be the perfect window to squeeze in an hour or so of gaming. When they're very young, you'll often get "nap trapped" — your kid falls asleep on you, you can't move, and the only option is to quietly pick up a controller. Just make sure you switch off all the sounds and vibrations first.

Beyond naps, you're looking at early mornings or late nights once everyone else has gone to bed. If you're lucky enough not to need much sleep, this is the perfect time for your own projects and hobbies. Family members who help with childcare are also golden opportunities — not exclusively for gaming, but definitely for catching up on everything you need for yourself.

Adjust Your Expectations (and Your Game Library)

One thing you'll have to completely readjust is how long it takes to get through a game. It took me around eight months to finish the main story of God of War Ragnarök, and there are plenty of games I simply haven't been able to reach the end of.

You'll also want to think carefully about what you're playing. Anything you can't pause — competitive online games, battle royales — becomes incredibly difficult when a child could interrupt you at any moment. The only time I've ever been close to winning on Fall Guys, my son woke up and threw up all over me. That was the end of that.

Turn-based and strategy games, on the other hand, are ideal. You can put them down for five minutes and nothing changes. I've found myself doing the dishes or preparing bottles while thinking through my next move or planning a build for later. Open-world games that let you complete a side quest in thirty minutes are also great — at least you've made some progress and feel like you've actually done something. Cozy games that let you play gently without too much stress are another solid option. I found games like Elden Ring, for instance, left me so wired after a boss fight that I had too much adrenaline to sleep — which is the last thing you need when a child might wake up at any moment.

Gaming Together: It Gets Even Better

When your kids reach a certain age, they'll want to play with you — and this is where things can genuinely evolve. The most-played game in our house right now is Pokémon Snap, simply because it's accessible enough for my nearly-four-year-old to operate. I'm even considering Mario Party for the first time in my life.

I recently took my son Gabriel to the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, where they have a big gaming exhibit. We sat on a couch playing an old FIFA game together, both on the same side as Liverpool against Everton, just passing the ball back and forth. We drew nil-nil, but he was absolutely made up that he could pass and do little skills by accident. You just have to learn not to get frustrated if they're not playing the game "properly." He still hasn't worked out how to move characters with the joystick, so he just mashes face buttons — but we discovered that in Astrobot, he can practically carry a level on his own in the flying sections, and the pride on his face was something else.

The One Gaming Hack Every Parent Needs

For the times you do want to play on your own, there is one genuinely excellent hack: get into handheld gaming. Whether it's retro handhelds, a streaming device like the PlayStation Portal, or a full handheld gaming PC, the ability to play away from the TV — or even just beside it while the kids watch their programmes — keeps a low profile and means the controller is far less likely to get taken off you.

Being a parent gamer isn't about neglecting your kids. It's about finding the right balance between your priorities towards them and towards yourself. If you look after yourself, you'll be a much better parent for it.

A Casual Gamer's EDC (AYN Thor Edition)

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Why the Thor Made the Trip

A week at my in-laws' place in France meant limited time to myself, but a few late-night hours after everyone had gone to bed felt worth planning around. The AYN Thor was an easy pick. Its dual-screen OLED setup means it can handle an enormous range of systems, the clamshell form factor keeps it compact in a bag, and it doubles as a media tablet when you just want to watch something. It covers a lot of ground without taking up much space.

What I didn't anticipate was how much I'd end up leaning on single-screen mode. Games like Dr. Mario and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 turned out to be ideal for the kind of fractured gaming sessions you get as a parent — ten minutes at the airport, half an hour while waiting to pick someone up. Those sessions add up. I very nearly 100%'d Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 entirely in stolen moments like those.

The real surprise was how well the Thor handled proper PC emulation. Dispatch runs to around eight or nine hours for a single playthrough, which made it perfect for a one-episode-a-night approach over the break. That top OLED — only six inches, but genuinely stunning in terms of vibrancy and clarity — made it a pleasure to sit with each night. There were a few graphical glitches here and there, and the ABXY buttons being reversed from what's shown on screen led to some unintended dialogue choices, but overall it was a really solid experience. Battery life was impressive too — I only needed to charge it two or three times across the whole trip.

Carrying the Thor Day-to-Day

AYN make their own carry case for the Thor and it's well built — nice materials, a hand strap, and a TPU grip moulded perfectly to the device. The problem is the bulk. It's considerably larger than the Thor itself, which makes it awkward to slip into a bag alongside everything else you're carrying.

Just before the trip, Insta360 sent me a cross-body bag designed for cameras, and it turns out it's an almost perfect fit for the Thor once you leave the TPU grip at home. The top zips open cleanly, the interior layer holds the device snugly without putting any pressure on it, and there's a small zipped pocket for a stylus and a hidden compartment underneath for charging cables. It's also waterproof, which is a nice bonus. The neutral colourway with bright toggle accents is exactly the kind of outdoor gear aesthetic I tend to gravitate towards, and being able to wear it across your shoulder means the Thor is always within easy reach on public transport.

The Bigger Bag Option

When I'm heading somewhere that warrants taking more kit — or a bulkier handheld — I reach for the CRKD Pro Gamer carry case. CRKD are best known for the Nitro Deck, which I reviewed and wasn't entirely won over by, but this carry case is genuinely excellent regardless of your feelings about their controllers.

The main compartment is deep and wide, with a magnetic flap that keeps larger handhelds in place. A Switch in a Killswitch case, a Steam Deck, a Legion Go S — it handles all of them comfortably, and there's still room left over for accessories. I keep my reading glasses in there these days, along with a Joy-Con adapter for tabletop mode and the magnetic adapters that go with it. A hidden zipped pouch handles cartridges and cables, a front compartment offers more storage than it looks like it should, and the inner lining pockets are handy for smaller items you don't want rattling around loose. You can even slot a vertical handheld into those inner pockets, so if you want to travel with a handheld PC and a retro device simultaneously, there's genuinely enough room to do it.

Audio and Power

For everyday use, the AirPods 4 remain my go-to. The noise cancellation hits a sweet spot — enough to take the edge off street noise without making you feel cut off from your surroundings, and the Apple device integration is seamless. The slight catch is that a lot of these handhelds run Android or Linux, and while you can pair AirPods to something like the Thor or a Steam Deck, it's not quite as frictionless.

For those situations, I've been using the Sony Pulse Explores. The planar drivers deliver genuinely impressive spatial audio, particularly through the PlayStation Portal, and having them paired to multiple devices simultaneously is convenient once it's set up. The setup process itself, though, is a frustration — holding a button for twelve seconds to establish a connection doesn't make for a smooth experience. The case is also notably bulkier than the AirPods 4, and getting the earbuds seated correctly when putting them away can feel unnecessarily fiddly. They do a good job; they're just not a joy to use.

For power on the go, an Anker battery pack has been serving me well for a while now. The built-in stand lets you prop your phone up on a plane tray table for media or controller-based gaming, and it's compact enough to be genuinely portable. I also use it around the house more than I'd like to admit, largely because handheld PC battery life still isn't quite where it needs to be.

Final Thoughts

The everyday carry setup is always evolving, and the Thor has slotted into mine more naturally than I expected. The Retroid Pocket 6 is on my radar for later in the year, so if that's something you're curious about too, it's worth keeping an eye out.

I Traded Doom Scrolling for Handheld Gaming. Here's what happened...

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Phone Problem Nobody Talks About

Social media platforms are getting harder to justify by the day. Flooded with AI-generated slop, staged interactions, and algorithmically-tuned outrage, they leave you feeling worse for having opened them — and yet you keep going back. That's not a personal failing; it's by design. These apps are quite literally engineered to hack your brain chemistry in service of advertisers.

The most insidious part isn't the content itself — it's the automatic reach. You look down and your phone is already in your hand, and you have no idea how it got there. Breaking that reflex is the real first step to loosening social media's grip.

Why Gaming Is a Surprisingly Good Replacement

Gaming isn't a perfect alternative, but it has one crucial advantage: it demands more of you upfront. There's a higher bar to opening a game and getting started, which means it doesn't lend itself to the same mindless, reflexive reach. And once you're in, you're genuinely in — immersed rather than passively consuming.

At its best, gaming brings together more forms of media than almost anything else. Titles like Dispatch can deliver storytelling and visuals that rival prestige television. Puzzle and strategy games keep your mind active and sharpen your problem-solving. The music, sound design, and voice acting in modern games represent genuinely deep creative fields. And when everything clicks, a great game can put you into a flow state that melts the stress of the day away in a way that no Instagram reel ever could.

There's also something for every mood. A cosy management game helps you decompress and organise your thoughts. A competitive shooter gets the blood pumping. A sprawling RPG offers escape into a world that rewards your attention over dozens of hours. Even something like Fortnite, for all its flaws, can be a genuine way to spend time with friends who don't live nearby.

Watch Out — Gaming Has Its Own Doom Loops

Here's where it gets complicated. Many modern games are deliberately designed to replicate the worst parts of social media, keeping you engaged through the same dopamine manipulation rather than through genuine enjoyment.

Loot boxes are the most obvious offender. They front-load the rewards to get you hooked, then slowly throttle them so that the only way to maintain that hit is to spend real money. Even well-regarded RPGs like Metaphor: ReFantazio aren't immune — the grind of levelling up characters or hunting specific items can start to feel uncomfortably similar to scrolling a feed if you're not paying attention.

Then there's the digital storefront problem. Steam, PlayStation, Nintendo — they all have polished, always-accessible shops that make it very easy to keep adding to a backlog you'll never clear. Having the Steam app on your phone is particularly dangerous; it collapses the distance between a passing thought and an impulse purchase. And the culture around gaming — Reddit threads, comment sections, discourse — can pull you into exactly the kind of rage-bait rabbit holes you were trying to escape.

Retro Gaming as a Safe Haven

If modern gaming sometimes feels like it's working against you, older games almost never do. Go back to titles from the '90s or early 2000s and you'll find a noticeably different pace — slower, steadier, and completely free of the engagement mechanics that have infected so much of what's released today.

Developers of that era were working within tight memory and hardware constraints, which forced them to prioritise creativity and playability above all else. When you bought an N64 cartridge, you got the whole game. No day-one DLC. No online subscription required to play with friends. No achievement system nudging you to keep going past the point you stopped having fun. The experience began and ended on its own terms.

There's also something to be said for the treasure hunt aspect — rummaging through charity shops for old games is, rather pleasantly, something that actually gets you out of the house.

Try the Experiment

Next time you feel the pull of an evening spent doom scrolling, pick up a game instead. Play for an hour or two, then stop and notice how you feel. The contrast tends to be striking. Gaming, at its best, is proactive rather than passive — you're doing something, solving something, experiencing something — and that distinction matters more than it might sound.

