It probably won’t come as much of a surprise to find that most of the Hackaday staff aren’t exactly what you’d call sports fanatics, so we won’t judge if you didn’t tune in for the Super Bowl last week. But if you did, perhaps you noticed Ring’s Orwellian “Search Party” spot — the company was hoping to get customers excited about a new feature that allows them to upload a picture of their missing pet and have Ring cameras all over the neighborhood search for a visual match. Unfortunately for Ring, the response on social media wasn’t quite what they expected.
Nope, don’t like that.
One commenter on YouTube summed it up nicely: “This is like the commercial they show at the beginning of a dystopian sci-fi film to quickly show people how bad things have gotten.” You don’t have to be some privacy expert to see how this sort of mass surveillance is a slippery slope. Many were left wondering just who or what the new system would be searching for when it wasn’t busy sniffing out lost pups.
The folks at Wyze were quick to capitalize on the misstep, releasing their own parody ad a few days later that showed various three-letter agencies leaving rave reviews for the new feature. By Thursday, Ring announced they would be canceling a planned expansion that would have given the divisive Flock Safety access to their network of cameras. We’re sure it was just a coincidence.
Speaking of three-letter agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency has announced this week that they will no longer incentivize the inclusion of stop-start systems on new automobiles. The feature, which shuts off the engine when the vehicle comes to a stop, was never actually required by federal law; rather, the EPA previously awarded credits to automakers that added the feature, which would help them meet overall emission standards. Manufacturers are free to continue offering stop-start systems on their cars if they wish, but without the EPA credits, there’s little benefit in doing so. Especially since, as Car and Driver notes, it seems like most manufacturers are happy to be rid of it. The feature has long been controversial with drivers as well, to the point that we’ve seen DIY methods to shut it off.
An incredible story ran in The Washington Post yesterday (free to read archive) that’s so wild that it’s almost hard to believe. In fact, if it wasn’t from The Washington Post, we’d be sure it was some kind of conspiracy theory fanfic. The short version goes like this: a Norwegian researcher who was so confident the “Havana syndrome” wasn’t the result of a directed energy weapon decided to prove it by not only building some sort of pulsed RF device based on leaked classified documents, but fired the thing at himself as a test. We’re not sure what the Norwegian equivalent to the “Shocked Pikachu Face” meme is, but we’ll give you one guess as to what happened.
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If that wasn’t crazy enough, the article goes on to casually mention that the US Department of Homeland Security secretly purchased a similar pulsed-energy weapon for several million dollars on the black market during the Biden administration, and is currently studying it. Despite it apparently containing Russian components, the Feds have yet to determine who actually built the thing. You’ll have a hard time finding a bigger proponent for the free exchange of information than Hackaday, but even we have to admit…maybe there are some things it’s better we don’t know about.
Perfect for Meshtastic
Of course, if you’re looking to really maximize the effects of your black market pulsed-energy weapon, you’ll need to get it up high (maybe, what the hell do we know). Or perhaps you’re just a radio enthusiast. In either event, if you’re within driving distance of Tennessee, you’ll want to keep an eye on this government auction for an 80-foot-tall mobile communications tower. According to the listing posted by the Madisonville Police Department, the towable rig was built in 2016, weighs in at a little over 10,000 pounds, and has been kept in storage. It just needs some air in the tires to get it moving again.
As of this writing, the high bid is just $565, but with 18 days left to go on the auction, we suspect that number will be considerably higher when the gavel drops. We’ll check back next month to see what it sold for, and on the off-chance that any of you actually buy it, please let us know.
If all this talk of mass surveillance and shady government dealings has you down, perhaps a quick game of web-based Descent will lighten the mood. It’s the product of a port to Three.js by [mrdoob], completed with the aid of Claude. We know many of you are critical of AI-produced code, and not without good reason, but the results in this case are pretty slick.
Finally, we’ll go out on a limb and guess that more than a few in the audience are fans of the film Short Circuit, which turns 40 years old this year. In celebration, an event is being planned for June in Astoria, Oregon, where parts of the movie were filmed. As if you needed any other reason to meet Steve Guttenberg, you’ll also get the chance to pose for pictures with Johnny 5 and sit in on Q&A discussions with the cast and crew. There’s even going to be licensed merch for sale, which we can only hope means you’ll be able to buy one of those miniature J5’s from Short Circuit 2. It’s not the sort of event Hackaday generally covers, but we’re certainly tempted.
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See something interesting that you think would be a good fit for our weekly Links column? Drop us a line, we’d love to hear about it.
The United States military is among the largest and most technologically sophisticated in the world. Needless to say, it has access to some extraordinary equipment, with the U.S. Air Force operating some of the fastest fighter jets in service today. These are aircraft that most civilians will never ever come close to flying, but by the same token, there is some civilian technology that Air Force personnel are not permitted to use while in uniform.
Smart glasses are becoming increasingly popular, with International Data Corporation noting in July 2025 that the second-generation Meta Ray-Ban glasses captured nearly two-thirds of the market after a successful end to 2024. The broader concept of smart glasses, however, touches on significant fears about privacy and security, meaning that there’s a smart reason not to wear models such as Meta’s AI glasses. It’s also for this reason that the Air Force has prohibited the wearing of such devices. On January 9, 2026, the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs issued new guidance targeting “dress and personal appearance.” The policy noted that, with regard to traditional eyewear, specific shades of frames and lenses for sunglasses and eyeglasses must be adhered to, while “It is unauthorized to wear mirrored lenses or smart glasses with photo, video or artificial intelligence capabilities while in uniform.”
Elsewhere in this memo, the iconic duty-identifier patches were brought back, powerful symbols of pride in a shared role and expertise. This same collective spirit, however, means that any Air Force member could endanger their fellow members through the use of smart glasses, which is why they were banned.
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The potential issue with smart glasses for the Air Force
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If there’s one term that’s pivotal to U.S. Air Force operations, it’s OPSEC: Operations security. There’s a wealth of information, from troop movements to the specs of particular vehicles or weapons, that could be potentially disastrous if it leaked. When smart glasses are in the picture, such a leak could occur accidentally, or even without the responsible parties knowing it happened.
This is the argument put forward by Dana Thayer, the Information Protection Chief of the 104th Fighter Wing, in a statement shared by dvids in response to this prohibition of the devices. Thayer warns that such devices can and will continue to record even when the wearer hasn’t specifically set them to do so, which Thayer equates to receiving a plethora of pop-up ads about a specific product that you haven’t expressly searched for online but only discussed. Imagine the conversation is about a top-secret new military operation rather than a fast-food craving, and the potential gravity of wearing smart glasses in uniform becomes obvious.
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As is the case essentially anywhere AI and similar technologies are in use, there are significant advantages to be gained. Smart glasses may even serve as a viable alternative to computer monitors, for instance, increasing versatility in work environments. It’s vital to be aware of the dangers too. The U.S. Army and Navy have not yet instituted such a blanket measure as an outright ban on in-uniform use of smart glasses, but perhaps they will. It’s an evolving technology and an evolving situation, and the devices may find a place where their utility can be deployed, even in the most sensitive situations.
Olympic bobsledding often gets called the “Formula 1 of ice.” Tracks are more than 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) long, and athletes often race down them at speeds nearing 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph). Bobsledders—whether in teams of four, two, or sliding solo—are often subjected to gravitational forces in excess of 5g. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games, they’re using tech aimed at making each phase of the race, from initial push to technical driving to final braking, just a little bit more precise than in previous Games.
Men’s four-person bobsledding made its Olympic debut in Chamonix, France, in 1924; women’s two-person bobsledding didn’t enter the Games until 2002 in Salt Lake City. Women’s monobob arrived in 2022. While the earliest bobsleds were made of wood, the sport has been synonymous with steel for years, although in recent decades it has been replaced by carbon fiber, which provides greater lightness and strength.
Each new technological development in the sport has come amid the constraints necessary to keep athletes safe, such as weight and sled sizes. The two-person bobsled can have a max length of 2.7 meters (about 8.9 feet) and a max weight of 390 kilograms (859.8 pounds), including crew. A four-person bobsled cannot exceed 630 kilograms (1,388.9 pounds), including bobbers, and 3.8 meters (12.47 feet) in length.
The weight limit was a necessary move to equalize race conditions and curb the use of athletic specialists who, although not bobsledders, have in the past proven decisive in their teams’ success through the pushing phase. This is far from coincidental, because this is one of the areas where technology makes the biggest impact bobsledding.
