A brand new report has recommended that an Xbox handheld is coming this yr, however Microsoft isn’t going to be making it. As a substitute, it has reportedly reached out to companions and struck a deal that can see a tool hit the market someday in 2025. Sadly, it’s more likely to nonetheless be operating Home windows, with no signal of a brand new handheld model of the OS set to land quickly.
Whereas the Steam Deck remains to be the most effective handheld gaming PC for most individuals, this new rumored initiative from Microsoft has the potential to be extraordinarily disruptive. Home windows has lengthy been considered as the most important weak spot of any handheld on which it’s put in, which begs the query, is Microsoft placing the cart earlier than the horse if this reported Xbox handheld is launched earlier than Home windows is optimized for it?
In a report from Jez Corden at Home windows Central, it’s acknowledged that Microsoft has reached out to an unspecified manufacturing companion and an Xbox handheld gaming PC is due later this yr, “if plans are met.” The codename for the venture has been revealed as “Keenan” and the machine will even characteristic Xbox branding and an Xbox information button, in line with the report.
Not a lot else is confirmed within the report, and this leaves me involved about Microsoft’s intentions with this handheld. At face worth, if the report is correct, it seems as if this might be simply one other Home windows handheld, solely with some Xbox branding slapped onto it. If that is so, then I battle to see the distinctive promoting level and anticipate it should battle to compete towards the Steam Deck’s superior working system, as with so many different handhelds.
The primary Xbox handheld, whether or not it’s this reported machine or one other system made by Microsoft, ought to introduce a brand new, streamlined, and better-optimized model of Home windows for moveable units. As a substitute, irrespective of the branding on the skin, an Xbox handheld is presumably doomed from the beginning whether it is to depend on Home windows in its present state, the place sport and app compatibility is shaky at finest.
It additionally doesn’t assist that there are already numerous Home windows units in the marketplace, together with the Asus ROG Ally X, MSI Claw 8 AI+, and Ayaneo 3, all of which pack severe energy alongside excessive MSRPs. To drop one other handheld into this market and assume the Xbox branding alone will make it stand out is naive.
I wait with bated breath, hoping that there’s extra to this Xbox handheld report than only a branded Home windows handheld, however solely time will inform if so.
If you wish to learn our impressions from a few of the different Home windows-based handhelds, try our Asus ROG Ally X overview and Lenovo Legion Go overview.
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