The goal isn't to swap one compulsion for another. It's to be deliberate about where your attention goes, and to choose things that leave you feeling better rather than worse. Games, chosen carefully, can do exactly that.

The Handhelds That Got Me Through The Year

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A Year Worth Escaping From

2025 wasn't an easy year — for me or for the world in general. Handheld gaming became something of a lifeline: a reliable way to step away from the noise and disappear into an imaginary world for a while. This isn't a roundup of the best devices that launched in 2025. It's a tribute to the five handhelds that actually got me through the year, whatever year they came out.

AYN Thor — Handheld of the Year

The Thor is my favourite handheld of 2025 by some distance. On the surface it resembles a Nintendo DS, but you don't need to be a DS enthusiast to get enormous value out of it. The 6-inch top OLED is among the best displays I've ever gamed on — vibrant, sharp, and genuinely stunning. Below it sits a 3.92-inch OLED that can be used independently or combined with the top screen for dual-screen gaming. That flexibility means the Thor handles almost any form factor you throw at it: GBA games on the bottom screen, PS1 on top, or native 3DS gaming across both.

Windows emulation on Android has come on considerably, so lightweight Steam games are now viable on the Thor too. Pair all of that with the clamshell form factor and up to eight hours of battery life, and you've got something genuinely confident to travel with. It's the device I packed for Christmas at my in-laws — perfect for a couple of hours of cosy gaming after the kids have gone to bed. The fact that you can also access streaming subscriptions and VPN apps on it is a genuinely useful bonus.

Legion Go S — The House Powerhouse

For raw handheld PC performance at a price that doesn't require a second mortgage, the Legion Go S is hard to beat. I've got the Z1 Extreme version running SteamOS, and it's become my daily driver for gaming around the house. The 8-inch LCD display challenges everything you thought you knew about non-OLED screens, and the ergonomics are arguably the best in the category. Games like Metaphor: ReFantazio and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle run beautifully on it.

Its limitations are real, though. The fans get loud under load, and the battery life is poor enough that I rarely take it out of the house — a trip to Barcelona taught me that lesson when it died before I even reached my destination. But as an at-home handheld PC at a still-reasonable price point, it's an exceptional machine.

Nintendo Switch 2 — Complicated, But Undeniable

I'll be honest: the Switch 2 didn't live up to expectations. The display is fairly underwhelming, it's uncomfortable to hold without a grip, and the game library still feels thin. And yet it's the handheld I've spent the most time with since it launched. That's largely down to Yakuza 0: Director's Cut shipping with it — a series I'd never have explored otherwise, and one I promptly became obsessed with for the rest of the year. I'm now through to Yakuza: Like a Dragon 2 with the third entry due in February.

The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet update finally prompted me to finish the DLC, and being able to play competitive Pokémon on a bigger, brighter screen was genuinely enjoyable. What the Switch 2 still needs is more software like Donkey Kong Bananza — games that actually justify its existence rather than things that could have run on the original. It feels like a Switch Pro for now. But I'm glad I have one.

PlayStation Portal — A Slow Burner That Came Good

The Portal launched to a fairly muted reception, and that was fair at the time. But compare it today to what it was at launch and it's almost a different device. We've gone from simple PS5 streaming to accessing PlayStation's broader game library and, for those with a PlayStation Premium subscription, even a selection of your own digital purchases — no PS5 required. It's a remarkable turnaround.

What the Portal does better than any streaming alternative is feel like a proper controller. Because it's essentially a DualSense split in two, you get the full haptics and adaptive trigger experience that makes PlayStation's controllers so distinctive. That targeted, console-quality feel is why I'd always reach for the Portal over streaming via an app on a Steam Deck. Wi-Fi reliability has improved significantly with updates too, and you can now troubleshoot your connection directly on the device, which helps.

iPad Mini — Don't Sleep on It

For anyone not ready to commit to a dedicated handheld, the iPad Mini deserves more credit than it gets as a gaming device. I've gone back and forth on the iPad's identity over the years, but the Mini sidesteps all of that — it's just a brilliant, compact tablet that happens to be very good for gaming.

Snap on a controller like the Backbone One or my personal favourite, the EVO Vagabond — which is light, well-balanced, and makes no real compromises on quality — and you've got something that feels genuinely comfortable to hold for extended sessions. The game library is broader than people assume: Red Dead Redemption is now on iOS, Football Manager 26 Touch scratches a particular itch, and if you have a Netflix subscription, a decent selection of games comes included. Emulators run on it too. It's versatile, approachable, and worth taking seriously.

Here's to whatever 2026 brings — and to the devices that'll help us get through it.

Analogue 3D | A Casual Gamer's Review

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

An FPGA-Core Memory

My most vivid memory of the N64 is finding it a few weeks before Christmas, hidden in my parents' bedroom. My brother and I couldn't help ourselves — we loaded up Wrestlemania 2000 and played through a full game. Of course, we got caught. The cartridge was confiscated, and we were in a lot of trouble. Twenty-odd years later, the Analogue 3D has landed on my doorstep just a week before Christmas, and it feels like a kind of cosmic reckoning. This truly modern reconstruction of the N64 is the sort of thing me and my brother could only have dreamt about back then.

Earlier this year, while helping my mum clear out my brother's old bedroom, I discovered that our original N64 had been completely destroyed by water damage. Nobody's quite sure how it happened, but it does underline why companies like Analogue exist — and why technologies like FPGA matter for keeping these old systems alive.

The Analogue 3D is a Time Machine

The Analogue 3D is not simply a one-to-one rerendering of the original console. It's 100% compatible with all original N64 cartridges regardless of region, works with your old controllers and accessories, and can output up to 4K 60fps. It also supports Bluetooth controllers and Wi-Fi. In person, it cuts a faithful but slightly sleeker figure than the N64 — which, looking at it now, has aged remarkably well in its own right.

The standard colourways are white and black, both of which look quietly elegant. I was lucky enough to pick up the gold version as part of a limited drop that came out in December. It's a point of genuine contention among loyal Analogue fans, many of whom had been waiting nearly two years on pre-orders for the white or black versions, only to see a range of additional colourways announced days later. It does feel like a kick in the teeth to those who committed earliest. Analogue also places a fair amount of pressure on customers outside of the US — I paid £49 in customs duty to ship mine to the UK — so those tensions are understandable.

That said, I'm personally very happy with the gold. To my eyes it reads more as a rose gold than a traditional gold, and I think it looks absolutely stunning. My main concern is longevity — given how often you'll be handling the console to swap cartridges, I do worry about it picking up scratches over time. Fingerprints seem to dissolve off the surface within a couple of seconds, which is at least a good sign.

Getting Set Up

Before you dive in, there is some initial tinkering to do. You'll need to update the firmware via SD card and, if you've picked up the 8BitDo 64 controllers, update those too. The console also includes a couple of cartridge cleaners, which is a thoughtful touch — years of grime can build up on old cartridges, and you really do want to sort that before inserting anything into a shiny new system.

The Analogue 3D will automatically detect the output settings your display supports when you plug it in. If you're on a monitor without 4K, the image may look quite small initially — that's where the "integer plus" option comes in, using integer scaling to stretch the image without losing the original aspect ratio. You can play at 50 or 60Hz depending on your display.

One frustration worth flagging: every time you swap cartridges, the console reverts to default display settings, which means frequent trips into the menus if you're cycling through games. Hopefully that's something a firmware update addresses in time. I'd also love to see Bluetooth headphone support added down the line — the hardware has the chip for it, it's just not enabled yet.

The Games Themselves

Nostalgia aside, the real `appeal of these retro systems is that they hold genuinely great games — titles that were foundational to the future of game development. There's something deeply satisfying about inserting a cartridge and simply being in the game, without online menus, force-fed multiplayer, or sprawling open worlds pulling your attention in a dozen directions.

Spending time with Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it becomes obvious just how different the design philosophy was. Modern JRPGs and live-service games are built around dopamine loops that keep you grinding and engaged through systems rather than through the game itself. The N64 classics found their heart in creativity, problem solving, and sheer fun in a way that many modern titles could still learn from.

Analogue seem to have this spirit in mind when designing their operating systems. As with the Analogue Pocket, the 3DOS is deliberately minimal — it gets out of the way and puts you into the game as quickly as possible. At times it can be a touch confusing, but the overall intention is clear and welcome.

The 8BitDo 64 Controller

A big part of the playing experience comes down to the controller, and this is where the Analogue 3D makes its most significant departure from the original hardware. Working in partnership with 8BitDo, Analogue have produced the 64 controller — a far more comfortable and ergonomic redesign that retains everything important about the original layout.

The six face buttons are in exactly the right positions, and the C buttons especially feel remarkably faithful to the originals. The joystick has moved to the upper left of the controller, above the D-pad — the contemporary standard — which feels much more natural for anyone used to modern systems, though your thumb may occasionally search for a second joystick that isn't there. The gate on the joystick is octagonal, which is important for certain games and a thoughtful detail. You also get Z1 and Z2 shoulder buttons, which means the controller translates well to other platforms — there's even a dedicated Switch mode for playing the N64 library via Nintendo Online.

My favourite feature, though, is the rumble. Switching into rumble pack mode, the feedback feels genuinely tactile and weighty for such a light controller — I was very impressed.

Final Thoughts

All in all, the Analogue 3D brings back the N64 in faithful and stunning style. It moves the technology forward in exactly the ways you'd want — 4K output, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi — while remaining true to the original console's design and spirit. If you already own controllers and a collection of cartridges, the outlay isn't as steep as it might seem. I paid $299 for the gold limited edition and picked up a couple of extra controllers at around $40 each. The £49 customs duty stings if you're in the UK, but compared to paying upwards of £150 for a secondhand N64 from somewhere like CEX, it starts to make a lot of sense.

Most of my old collection is still at my parents' house, so I'm looking forward to reclaiming it over Christmas and having the rather delicate conversation with my brother about which games actually belong to whom. For now, Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time are keeping me more than happy. I'm looking forward to building the library out through 2026, and eventually introducing my son to these games when he's old enough to be trusted with it in front of the TV downstairs.

My recommendation: If you grew up with the N64 and want the definitive modern way to play your cartridges, the Analogue 3D is an easy recommendation. Just budget for customs if you're outside the US.

They Just Can't Keep the Steam Deck Down...

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Come at the King, You Best Not Lose

More than three years on, there's no shortage of pretenders to the Steam Deck's crown. But Valve just keeps finding new ways to make the Steam Deck relevant.