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At the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games, Germany won 27 medals, 16 of which came from bobsledding, luge, and skeleton. German athletes tend to excel at bobsled because the sport has a long tradition in Germany but also because the country has long focused on innovation in the sport. Automaker BMW, for example, is a strategic partner of the the German federation that oversees bobsledding, luge, and skeleton (Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland) and is credited with the introduction of custom studded shoes, a crucial tool for bobbers’ performance.
The first 30 to 50 meters of Olympic bobsled often prove decisive in a race, because it is the only time when athletes can push the sled to reach max acceleration. A couple of years ago, BMW realized that innovations in the bobbers’ footwear could improve their performance during that crucial time.
Looking at the preferences for each team member, BMW made custom spike plates that can be integrated into any type of shoe. Using 3D printing, the company was able to adapt the stiffness and shape of the studs for different shoes and needs. Working this way allowed them to experiment and modify designs quickly. To avoid excessive wear or breakage, the spikes are given greater hardness through plasma nitriding, in which nitrogen is ionized in a high-temperature vacuum and diffused into the steel.
Handheld gaming systems aren’t niche anymore. Today’s devices range from compact devices built around retro emulation to full-fledged portable PCs capable of running modern AAA games. That variety is exciting, but it also makes shopping harder. The “best” gaming handheld now depends less on a single, standout device and more on how, where and what you want to play.
Some handhelds are designed for quick sessions and classic libraries, prioritizing simplicity, long battery life and pocketable designs. Others blur the line between console and PC, offering large screens, powerful chips and access to massive game libraries, often at the cost of size, price or endurance. There are even more experimental options that focus on unusual controls or intentionally limited experiences.
We’ve spent months testing and tracking the fast-moving handheld space to figure out which devices are actually worth your money right now. Whether you’re looking for a versatile all-rounder, a premium portable gaming PC or a dedicated machine for retro games, these are the gaming handhelds that stand out in an increasingly crowded field.
Editor’s note (11/7/25): A barrage of new mobile emulation handhelds have been announced since our last update, including two follow-ups to our current “best for most” pick (the Retroid Pocket 6 and the more marginally updated Retroid Pocket G2) and a new version of our “best overall” pick (the AYN Odin 3). Other competitors like Ayaneo’s KONKR Pocket Fit are also on the way, and there’s been a wave of new dual-screen models like the AYN Thor, Ayaneo Pocket DS and Anbernic RG DS. We think our current recommendations will still satisfy most shoppers, but since we’re still working to test most of these newer devices, we wanted to give a heads-up for anyone who wants the absolute latest. In the meantime, we’ve added testing notes on a few other emulation-focused handhelds as well as a couple new portable PCs like the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X.
Three years into its life, Valve’s Steam Deck remains the best balance of price, performance and usability in the gaming handheld market. More specifically, the Steam Deck OLED is a thorough upgrade over the original. Starting at $549 for 512GB of storage, this model features a 7.4-inch OLED display that’s brighter, faster, slightly bigger and more vivid than the 7-inch IPS panel on the entry-level model. The higher contrast and richer colors of an OLED screen makes every game look better by default, but this display also supports HDR, with significantly brighter highlights. The maximum refresh rate jumps from 60Hz to 90Hz as well, which helps many games look smoother in motion.
Due to the less power-hungry display, a more efficient AMD APU and a larger battery, the Steam Deck OLED also lasts longer than the original. No handheld can play resource-intensive “AAA” games for very long, but Valve says the OLED model can run for three to 12 hours depending on the game, whereas the LCD model lasts between two and eight. A larger fan keeps things cooler and quieter, and the chassis feels lighter. Performance is roughly the same, though the OLED model’s increased memory bandwidth can help it gain a couple extra frames in certain games.
Still, $549 isn’t a small investment. The entry-level Steam Deck may come with a more basic LCD display and a smaller 256GB SSD, but it delivers the same core experience for $150 less. At $399, it continues to be a strong bargain. Consider that model our pick for the best “budget” handheld gaming PC you can buy.
To be clear, either Steam Deck model definitely shows its age in 2026. Many of the most graphically demanding games released in the past couple of years just don’t run well on this hardware, if they’re supported at all. Issues with Linux and anti-cheat software have rendered live-service games like Destiny 2 and Apex Legends unplayable, too.
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That said, the Deck can still play tons of games that just aren’t possible on the original Nintendo Switch or other handhelds at this price, from Elden Ring to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. It’s also a natural home for the mountain of older and/or smaller-scale gems littered throughout Steam. (Hello, Balatro.) While official game support is limited to a subset of the Steam library, the list of formally verified and still-playable titles is massive, diverse and constantly growing. You can easily stream games, too, and there are workarounds to access other storefronts.
As for software, a steady stream of updates has turned Valve’s SteamOS into a flexible yet user-friendly platform. You’ll still need to make tweaks every now and then to get a game running optimally, but the process is typically straightforward, and there’s a wealth of community-driven resources that document exactly what settings you may need to change.
The Deck’s processing power, combined with third-party tools like EmuDeck, makes it a superb handheld for emulation as well. Some PS3 and original Xbox games can be tricky, but just about everything else works beautifully. You can also cloud stream Xbox games with a little setup.
The Steam Deck’s biggest issue is its size: At two inches thick and nearly a foot long, it stretches the definition of a “handheld” device, even if the OLED model is lighter by comparison. The LCD Deck can get warm and noisy fairly quickly, too, and the d-pad on both devices is somewhat mushy. But the contoured grips on the back help offset the bulk, and both versions feel sturdy, with responsive face buttons and triggers, smooth joysticks and useful dual touchpads.
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Pros
Enough power to play many modern PC games
User-friendly interface
Vivid display on OLED model
LCD model is fantastic value
Superb emulation performance
Cons
Bulky
Not the most powerful hardware
Doesn’t officially support every Steam game or games from other PC clients
The Lenovo Legion Go S is the closest thing we have to a Steam Deck 2. It’s the first third-party device to natively run SteamOS, and as such it has all the same conveniences (and occasional game compatibility issues) as Valve’s handheld. The difference is that it’s a more modern piece of hardware, with a beefier AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD in the configuration we tested. It can also reach a maximum power draw of 33W in handheld mode or 40W when plugged in, well above the Deck’s 15W. All of that makes it better for more resource-intensive games. It can be a noticeable improvement at equal settings, and you get far more room to crank things up and reach that magic 60 frames per second (fps) target in many recent AAA games.
The Legion Go S has a larger 8-inch display than the Deck, with a sharper 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and faster 120Hz refresh rate. It also supports variable refresh rates (VRR), which helps minimize distracting screen tearing. That is a crucial advantage, and the extra real estate is great for taking games in. This is an LCD display, however, not the OLED panel available with the Deck. Colors aren’t quite as vivid and peak brightness is lower at 500 nits. There’s no HDR either. Still, it’s above-average. Which is “better” really comes down to how much you value VRR and pixel count against OLED-level contrast.
The Legion Go S is a little chunkier and heavier than the Steam Deck, which already isn’t exactly svelte, so it’ll be even more fatiguing to hold for hours at a time. But if you can handle the weight, you may find this design more ergonomic. The rounded edges and textured grips are natural to hold, while many longtime console players will feel more at home with the offset joysticks and d-pad. Hall effect sensors (which reduce the risk of joystick drift) and dual USB-C ports are nice perks as well.
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There are only two back buttons and one dinky touchpad, however, if you find yourself using those often. The extra horsepower means the fans are much louder. And while it has a bigger 55.5Whr battery, the Deck often lasts a bit longer, especially with less demanding games. If you want to max things out with the heavier stuff, expect the Legion Go S to survive for less than two hours.
The biggest trade-off is the price: The Z1 Extreme version of the Legion Go S now costs a hefty $900. But if you’re looking to play recent blockbusters on the go more than indie games or the older gems in your backlog, it should be worth grabbing.
There is another configuration of the Legion Go S with a lower-tier Ryzen Z2 Go chip, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage available for $650, which is $100 more than the Steam Deck OLED. We haven’t been able to test that one yet, but it should still be more performant than Valve’s device, albeit to a lesser extent. If you want a SteamOS device with a bigger screen, higher resolution and VRR, it’s worth considering. That said, keep in mind that Valve is opening up SteamOS to more third-party devices as time goes on.
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Pros
Better performance than Steam Deck and most Windows handhelds
If you’re willing to spend extra for more software flexibility, you can skip the SteamOS devices and buy a Windows-based handheld instead. The ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X is our current favorite of those, and it’s a decent if expensive alternative to the Steam Deck if you’re willing to trade some ease of use for a higher performance ceiling.
