handheld

MSI’s Claw A8 has surfaced on U.S. retail pages with a sticker shock that’s hard to ignore: a Newegg listing shows an MSRP of $1,149 for the AMD-powered model, a price that places this compact Windows handheld among the most expensive consumer gaming portables on the market. The listing — paired...

Microsoft’s new Full Screen Experience for Windows 11 is more than a cosmetic “big tiles” makeover — it quietly trims legacy networking drivers, suppresses startup apps and parts of the Explorer shell, and exposes a developer API so games and launchers can detect and adapt to the mode...

ASUS and Microsoft’s Xbox-branded ROG Xbox Ally X raises the bar for Windows handhelds by delivering a rare combination of raw performance, refined ergonomics, and an ecosystem push that intentionally treats Windows like a handheld-first platform — but the product still exposes the hard truth...

Microsoft has begun rolling out Gaming Copilot (Beta) to Windows PCs via the Xbox Game Bar, an in‑overlay AI assistant that promises real‑time, voice‑first help, screenshot‑aware guidance, achievement tracking, and personalized game recommendations — with mobile Xbox app support scheduled for...

Microsoft's new handheld-focused, full‑screen Xbox interface for Windows 11 can already be unlocked on many in‑market Windows handhelds thanks to a Release Preview of the Windows 11 25H2 update and a handful of community-discovered switches — meaning you don't have to wait for the ROG Xbox...

Microsoft’s new Xbox Full screen experience for Windows handhelds can already be forced onto existing devices — but early testers warn that getting it running is only the first step; making it stable, usable, and genuinely advantageous is another matter entirely. Background Microsoft and ASUS...

Microsoft’s new handheld-focused Xbox Mode — the full-screen, controller-first Xbox experience layered on Windows 11 — is already being run on a wide range of in-market Windows handhelds, and community ports plus an Insider-channel push mean owners of existing devices can try the experience now...

Microsoft’s handheld gambit has quietly moved from concept to something you can try on your own device: a controller‑first, full‑screen “Xbox” experience built into Windows 11 is rolling out as part of the platform’s handheld work, and enthusiasts are already using the new handheld view and...

Microsoft’s console-first pivot for small screens lands in a surprisingly usable form, and testing Windows 11’s new Handheld Gaming Mode on an OG ROG Ally shows both what’s changed and what still needs work for real-world handheld PC owners. Background / Overview Windows 11’s new Handheld Gaming...

Microsoft has quietly repurposed the Xbox button on gamepads when used with Windows 11 Insiders: a long press now opens Task View while a short press still launches the Game Bar, and a press-and-hold continues to power down the controller — a small but practical tweak rolling out to Dev and Beta...

Lenovo’s newly announced Legion Go 2 will ship this October as a bigger, more expensive flagship handheld and — crucially for Windows handheld gamers — Lenovo says it will be able to run Microsoft’s new Xbox full‑screen experience starting in spring 2026, making the Legion Go 2 the first...

Lenovo’s follow-up to the original Legion Go lands as a serious, no-compromise Windows handheld: the Legion Go (8.8″, 2) pairs a brighter, 144 Hz OLED PureSight panel with AMD’s new Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU, up to 32 GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a much larger 74 Whr battery—while keeping the detachable...

Asus and Microsoft have taken the wraps off the ROG Xbox Ally family — two Windows 11 handhelds that marry ASUS’ ROG hardware design with an Xbox‑layered, controller‑first Windows experience — and they arrive on store shelves on October 16, 2025, positioning themselves as direct rivals to...

The ROG Xbox Ally X I tried shows genuine promise as a portable Windows gaming platform — but its success depends almost entirely on how far Microsoft and OEMs can push Windows 11 out of its desktop mindset and into a controller‑first, battery‑smart handheld experience. Background Handheld PCs...

Microsoft’s new handheld-first layer for Windows 11 — the full‑screen, Xbox‑centric “home app” experience shown on the ROG Xbox Ally family at Gamescom — is the clearest signal yet that Redmond intends to stop treating handheld gaming as an afterthought and start treating it as a first-class...

Microsoft engineers once built a proof-of-concept Windows experience specifically for handheld gaming devices during an internal hackathon — a prototype that showed how Windows 11 could present a gamepad-first, console-style interface and make Xbox Game Pass, Steam, Epic, and other storefronts...

Microsoft and ASUS appear poised to bring the ROG Xbox Ally family to market this fall, with a fresh leak narrowing the launch window to October 16, 2025, and pointing to pre-orders opening as early as August 20 during Gamescom — a timetable that, if accurate, turns months of “holiday 2025”...

For years, the dream of a true “Windows gaming handheld” has remained tantalizingly out of reach for many enthusiasts—haunted by clunky interfaces, touch-unfriendly controls, and a software landscape built almost exclusively for big-screen desktop monitors. Yet, recent revelations suggest a...

For years, the gaming world has buzzed with anticipation over rumors of a dedicated Xbox handheld. From cryptic statements by Xbox chief Phil Spencer to credible leaks by industry insiders, expectations have swirled around Microsoft’s possible entry into the portable gaming hardware market. Yet...

The rumored Xbox handheld device isn’t what traditional gamers might expect—and it may just offer a surprising remedy for Windows 11’s on-the-go woes. Recent whispers from sources like Windows Central hint at a device codenamed “Keenan” that could debut as early as 2025. Instead of an entirely...