To be completely open, since I picked up the Legion Go S, it's become my daily driver for PC gaming. It offers benefits like a larger screen, better performance, and potentially even more comfort. But despite the roll out of all these fancy new handhelds, there are still so many people who will just tell you to get a Steam Deck.

With conservative estimates putting the Steam Deck at around 8 million units sold worldwide, it’s precisely that scale of adoption that means the Steam Deck doesn't have to be as powerful as its rivals to compete in a very real sense.

Valve's Assault on Windows

Valve has been supporting—even directly funding—open source projects like Proton or Wine for over a decade. Because of this infrastructure, developers have enough goodwill with Valve to make sure games run well on their system.

They can have enough confidence to actually target its specs. We now even have developers like Larian Studios who've created their own runtime for Baldur's Gate 3 to really dial in to the Steam Deck's capabilities.

Indie Games Still Rock on the Steam Deck

We know the Steam Deck is not going to run AAA games at 120 FPS. One area that it does really excel in, though, is indie games.

Low TDP Efficiency: The Steam Deck is an absolute beast at low power draws. You can get a really good battery life out of it compared to many other handhelds.
The OLED Advantage: That OLED screen really does a lot of heavy lifting for indie titles. I've noticed a trend toward high-contrast design with lots of dark areas—games like Shogun Showdown look absolutely stunning.
The Experience: Playing Blue Prince this year embodied the essence of the Deck for me. Much like the game, I’ve slowly unpacked different areas of the Steam Deck and found things that really surprised me.

Compatability is King

The Steam Deck’s trackpads offer a brilliant solution for tabletop board game ports like Twilight Struggle that require a mouse. You also get four back paddles and great gyro support.

But the real cool thing is the community controller profiles. If you are struggling to map controls on any game in particular, the chances are somebody's already done it for you and you just have to search for that profile and you get off the mark.

Valve’s New Hardware Ecosystem

The overall experience of SteamOS just keeps getting better. Now, with the announcement of the Steam Machine and the Steam Frame, that support is only going to continue.

The Steam Machine is claimed to be six or seven times more powerful than the Steam Deck. You'll be able to stream that power over to your handheld and play with really high settings. Valve even pointed out that the Steam Machine will have the exact same SD card formatting as the Steam Deck. You'll simply be able to take it out of your machine, put it in your deck when you're on the go, and have access to all your games with no extra effort.

Every piece of Valve hardware is a wedge designed to further embed Valve in the wider gaming landscape and bring about this shift from Windows gaming to Linux or even Android.

While other manufacturers keep striving to push performance and price even higher, the Steam Deck is sitting pretty and maintaining a really good value for money.

AYN Thor | A Casual Gamer's Review

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

How AYN Finally Nailed the Dual Screen

Android devices have been edging toward this form factor for a while, but the AYN Thor is the first one that absolutely nails it. The clamshell design offers ultimate portability, and when you open it, you're greeted by two beautiful displays.

Up top, we have a 6-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate -the very same premium panel found in the AYN Odin 3. Down below, another OLED which comes in at 3.92-inches running at 60Hz. The way these two screens interact is incredible. Using default settings, you simply tap the display you want to operate, and the physical controls become active for that screen. The bottom screen also serves as a fantastic hub for settings while playing in single-screen mode.

Gaming Performance

The Thor comes in four main models, all running Snapdragon chips:

| Model | Storage | Ram | Chip | | ----- | ------- | ---- | ----- | | Lite | 128GB | 8GB | SD865 | | Base | 128GB | 8GB | 8Gen2 | | Pro | 256GB | 12GB | 8Gen2 | | Max | 1TB | 16GB | 8Gen2 |

As you'd expect, the Thor excels at DS emulation (via MelonDS) and 3DS emulation (via Citra). Beyond nostalgia though, you can run pretty much anything all the way up to Nintendo Switch emulation and Steam games courtesy of GameHub. While it won't hit the performance heights of a Steam Deck, it is perfect for loading up indie titles and even some AA games from your library. The 6,000 mAh battery provides between 2 to 8 hours of playtime depending on the intensity of the game.

Because it runs Android 13, you can use regular apps, such as Netflix and Disney+, making it versatile beyond gaming. Just note that the official PlayStation Remote Play app doesn't recognise the built-in controls. For streaming PS5, you'll want to use a third-party app like PXPlay.

Build Quality: Hinge and Controls

The launch of the Thor hasn't been without its growing pains. Being a dual-screen device, the hinge is a focal point. Some users have reported hairline cracks, which AYN have clarified are cosmetic blemishes from the molding process rather than functional failures. Whether you believe that or not, the result has left a lot of early customers feeling disappointed. The hinge snaps into three positions, just like an original DS, and you will find yourself swapping between viewing positions in different situations.

The A, B, X, and Y buttons are firm and clicky, though they can be a bit "squeaky" until you've worn them in. Honestly, they feel great for a device of this size. On the other hand, the triggers are woeful. Because they rotate around an axis, they feel almost like a water pistol. I'm not into them at all.

Despite the thumbsticks being slightly depressed so that the clamshell can close, they have a good amount of action and rigidity, making them a joy to game on.

Recommended Accessories

If you are picking up a Thor, you should consider accompanying it with a Nintendo Switch Stylus. A traditional DS stylus won't work on these screens due to its different display technology. However, this touch pen created for the Switch provides the precision needed for small touch targets and UI navigation, and unlike many Nintendo products these days, it doesn't actually cost that much.

In terms of AYN's own accessories, their dedicated grip slots underneath the device to provide a more comfortable, ergonomic experience in long sessions. It feels a lot more controller-like and is a must for those of us with larger hands.

AYN also offers a custom soft-shell case that fits the device and grip perfectly, as well as a transparent shell that protects the entirety of the device, while giving it a snugger, more secure fit into the TPU grip. You can even get a lanyard & pouch extra security when gaming on the go.

The "Tinkering" Factor

The trade-off for the Thor’s flexibility is the time required to set it up. This is not a "plug-and-play" console. You will spend hours, maybe even weeks, getting your emulators and front-end set up.

Even just mapping controls for every individual emulator can be time-consuming and frustrating. But I also know that's exactly what many handheld enthusiasts love about these devices! Just remember to actually play some games, once in a while...

Final Thoughts

The AYN Thor is a brilliant device that brings back childhood nostalgia while offering the power of a modern handheld. If you love to tinker and want a versatile dual-screen machine, the Thor is unmatched. However, if you lack the patience for 30-minute YouTube setup guides, you might be better off with a Steam Deck.

My recommendation: Go for the Pro or Max models. The extra power and storage are well worth the investment for a device this capable.

The Legion Go S is All I Need

Sat, 22 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Is Legion Go S the End Game?

The Legion Go S lacks an OLED display, detachable controllers, and a current-gen chip, yet it might still be the best handheld gaming PC for the average person. While it sits technically as the "awkward middle child" between the Steam Deck OLED and the original Legion Go, in practice, it feels like the ultimate sweet spot.

Why Bother with a Last Gen Chip?

The Legion Go S has become my go-to for PC gaming. While it won't run the latest titles flawlessly at ultra settings, it handles demanding games surprisingly well. I was able to run Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on Medium settings. Titles like Metaphor: ReFantazio run at 1080p/40 FPS without any setting tweaks, no doubt helped by its 32GB of RAM.

Unlike some competitors, it comes standard with a 1TB SSD, which is essential if you plan on installing modern, high-capacity games. Sure, the Legion Go 2 (with the Z2 Extreme chip) will offer better performance, but it is expected to cost nearly double the price of a Go S. For most people, that upgrade won't be worth it.

But it's not OLED...

The lack of an OLED panel is the biggest sticking point for many. However, the Legion Go S proves that a high-quality LCD can still be beautiful.

If you are switching from a Steam Deck OLED, you will notice a decrease in dynamic range, especially since the Go S lacks HDR compatibility. Darker game sections can feel like a compromise even with the 500 nits of brightness.

The "saving grace" is the 8-inch, 1920x1200 (16:10) display. The extra screen real estate is a game-changer for text-heavy RPGs or expansive environments—especially for those of us in our "reading glasses era." The 120Hz refresh rate and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) support do an excellent job of smoothing out performance dips caused by the older chipset.

Controls and Design

The Legion Go S is a much more focused, less "experimental" device than its predecessors. Lenovo jettisoned the detachable controllers for a fixed, all-in-one body, resulting in a more coherent and comfortable design.

To replace the "FPS/Mouse Mode" of the original, Lenovo added a tiny trackpad.While it’s no replacement for the Steam Deck’s dual pads, it is vital for navigating Windows pop-ups and game launchers.

You get two back buttons (compared to the Steam Deck’s four). If you rely on heavy input customisation, this might feel like a downgrade; for everyone else, it’s a more streamlined feel.

One of the best features is the choice of Windows or SteamOS preinstalled on your device. You don't have to deal with the "rigmarole" of installing Bazzite or third-party forks; you just pick your OS and go from there.

The Verdict

The Legion Go S is a (relatively speaking) modest device catering to console gamers or those who want an easy, pick-up-and-play experience. Its drawbacks—the older chip and the LCD screen—feel like intentional design choices to keep the price from becoming astronomical while maintaining a premium feel. Honestly, this thing is hard to put down.

$5 vs $500 Vertical Retro Handheld

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Five Handhelds, Five Very Different Price Points

Nothing hits you in the nostalgia quite like a retro gaming handheld that looks and feels like a Game Boy. But the vertical handheld space has exploded in recent years, and the range of what's available — in terms of both price and quality — is genuinely wild. From a $5 TikTok impulse buy to a $500 OLED powerhouse, here's what you actually get for your money.

The $5 Handheld: Surprisingly Decent Stocking Filler

At the bottom of the pile is a no-name retro handheld picked up on TikTok Shop for $5. The lightweight plastic feels cheap and a little scratchy, and the buttons are functional rather than satisfying. It has a 2.4-inch display with chunky bezels, a 6-hour rechargeable battery hidden under a small clasp, a front-facing speaker with a volume wheel, and — genuinely unexpected at this price — a headphone jack. It charges via USB Mini, and you can't access the memory card, so you're locked into the 500 games that come preloaded.

That "500 games" figure is generous. There are duplicates with different skins, and the library leans heavily on clones rather than authentic ROMs. That said, you will find recognisable titles in there — Contra, Streets of Rage style games, even Angry Birds. It works. It's not going to blow anyone away, but as a secret Santa gift or a stocking filler, it punches well above its price tag.

The $40–$80 Range: Where Things Get Genuinely Interesting

Step up to the $40–$80 bracket and the quality jump is immediately apparent. Two handhelds sit comfortably in this range and represent very different takes on the form factor.