While Microsoft is marketing it as a handheld Xbox, the Xbox Ally X is really just another iteration of ASUS’ ROG Ally line of portable gaming PCs. It can’t play every game you might own on an Xbox console, nor does it use the exact same simple UI. So don’t go in expecting this to be the Xbox version of a Nintendo Switch. Instead, it runs Windows 11, just like the original ROG Ally and ROG Ally X before it. However, this model ships with a new “Xbox full screen experience” that essentially uses a modified version of the Xbox PC app as its default interface. This aggregates and organizes your PC games from across storefronts (Steam included), reduces background tasks to marginally aid performance and generally makes it easier to navigate the device with gamepad controls.
Taking a wider view, there are three main reasons to consider the ROG Xbox Ally X over the Steam Deck. As with the Legion Go S, the first is power: The last couple of ROG Ally devices were already more consistent about playing graphically intense games at higher frame rates, thanks in large part to a “Turbo mode” that boosts the device’s power draw to 25W, or 30W when plugged in. Here, the latter bumps up to 35W. Either way, the Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip and 24GB of RAM in the Xbox Ally X only furthers this advantage, especially at lower power draws. If you mainly want to play demanding AAA games, this device is far more likely than the Deck to run them well, both today and into the future. It’s still a handheld, so you’ll have to tinker to get some games running optimally, but you won’t have to resort to “potato” settings nearly as often as you do with Valve’s machines.
The second major selling point is VRR. The 7-inch LCD display here is virtually identical to the one used on older ROG Allys: It’s neither as bright nor color-rich as the Steam Deck OLED’s screen, nor is it as spacious as the Legion Go S’ panel. But it’s both sharper (1080p) and faster (120Hz) than the Deck’s display, and its VRR support does wonders to keep games looking smooth even when their frame rate fluctuates.
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The third key advantage, and the Xbox Ally X’s biggest pro compared to the Legion Go S, is the fact that Windows lets you play games from any PC client instead of funneling you toward a selection of Steam games. If you’ve built up libraries on stores like Epic, GOG or the Xbox app, you can access them here like you would on any other Windows PC — no workarounds required. For Xbox Game Pass games, Epic Games Store exclusives or finicky always-online titles like Destiny 2 that require anti-cheat software, this is great.
The new Xbox full screen experience does go some way toward minimizing the clunkiness that has long plagued Windows gaming handhelds. Putting the device into sleep mode (mostly) works now. The new app switcher is intuitive. And you do have the freedom to install a distro like Bazzite if you want a near-identical (if unofficial) experience to SteamOS. Of course, you could also just spend most of your time using Steam’s Big Picture Mode.
That said, you’ll probably still run into some familiar Windows quirks and annoyances here. Navigating the OS with touch controls is still frustrating whenever you inevitably end up having to go outside of the Xbox UI. Needing to use the desktop version of the Windows update tool to update the Xbox app, for example, is just awkward. Sometimes you may need to jump into ASUS’ Armoury Crate app to access certain settings instead of the main Xbox UI. Sometimes you won’t see a pop-up, error message or launched app without manually checking what’s going on in the background yourself. And no gaming handheld ever needs programs like Microsoft Teams or OneDrive to come pre-installed.
To reiterate: This isn’t an Xbox, it’s a Windows PC. And while it’s certainly betterthan other Windows handhelds at feeling less…Windows-y, the Steam Deck and SteamOS remain easier to just pick up and use, even if they feel more closed off as a result. But if the flexibility of Windows appeals to you, the changes here do make things a bit more legible. Just note that other handhelds are set to receive this new Xbox UI as well starting next year.
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It also helps that the Xbox Ally X is a nice piece of kit. It’s still chunky and heavy, but its pronged grips make it easier to hold for longer stretches than previous Ally devices. The giant 80Whr battery helps it last longer than most Windows handhelds we’ve tested — we got roughly three and a half hours out of Clair Obscur: Expedition33, for example, playing in 1080p at medium settings with the screen brightness maxed out. The face buttons, joysticks and triggers are all tight and comfortable; together they make it feel like you’re using a traditional Xbox controller. The speakers are nice and loud, too.
The Xbox Ally X costs $1,000, so there’s no getting around the fact that it’s a luxury purchase. You could get a Steam Deck OLED and a Nintendo Switch 2 for the same price. But if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, or if you’re willing to brave the occasional UX sloppiness in order to play games from any client anywhere you want, it could be worthwhile. If nothing else, it should hold up better than most portable PCs going forward.
Be aware that ASUS makes a lower-cost version of this device called the ROG Xbox Ally (no X). We haven’t been able to test that one, but it comes with a weaker Ryzen Z2 A chip, a smaller battery and half the memory and storage, so it’s a questionable value at $600.
The Retroid Pocket 5 is the handheld to get if you mainly want to emulate older consoles. It’s an Android-based device that’s far less powerful than portable PCs like Steam Deck or ROG Ally X, so it can only play PC, PS5 and Xbox games via streaming. But if you want something more compact and are willing to go through the many, many rigors of getting emulators to actually work, it’s an excellent device.
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The Pocket 5 runs on a Snapdragon 865 chip (the same one used by flagship phones from 2020) and 8GB of RAM, plus it has a built-in fan you can set to three different modes to gain a little extra performance. This gives it enough power to play most games from the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, two popular retro consoles that can be tough for mobile handhelds to emulate. With some setup, we were able to play relatively demanding PS2 fare like Gran Turismo 4, ESPN NFL 2K5, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal and Midnight Club 3 at full speed and 1.5x to 2.5x their native resolution. GameCube games like Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and F-Zero GX, meanwhile, were rock solid at a 2x or 3x upscale. All of that is fantastic for the money.
Just about everything we tested from consoles below the PS2 and GameCube on the performance totem pole — PSP, Dreamcast, PS1, N64, etc. — ran flawlessly at a 3-5x upscale (which maxes out the display’s resolution). Most Wii and 3DS games we tested were smooth at 720p to 1080p as well, though translating the Wii remote to a handheld is often cumbersome, and the 5.5-inch panel is a bit cramped for viewing two DS screens. You can get some Switch games to work, too, but we discourage that when the Switch is still readily available to buy today. As for modern games, Xbox cloud streaming ran about as well as it does on any other device, while native Android apps like Diablo Immortal, Call of Duty Mobile and Asphalt Legends Unite gave us zero issues at max settings.
Let’s be clear: If you’re new to emulation, you need to go into a device like this expecting to tinker. Even after the laborious process of securing ROM files, downloading the best versions of certain emulators, mapping different control schemes for each console and navigating the menu hell that is RetroArch, some games just won’t work right.
The Pocket 5 isn’t immune to this. We had to install a third-party GPU driver to avoid visual glitches in games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Mario Superstar Baseball. Gran Turismo 4 required us to tweak the display crop to hide overscan-related artifacts. The most popular Sega Saturn emulator for Android is a mess, so we had to point games for that system to a specific RetroArch core (at which point they all ran great). You will have to fiddle with resolution, rendering and active cooling settings to get many games going at their best — and even then, some tricky ones like Star Wars Rogue Squadron II will suffer from debilitating slowdowns. It’s all terribly tedious. But you’d do it because you truly love old games and don’t mind putting in work to enjoy them comfortably, at a decent price.
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We wouldn’t call the Pocket 5’s plastic frame “premium,” but it’s clearly sturdier and more substantial than most emulation handhelds from little-known Chinese companies. The 1080p OLED display is the highlight: It makes everything look more vibrant, from the deep blue ocean of The Wind Waker to the green vegetation in Stardew Valley, and it’s sufficiently sharp and bright. There are textured, modestly-sized grips around the back that give your fingers a natural place to rest. The face buttons are smooth to press, with a comfortable level of travel. The d-pad is firm and precise enough for us to play Tetris DXwithout whining. The analog triggers are conveniently wide and flared, while the clicky bumpers are easy to distinguish. The speakers, while not incredibly full-sounding, can get surprisingly loud.
Our main complaint is with the joystick layout, which situates the left stick underneath the d-pad. This is fine on a PS5 controller, but here it can make playing more modern games a literal pain, as it invites you to leave your left hand dangling partway off the device. But the sticks themselves are neither too loose nor too tight, and they should avoid drifting issues over time thanks to their magnetic Hall effect sensors.
Battery life can vary from three-ish hours with demanding Android games to more than 10 hours when emulating older 8- and 16-bit consoles. That’s solid. The active cooling system keeps the device from ever feeling too hot, though its highest setting is pretty noisy; you wouldn’t want to use it around a sleeping partner. It’s also worth noting that the design won’t actually fit in most pockets, as its name implies, but it certainly won’t hog space in a bag or purse.
