Just a few years ago, this question wouldn’t have mattered unless you were happy with the much lower performance of handhelds at the time; gaming laptops were the go-to choice for most gamers looking for a portable solution. Since the release of the original Steam Deck, portable gaming PCs have come a tremendous way in just a few years.
Portable gaming is enjoying a renaissance, with powerful options on both sides. The only difficulty is figuring out which one is right for you.
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Steam Deck OLED
The Steam Deck OLED is the perfect handheld gaming console for gamers who want to take their games on the go. It offers the entire Steam library in a handheld form factor that’s ergonomic, easy to grip, and easy to use. An upgrade from the standard LCD model of the Steam Deck, the OLED model features a slightly larger display that’s brighter, sharper, and refreshes at 90Hz.
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ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 2024 (RTX 4060)
The 2024 model of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is equipped with an AI-powered 8-core AMD Ryzen 9 CPU and Nvidia’s mid-range RTX 4060 GPU. With 32 GB LPDDR5X memory and a large 1 TB PCI-E 4.0 SSD. It offers a 14-inch 3K OLED display with high PPI and a refresh rate of 120 Hz as well as a chiclet keyboard with backlight and weighs just under 1.5 kg.
Portability and user-friendliness
While everyone has a different gaming setup in college, it’s incredibly nice to have something you can quickly take with you on the go. As powerful PC components get smaller and smaller, laptops and even gaming handhelds have become slimmer and easier to carry in recent years, but without sacrificing great performance results.
Gaming laptops aren’t the bulky things they used to be, although you can still get the big, chunky models if you need them. They’ve gotten quite sleek, and some offer designs that don’t even look like they were made for gaming. Many of these laptops are easy to throw in a backpack with a mouse and be ready to game anywhere.
However, handheld gaming consoles are even slimmer and smaller in most cases. And since they’re designed exclusively for gaming, you don’t even need a mouse to get the best gaming experience on a handheld. Using our example handheld, the Steam Deck OLED seamlessly combines game controls and navigation options like a touchpad to provide a fantastic and user-friendly gaming experience no matter where you are.
winner: Handheld game console
Battery life
For any portable product, battery life is critical to maintaining performance on the go. There’s nothing worse than being tied to a power outlet for hours because your device drains the battery in just a few hours of gaming.
Although laptop battery life has increased tremendously, especially with the new ARM Windows laptops with Qualcomm SOCs, most gaming laptops still struggle to last the entire day whether you’re gaming or not. Many of the higher-end gaming laptops have pretty abysmal battery life, which is due to their power-hungry components and the 100Wh cap on batteries allowed on commercial flights.
While handheld consoles can’t play AAA games for days at a time, they’re generally much more efficient in terms of battery life. If you’re looking to play for long periods of time without access to a charger, a handheld console will provide a much more enjoyable experience.
winner: Handheld game console
versatility
One of the great things about gaming laptops is their versatility. Handheld gaming consoles are basically just smaller computers in most cases, but compared to laptops, they are much more demanding when it comes to tasks other than gaming.
Gaming laptops have the significant advantage of having a built-in keyboard and trackpad, making them a complete solution for multiple use cases, not just gaming. You can easily connect a Steam Deck or ROG Ally to a dock so you can connect a keyboard and mouse. You’ll probably also need a monitor for most tasks, but this severely limits portability and usability unless you’re gaming with a handheld console.
If you’re looking for something good for everyday use, whether it’s in class or doing homework, and you also want to play games, a gaming laptop will give you a much more optimized experience.
winner: Gaming laptop
Gaming performance
The gaming performance of laptops and handheld consoles depends a lot on the titles you plan to play with them. Since both use mobile components, their performance is quite different from desktop-sized components. Whether you choose a handheld gaming console or a gaming laptop, you should be able to play most AAA and indie titles without much trouble.
While both can run AAA games, handheld consoles aren’t going to be setting records for frame rates or performance benchmarks anytime soon. You can expect to run most titles at medium to high settings for the best performance. On the other hand, with a gaming laptop, you can get pretty good frame rates at high and even ultra settings, depending on the model and the game.
Aside from pure performance, another big issue with handheld consoles is compatibility. Not all games can run on SteamOS, and they aren’t all optimized for the ROG Ally version of Windows 11. There are workarounds for both, but it can be pretty frustrating if you’re not willing to invest a ton of time to get some titles running.
winner: Gaming laptop
Handheld Game Console vs. Gaming Laptop: Which is Right for You?
If you’re looking for an incredibly portable gaming solution that offers impressive performance numbers and can even be used as a mini PC in a pinch, a handheld gaming console like the Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally is an incredible option for many college students.
However, if you need a device that you can use not only for gaming but also for classes and other work, a gaming laptop is more versatile and offers more power than a handheld console, even if it comes at the cost of some rather lackluster battery life.
Handheld gaming consoles have come a long way in recent years, and we’re excited to see where they’re headed. But if you want to do more than just gaming, gaming laptops still have their place.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can a handheld PC replace a laptop?
Without a few accessories like a mouse and keyboard, and probably a portable monitor, a handheld PC wouldn’t be a complete replacement for a laptop. However, if you’re primarily looking for gaming, handheld PCs come pretty close to a modern gaming laptop.
Q: Are gaming laptops suitable for school?
While gaming laptops are usually designed primarily for gaming performance, the powerful hardware inside is also useful for other tasks that may be related to school. For example, coding, graphic design, and video editing are great side uses for gaming laptops.