The Miyoo Mini Plus is one of the most recommended handhelds in this price bracket, and for good reason. It runs a custom Linux skin designed to make ROM navigation as simple as possible, comes with RetroArch built in, and crucially lets you eject the SD card and load your own games. The translucent black body looks great, the buttons feel considerably more refined than the budget tier, and the 2.4-inch display has noticeably smaller bezels and better brightness. It charges via USB-C, has a removable battery, and can handle games all the way up to PS1. It's small enough to live in a bag or a car glovebox permanently — the kind of device you're genuinely glad to have when you're waiting somewhere unexpectedly.

The POWKIDDY V10 takes a slightly different approach, with a wider form factor that makes it a little more comfortable to hold for longer sessions. Its 3.5-inch 480x320 display is particularly well suited to Game Boy Advance emulation, and the proportions just feel right for that era of gaming. It has clicky triggers, a removable battery, a headphone jack, and can also push up to PS1. The wider body means it sits less easily in a pocket, but it's still the kind of device you won't be precious about — which is actually one of the most underrated qualities a handheld can have at this price.

The Analogue Pocket: An Enthusiast's Dream at ~$400

This is where things get serious. The Analogue Pocket is officially listed at $219 on the Analogue website, but once you factor in shipping and customs duty for UK buyers, the real cost lands closer to $400. Getting hold of one at all requires either patience — waiting for stock drops and hoping for the best — or a willingness to pay a premium on eBay.

If you do manage to get one, what you're holding feels unlike anything else in this roundup. It's almost as if Apple had designed a Game Boy. The translucent blue model in particular is stunning, with fine details throughout including the Analogue logo visible through the casing on the motherboard. It accepts original Game Boy and Game Boy Advance cartridges directly, meaning you can play your actual collection on modern hardware rather than emulating it. The 3.5-inch LCD display runs at 1,600x1,440 — roughly ten times the resolution of an original Game Boy — and offers multiple display modes that faithfully recreate everything from the original DMG green tint to the Game Boy Light and beyond. With firmware updates, software emulation extends all the way to the Sega Mega Drive.

The controls are excellent for their intended purpose, though they're very much designed around Game Boy rather than anything more complex. Playing a Mega Drive racing game, for instance, feels slightly awkward — the D-pad doesn't invite the same rolling inputs you'd use on original hardware. This is emphatically an enthusiast product, best suited to someone with an existing cartridge collection who wants to experience it in the best possible way. It's also the kind of device you'll be nervous taking on the bus.

The AYANEO Pocket DMG: Complete Overkill, and Worth Every Penny

At $419 on the AYANEO website — closer to $500 once shipping reaches the UK — the AYANEO Pocket DMG is the top of this particular pile, and it knows it. The 3.92-inch OLED display is gorgeous, especially in low-light environments, and the device runs Android, which makes it an extraordinarily flexible emulation platform. Dolphin for GameCube, Redream for Dreamcast, DuckStation for PlayStation — it handles them all, pushing emulation capability up to PS2 territory.

The control setup is genuinely unusual: one joystick pairs with a trackpad that doubles as a clickable mouse, switching between modes by holding start and select together. A "magic switch" on the side handles brightness, volume, and performance profiles, and a turbo button cycles between power modes on the fly. There is a fan inside, and at full performance it can get loud enough to compete with game audio — the balanced or gaming profiles are the sweet spot for most use cases.

This is a device for someone who is deeply committed to the vertical handheld form factor and knows exactly what they want to do with it. It's beautiful, premium, and arguably complete overkill — but sitting in a hotel room on a work trip working through a Dreamcast library on that OLED panel, it's hard to argue with.

Which One Is Right for You?

If you're new to retro handhelds, start cheaper. The Miyoo Mini Plus or POWKIDDY V10 will tell you everything you need to know about whether this hobby is for you without any real financial risk. If you already know you want something more, the Analogue Pocket is the premium pick for cartridge collectors, while the AYANEO Pocket DMG is the choice for anyone who wants the most powerful, flexible vertical handheld money can currently buy.

The PS Portal is No Longer Just a PS5 Accessory...

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A New Way to Play

The PlayStation Portal just received its biggest update to date, and the headline feature is a significant one: you can now cloud stream games directly from your digital library. Before version 6.0, the Portal offered two modes of play: stream from your PlayStation 5 at home, or stream from PlayStation's own cloud service for a limited selection of titles. That second option was always a bit of a footnote, constrained as it was to whatever Sony had seen fit to include.

The new update changes that calculus entirely. If your home network isn't playing ball, you can now route through the cloud instead and potentially get a smoother experience without touching your PS5. Better still, one person can now play on the TV while another uses the Portal to stream from the cloud, with no need to fight over the console. And perhaps most significantly, if you have a PlayStation Premium subscription, you can now buy a PlayStation Portal without ever owning a PS5. You're no longer at the mercy of Sony's curated cloud library either, because you're streaming your own games.

The Quality of Life Updates You Might Have Missed

The cloud streaming headline is easy to fixate on, but the version 6.0 quality of life improvements are genuinely worth talking about in their own right. The Portal now lets you troubleshoot your connection directly within the UI, removing the guesswork when things feel choppy. Press the PlayStation button to open the quick menu (handily, without getting fingerprints on the screen), navigate to the troubleshoot option, and a translucent overlay appears showing you real connection data: whether you're on a 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz band, your current latency, and frame rate quality.

From that same quick menu, you can also drop the resolution from 1080p to 720p if you're struggling, though you will need to restart the game for it to take effect. It's a small friction point, but at least the option is there and surfaced where you actually need it.

One other practical note on the cloud streaming experience: you can briefly put the display to sleep and wake it back up within roughly five to ten minutes and still return to where you left off. I do wish that window were longer but the trade-off makes sense (you're running on Sony's servers even with the display off), but it's a reminder that streaming still carries some inherent limitations.

A Redesigned Interface for a New Purpose

The main menu has been overhauled to reflect the Portal's expanded role. You can now clearly switch between three modes: streaming from your PS5, cloud streaming games from your own library, or browsing Sony's cloud streaming catalogue. It's a sensible structure that makes the device feel less like an appendage of your console and more like a platform in its own right.

There are also some smaller but welcome additions. You can manage your PlayStation Premium subscription directly on the device, which is essential if you're positioning the Portal as a standalone purchase. A passcode option has been added, along with accessibility improvements to make the display easier to read. None of these are showstoppers individually, but together they contribute to a device that feels more finished and self-contained than it did before.

What This Means for PlayStation's Future

Step back from the feature list and there's a bigger story here. We know Sony is working on a PlayStation 6 handheld, and it seems increasingly clear that the Portal has been the testing ground for the infrastructure that device will depend on. Sony recently disclosed that 5% of all US PlayStation 5 owners now have a Portal — a number that apparently surprised even them. That adoption, combined with the backend investment in cloud streaming, tells you a lot about where PlayStation is heading.

The most likely vision for the PS6 handheld is a lower-spec device that can run games natively but also leans heavily on the cloud streaming technology Sony has been building out through the Portal. The Portal, for all the criticism it received at launch for being "just a remote play device," has arguably given Sony the confidence and the infrastructure to make a true handheld a reality. I'm not sure we'd be getting one without it.

It still has limitations, of course, and streaming will never be quite the same as native hardware. But as a proof of concept and a platform for future ambitions, the PlayStation Portal has turned out to be a more interesting device than many gave it credit for. The question now is whether you see it as a stopgap or a genuine standalone option. Personally, I think the answer to that depends almost entirely on how good your internet connection is.

AYANEO Pocket DMG | A Casual Gamer's Review

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

That Game Boy Feeling

You don't need to spend more than five seconds with the AYANEO Pocket DMG to understand what it's going for. The vertical form factor, the four face buttons in a diamond, the soft grey colourway — it's a love letter to the original Nintendo Game Boy. AYANEO have leaned into the nostalgia hard enough to include a boot animation that mimics the original DMG-01's pea-soup LCD screen. It's a neat touch that will either delight you or leave you completely cold depending on your relationship with that particular piece of gaming history.

Whether that nostalgia appeals to you will colour everything else about your experience. I grew up with a Game Boy, so I find the design genuinely charming — like picking up something familiar and discovering it's been quietly upgraded while you weren't looking. At 278g it's on the heavier side for a handheld, and you'll feel it in your pocket, but in your hands the weight actually gives it a reassuring, substantial quality that cheaper devices lack.

A Screen Worth Talking About

This is where the Pocket DMG genuinely excels. The 3.92-inch OLED panel with its 1240×1080 resolution gives you a near-perfect 8:7 aspect ratio — which is exactly what you want for Game Boy-era games. When you're running something like Pokémon Gold through an emulator and the pixels are rendered with that pixel-perfect sharpness, it looks absolutely stunning. Better, honestly, than any handheld I've tested in this category.

OLED means real blacks, vibrant colours, and an immediacy to the image that LCD simply can't replicate. The 8:7 ratio is a niche choice that makes total sense for the intended use case — it's not ideal for widescreen content, but for retro games and vertically-oriented titles it feels considered and deliberate in a way that more generic handhelds don't. This is one area where AYANEO have clearly spent real money, and you can see exactly where it went.

What It Can Actually Do

Under the hood you've got a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2, which is a genuinely capable chip. GameCube and PS2 emulation run well. Lighter GameCube titles handle themselves without breaking a sweat, PS2 is similarly solid, and for anything below that — GBA, DS, PSP — you're well within comfortable territory. Android 13 gives you access to the full Google Play Store alongside your emulators, plus streaming services and cloud gaming through Xbox Game Pass or GeForce Now.

AYANEO have also added support for running some Windows titles via compatibility tools, which is impressive on paper. In practice your mileage will vary considerably depending on the title — don't expect to run anything demanding — but for lighter Windows games and older PC titles it's a genuinely interesting trick.

Battery life is reasonable rather than spectacular. In regular use you're looking at five to six hours, which is enough for an evening session but not a long trip without a charger. A 6,000mAh cell sounds substantial, but the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 and that OLED panel have appetites.

The Controls: Mostly Good, Occasionally Frustrating

Most of the controls are genuinely well done. The D-pad is clicky and satisfying. The face buttons have a nice travel to them — responsive without being tiring. The Hall Effect analogue stick is a smart inclusion; no stick drift is always welcome, and it's accurate enough for the titles you're likely playing on a device like this. The shoulder buttons are solid too, though L2 and R2 require a bit of a stretch if you have larger hands.

Where the Pocket DMG stumbles is the smaller ancillary buttons. Start, Select, and the AYANEO menu button feel mushy and unpleasant compared to the quality of everything around them — they feel like an afterthought. The trackpad, added in the space where a Game Boy would have nothing, is a thoughtful idea that's useful for navigating Android's UI but rarely feels essential in games. You'll use it occasionally and forget it exists the rest of the time.