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Pros
Capable emulation and Android gaming performance
Lovely OLED display
Sticks and buttons feel great
Sturdy, portable design
Cons
Requires a ton of tinkering to get some emulators working optimally
The Retroid Pocket Flip 2 is essentially the Pocket 5 in a clamshell shape. It runs on the same chip — and thus can emulate the same wide range of retro games — with the same great OLED display, Hall effect joysticks, active cooling system, 5,000mAh battery and clean Android OS. The face buttons, triggers, bumpers and d-pad are all roughly as responsive, though the built-in fan can still get distractingly loud at full blast and the speakers don’t offer the best separation (but still get plenty loud).
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It’s just built like a fatter Nintendo DS with no second display. It’s thicker and heavier than the Pocket 5, and it has a flat back, so we find it a touch more fatiguing to use over time. There’s also a bit too much empty space on the bottom half — the face buttons and d-pad definitely have room to be larger. And since this is a clamshell, the joysticks have to be recessed in little divots to avoid pressing against the display. They’re still smooth and accurate, but using them always feels somewhat awkward.
However, separating the display gives more space for the different control elements to breathe. The joysticks are offset from the d-pad and face buttons, which makes them feel less cramped with games that are more reliant on analog input. They also sit above the other inputs, so you don’t have to reach as much when playing Game Boy, SNES or other systems that aren’t built for joystick control at all.
The clamshell shape gives everything a natural layer of protection, which in turn makes the device easier to just chuck in a bag. Though we can’t say how well the hinge will hold up years down the road, it feels appropriately tight, and it’s given us no issues after several weeks of testing. The Flip 2 costs $10 more than the Pocket 5 before tariffs, but whether it’s worth buying entirely comes down to how you feel about clamshells. If you want a retro handheld that’s more DS than PSP, grab it instead.
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Pros
Capable emulation and Android gaming performance
Sturdy clamshell design provides a natural layer of protection
Lovely OLED display
Cons
Requires a ton of tinkering to get some emulators working optimally
Recessed joysticks
Buttons and d-pad could be larger
Photo by James Trew / Engadget
Display: 6-inch IPS, 1080p resolution, 60Hz | Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | RAM: 8GB, 12GB or 16GB LPDDR5x | Storage: 128GB, 256GB or 512GB UFS 4.0 | Battery: 8,000mAh | Dimensions: 8.86 x 3.86 x 0.67 inches | Weight: 0.93 pounds | Wireless: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3 | OS: Android 13
If you have more cash to burn on an emulation-focused machine, the AYN Odin 2 is a step up from the Retroid Pocket 5 and Flip 2. This Android device can play everything our those picks can, just smoother and more reliably. That’s mainly due to its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which is the same chip used by flagship phones from 2023.
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The Odin 2 starts at $299 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which is expensive when the entry-level Steam Deck can run PC games natively for just $100 more. (And in the US, tariffs may erase that gap entirely.) Still, among more compact mobile handhelds, there aren’t many alternatives that run this well at this price. It played all PS2 and GameCube games we tested at two to three times their native resolution, while systems like the PS1, N64 and Dreamcast had no problems at a 3-5x upscale. Most 3DS and Wii games had little to no slowdowns at 2-3x, either. It’s better than most with the Sega Saturn, and it can play a wider range of Switch games than the Pocket 5 and Flip 2 (though you should just buy a Switch if that’s a major concern). More challenging systems will still require some settings tweaks, but the superior chip means you won’t need to tinker on a game-by-game basis as extensively as you would with a lower-cost device.
It’s not just raw performance, though: The Odin 2 is also a refined piece of hardware. It’s larger than Retroid’s handhelds, but it’s still much less chunky than a portable PC, and the curved grips on its back are inviting to hold. The d-pad, face buttons, analog triggers and Hall effect joysticks all feel great; the latter are also offset, which makes the design comfier than the Pocket 5 for streaming recent console and PC games. Other touches like a fingerprint scanner, a dedicated return button, a micro-HDMI out port, two customizable back buttons and clear front-facing speakers are all nice perks.
The 6-inch 1080p touchscreen isn’t as color-rich as the Retroid’s OLED panel, but it’s still bright and well-sized for modern games. Battery life is superb: We got more than eight hours of juice emulating systems like the PS2, but that jumped over 20 hours with lighter tasks. The device supports 65W fast charging as well. Cloud streaming and native Android games work as they should, and since the whole thing runs on a lightly modded version of Android, its stock interface should feel familiar to most.
AYN sells a few different variants of the Odin 2, including the PS Vita-esque Odin 2 Mini and the larger, OLED-sporting Odin 2 Portal. These run on the same chipset as the standard model, so they should be just as powerful. Both should be a little more niche, however. The Retroid Pocket 5 gets you most of the way to the Mini for $120 less. The Odin 2 Portal is definitely more appealing, but it’s closer to the Steam Deck’s width (and price) yet much less capable than Valve’s machine on the whole.
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As noted above, you may want to wait on all of these if you need the absolute latest: AYN has launched a new Odin 3 device since our most recent update. We aim to test that one in the near future.
Pros
Excellent emulation and Android gaming performance
Comfortable
Great battery life
Cons
Relatively pricey for a mobile handheld (even before tariffs)
Setting up emulators can still be laborious
Docked experience isn’t seamless
Photo by James Trew / Engadget
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Display: 3.5-inch LCD, 1,600 x 1,440 resolution, VRR 30Hz-62Hz | Chipset: Altera Cyclone V FPGA, Altera Cyclone 10 FPGA | RAM: 3.4MB BRAM, 2x 16MB 16-bit cellular RAM, 64MB 16-bit SDRAM, 256KB 16-bit asynchronous SRAM | Battery: 4,300mAh | Dimensions: 5.86 x 3.46 x 0.86 inches | Weight: 0.61 pounds | OS: Analogue OS
The Analogue Pocket is the ultimate Game Boy. Its vertical design is built like a modernized, premium version of Nintendo’s classic handheld, and it can even work with accessories like the Game Boy Camera. Compared to the original, though, the Pocket adds two extra face buttons, a pair of rear triggers, a microSD slot, a USB-C port and a rechargeable battery rated for six to 10 hours of playtime. Most significantly, it has a gorgeous 3.5-inch display that’s both backlit and incredibly sharp (615 ppi) but can be set to look like an old Game Boy panel with different filter modes. The device can also output to a TV with an optional dock.
Unlike the retro handhelds mentioned above, the Pocket is designed to play actual cartridges, not just ROM files. It works with Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games through its cartridge slot, while games from the Sega Game Gear, TurboGrafx-16, Neo Geo Pocket and Atari Lynx are playable through optional adapters.
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Like past Analogue devices, the Pocket uses field-programmable gate array (FPGA) motherboards to mimic its target systems on a hardware level. In practice, this means the Pocket’s “emulation” of older titles is near-perfect, with a level of responsiveness and visual faithfulness that software-based emulation can’t match. Pop in a Game Boy or GBA cartridge and you can essentially play it as intended. That said, thanks to a big post-launch update and an active user community, the Pocket can also run ROMs off a microSD card and thus play systems like the SNES and Sega Genesis.
The Pocket isn’t cheap at $220, and its shoulder buttons aren’t as crisp to press as the excellent d-pad or face buttons. Still, if you have a collection of Game Boy, Game Gear or GBA games, the Pocket is the most elegant way to play them, and it’s only become more versatile over time. Its biggest flaw is that it can be prone to stock shortages and shipping delays.
Pros
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Plays Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and GBA cartridges with near-perfect emulation
Gorgeous display
Impressive build quality
Expandable via adapters
Supports software emulation
Cons
Stock issues and shipping delays are common
Shoulder buttons feel a little spongy
Tiny volume buttons
Engadget
Display: 2.7-inch Memory LCD, 400 x 240 resolution, 1-bit | Chipset: ARM Cortex-M7F @ 168MHz | RAM: 16MB, 8KB L1 cache | Storage: 4GB eMMC | Battery: 740mAh | Dimensions: 2.99 x 2.91 x 0.35 inches | Weight: 0.19 pounds | OS: Playdate OS
The Playdate, from app developer and Untitled Goose Game publisher Panic, is a tiny yellow box with a 2.7-inch monochrome display, two face buttons, a d-pad and a physical crank built into its side. We called it a “cross between a Game Boy and a business card” in our review, and it is indeed incredibly small at roughly three inches tall and 0.18 pounds. It has a dedicated game library that largely consists of oddball indies, most of which focus on one or two core ideas instead of trying to stuff in as many mechanics as possible. A couple dozen of those games are bundled with the device, while others are available via a built-in store or sideloading from shops like Itch.io. The hardware is generally well-built, and its battery life is decent at six to eight hours per charge.
