Just a couple of years ago, this question wouldn’t have even mattered unless you were happy with the much lower performance of handhelds at the time;gaming laptopswere the way to go for most gamers looking for a portable solution. Since the release of the original Steam Deck,handheld gaming PCshave come such a long way in a few short years.
Portable gaming is experiencing a renaissance, with powerful options on both sides; the only downside is figuring out which one is right for you.
Steam Deck OLED
The Steam Deck OLED is the perfect handheld gaming console for gamers who wish to take their games on the go. It brings the entire Steam library in a handheld form factor that is ergonomic, grippy, and easy to use. The OLED model is an upgrade to the standard LCD model of the Steam Deck, and it boasts a slightly larger display that is brighter, sharper and refreshes at 90 Hz.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 2024 (RTX 4060)
The 2024 model of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 comes with an AI-infused 8-Core AMD Ryzen 9 CPU in addition to Nvidia’s mid-range RTX 4060 GPU. With 32GB of LPDDR5X memory on offer and a large 1TB PCI-E 4.0 SSD.It offers a high PPI 14-inch 3K OLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a backlit chiclet keyboard while clocking in at just under 1.5 kg.
Portability and Ease of Use
While everyone’scollege gaming setup is different, it is incredibly nice to have something that can quickly be taken on the go with you. With powerful PC components getting smaller and smaller, laptops and even gaming handhelds have gotten sleeker and more accessible to transport over the last couple of years while still retaining excellent performance results.
Gaming laptops are no longer the same bulky things they once were, although you can still get the big bulky models if you want. They have slimmed down quite a bit, and some offer designs that don’t even look like they are built for gaming. It is easy to throw many of these laptops in a backpack with a mouse and be ready to game anywhere.
However, handheld gaming consoles are even sleeker and smaller in most cases. Plus, because they are built solely with gaming in mind, you don’t even need to pack a mouse to get the best gaming experience with a handheld. Using our example handheld, the Steam Deck OLED blends gaming controls and navigation options, like a touchpad, seamlessly to make a fantastic and easy-to-use gaming experience no matter where you are.
Winner: Handheld Gaming Console
Battery Life
With all portable products, battery life is vital to keeping that on-the-go performance worthwhile. There is nothing worse than being tied to an outlet for hours at a time because your device eats through the battery in just a couple of hours of gaming.
Even though we have seen tremendous growth in laptop battery life, especially with the new ARM Windows laptops powered by Qualcomm SOCs, most gaming laptops still have a hard time making it through the entire day, whether you are gaming or not. Many of the higher-end gaming laptop options have pretty abysmal battery life, thanks to their power-hungry components and being limited by the 100Wh cap on batteries that are allowed onto commercial flights.
While handheld consoles are not going to last multiple days of playing AAA games, they are generally much more efficient with their battery life. If you are looking to play for longer periods without access to a wall charger, a handheld console will deliver a much more enjoyable experience.
Versatility
Versatility is really where gaming laptops start to shine. Handheld gaming consoles are practically just smaller computers for the most part, but when compared to laptops, they are much more finicky to work on other tasks outside of gaming.
Gaming laptops have the considerable advantage of having a keyboard and trackpad built-in, making them an all-in-one solution for multiple use cases, not just gaming. you’re able to easily hook up a Steam Deck or a ROG Ally to a dock so you can connect a keyboard and mouse, and you’ll probably need a monitor for most tasks, but that really limits the portability and ease of use when you are not gaming with a handheld console.
If you want something good for everyday use, whether you are in class or working on homework, and want to game as well, a gaming laptop will provide a much more streamlined experience.
Winner: Gaming Laptop
Gaming Performance
The gaming performance of both laptops and handheld consoles really depends on the titles you are trying to play with them. Because both use mobile components, their performance will be pretty different from desktop-sized components. Still, at this point, whether you choose a handheld gaming console or a gaming laptop, you should be able to play most AAA and indie titles with little to no issue.
While they can both run AAA games, handheld consoles will not soon set records for frame rate or performance benchmarks. you may expect to run most titles on medium to high settings for the best performance. On the other hand, with a gaming laptop, you can get reasonably good frame rates in high and even ultra settings, depending on the model and the game.
Besides raw performance, the other significant issue for handheld consoles is compatibility. Not all games can run on SteamOS, and they are not all optimized to work on the ROG Ally version of Windows 11. There are workarounds for both of these, but it can be quite frustrating unless you are willing to put in a fair amount of time to get some titles working.
Handheld Gaming Console vs. Gaming Laptop: Which One Is Right For You?
If you are looking for an incredibly portable gaming solution that offers impressive performance numbers and can even be used as a mini PC in a pinch, a handheld gaming console like the Steam Deck or the Asus ROG Ally is an incredible option for many college students.
However, if you need something that can not only game but also be used for class and other work, a gaming laptop is going to be a lot more versatile and offer more raw performance than a handheld console, even if it comes at the price of pretty lackluster battery life.
Handheld gaming consoles have come a long way in the last couple of years, and we are very excited to see where they go from here, but gaming laptops still firmly have their place for now if you want to do more than just gaming.
FAQ
Q: Can a handheld PC replace a laptop?
Without a few accessories, like a mouse and keyboard and probably a portable monitor, a handheld PC would not be a complete replacement for a laptop. Still, if you are looking for primarily gaming, handheld PCs come pretty close to a modern gaming laptop.
Q: Do gaming laptops work for school?
While gaming laptops are typically built with gaming performance first and foremost, the powerful hardware inside is also handy for other tasks that can be school-related. For example, coding, graphic design, and video editing are great secondary uses for gaming laptops.