Is It Worth It for a Casual Gamer?

Here's where I have to be honest. The Pocket DMG starts at $449 and climbs to $699 for the Game Boy-coloured variant. For that money you're buying a premium experience — and the screen, the build quality, and the emulation performance genuinely justify the word "premium." But the question for a casual gamer isn't whether it's good. It's whether it's right for you.

If you mostly want to revisit Game Boy, GBA, and DS games, there are far cheaper ways to do it. If you want a device that handles GameCube and PS2 emulation beautifully in a vertical form factor with one of the best OLED screens in the handheld space, and you're willing to pay for it, the Pocket DMG is one of the best options on the market right now. It knows exactly what it is — a maximalist, slightly over-engineered love letter to a specific era of gaming — and it commits to that vision completely. Whether that's worth the price of entry is entirely down to how much that Game Boy feeling still means to you.

Lenovo Legion Go S (Z1E) | A Casual Gamer's Review

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The Steam OS Difference

As a busy dad, building up my Steam library has become the world's worst side hustle. But the rise of handheld gaming has genuinely threatened to get me out of backlog hell, even if I can no longer seem to escape Kamarucho. This particular model of the Legion Go S comes with the Z1 Extreme chip, 32 GB of RAM, and a terabyte of storage, which is pretty substantial for the price range.

The big talking point here is Steam OS. Windows offers more flexibility in terms of the games you can play and other use cases for the device, but by cutting out background processes and a lot of bloatware, the Steam OS version gives you considerably more bang for your buck in terms of available memory. You've been able to put Linux distros like Bazzite on gaming handhelds in the past, but this is the first third-party handheld that Steam OS officially supports. That integration goes deeper than you might expect: even inside the controller options, you'll see an image of the Legion Go S rather than a generic Steam Deck, and there are bespoke features like updating the appearance of the thumbstick RGBs from within the OS itself.

Hardware That Feels Considered

The Steam OS version ships with a distinctive purple metallic finish (the SEA Edition), which is the only hardware difference compared to the Windows model. I personally really like it. It's metallic enough to feel premium, but neutral enough that it steps into the background when you're actually playing.

At first glance the Legion Go S looks a little bulky, certainly thicker than the Steam Deck. But turn it over and you'll see why that bulk works in its favour: the grips are moulded in a flowing shape that sits naturally in your palms, complemented by a nice textured finish on the rear. It's the most comfortable handheld I've ever used. It doesn't dig in like the Nintendo Switch 2. It just rests there, giving you something substantial to hold without any strain.

The thumbsticks continue that theme. Their concave moulding lets you rest your thumbs in place and maintain real control without feeling like they'll slip. The D-pad mirrors that same concave approach, which matters on a device this thick, since anything protruding further would tip it into awkward territory. The face buttons have a slightly translucent quality that reveals a floating effect when you tilt the device, and they're flat, reactive, and comfortable to press. One carry-over from the original Legion Go that I'm less keen on is the placement of the auxiliary buttons. The start, select, and Steam buttons sit close enough together that I regularly press the wrong one mid-game, particularly when trying to access quick settings. Perhaps that's the cost of switching between handhelds frequently, but it does feel like an odd arrangement.

On the top edge you'll find volume buttons and the power button, though unless you install a plugin like Decky, the LED on that power button stays on and pulses even when the device is idle. In a dark bedroom, it's genuinely irritating. The ventilation draws air in through the rear grid and exhausts it from the top, which means the right side of the device runs noticeably warmer during demanding sessions. The fan is loud at maximum power settings, not at an unpleasant pitch, but loud enough to compete with in-game audio. The front-facing speakers are decent, though I'd give the edge to the Steam Deck for audio quality.

One feature I've found genuinely useful is the trigger locks on the rear. At their default setting the triggers click like standard buttons, but releasing the lock gives you the full analogue draw. It's a small touch that makes a real difference depending on what you're playing.

Legion Go S

Getting the Most Out of Steam OS

Valve has rolled out consistent updates to Steam OS over the past few years, and the result feels increasingly polished and console-like. You get instant access to your Steam library, the Steam store, and a genuinely excellent quick settings menu that gives you per-game performance profiles. For anyone coming to PC gaming from a console background, that quick menu is a great gateway into the world of tinkering: set your TDP once per game and you're largely sorted. The Z1 Extreme chip being a step up from the Steam Deck means that any Steam Deck-optimised setting will run comfortably here, and you have a little headroom on top for more demanding titles.

The display runs at up to 120 frames per second (compared to 90 on the Steam Deck OLED) with variable refresh rate, which keeps things looking smooth even when the frame rate isn't perfectly locked. The 16:10 aspect ratio is particularly welcome for strategy games and for emulating older titles in squarer formats, giving you more screen real estate without stretching the image. The big caveat is that this is an LCD panel rather than OLED. If deep blacks are important to you, the Steam Deck OLED has the advantage. That said, I've been genuinely impressed with how bright and dynamic this screen is; Yakuza's Kamarucho and the cutscenes in Persona 5 look great on it.

For a performance boost beyond local hardware, Nvidia GeForce Now is worth setting up via desktop mode. It requires a little effort to install, but once it's running it appears in your games library like any other title. Baldur's Gate 3, for example, ran at a noticeably higher and more stable frame rate through Nvidia's servers than locally. The one limitation is that the Legion Go S doesn't support HDR10, which locks out some titles in GeForce Now's catalogue entirely.

The Practical Realities

Battery life is the enduring problem with handheld PCs. Playing something close to a AAA title, you're realistically looking at around two hours. Drop the TDP for indie games or emulated titles and you'll get a bit more, but the truth is you'll spend most of your time tethered to a power outlet. That's still the biggest frustration with the category as a whole.

It's also worth being clear-eyed about what you're getting into with a handheld PC versus a Nintendo Switch. You're not opening a curated storefront where everything is guaranteed to run. The Steam Deck Verified tag helps, but it isn't perfectly reliable. For those willing to do a little research (checking settings others have used on similar hardware, nudging the TDP), the experience is fantastic. For those who want a plug-and-play guarantee on every title, it's worth knowing the difference upfront.

One practical note if you're switching from a Steam Deck: your existing memory card isn't simply transferable. You'll need to reformat it, which means losing all the data on it.

Final Thoughts

The Legion Go S with the Z1 Extreme chip feels very much like what a Steam Deck 2 might look like. It offers a similar console-like Steam OS experience, with meaningful advantages in performance, display refresh rate, and (perhaps most importantly for long sessions) ergonomics. Whether the Steam Deck's touchpads matter to you will probably determine which side of the fence you land on, but if comfort and performance are your priorities, the Legion Go S has the edge.

Compared to the rest of the handheld market, it's also excellent value. The OG Legion Go remains a solid option if you can find it secondhand, but it's larger and Windows-only. The Legion Go 2 sits well above £1,000. Alongside the Steam Deck OLED, the Legion Go S is the strongest value proposition in the space right now.

My recommendation: If you're a casual gamer looking for a comfortable, performant handheld with a genuinely console-like experience, the Legion Go S Steam OS edition is the best option currently available at this price point.

How to Play Switch 2 on the Apple Studio Display

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The Problem With These Two Devices

The Nintendo Switch 2 and the Apple Studio Display are both serious bits of kit, so it's a genuine shame that they're incompatible out of the box. The Studio Display requires either a Thunderbolt or DisplayPort connection, but the Switch 2 dock only outputs HDMI. There's no native bridge between the two, and the obvious workaround — a capture card — introduces lag that makes it unsuitable for actual gaming.

The good news is that a workable solution does exist, and credit for figuring it out goes to Reddit user Comprehensive_Hat_527, who first documented this setup. It requires a couple of specialist adapters and costs somewhere in the region of $80 to $100 all in, which is not nothing. But if you're already committed to the Studio Display as your primary monitor, it's worth knowing the option is there.

What You'll Need

Getting this working requires three adapters in total:

Club 3D HDMI 2.1 to DisplayPort 1.4 Adapter(Amazon affiliate) — plugs into the HDMI port on your Nintendo Switch 2 dock.
Bidirectional USB-C to DisplayPort 1.4 Adapter(Amazon affiliate) — connects to the male DisplayPort end of the Club 3D adapter and then to the Studio Display via the Thunderbolt cable that came with the monitor.
USB Sound Card Adapter(Amazon affiliate) — plugs into the front USB 2 port on the Switch 2 dock and allows you to output audio via a 3.5mm AUX cable to wired speakers.

You'll also need the Apple Studio Display(Amazon affiliate) itself and a Nintendo Switch 2(Amazon affiliate), of course.

Setting It Up

Once you have the adapters in hand, the setup is relatively straightforward. Connect the Club 3D HDMI-to-DisplayPort adapter into the HDMI port on your dock, then take the bidirectional USB-C to DisplayPort adapter and connect it to the male DisplayPort side of that first adapter. From there, run the Thunderbolt cable that came with your Studio Display from the USB-C end of the second adapter into the display itself. That's the video signal sorted.

For audio, plug the USB sound card adapter into the front USB 2 port on the dock, connect your speakers or headphones via a 3.5mm AUX cable, and you're good to go. Alternatively, if you'd rather keep cables to a minimum, a small Bluetooth speaker tucked underneath the Studio Display works well as an improvised soundbar.

What You Actually Get

With everything connected, you can output 4K at 60 frames per second from your Switch 2 to the Studio Display, which is a genuinely lovely experience. The Studio Display's P3 wide colour gamut and support for around a billion colours means games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart World look vibrant in a way that's hard to appreciate until you see it. If you're primarily a desk worker who also games, it's a compelling setup.

That said, it's worth going in with clear expectations about the limitations. The Studio Display is capped at 60Hz, so the Switch 2's 120fps performance mode is off the table. It's not an HDR monitor either, with a max peak brightness of 600 nits — well short of a true HDR gaming display, though still a step up from the Switch 2's 450-nit handheld screen. There are no local dimming zones, so you may notice some blooming in high-contrast scenes. And because the Studio Display's Thunderbolt cable is also how it connects to your Mac, you'll be swapping cables every time you want to switch between gaming and work. Without the sound card adapter, you'll also be forced to rely on Bluetooth speakers for sound.

Is It Actually Worth It?

Honestly? If you're thinking about buying a Studio Display specifically to use as a Switch 2 monitor, no. There are gaming-focused monitors that cost considerably less, offer higher refresh rates, proper HDR support, and won't require $80 worth of adapters just to accept a signal. The Studio Display is not designed for this use case, and the compromises are real.