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At $229 after a price hike, it’s hard to call the Playdate a great value when it’s only designed to play a selection of niche games. Its display isn’t backlit, either. But in a sea of devices that try to be everything for everyone, the Playdate is admirably focused and low-key. If you’re into smaller-scale fare and have some money to play with, it’ll be a fun toy.
The new Nintendo Switch 2 is already more popular than any of the handhelds above, but we haven’t made it a formal pick in this guide since it exists in its own world. As one of the newest devices from the big three console manufacturers, most people aren’t choosing between it and the handheld PCs or emulation devices above. The main reason to buy a Switch 2 is to play new Nintendo games, and no other device can (legally) offer that. Likewise, the Switch 2 doesn’t even try to offer the flexibility of a Steam Deck, ROG Ally X or even the Retroid Pocket 5.
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That said, the hardware itself is a significant upgrade over its predecessor, with dramatically improved performance, a sharper, faster and bigger 7.9-inch display, magnetic Joy-Con controllers and more storage. It’s a wholly more polished take on the Switch 1’s ideas.
Does that make it a must-buy right now? Unless you’re worried about a tariff-induced price hike — which may not be the most outlandish fear — not really. Donkey Kong Bananzais a joy, Mario Kart World is fun enough and playing Cyberpunk 2077 on a Nintendo console is kind of surreal, but the list of true must-plays that are exclusive to the Switch 2 is still limited. That’s OK — it’s only been a few months. But don’t feel like you must rush out and splash the cash today unless you have a serious case of Donkey Kong-inducedFOMO.
Other gaming handhelds we’ve tested
The Lenovo Legion Go 2. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
Note: This is a selection of noteworthy gaming handhelds we’ve tested, not a comprehensive list of everything we’ve ever tried.
Lenovo Legion Go 2
The Lenovo Legion Go 2 is a capable alternative to the ROG Xbox Ally X with a mondo-sized 8.8-inch display. That screen is the main reason to consider it, as it’s a vivid OLED panel that supports VRR and has a 144Hz native refresh rate. Like the Switch, it also comes with detachable controllers — one of which includes a useful touchpad for navigating Windows — plus a built-in kickstand for tabletop play.
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That said, it’s an absolute tank at just over two pounds, and we found it to perform a little worse than the Xbox Ally X at equal settings. It’s also even more expensive, starting at $1,100 and rising to $1,350 for a config with the same Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip. It’s a lovely device if you’ve got cash to burn — and to be fair, none of these Windows handhelds are for anyone looking for “value” — but the Xbox Ally X is a better buy for most.
The MSI Claw 8 AI+. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
MSI Claw 8 AI+
The original MSI Claw was a flop, but the newer Claw 8 AI+ is much more appealing if you’re willing to pay for a larger and slightly more powerful alternative to the ASUS ROG Ally X. With its Intel Core Ultra 7-258V chip and 32GB of RAM, it typically pumped out 10 to 15 percent higher frame rates than last-gen models like the ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go in our testing. (Another model is available with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip.) Battery life is relatively strong, while its 8-inch 120Hz IPS display is plenty bright and supports VRR. There are smooth Hall effect thumbsticks and triggers, two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a built-in fingerprint sensor beyond that.
The Claw’s main issue is its price: At $1,100 after recent price hikes, it’s hard to justify over the ROG Xbox Ally X, which is already too expensive for most people. ASUS’ handheld is lighter and easier to grip on top of that — though the Claw is thinner — and its overhauled Xbox UI, while far from perfect, is still easier to get around than MSI’s Center M hub. There’s a smaller 7-inch version of this handheld for $900 as well, but we haven’t tested that one.
The ModRetro Chromatic. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
ModRetro Chromatic
The ModRetro Chromatic is a competitor to the Analogue Pocket that can similarly play actual Game Boy cartridges via FPGA. With its premium metal frame, loud speaker, tight d-pad and beautifully bright 2.56-inch display, it’s an impressive modernization of Nintendo’s classic handheld. ModRetro also publishes a number of games specifically for the device, including a pretty great version of Tetris that comes bundled in the box.
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However, for many, its faithfulness to the original Game Boy probably goes too far: It requires three AA batteries for power, and unlike the Analogue Pocket it doesn’t support custom save states. It’s also designed for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games only; it can’t play any Game Boy Advance cartridges or games from other retro handhelds like Analogue’s device, nor does doesn’t support ROMs. For only $20 less than the Pocket, that makes it a tough sell, even if the hardware is arguably higher-quality.
There’s also the lethal, autonomous elephant in the room: ModRetro is founded by Palmer Luckey, the idiosyncratic entrepreneur behind the Oculus Rift who has gone on to form Anduril Industries, a defense contractor that makes drones, surveillance systems and other AI-powered military tech. He has also espousedpolitical views that many people — and this is the tamest way I can put this — may not be comfortable backing. We are not here to police where you can spend your money, and the Chromatic does much of what it wants to do well. Still, all of these handhelds are just so inessential, and no other option that we know of is as closely tied to an arms dealer.
The Lenovo Legion Go S. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
Lenovo Legion Go S (Windows, Z2 Go chip)
The Windows 11 version of the Lenovo Legion Go S has the same relatively comfortable design and commendable 8-inch 120Hz display as the SteamOS model we highlight above. With the Z2 Go model we tested, though, its performance lags too far behind the ROG Ally X, Claw 8 AI+ and original Legion Go for something priced at $730. Windows is still clunky, too.
The Ayaneo Flip DS. (Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget)
Ayaneo Flip DS
The Ayaneo Flip DS is a cool concept: a powerful Windows machine with a clamshell design and dual displays, sort of like a supercharged Nintendo DS. It feels sturdy, it performs roughly on par with the other Ryzen 7 7840U (or 8840U) handhelds in this guide, and its 7-inch top display is sharp, fast and bright. The second screen makes it a natural fit for emulating Wii U or 3DS games, but you could also, say, look up a guide or play a YouTube video without having to close whatever you’re playing.
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Unfortunately, this is more of a neat idea than a fully thought-out product. The folding design means that the joysticks have to be short and recessed, while the face buttons and d-pad are uncomfortably flat. The whole thing is overly thick and heavy, plus it runs very hot. Battery life tops out around two hours, and actually managing two displays on a Windows handheld is about as clunky as you’d expect. With prices now starting above $1,100, the Flip DS is hard to recommend unless you’re (oddly) desperate for a handheld Wii U emulator. We’re always happy to see more weird hardware, though.
The Ayaneo Kun. (Photo by James Trew / Engadget)
Ayaneo Kun
The Ayaneo Kun is one of the more decadent Windows handhelds we’ve tested. With a sharp 8.4-inch display, a Ryzen 7 8840U chip, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 4TB of storage, a sizable 75Whr battery and a 54W max TDP, it’s both a capable gaming device and a feasible replacement for a desktop PC. But it now starts at a pricey $999, it’s huge and it suffers from the usual Windows-related issues. It also lacks VRR, and that Ryzen chip is no longer the latest and greatest. The Kun is still a fine device in a vacuum, but the ROG Xbox Ally X is a better buy. This is technically an older model for Ayaneo, too, as the company seems to launch a new handheld every other hour these days.
The Retroid Pocket Classic. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
Retroid Pocket Classic
The Retroid Pocket Classic is another Game Boy-style vertical handheld in the vein of the Analogue Pocket, but like the other Retroid models we’ve highlighted, it’s an Android device designed to emulate games via ROM files, not genuine cartridges. (Naturally, it can also play native Android games.) It’s still far clunkier to set up and use as a result, and its overall design feels more toy-like than either the Pocket or ModRetro Chromatic.
But its Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 chip is easily powerful enough to play any classic handheld system (along with most other retro games that don’t require joystick controls), while its 3.9-inch OLED display is superbly bright, sharp and colorful. The battery can last more than 10 hours when emulating lower-power systems, and Retroid sells a version with six face buttons instead of the standard four if you want to play older Sega Genesis and Saturn games in particular. The Analogue Pocket is still more premium and rewarding to use, but if you want a similar form factor and can live with the typical quirks that come with a device like this, the Classic is a good value at $129. Of the many Game Boy-style handhelds out there that solely rely on software emulation, it’s the one we’d recommend first.
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The Retroid Pocket Mini (bottom) and Retroid Pocket 5. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
Retroid Pocket Mini
The Retroid Pocket Mini is essentially a smaller version of the Retroid Pocket 5. It runs on the same Snapdragon 865 chip and feels just as sturdy, but it has a smaller 3.92-inch display with a 4:3 aspect ratio. This makes it a more natural fit for older retro consoles, as you won’t get the black boxes you’d see on a 16:9 display like the one on the Pocket 5. If you mainly want to emulate systems like the SNES, Sega Genesis or Game Boy Color and don’t mind paying extra for a rich OLED display, it’s a good little device. But the tiny screen is limiting if you ever want to play newer games, and we wish there wasn’t so much empty space around the display.
