It’s been some time since I felt a profound case of gadget lust at CES, the tech commerce present that takes over Las Vegas each January, however that’s what occurred after I picked up Lenovo’s Legion Go S gaming handheld.
I’m already a happy Steam Deck proprietor, however the Legion Go S has a bigger and sharper display screen with 120Hz refresh charges, AMD’s new Z2 chipset, and—to my arms, no less than—good ergonomics. It additionally runs SteamOS, and Valve’s plan to license its software program without spending a dime to different handheld gadget makers (beginning with Lenovo) was one in every of CES’s greatest developments. Similar to Home windows on PCs, it might permit a brand new gaming {hardware} ecosystem to bloom.
That’s only one instance of how CES stealthily grew to become a window into the way forward for gaming {hardware}. Very like final yr, the present had loads of vapid AI hype to associate with the compulsory enhancements in TV and residential audio tech. However when you care about cool shopper electronics, the actual motion was occurring on the gaming aspect, with slicker PCs, breakthrough screens, neat cell equipment, and sure, much more handhelds.
The struggle in your arms
Jared Newman / Foundry
The Legion Go S wasn’t the one new handheld gaming PC at CES. Lenovo introduced a few different Home windows ones, together with a prototype improve to the unique Legion Go (with Change-style removable controllers) and a Home windows various to the Legion Go S’s SteamOS mannequin.
In the meantime, rival PC maker Acer is increasing its personal handheld line after saying the 7-inch Nitro Blaze final yr. At CES, the corporate was demoing each 8- and 11-inch variants with removable controllers, with the latter being equal components superb and comically massive. I spied an unused accent port alongside its backside edge, and whereas Acer received’t spell out its function, one might think about a Floor-style keyboard cowl to rework the Nitro Blaze 11 right into a laptop computer for work.
The Legion Go S additionally served as an early touchdown spot for AMD’s Z2 chipset, which can are available just a few totally different configurations for handheld makers. We’re nonetheless ready on benchmarks, however it’s notable that AMD is launching new handheld chips for the second time in as a few years—a robust present of confidence within the class.
Don’t rely out Intel, both. It has a keen accomplice in MSI, whose forthcoming Claw 8 AI+ will use a Core Extremely 7 258V processor. Whereas Lunar Lake chips aren’t explicitly for handhelds, their Arc 140V graphics and general energy effectivity might make them a strong match.
Left to proper: Giant handheld reference design, MSI’s Claw 8 AI+, and an 11-inch handheld from OneXPlayer.
Jared Newman / Foundry
That is the form of gamesmanship you like to see at a present like CES. It’s nonetheless unclear if the market can maintain all these gaming handhelds, however who cares? All of us win when these firms battle it out with totally different shapes, sizes, and spec configurations.
Cell gaming innovation
The GameBaby has 8-bit sport controls on its reversible iPhone case.
Jared Newman / Foundry
Elsewhere on the moveable entrance, gadget makers are discovering new methods to show your telephone right into a gaming machine.
After an announcement final yr, as an illustration, BitmoLab introduced a working prototype of its Gamebaby iPhone case at CES. The case has directional and face buttons on its backside half, supporting NES or Sport Boy video games in emulator apps resembling Delta, however you can too flip the underside half round so the buttons are in again, letting you employ your telephone as regular. The capacitive controls move via to the app’s on-screen buttons, so you may play with out cumbersome USB-C attachments or additional batteries to cost.
GameSir had a barely totally different tackle the thought, with a small Bluetooth controller that clips onto the underside half of any telephone. I didn’t see this one myself, however want I had after studying Wavelength’s writeup. It must be headed for Kickstarter within the months forward.
The MCON pocket-sized controller unfurls like a switchblade.
Jared Newman / Foundry
And when you’re not averse to some added bulk, MCON is creating a controller with a pop-out magnetic base on which to mount your telephone. It supplies a full array of buttons and sticks however is slick sufficient to slot in your pocket. A prototype at CES regarded promising, and MCON is working with magnetic accent model Ohsnap to deliver it to fruition.
Meat-and-potatoes
Jared Newman / Foundry
Even when you’re not into handheld gaming, CES introduced loads of intriguing updates on the desktop and laptop computer gaming PC entrance.
The large information after all was Nvidia’s RTX 50-series GPUs, that are coming in cheaper than anticipated on the desktop aspect and sparking a wave of neat PCs on the laptop computer aspect. Dell’s Alienware Space-51 laptop computer model is again, as an illustration, with a brand new cooling system and slick “Liquid Teal” end, whereas Razer has shaved its RTX 50-equipped Blade 16 laptop computer down to only 0.59 inches thick. In the meantime, Asus retains doing neat issues with eGPUs, saying a compact dock with Thunderbolt 5 that may flip commonplace laptops into gaming rigs.
Displays are getting higher as properly, with quite a few distributors now squeezing 4K QD-OLED into 27-inch panels with 240Hz refresh charges. If that’s not responsive sufficient for you, we’re additionally seeing 27-inch 1440p QD-OLED screens with 500Hz refresh charges. Acer is even pushing into 5K with its 31-inch XB323QX monitor, which nonetheless manages to attain 144Hz refresh charges. (Alternatively, it permits for 1440p gaming at 288Hz as wanted.)
It’s straightforward to be cynical about CES, the place large gadget makers are liable to senseless trend-chasing as an alternative of fixing precise issues. However when you look in the best locations, you’ll discover loads of reminders of what bought you into know-how within the first place. Gaming is more and more the place these improvements are winding up.