But if you already own a Studio Display and simply don't have the space or the appetite for a dedicated gaming monitor, this setup is a perfectly reasonable way to enjoy your Switch 2 at your desk. The image quality is still excellent, and 4K 60fps is more than enough for most of the games in the Switch 2 library. It's a workaround rather than a recommendation, but as workarounds go, it's a pretty good one.

Nintendo Switch 2 | A Casual Gamer's Review

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A Sleeker, More Premium Slab

On the face of it, this is a bigger and better Switch. Because the operating system hasn't changed, it could fool you into thinking this is less of an upgrade than it actually is. Transferring your old Switch profile across is straightforward enough, and when you do, you're met with the exact same UI you've been staring at for the past seven years.

Holding it in your hands for the first time, though, you quickly realise just how significant the improvement is. This is by far one of the sleekest and most premium-feeling devices I've used in a long time. Many PC handhelds on the market can compete with the Switch 2 in terms of raw horsepower, but none of them do so with this level of finesse. From the sturdy, flexible kickstand to the very well-built cartridge cap, Nintendo has really stepped things up on the hardware front.

The one caveat is comfort. The Joy-Con controllers have no grips to speak of, and the underside of each one feels like a wonderfully smooth pebble — which sounds pleasant until you've been playing for a while and they're jutting into your palms, leaving a red mark. If you tend to play in bed rather than upright on the sofa, you'll notice it more. It also means my thumbs have a tendency to slip forward when using the controller adapter, requiring constant grip readjustment. For that reason alone, I find the Switch 2 a little less comfortable than something like the Steam Deck for extended sessions.

The Display Debate

The decision to go with an LCD panel rather than OLED was controversial and probably still is for a lot of people. But it's immediately clear that this is a beautifully crisp, vibrant display, and that LCD was the right call — because it gives us access to variable refresh rate.

Who really knows whether Mario Kart World is consistently running at 120Hz? It certainly feels like it. That VRR is one clue as to why Mario Kart World makes such a great showcase title. It's a zippy, frenzied game with so much happening at once, and it benefits enormously from that smoothness.

The display is also HDR, which compensates somewhat for the loss of deep blacks you get from OLED. Yakuza Zero demonstrates both sides of this decision nicely: the neon lights of fictional Tokyo look absolutely stunning, while darker areas reveal that it's clearly not a true black. The Steam Deck OLED will probably look better to a lot of people in those moments, and the Lenovo Legion Go's LCD is honestly comparable to the Switch 2's panel. But if you're coming from the original Switch — even an OLED model — you're going to be genuinely impressed.

Joy-Con and the Joy of Joysticks

The second major hardware improvement over the original Switch is the Joy-Con connection. They snap perfectly into place with minimal force, never wobble, and give the whole device the feel of a single solid slab in your hands. It's a small thing, but after years of the original's loose click, it's immediately noticeable.

The thumbsticks deserve a special mention. They have a significantly greater range of motion than pretty much any joystick I've used. In Mario Kart World, moving from one side of the track to the other requires a real sweep of the thumb, but you still get fine, minute control for small adjustments. It's a genuinely impressive piece of engineering.

The rumble, too, has been upgraded. It's not as conspicuous as the PlayStation 5's DualSense — it's more of a subtle haptic quality that adds weight and texture to games like Mario Kart World without ever feeling showy.

Games: New and Old

Mario Kart World is the only first-party Switch 2 title available at launch, and you can see why Nintendo leant on it so heavily — it's a showcase for everything the hardware can do. The audio is particularly impressive: there's jazz, engine noise, and environmental sound all competing at once, yet it's balanced in a way that feels immersive rather than chaotic. Nintendo are apparently using software to create a kind of soundscape around you, so you can hear things in your periphery and from behind. It genuinely works.

I will say that Mario Kart World gave me a mild sense of a migraine during my first session. I'm hopeful that's just a matter of adjusting to the experience — and curious about the role Nintendo's DLSS-style upscaling is playing — but it's something to keep an eye on.

Beyond the new releases, the backwards compatibility story is better than Nintendo let on. It definitely feels as though Switch games are running in their docked resolution when played handheld on the Switch 2. Pokémon Snap now loads almost instantly, which is a revelation after how long it used to take. Pokémon Violet has never looked better. Even titles with no upgrade at all, like Fire Emblem, feel noticeably better on the new hardware. Tears of the Kingdom is stunning, though I'm still not entirely convinced it's worth seven or eight pounds for the graphics bump.

For third-party content, I picked up Yakuza 0: Director's Cut to really test what the hardware could do. It runs smoothly and looks vibrant, particularly in those fast-paced combat scenes. It will eventually run similarly — if not better — on PC, but the sheer convenience of knowing a game will just work, booting it up without tweaking settings or worrying about fan noise, is a genuinely significant quality-of-life difference. And there is absolutely zero fan noise here. For anyone gaming in bed with a partner or a young child in the room, that alone is a game-changer.

Features Worth Noting (and Some That Aren't Yet)

Mouse mode is one of the Switch 2's headline additions. Zipping around the UI with the Joy-Con flat on a surface, they're undeniably responsive, and it'll be interesting to see what developers do with it. For now, though, my options are limited. I'm not paying for the Welcome Tour, and I was hoping older games like Civilization VI would support it — but that's not the case. Whether that's a technical limitation or a commercial nudge towards buying Civilization VII, I couldn't say.

Game Chat also remains untested, simply because none of my friends have a Switch 2 yet. The camera purchase can wait.

One thing I wasn't expecting after the initial setup was just how hot the device gets. It really does put out some heat, which explains why the dock has a fan — and may prove a real challenge for third-party dock manufacturers. The fan can apparently produce a high-pitched sound that some people find irritating, though I can't personally hear it due to tinnitus.

Nintendo Switch Online now includes GameCube titles, and I've been playing The Wind Waker on an emulator for the past few months. I'd say the emulator experience is marginally better for me, but for anyone who isn't interested in that route, it's a genuinely excellent offering.

Final Thoughts

This does feel like a huge step forward for handheld gaming. If you've been following the PC handheld space and you already own a Steam Deck, you won't be blown away. But if you've been waiting to see what Nintendo could do before committing to any platform, it's been worth the wait. Other devices can match — and in some areas exceed — the Switch 2, but what they lack is the polish, the ease of use, and of course Nintendo's first-party catalogue.

That said, I don't think there's any reason to rush out and buy one right now. The only genuinely new game is Mario Kart World, and that won't be to everyone's tastes. The one caveat worth mentioning is that prices elsewhere seem to be going up rather than down as devices age. In an unpredictable economic climate, this might actually be the cheapest the Switch 2 will ever be.

In the meantime, it's reassuring to know that the original Switch will continue to be supported. Because honestly? You really don't want to be handing a Switch 2 to your kids.

My recommendation: If you're a PC handheld owner already, there's no urgency. If you're on the original Switch or looking for your first handheld, the Switch 2 is an easy recommendation — just don't expect the games library to fully justify the upgrade for a few more months.

The ULTIMATE iPad Gaming Controller! | ELO Vagabond

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

First Impressions

You only have to blink and there's a brand new mobile gaming controller on the market — but very few are as premium and polished as the ELO Vagabond. ELO has its roots in competitive gaming, and they've built this controller as a precision instrument designed to get the very best performance out of your device.

Like many controllers before it, the Vagabond connects via USB-C, but it comes with one of the smoothest and widest sliding mechanisms I've come across. Inside the box you'll find a range of rubber adapters, meaning whether you've got a bulky case on your phone or you're using a slightly larger device like a tablet, you'll be able to find the perfect fit. The adapters can be a little tricky to wedge in at first, but once they're seated they fit very snugly and are incredibly stable.

For that reason, this controller suits someone who's going to use the same device consistently, rather than wanting to swap between different-sized devices day to day. For me, that device became the iPad Mini — and this is where the Vagabond absolutely excels.

Comfort, Build, and a Few Caveats

Because the Vagabond draws power at a very low rate directly from your device, there's no battery required — and that's just one reason why this is the most comfortable mobile gaming controller I've ever used. It keeps an extremely slight profile, with grips that extend just far enough to hold comfortably without ever feeling bulky. The gap this creates between your hands and the screen makes the whole thing feel spacious, reminds me strongly of using the PlayStation Portal. The rubberised grips running from the back of the controller across most of the face complete the package nicely.

There are a couple of things worth flagging, though. After about a month of rattling around in my bag, the Vagabond has picked up quite a few scratches on both the front and back plastic. The thumb sticks are also built in a way that's removed a fair bit of dead skin from my callused guitar-playing fingers. Neither of these are dealbreakers, but they're worth being aware of if you're precious about keeping your hardware pristine.

Buttons, D-Pad, and Back Controls

On the underside of the Vagabond you'll find a headphone jack and a USB-C port for pass-through charging — impressive given how sleek the overall design is.

The face buttons are built with mechanical switches. They're a little rattly, but feel brilliant to game on, with a pleasantly quiet audio profile that's a nice touch in environments where you'd rather not disturb anyone. The d-pad is firm, which is my personal preference for this kind of controller — especially for 2D platformers like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where you want to feel confident in your directional inputs.

On the rear, two mappable back buttons can be locked in place using hardware switches. This is a genuinely useful feature: if you're playing something where accidental presses would be catastrophic, simply slide them over and they're out of the equation. The Vagabond also features Hall effect triggers and joysticks, both of which can be calibrated in the companion app.

The Unleashed App

I've criticised other companies in the past for putting their companion software behind a paid subscription, so it's worth highlighting that ELO's Unleashed app is completely free. It's more of a curated games launcher than a full library, but you can always hold the ELO button on the controller to pull up your full Apple games library on iOS, which covers the gap neatly.

The main reason to download the app is firmware updates. They don't take long, and it's worth running them straight away to iron out any early bugs. After one update I noticed my joystick calibration had shifted — for a moment I thought I was dealing with stick drift — but a quick recalibration in the app sorted it out immediately. Button remapping and audio level adjustments are also available here, though these feel like a bonus on top of what is already an excellent piece of hardware.

Gaming on the iPad Mini

The Vagabond feels genuinely transformative paired with the iPad Mini. It's the first time I've used a mobile controller and felt it could realistically compete with something like the PlayStation Portal, at least on the hardware side. The software limitations of iOS and Android inevitably get in the way at some point, and it can't match a Steam Deck or Legion Go for sheer versatility — but as a gaming setup it feels cohesive and intentional in a way that few mobile controllers manage.

On a recent trip to France I left all my other gaming hardware at home and took just this controller and my iPad Mini. It made for a discreet yet surprisingly capable travel setup, and I found myself reaching for it every evening.