This device had also generated some controversy within the retro gaming community for having persistent issues with inaccurate shaders (and for the slapdash way Retroid handled the matter). The company replaced the original model with a “V2” iteration that addresses those concerns, however.
Retroid Pocket 4 Pro and Retroid Pocket 4
The 4.7-inch Retroid Pocket 4 Pro is the predecessor to the Pocket 5. Its performance isn’t significantly far off the newer model, so it remains a nice value if you’re determined to spend less than $200 on an emulation device. It misses out on the larger OLED display and more ergonomically-friendly design of its follow-up, however. The base Pocket 4 may also be worth a look if you want to stay under $150, but its weaker chip makes it less adept at emulating games from the PS2, GameCube and up.
The Miyoo Mini Plus (left) and TrimUI Brick. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
Miyoo Mini Plus
The Miyoo Mini Plus is a highly affordable handheld with a well-built, Game Boy-style form factor that fits nicely with older games. Its 3.5-inch display pops for something in the $60 to $80 range, its battery lasts as long as it needs to and it can emulate consoles up to the original PlayStation without much issue. Its Linux-based software is extensively customizable, though it requires some tinkering to get it working optimally. Like many cheapo handhelds, it also lacks fast charging. Since it’s from a smaller Chinese firm and isn’t available at major retailers, it can also be difficult to actually buy. It’s a nice choice if you want something more compact than the Retroid Pocket Classic, but that model’s roomier design, more vibrant OLED panel and longer battery life makes it worth the extra cash for most people.
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TrimUI Brick
The TrimUI Brick is another low-cost vertical handheld that’s surprisingly well-built for an $80-ish device, thanks to its brushed metal backplate and impressive 3.2-inch IPS display. It has a weaker chip than the Retroid Pocket Classic, but it can still emulate older handheld games just fine, and its tiny frame makes it much easier to actually fit in a pocket. That said, while it has a sharper and more vivid screen than the Miyoo Mini Plus (its closest rival), the face buttons, d-pad and especially back buttons are all stiffer, and its stock UI feels similarly bootleg. (Some of the icons for different systems in the game library: “GomeBuy,” “Fanicon,” and “PloyStotion.”) You can fix the latter with custom firmware, but Retroid’s interface is easier to grok by default, and its setup process is less annoying. Most people interested in this class of device will be happier paying up for the Pocket Classic instead.
The Anbernic RG35XX Plus. (Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget)
Anbernic RG35XX Plus
The Anbernic RG35XX Plus is another wallet-friendly vertical handheld. For about the same price as the Miyoo Mini Plus, it offers a faster chipset, more RAM and a bigger battery alongside a similarly impressive design. Its stock OS is overly sloppy and cheap-looking, however, and while its stronger chip is appreciated, it’s still far behind the Retroid Pocket Classic.
The Anbernic RG35XXSP. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
Anbernic RG35XXSP
The Anbernic RG35XXSP is a variant of the RG35XX Plus based on the same internals, only it apes the clamshell form factor of the old Game Boy Advance SP. That’s a great design to rip off if you must pick one, and the hardware doesn’t feel nearly as cheap as its (pre-tariff) price tag of $60 or so would suggest. But the software issues noted above still apply (both here and with the many other devices in the same RGXX family). We’ve also seen severaluserreports of quality control issues with the RG35XXSP’s battery, which is automatically disqualifying.
Anbernic RG405M
The Anbernic RG405M is another 4:3 handheld with a 4-inch display and a pleasing metal frame. It’s an OK alternative to the Retroid Pocket Mini if you want a little more screen space for less cash, but it’s slower, and it lacks the Mini’s OLED display. We find the Retroid’s grooved back to be comfier to hold over time as well. And again, Anbernic has paused handheld shipments to America as of this writing.
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The PlayStation Portal. (Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget)
PlayStation Portal
The PlayStation Portal is an odd accessory that’s designed to stream games from a PlayStation 5. It lacks built-in apps, so it doesn’t support traditional emulation. Because it’s entirely dependent on the quality of your home Wi-Fi, we can’t guarantee how well it’ll actually perform. It doesn’t work with Bluetooth earbuds either.
The 8-inch display is fine and the DualSense-style controls are great, so PlayStation diehards who want a second screen for local PS5 streaming may see the appeal. Sony recently added the ability to stream a selection of games via the cloud, which is a step in the right direction, but you need an expensive PlayStation Plus Premium subscription to take advantage. In general, there’s little here that you can’t do with a smartphone and mobile game controller, so most people are better off saving their $200.
Logitech G Cloud
The Logitech G Cloud would’ve been a great Android pick when it launched if it cost about $150 less. Its 7-inch 1080p display is bright, vibrant and generally more pleasing to look at than the panel on the AYN Odin 2, its battery lasts a good 10 to 12 hours per charge and its design is comfy to hold for hours at a time. Alas, the G Cloud still tends to retail for $300, which is just too much when the Retroid Pocket 5 offers more power at a lower price.
What to know about the gaming handheld market
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
You can break down the gaming handheld market into three broad tiers. At the top, you have x86-based portable gaming PCs like the Steam Deck or ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X. These are the most powerful handhelds you can buy, as they seek to replicate the experience of a moderately specced gaming desktop. The Steam Deck runs on Linux, but most others use Windows. If you want to play modern, recently released PC games on the go (and need something stronger than a Switch), this is the type of device you’d get. They can also emulate the widest range of retro consoles. They’re typically the largest and most cumbersome devices to hold, however, and their battery life can be short. Naturally, they’re also the most expensive, costing anywhere from $400 to more than $1,000.
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Further down on the price spectrum are “mobile handhelds” like the Logitech G Cloud or Retroid Pocket. These devices often run Android or Linux and can range from under $50 to $400-ish (before tariffs). They aren’t equipped to play modern console or PC titles, but they’re usually more compact than a portable PC, and you can still use them for mobile games and cloud streaming. While most are marketed toward those ends, many gamers actually buy them to emulate classic games through software like RetroArch. Getting emulators to work can be complicated, and accessing the BIOS and ROM files required to play games this way is legally murky. One lawsuit from Nintendo led to the shutdown of the most prominent Switch and 3DS emulators, for instance. (Engadget does not condone piracy.) Backing up files of games you already own for personal use only is considered more defensible, though, so for that a mobile handheld can be a more user- and wallet-friendly way to play the classics — provided you don’t want to just use your phone.
We’ll call the last tier “handhelds that do their own thing.” This is a catch-all for things like the Switch 2 or Playdate: portable devices that run heavily customized software and aim to provide a unique gaming experience. They aren’t necessarily ideal for emulation or playing the latest multiplatform titles; instead, they often have distinct game libraries. They might not have the widest appeal as a result (Switch excluded), but they’re often easier for less tech-literate folks to just pick up and use.
Recent updates
November 2025: The ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X replaces the older ROG Ally X as our new favorite Windows gaming handheld. We’ve also added testing notes on the Lenovo Legion Go 2, ModRetro Chromatic and a couple of emulation-based handhelds in the Retroid Pocket Classic and TrimUI Brick. We’re working to test several other recent releases for our next update, including updated versions of the Retroid Pocket 5 and AYN Odin 2.
August 2025: We’ve added the SteamOS version of the Lenovo Legion Go S as a new recommendation and updated our top Windows pick to reflect the upcoming release of ASUS’ and Microsoft’s ROG Xbox Ally devices, which will feature an overhauled Windows UI. We’ve also added a note on the recently released Nintendo Switch 2. We’ll include testing notes on the Retroid Pocket Classic, TrimUI Brick and ModRetro Chromatic in the near future. (Note: Yours truly went on paternity leave after our last update — apologies for the delay!)
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May 2025: We’ve tested the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 and recommended it as an alternative to the Retroid Pocket 5. We’re also watching out for the first third-party devices that run SteamOS, starting with the new Lenovo Legion Go S, and the next ASUS ROG Ally device, which seems to be arriving soon based on recent leaks.
January 2025: We have a new top pick among emulation-focused handhelds: the Retroid Pocket 5. Beyond that, we’ve added notes on a few other devices we’ve tested, including the Retroid Pocket Mini and Anbernic RG35XXSP; lightly edited other blurbs to reflect changes in the market; and removed a couple write-ups for products that’ve been discontinued. We’re also keeping an eye on new handhelds that’ve recently been announced or are strongly rumored to arrive in the near future, including devices from MSI and Lenovo.
