The best gaming handhelds of CES 2025

Tom's Guide
(Image credit: Future)

The best handheld gaming consoles have grown in popularity over the years. It’s no surprise that several new machines from some of the biggest manufacturers have been announced at CES 2025. If you’re a fan of devices like the Steam Deck OLED, Asus ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go, there’s a lot to get excited about.

Most of the Tom’s Guide computing team (myself included) are on the ground at CES checking out the most notable gaming handhelds releasing this year. As one of the aforementioned handheld fans, I can tell you that this year could be a banner one for such machines. Playing the best PC games whenever you go is about to potentially become better than ever.

Below is a roundup of the best gaming handhelds you can expect this year from Acer, MSI and Lenovo.

Lenovo Legion Go S

Lenovo Legion Go S propped up on a table

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Legion Go S is a more budget-friendly handheld from Lenovo featuring the best aspects of the Legion Go into a smaller and more ergonomic form factor. This new device doesn’t just offer a new design, but can also be kitted with an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme or a new AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip. Best of all, a model running on SteamOS is expected to drop in May.

SteamOS on the Legion Go S is a game-changer for several reasons. First, this is the first time SteamOS appears on a third-party gaming handheld. Secondly, this model should be more user-friendly since Windows 11 doesn’t work too well on the handheld form factor. But if you prefer a Windows 11 portable, the Legion Go S still has that OS as an option — though it does cost more than the SteamOS version.

The Legion Go S has a similar design to the ROG Ally or Steam Deck. It doesn’t have detachable controllers like the Legion Go, but its unibody design and rounded sides make it easier to hold. It also has a new rounded D-pad and trigger locks, which should make playing fighting games and first-person shooters (respectively) feel more intuitive and precise. The 8-inch (1,920 x 1,200) display with its 120Hz refresh rate should also allow games to look and run great.

The Legion Go S could be the most exciting gaming handheld of 2025 thanks to SteamOS, but its other attributes also make it enticing.

Acer Nitro Blaze handhelds

Acer Nitro Blaze 11 being held by a dark-skinned man in a white shirt standing in front of the water

(Image credit: Acer)

Acer released its first gaming handheld in 2024. It seems the company wasn’t content with the 7-inch Nitro Blaze 7 as its newest devices are bigger. Quite a lot bigger in one case.

The numbers at the end of the Acer Nitro Blaze 8 and Acer Nitro Blaze 11 denote their respective sizes. The former is an 8-inch handheld while the latter is a monstrous 11 inches. When it launches, the Nitro Blaze 11 will be the largest Windows 11 handheld on the market. If you have big hands and find typical 7-inch handhelds too small, this could be the option for you. This beast also has detachable controllers like the Lenovo Legion Go and Nintendo Switch, which is a nice touch.

There are some differences besides size. For instance, the Blaze 8 has a faster refresh rate than the Blaze 11. If you’re into fast first-person shooters, you’ll probably want to play on the Blaze 8. The smaller size should also make it easier to carry around.

Unlike competing handhelds, Nitro Blaze systems pack an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS, which is a bonafide laptop processor. Toss in 16GB of RAM, and these handhelds should be powerful enough to run the best PC games without breaking a sweat.

MSI Claw 8 AI+

MSI Claw 8 AI+ - Hero

(Image credit: Future)

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is already available but it still received some shine during CES 2025. We were less than impressed with the original MSI Claw, but this updated model promises to fix its predecessor’s shortcomings.

First up, the Claw 8 AI+ has the new Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 2 CPU packing an Intel Arc 140V GPU. This chip promises better performance and efficiency than the AMD processors in the ROG Ally, Legion Go S and Steam Deck. Featuring the same Intel XeSS tech found in the company’s Arc GPUs, games should have strong performance and smooth frame rates.

There are some small but noticeable design differences from the previous model. It has a larger 8-inch display, a concave D-Pad, Hall Effect joysticks and more responsive shoulder buttons. The handheld also has a dual-tone colorway instead of all-black like before.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ should make up for the previous model. Hopefully, this device will make a better case for Intel chips inside handhelds. If this handheld performs as well as we hope, the AMD-powered competition could be put on notice.

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Tony Polanco
Senior Computing Writer

Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.