Final Thoughts

The ELO Vagabond is a debut product, and ELO seem genuinely committed to improving it through firmware updates and community feedback. At $99 it's also priced reasonably against some of its competitors.

If you're primarily an iPad Mini user or regularly game on a single mobile device, this is the controller I'd point you to without hesitation. Just keep it somewhere protective if you want to maintain that premium feel over the long haul.

My recommendation: The best mobile gaming controller I've personally used. If you're committed to the iPad Mini or a single device, this is the one to get.

iPad Mini 7 | A Casual Gamer's Review

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Not Just a Productivity Device

If you can't quite justify a dedicated gaming handheld, the seventh-generation iPad Mini makes a surprisingly compelling case for itself. The spec bump that comes with this generation genuinely matters for gaming, and the combination of improved performance, a wide library of systems, and a growing accessories ecosystem means that dismissing the iPad Mini as a gaming device would be a mistake.

It is, at heart, a productivity device — but push it in the right direction and it can cover a lot of the same ground as a handheld gaming machine, often for people who already own one and just want a single device that does everything.

The Display and Performance Question

A fair bit of the pre-release conversation around the iPad Mini 7 centred on what it didn't get: no OLED display, no ProMotion, still locked at 60Hz. And yes, if you sit it next to a Steam Deck OLED and load up something like Resident Evil 4 or Hades, the difference in visual drama is noticeable. But the LCD panel here is genuinely lovely in its own right — vibrant colours, sharp and crisp, and capable of getting quite bright for its size.

Games running natively in the 3:2 aspect ratio feel immersive in a way that's hard to appreciate until you've tried it. Minecraft is a brilliant example: it fills the screen and just looks right. Games from other systems will bring black bars, but that's a manageable trade-off, and still a significant upgrade over playing on an iPhone.

As for the 60Hz ceiling, it's hard to feel too aggrieved. The A17 chip is powerful enough to reach into proper console ports, but titles like Resident Evil 4 will still dip in frame rate under load. A ProMotion display would have been wasted without an M-series chip behind it to keep things smooth. What the A17 does give you is genuine headroom for demanding games, and 128GB of base storage means you can actually keep a few of them installed at once (some of these titles run to 10–15GB, which adds up fast).

What You Can Actually Play

The App Store library is broader than most people give it credit for, and it spans everything from retro classics like the Final Fantasy series to modern survival games like Minecraft and Stardew Valley. If you have kids in the house, the latter is a particularly good shout — iOS's parental controls give you far more granular screen time management than, say, a Nintendo Switch.

That said, mobile gaming remains a frustrating category, even when publishers who really should know better wade in. Fire Emblem Heroes on iPad Mini has so much potential. The dialogue, presented in graphic novel style on a display this good, actually becomes worth reading. But to get to the battles, you're navigating through poor mobile UI and being bombarded with collectables until you spend something in the shop. It's a reminder that the problem with mobile gaming often isn't the hardware — it's the incentive structures that shape the software.

Subscriptions open things up considerably. Apple Arcade, available through an Apple One bundle, has a solid selection of games built around actual gameplay rather than monetisation. And Netflix, if you already pay for it, has integrated a surprising number of games into its app. Football Manager Handheld is there, but so is Hades — which still feels slightly surreal. You download it as a standalone app, log in with your Netflix credentials, and it runs exactly as you'd expect. If you're already a subscriber, that's a lot of game for free.

The Controller That Changes Everything

The iPad Mini becomes a genuinely different device with a controller attached. My go-to is the GameSir G8 Plus — a console-style pad that slides open and clips onto either side of the iPad. It connects via Bluetooth and, once you've found the right placement (the edges can catch the volume or power buttons if you're not careful), it transforms the whole experience. You've now got a proper gamepad and access to an enormous range of systems, with something for every kind of gamer.

One thing worth flagging for remote play users: if you're using the G8 Plus with PS5 Remote Play, the gyroscope in the controller and the gyroscope in the iPad will conflict with each other and produce some very confused input. Head into the settings and switch gyro controls off, then stick to the joystick instead.

Streaming, Remote Play, and Emulation

Cloud gaming is possible but imperfect. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate runs through a Safari web app, which does the job but isn't quite the seamless experience you'd get on a dedicated device. If you have a PlayStation 5 that others in the house tend to monopolise the TV with, Remote Play is a much more elegant solution — link the iPad to your console and you have access to your full PS5 library. It's heavily dependent on a solid network connection, so connecting your PS5 to your router via Ethernet is strongly recommended if you want it to hold up reliably.

For emulation, RetroArch is available on the App Store and covers a wide range of systems. I'll leave the specifics there — the copyright landscape around emulation footage is complicated enough these days that I'd rather not get into it on camera. But the capability is there, and on hardware this capable, it's impressive.

As a footnote: the iPad Mini 7 is powerful enough to function as a portable capture device. I've had mine hooked up to an Elgato Capture Neo, connected to my Nintendo Switch via HDMI, and used the Elgato app to record gameplay footage directly. You can then edit it in Final Cut Pro on the same device. It's a genuinely useful workflow for anyone creating gaming content on the go.

Final Thoughts

The iPad Mini 7 is primarily a productivity device that moonlights as a gaming machine, and it does so more convincingly than it has any right to. The display is excellent, the A17 chip provides real performance, and the controller accessory ecosystem has matured to the point where it no longer feels like a compromise. Mobile gaming still has systemic issues that no hardware can fix, but the platforms available beyond the App Store — subscriptions, cloud streaming, remote play, emulation — mean the breadth of what you can play is wider than ever.

If you're already in the Apple ecosystem and you want one device that handles everything, the iPad Mini 7 deserves serious consideration. Just don't expect it to replace a Steam Deck OLED for pure visual impact.

My recommendation: If you're torn between a gaming handheld and a productivity tablet, the iPad Mini 7 is the clearest case yet that you might not have to choose.

Lenovo Legion Go | A Casual Gamer's Review

Sat, 03 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

The Case for That Big, Beautiful Screen

There's a reason to come to the Legion Go later than the early adopters. Lenovo have shipped several updates that make the device considerably more manageable, and the community has been quietly building out setup guides, optimisation tips, and workarounds on Reddit and elsewhere. The hard work has largely been done for you — if you know where to look.

But before getting into all of that, it's worth understanding why the Legion Go is worth the effort in the first place. The 8.8-inch display running at 2560×1600 is genuinely spectacular. It isn't OLED, but it doesn't need to be — the resolution and size combine to create something that takes up a meaningful portion of your field of view without having to hold the device close to your face. Walking around the worlds of No Man's Sky or dropping into a first-person shooter feels closer to sitting in front of a proper monitor than playing on a handheld. Everything looks saturated and vivid, and it's hard to argue that anything else on the market matches it for sheer immersion.

One clever trick worth knowing about: if a demanding game is struggling with the full resolution, you can run it at 1280×800 and use AMD's integer scaling to fill the screen. The result is a crisp, vivid image that doesn't hammer performance. It sounds like a workaround, and it is, but it works beautifully.

A Handheld for the Busy Gamer

Part of what draws me to devices like the Legion Go is having a busy life. Since becoming a dad, I've gravitated towards turn-based tactical RPGs and strategy games — titles like Valkyria Chronicles and Twilight Struggle — precisely because I can put them down at a moment's notice. The Legion Go's larger screen is an ideal fit for this kind of game. Maps are readable, tactical decisions don't feel cramped, and the ability to detach the controllers and use the touchscreen makes navigating these games feel genuinely natural.

That touchscreen is one of the underrated strengths of the device in general. Windows has some notoriously small touch targets, but being able to tap directly on the UI, or fall back to the trackpad on the controller when things get fiddly, means you can get around the operating system without constantly reaching for a mouse. It's not as fluid as SteamOS, but it's more manageable than you might expect.

The Windows Reality

Let's be honest about Windows. Coming from a console background, SteamOS on the Steam Deck is going to feel more natural and far less frustrating. Windows ships with bloatware — Microsoft Office trials, LinkedIn prompts, Dropbox ads — all of which want clearing out before you even start gaming. Background tasks can quietly chew through RAM and cause crashes in games that have nothing to do with whatever's running underneath. I had No Man's Sky crash on me more than once because of exactly this. And if you minimise rather than close a game, it keeps running — which means it's entirely possible to end up with multiple games open at once, slowly grinding the system to a halt.

That said, the platform advantages are real. The Legion Go is compatible with launchers beyond Steam, including the Epic Games Store, which opens up a broader library. You can install Disney Plus and use it as a proper entertainment tablet. The flexibility is genuine — I can genuinely imagine taking this on holiday instead of both an iPad and a laptop.

Getting the most out of it does require an upfront investment of time, though. Budget three to four hours when you first set the device up. You'll want to update drivers, flash the BIOS, and set the VRAM to 6GB rather than the default 3GB, which makes a meaningful difference to performance. A few other things worth knowing from the start: the power button defaults to sleep rather than hibernate, which you'll want to change if you want to resume mid-game; integer scaling needs to be enabled in the AMD Adrenaline control panel; and the default audio EQ is genuinely poor and needs adjusting manually or via a third-party app.

Living With the Legion Go

Day to day, the Legion Go is a mixed bag of genuinely clever ideas and rough edges. The detachable controllers — the device's headline party trick — allow you to use the right controller as a mouse in FPS mode, essentially turning it into a PC gaming peripheral. In theory this is great for shooters; in practice, adapting to an entirely new input method mid-game is harder than it sounds, even if you're only in your mid-thirties. I've found it more useful for navigating strategy game maps than for actual FPS play.

Comfort is a genuine point of contention. The controllers have sharper edges than I'd like, and the overall size makes it feel unwieldy during longer sessions. Nothing touches the Steam Deck OLED with a Dbrand Kill Switch case for pure hand feel — that combination just feels right in a way the Legion Go doesn't quite manage. There are 3D printed grip options out there, but if you're in the UK, Etsy postage often costs more than the grips themselves, so I've been getting on without them.

The kickstand is a small but genuinely appreciated detail, particularly for turn-based games where you're regularly waiting for the AI to take its go. Battery life is the other thing to manage carefully: on demanding settings, you can drain the device in under two hours. The dual USB-C ports — one on the top, one on the bottom — help here, since the bottom-facing port is much more comfortable when playing lying down or on the sofa.

I've also been running EmuDeck for retro emulation, which has been a pleasure on a screen this size. Playing old God of War PSP titles on an 8.8-inch display is a genuinely different experience from any other handheld. One ROM crashed near the end of the game, which was frustrating, but the journey was worth it.