August 2024: We’ve replaced the ASUS ROG Ally, our prior pick for the best Windows gaming handheld, with the new and improved ROG Ally X. We’ve also checked to make sure all availability and pricing details noted throughout the guide are accurate.
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June 2024: We’ve updated this guide to ensure all of our recommendations are up to date, adding a note on ASUS’ upcoming ROG Ally X in the process. We’ve also included details on two new handhelds we’ve tested since our previous update: the MSI Claw and Ayaneo Flip DS. Staying on top of this market is a tall task, but we’re currently looking at recent noteworthy releases like the PSP-esque AYN Odin 2 Mini and the GBA-style Anbernic RG35XXSP as well.
If you have more than a few years of driving experience under your belt, then you’ve likely faced this situation: you turn the key or hit the start button, and your engine doesn’t turn over, no dashboard lights appear, and you hear a clicking noise or just total silence. Your car battery is dead or dying, and you’re stuck. You may be well-prepared with an emergency set of jumper cables in the car, or you may have to call a friend or AAA, but it’s not a situation you can handle alone unless you happen to have a portable jump starter in your car.
A portable jump starter is a compact battery pack with a positive lead and a negative lead that you easily connect to the terminals on your dead battery. They vary in price from under $40 to several hundred or more, depending on the type of battery, their power capacity, and additional options, such as built-in air compressors and LED lights for nighttime use. You can purchase a set of jumper cables for less than $15 at Harbor Freight, so is a portable jump starter worth it?
For most people, the answer is yes, it’s worth the investment for several reasons — it will allow you to jump-start your car battery properly by giving it enough juice to get your car running, and you don’t have to rely on a family member, friend, or stranger to help you. In fact, some may say they’re even better than jumper cables due to their safety features, though there are a few drawbacks as well.
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Jumper cables versus portable jump starters
lyuba.smith/Shutterstock
If you’ve never needed a jump start, here’s how it works with jumper cables: you need another car to park close enough to the disabled vehicle so that the cables can stretch between them. You connect one end to the functional battery and the other to the dead vehicle, but you have to be careful — one connector must be attached to an unpainted metal surface on the dead car’s engine block, not the battery.
Jump starters eliminate that risk and the need for assistance. After charging your jump starter and storing it in your vehicle, you simply attach the red cable to the positive post on your battery and the black cable to the negative post. Some jump starters have an indicator light to tell you if you connected it correctly. Then turn it on and start your engine. Most cars require a jump starter with about 1,000 amps or less, though diesel engines need more oomph. Both jumper cables and portable jump starters should be enough to start a completely dead battery, but remember, you still need to have that battery checked and potentially replaced.
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If you’re on the fence about jumper cables versus a jump starter, compare cost, maintenance, and ease of use. Jumper cables are more cost-effective and can be stored and forgotten, unlike jump starters, which must be charged occasionally. There are several highly-rated jump starters available on Amazon if you decide to go with that option. Plus, you won’t need assistance from another driver if you have a working jump starter, and some function as multi-tools, allowing you to charge via USB cables or even power 110-volt household devices.
According to the February 12 Steam beta patch notes, users can now automatically include hardware specs in game reviews and provide Valve with anonymized frame rate data. The features appear to be in the early stages of development but could eventually provide helpful performance metrics. Read Entire Article Source link
ShinyHunters, a well-known data extortion group, claims to have stolen more than 600,000 Canada Goose customer records containing personal and payment-related data.
Canada Goose told BleepingComputer the dataset appears to relate to past customer transactions and that it has not found evidence of a breach of its own systems.
Founded in 1957, Canada Goose is a Toronto-based performance luxury outerwear brand with a global retail footprint and nearly 4,000 employees.
Canada Goose sees no evidence of breach
“Canada Goose is aware that a historical dataset relating to past customer transactions has recently been published online,” the company told BleepingComputer.
“At this time, we have no indication of any breach of our own systems. We are currently reviewing the newly released dataset to assess its accuracy and scope and will take any further steps as may be appropriate. To be clear, our review shows no evidence that unmasked financial data was involved. Canada Goose remains committed to protecting customer information.”
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1.67 GB dataset contains detailed order records
ShinyHunters added Canada Goose to its data leak site this week, claiming the archive contains more than 600,000 customer records.
ShinyHunters data leak site listing Canada Goose and 600K records
(BleepingComputer)
Samples reviewed by BleepingComputer show that the 1.67 GB dataset, released in JSON format, contains detailed e-commerce order records, including customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, billing and shipping addresses, IP addresses, and order histories.
The data also includes partial payment card information such as card brand, the last four digits of card numbers, and in some cases the first six digits (BIN), along with payment authorization metadata.
While the dataset does not appear to contain full payment card numbers, the exposed information could still be used for targeted phishing, social engineering, and fraud.
The records also include purchase history, device and browser information, and order values, potentially allowing attackers to profile high-value customers.
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Hackers deny link to recent SSO attacks
ShinyHunters has recently been linked to a wave of social-engineering attacks targeting single sign-on (SSO) accounts and cloud environments.
When asked whether the Canada Goose data was obtained through those intrusions, the group told BleepingComputer the dataset was unrelated, claiming it originated from a third-party payment processor breach and dates back to August 2025.
BleepingComputer has not independently verified the claim.
The dataset’s schema (specifically, field names like checkout_id, shipping_lines, cart_token, cancel_reason, etc.), however, closely resembles e-commerce checkout exports commonly associated with hosted storefront and payment processing platforms, which may help explain how the data could have originated from a third-party service provider.
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Who is ShinyHunters?
ShinyHunters is a prolific data extortion group known for stealing and leaking large volumes of customer data from major brands and online services.
The group has been linked to numerous high-profile breaches and data theft incidents in recent years, often targeting e-commerce platforms, SaaS services, and cloud environments.
In recent reporting, security researchers have tied the group to vishing and social-engineering campaigns used to gain access to corporate accounts and cloud data.
Stolen data is typically used for extortion, sold on underground forums, or published on the group’s leak site when victims refuse to pay.
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It is not yet known how many Canada Goose customers may be affected or whether individuals will be notified. The company says it is continuing to review the dataset to determine its accuracy and scope.
Modern IT infrastructure moves faster than manual workflows can handle.
In this new Tines guide, learn how your team can reduce hidden manual delays, improve reliability through automated response, and build and scale intelligent workflows on top of tools you already use.
Google has released emergency updates to fix a high-severity Chrome vulnerability exploited in zero-day attacks, marking the first such security flaw patched since the start of the year.
“Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2026-2441 exists in the wild,” Google said in a security advisory issued on Friday.
According to the Chromium commit history, this use-after-free vulnerability (reported by security researcher Shaheen Fazim) is due to an iterator invalidation bug in CSSFontFeatureValuesMap, Chrome’s implementation of CSS font feature values. Successful exploitation can allow attackers to trigger browser crashes, rendering issues, data corruption, or other undefined behavior.
The commit message also notes that the CVE-2026-2441 patch addresses “the immediate problem” but indicates there’s “remaining work” tracked in bug 483936078, suggesting this might be a temporary fix or that related issues still need to be addressed.
The patch was tagged as “cherry-picked” (or backported) across multiple commits, indicating that it was important enough to include in a stable release rather than waiting for the next major version (likely because the vulnerability is being exploited in the wild).
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Although Google found evidence of attackers exploiting this zero-day flaw in the wild, it did not share additional details regarding these incidents.
“Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix. We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed,” it noted.
Google has now fixed this vulnerability for users in the Stable Desktop channel, with new versions rolling out to Windows, macOS (145.0.7632.75/76), and Linux users (144.0.7559.75) worldwide over the coming days or weeks.
If you don’t want to update manually, you can also let Chrome check for updates automatically and install them after the next launch.
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While this is the first actively exploited Chrome security vulnerability patched since the start of 2026, last year Google addressed a total of eight zero-days abused in the wild, many of them reported by the company’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), widely known for tracking and identifying zero-days exploited in spyware attacks targeting high-risk individuals.
Modern IT infrastructure moves faster than manual workflows can handle.
In this new Tines guide, learn how your team can reduce hidden manual delays, improve reliability through automated response, and build and scale intelligent workflows on top of tools you already use.
Pretty much everyone I know is unhappy with their hair in some way. All of my straight-haired friends want curly, and all of my curly-haired friends want straight. I’m so jealous of people who have thick hair, as someone with fine, thin hair that tangles easily.
My hair also grows famously slow. I got a pixie cut in spring of 2011, and my hair did not touch my shoulders until the end of 2013. Plus, because my hair is super thin, when I pull it back, it separates, and you can see my scalp underneath. Because it’s so fine, it tangles and often breaks off, resulting in chronically dry split ends.
