Looks like Razer might have its own Steam Deck soon
Analysis: now it’s Razer’s turn, apparently
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While we’re still waiting on theSteam Deck, and it seems likeAlienware’s Concept UFOis vanished into the aether, it looks likeRazerhas its own handheld coming up, according to some leaked slides.
Some slides from Qualcomm and spotted byVideoCardzdetail a Snapdragon G3x handheld developer kit, which can apparently “play all your games”. The device apparently has a 120HzHDROLEDdisplay, a 6,000mAh battery and is even 5G compatible. If it’s real, this would be an incredible way to play online games on the go.
It’s not clear whatoperating systemthis developer kit runs on, whether it will be Windows or Android, it’s not clear how much of your library would be natively supported on the device. Then again, because it’s 5G-compatible, it would be a natural choice for services likeXbox Games Passand Nvidia GeForce Now.KitGurusuggests that the device will be running on Android, but nothing in the leaked slides actually confirms that, so that’s up in the air.
It’s also not clear whether or not this device will ever exist. We’ve seen so many devices like this in early stages from so many different companies, and none of them are currently available on the market. It could very well just be a developer kit to make games for Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon SoC, which does seem like a pretty impressive improvement for games - if it’s even real.
Either way, it’s another step in an industry-wide trend of trying to make niche handheld gaming PCs like theOnexplayera mainstream product. TheSteamDeck will probably be the closest we’ll get, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
The Switch, but make it PC
It’s pretty obvious why companies are suddenly falling over each other to bring out portable gaming PCs, and it’s theNintendo Switch. I’m not exactly sure why it took this long, especially with the success of handheld devices like the 3DS, but a big part of it is the technology.
Back atCES 2020,Dellshowed us the Alienware Concept UFO, which was back whenIce Lakewas first a thing, and whenXe graphicswere first being hinted at. Now that we’ve seen just how good Xe graphics can be, these portablegaming PCsare just going to be more and more possible as time goes on.
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But it’s not even just Xe graphics. RememberIntel11th-generationTiger Lake H35processors? Those are what is powering gaming laptops like theAsus TUF Dash F15, and if coupled with a low-power discrete GPU, like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, we could see one of these handheld devices with actual gaming laptop performance.
Granted, battery life would probably be lousy out of the gate, because all the cooling that would have to be shoved into a handheld-sized machine wouldn’t leave much space for a large battery, but technology is getting to the point where PC gaming on the go like this could be an actual possibility.
After all, even the Nintendo Switch is using anNvidiaTegra SoC, which isn’t that far off from the Ryzen/Radeon solution being used by Valve. It’s only a matter of time before these handheld gaming PCs are more than just a fun little concept we gawk at during CES time.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN. Previously, she was TechRadar’s US computing editor. She is fat, queer and extremely online. Computers are the devil, but she just happens to be a satanist. If you need to know anything about computing components, PC gaming or the best laptop on the market, don’t be afraid to drop her a line on Twitter or through email.
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