Final Thoughts

The Legion Go rewards patience and a willingness to tinker. If you're not comfortable digging into settings, updating drivers, and occasionally troubleshooting Windows quirks, the Steam Deck is the more sensible starting point — and I'd recommend it to the majority of people. But if you know you need Windows game compatibility, or if a larger, more immersive display is a priority, the Legion Go delivers in a way nothing else currently does.

My recommendation: For the right kind of gamer — one who enjoys the setup process as much as the gaming itself — the Legion Go is a genuinely compelling machine. Just go in with realistic expectations about Windows, and give yourself a proper afternoon to set it up properly.

PlayStation Portal | A Casual Gamer's Review

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Built for One Thing, and That's the Point

The PlayStation Portal exists to do exactly one thing: give you access to your PS5 over Remote Play. There are plenty of devices that already offer this, often alongside access to a whole host of other gaming services. But if you're a busy parent and all you want is to play your PlayStation 5 while someone else is using the TV, the question isn't whether the Portal can do everything. It's whether it does that one thing better than anything else.

I'll admit I had my reservations going in. I've used Remote Play on a number of devices and, while it's always worked decently, I never felt it worked well enough for Sony to pin an entire product on it. A lot of people were hoping for a proper dedicated handheld, something to carry on the legacy of the PSP and the PS Vita, and getting what amounts to a PS5 extension felt like a strange decision. The most egregious omission in many people's eyes was the decision to restrict audio output to Sony's Link technology, meaning you can't use Bluetooth headphones with the Portal. There is a headphone jack in the rear, and plenty of Reddit users have managed to connect AirPods via a USB dongle, but it does feel like a cynical move, part of Sony's broader push to lock you into their own ecosystem.

Still, I put those caveats to one side and decided to go in with an open mind. And from the moment I opened the box, I was glad I did.

A Premium Piece of Kit

Opening that box, there's a genuine sense of excitement — this really does feel like a proper PlayStation product. Sony have essentially taken a DualSense controller and slapped an 8-inch LCD monitor right in the middle of it. On paper it sounds like Frankenstein's monster, but in your hands it makes a surprising amount of sense. It's noticeably lighter than a Steam Deck, which means you can hold it comfortably in bed for extended periods. The controller grips protrude from the screen in a way that also lets you hold it in one hand if you need to, which is genuinely useful when you're a parent who might need to pick something up mid-session.

The device is also narrower than it looks in other people's videos. The distance between your hands feels natural, without putting undue strain on your shoulders during longer play sessions. And since this is essentially a DualSense, you get all those haptic feedback and rumble features intact. The analogue sticks feel slightly reduced compared to the standard controller, but every other button is consistent, which really helps when you're switching between the Portal and a full controller on your TV.

The Display Is the Star

The screen deserves its own moment. At 8 inches it's just a touch larger than my Steam Deck's display, but it gets significantly brighter and runs at a full 1080p, compared to the 720p ceiling on most competing devices. The colours are vibrant and the image is crisp. Even knowing it's all being piped through Remote Play, the quality of the games I played was genuinely impressive.

The screen also handles fingerprints well, which matters because touchscreen controls (used to replicate the PS5's DualSense touchpad) are accessed by tapping directly on it. They're sensibly positioned near the thumbsticks so you don't have to break your grip to use them. The one downside is reflectivity: compared to the Steam Deck's nanotexture glass, the Portal's screen picks up considerably more glare. In practice, if you're using it indoors and holding it in front of you, it's rarely a problem. And if you're playing in bed, the display dims to a genuinely low level without disturbing anyone sharing the space, which is a small but meaningful detail.

My favourite feature, though, is how the Portal handles sleep. Put it down briefly, come back a few minutes later, and you pick up exactly where you left off. That kind of seamlessness isn't guaranteed with other Remote Play setups, and it makes a real difference to how the device fits into everyday life.

The Remote Play Experience

This is where it all comes together, and where the Portal genuinely surprised me. The gaming experience is as seamless as I've encountered on any Remote Play device. You do need a solid Wi-Fi setup; I have my PS5 connected to the router via ethernet, which helps enormously. The UK's home broadband speeds aren't always brilliant, and I did notice that playing during peak hours introduced more jitter than off-peak sessions. If your PS5 is mid-download, that'll affect performance too. There were occasional artefacts and moments of instability, but nothing that derailed a session.

Over several evenings I played three to four hours of Spider-Man 2 in what I can only describe as a beautiful experience. Leaning back and watching those cinematic cutscenes unfold on that vibrant screen, in bed, with nobody fighting over the TV — it felt genuinely special. Input lag is present but negligible, and even busier combat sequences held up well. Booting the PS5 and diving into a game within seconds was something I didn't fully expect, and it exceeded my expectations every time.

How Does It Stack Up Against the Alternatives?

The comparison most people will reach for is the Backbone One controller, which even comes in a PlayStation aesthetic and plugs directly into your phone. It gives you access to everything from Apple Arcade to Game Pass to Remote Play, at roughly half the price of the Portal. I tested the Backbone One for this channel and it didn't feel anywhere near as comfortable to use as the Portal. I also understand the appeal of something you can slip into your bag for a spare minute of gaming on the go, but I always want my phone to be responsive and available, particularly with a young child in the house. Draining the battery unnecessarily isn't something I'm keen on.

If you have an iPad lying around, you can pair a DualSense and play on a much larger screen, but you're capped at 720p, and on a bigger display that compromise becomes noticeable. Input lag is also more pronounced. And practically speaking, you need somewhere to put an iPad; most people aren't going to balance it on their knee, and in a household with small children, anything left within reach is fair game.

The most interesting comparison is with the Steam Deck, which offers the same compact handheld form factor and, somewhat bizarrely, actually gives you access to more PlayStation titles than the Portal does, including PSP and PS Vita games through emulation. I'm a big fan of the Steam Deck and even put a white dbrand skin on mine to lean into the PlayStation aesthetic while using Remote Play. But getting Remote Play running on the Steam Deck requires dropping into desktop mode, finding the Chiaki app, and hunting down custom controller profiles, and even then the touchpad behaviour can cause problems in games like Spider-Man 2. It runs at 720p and, in my experience, is noticeably more prone to glitching than the Portal, though I'll admit I've only had it for a couple of days at time of writing.

The gap in quality between the two Remote Play experiences is real. And if the PS5 is your only console, the Portal's limited scope stops being a weakness at all.

Final Thoughts

The PlayStation Portal is a surprisingly impressive device, but only if you go in with the right expectations. It won't replace a dedicated handheld, it won't give you access to a broader gaming library, and Sony's decision to lock down the audio output is frustrating. But for parents and busy adults who just want to enjoy their PS5 without the TV, it delivers a Remote Play experience that's more polished and more reliable than anything else I've tried. That's a narrow pitch, but for the right person, it lands.

My recommendation: If your PS5 is your primary console and you're looking for the smoothest possible way to play it away from the TV, the PlayStation Portal is worth it. If you want a broader gaming experience or already own a Steam Deck, stick with that.

Analogue Pocket | A Casual Gamer's Review

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Two Years in the Waiting

I nearly gave up on the Analogue Pocket. After almost two years on the waiting list, I cancelled my order at the start of 2023, convinced that demand would always outstrip supply. But Analogue kept chipping away at the backlog, dropping limited runs including a glow-in-the-dark edition I just missed and a set of seven transparent colours. I managed to grab one of the blue ones, and the moment it arrived I understood why people had been so patient.

That transparent blue finish is frosted rather than fully clear, and depending on the light you can see different depths inside the casing. You can make out the motherboard, the small Analogue logo soldered onto it, the internal architecture of the whole thing. It's a small touch, but it says a lot about how much care has gone into building this device.

What the Pocket Actually Is

The Analogue Pocket isn't just another retro emulator. It uses open FPGA — a form of hardware emulation that replicates the original silicon rather than running software on top of it. In practice, that means you can play original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges straight out of the box, with a fidelity that software emulation can't quite match.

The device is physically larger than a Game Boy Color, which might sound like a downside until you actually hold it. Adult hands, it turns out, appreciate the extra real estate. The D-pad is crisp and accurate with a satisfying click to it, and there are some additional buttons included for emulating more advanced consoles. The main one is the Analogue button, which opens the menu and doubles as a brightness control. That display is genuinely impressive — bright enough to use in direct sunlight, dim enough to use in a dark room without blinding yourself.

The Games

If you're coming to this with a cartridge collection, the Pocket is a joy. You can cycle through different display settings on a per-game basis, from a vibrant modern rendering right back to the washed-out green tint of the original Game Boy screen. Hearing the stereo speakers at full volume after years of tinny handheld audio is a genuine surprise, and there's a 3.5mm headphone jack on the base if you want something more private.

Going back to Pokémon and Super Mario after years on a Switch or Steam Deck does take a moment of adjustment. The form factor is narrow by modern standards, and that takes some getting used to. But that same narrowness makes the Pocket genuinely pocketable in a way that larger handhelds aren't. It was the one device I packed for a recent weekend away with my wife — small enough to slip into a bag, with six hours of battery life and USB-C charging. Pulling it out to play Pokémon or Fire Emblem at any idle moment felt completely natural.

The connectivity is a nice touch too. You can use an original Game Boy Link cable to connect to another device and trade Pokémon or play multiplayer. It's completely unnecessary in 2023, and that's exactly why it's great.

Emulation Beyond Game Boy

If your cartridge collection is thin or nonexistent, the Pocket can still earn its keep. The open FPGA platform has a strong community behind it, and unofficial cores allow you to emulate games up to and including the Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive (I refuse to call it the Genesis). These aren't officially supported by Analogue, but they're stable enough to be genuinely usable, and if you have ROMs on a micro SD card they'll run well.

The main limitation worth knowing about is that the SNES and Mega Drive cores don't currently support save states, which matters for longer games. But for something like Street Fighter II, which was never meant to be played with a save file anyway, it's a non-issue. Games designed for a television or arcade system look vibrant on that Pocket display, and there's something almost absurd about how good they look on such a small screen.

Final Thoughts

For me, part of what makes the Pocket special is memory as much as hardware. Playing Sonic the Hedgehog through Emerald Hill Zone on a transparent blue handheld, I kept thinking about my brother sitting next to me playing as Tails. The Pocket doesn't just run old games well — it honours the feeling of playing them.

Is it expensive? Yes, especially compared to a cheap Android emulator. But those cheaper devices leave your cartridges sitting in a box doing nothing. The Pocket is the reason to dig them out. If you're trying to get one of the transparent models right now, eBay is probably your best bet. Find one at a fair price and you won't regret it.

My recommendation: If you grew up with a Game Boy and still have cartridges, the Analogue Pocket is the best way to play them. Seek one out.