Overall, I’m unhappy with my hair and its lack of growth or fullness, so I wanted to see if CurrentBody’s cord-free, Bluetooth-enabled LED Hair Growth Helmet would work for my slew of hair issues. Red-light-therapy devices for hair are similar to red-light therapy masks for your face, using red lights to increase hair growth and promote a healthy scalp. You need to use the device for only 10 minutes a day, and CurrentBody claims you’ll see results within 12 weeks. While my results weren’t super visually dramatic, I noticed my hair feeling thicker while shampooing, and I saw a lot more “baby hairs” spring up on my hairline after about three months of testing.
Splitting Hairs
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Unlike more discreet red-light hair growth devices, like the HigherDose Red Light Hat (see our full review here), CurrentBody’s entry is a full-on helmet, lined with 10 strips of 12 red lights each on a spectrum of 620 to 660 nm (nanometers, the unit of measure for the wavelength of visible light). This works similarly to red-light-therapy face masks, which aim to improve skin conditions and spur new cell growth using red-light therapy in the mid-600-nm range. The 620-nm red light helps to improve scalp health by promoting circulation, and the 660-nm red light goes deeper, reaching through the epidermis and dermis to the hypodermis, where it stimulates growth and repair at the follicle root.
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Photograph: Molly Higgins
Red-light wavelengths are clinically proven to energize hair follicles; improve scalp blood flow; reduce inflammation; lower dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels, a hormone that causes hair loss and thinning; and support production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which helps to store and release energy in cells. This wavelength of red light triggers follicles to stay in the hair growth phase by providing oxygen and blood flow to the scalp.
Rinse, Red Light, Repeat
The helmet is FDA-cleared (meaning it’s been determined to be equivalent to a similar, legally marketed device) and is FSA (flexible spending account) or HSA (health spending account) eligible with a letter of medical necessity. It comes in two sizes: medium, for a skull circumference of 21.3 to 23.2 inches, or large, for 23.3 to 25 inches. (I opted for medium, and it was still too large for my head.) The device sits on a base and is charged via a USB-C cord. It takes about three hours to fully charge the helmet, and it lasts about a week on a single charge. (The white light on the side flashes while charging and turns solid white when the battery is full.) The device is powered on by pressing the single button located under the charging port.
We’ve always been interested in fluidic logic and, based on [soiboi’s] videos, he is too. His latest shows how to use silicone and a vacuum to build a multiplexed dot matrix display. This is a fascinating look at how you design with air instead of electrons.
Just like a regular display, it isn’t efficient to control each element separately. Usually, it’s better to multiplex such that 16 “pixels” need only row and column air valves. Just as you might use transistors, the project uses “air transistors” to build logic gates.
Each pixel is a bit of silicone that can be sucked down only when a row and column are drawing a vacuum simultaneously. The air transistor is a similar membrane that a control input can suck down. In its relaxed position, two air channels are blocked by the membrane. When the membrane moves away, the two channels connect. This is analogous to a Field Effect Transistor (FET), where the channel conducts electricity when the gate is active and does not conduct when the gate is inactive.
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We appreciated the step-by-step development. The video moves from a pixel step-by-step to small arrays and then to a 4×4 array. If this is your first encounter with fluidic logic, you can learn more about it. The last time we checked in with [soiboi], he was creating fluidic robots.
A few years ago, it may have been fashionable to spend $1,000 on the latest flagship smartphone, but for most people, that’s neither practical nor necessary. You don’t even have to spend $500 today to get a decent handset, whether it’s a refurbished iPhone or an affordable Android phone, as there are plenty of decent options as low as $160.
However, navigating the budget phone market can be tricky; options that look good on paper may not be in practice, and some devices will end up costing you more when you consider many come with restrictive storage. While we spend most of our time reviewing mid- to high-end handsets at Engadget, we’ve tested a number of the latest budget-friendly phones on the market to see cut it as the best cheap phones you can get right now.
Building a good budget phone is tricky as manufacturers have a very hard limit on what they can include while staying under cost. Samsung has balanced this nicely on the Galaxy A17 5G by equipping it with a large 6.7-inch OLED display with solid brightness (up to 800 nits) and a 90Hz refresh rate. The phone’s design also defies its price because while it is made from polycarbonate (aka plastic), it doesn’t feel cheap. You even get a microSD card slot for expandable storage and three cameras in back. However, since one of those is a 2MP macro, it probably won’t see nearly as much use as the 50MP main or 5MP ultra-wide.
The one thing I wish Samsung splurged a bit more on is the phone’s Exynos 1330 chip, as it’s a little dated and sometimes struggles with things like multitasking or running more demanding apps. That said, starting at just $200 (or less depending on discounts), the Galaxy A17 delivers a lot of value for not a ton of money. — Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter
OnePlus
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The OnePlus Nord N30 5G was our previous top pick. At $300, it’s normally $100 more expensive than the A16 5G. However, if you can find it on sale for less, it’s still worth considering over the A16. For one, the N30 features a faster 120Hz display and its Snapdragon 695 chip, while older than the A16’s Exynos 1330, still outperforms it in some areas.
Another reason to consider the N30 over the A16 is that it ships with a 50W power adapter, letting you get a full day of battery life in 30 minutes. If you hope to use your new phone for as long as possible, the A16 is the better choice, but the N30 can be a compelling alternative. — Igor Bonifacic, Senior Reporter
Motorola
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For those on a really tight budget, the 2024 Moto G Play covers all the bases well. It has a decently fast Snapdragon 680 processor along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. And while that last number might seem small, the phone has a microSD card slot so you can add more space if and when you need it.
Its 6.5-inch LCD screen is also surprisingly sharp with a 90Hz refresh rate. The Moto G Play even has an IP52 rating for dust and water resistance. That isn’t much, but it’s good enough to protect against an errant splash or two. Sure, the G Play is basic, but it’s basic in a good way. — S.R.
Motorola
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The $400 Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G offers something none of the other picks on this list do: a built-in stylus. If you love doodling and jotting down notes, then this is the cheap phone to buy. Thankfully, it has a few other things going for it too. The Moto G Stylus 5G sports a big and responsive 6.7-inch display and a long-lasting 5,000mAh battery. Plus, it doesn’t look half bad.
As with other options in this price range, it would be nice if the Moto G Stylus 5G came with a more capable camera, faster charging and protection against water. With this recommendation, be sure to avoid paying full price for the Moto G Stylus 5G. Thankfully, that’s not hard to do with the phone frequently on sale. — I.B.
What to look for in a cheap phone
For this guide, our top picks cost between $100 and $300. Anything less and you might as well go buy a dumb phone instead. Since they’re meant to be more affordable than flagship phones and even midrange handsets, budget smartphones involve compromises; the cheaper a device, the lower your expectations around specs, performance and experience should be. For that reason, the best advice I can give is to spend as much as you can afford. In this price range, even $50 or $100 more can get you a dramatically better product.
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Second, you should know what you want most from a phone. When buying a budget smartphone, you may need to sacrifice a decent main camera for long battery life, or trade a high-resolution display for a faster CPU. That’s just what comes with the territory, but knowing your priorities will make it easier to find the right phone.
It’s also worth noting some features can be hard to find on cheaper handsets. For instance, you won’t need to search far for a device with all-day battery life — but if you want a phone with excellent camera quality, you’re better off shelling out for one of the recommendations in our midrange smartphone guide, which all come in at $600 or less.
Wireless charging and waterproofing also aren’t easy to find in this price range and forget about the fastest chipset. On the bright side, most of our recommendations come with headphone jacks, so you won’t need to buy wireless headphones.
iOS is also off the table, since, following the discontinuation of the iPhone SE, the $599 iPhone 16e is now the most affordable offering from Apple. That leaves Android as the only option in the under-$300 price range. Thankfully today, there’s little to complain about Google’s operating system – and you may even prefer it to iOS.
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Lastly, keep in mind most Android manufacturers typically offer far less robust software features and support for their budget devices. In some cases, your new phone may only receive one major software update and a year or two of security patches beyond that. That applies to the OnePlus and Motorola recommendations on our list.
If you’d like to keep your phone for as long as possible, Samsung has the best software policy of any Android manufacturer in the budget space, offering at least four years of security updates on all of its devices. Recently, it even began offering six years of support on the $200 A16 5G, which we recommend below. That said, if software support (or device longevity overall) is your main focus, consider spending a bit more on the $500 Google Pixel 9a, or even the previous-gen Pixel 8a, which has planned software updates through mid-2031.
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