Top 3 Best Handheld Gaming Consoles In 2024

Looking for the best handheld gaming console?

Handheld gaming consoles have come a long way, offering incredible gaming experiences on the go. Whether you’re a casual gamer or a hardcore enthusiast, there’s a perfect handheld console for you.

In this guide, I’ll break down my top three picks. Each one excels in different areas, ensuring you get the best value for your money.

First, we’ll start with a budget-friendly console with a fantastic gaming experience and great game library. Next, a premium option with top-tier features and performance and finally, our top pick, offering excellent performance, a wide selection of games, and great value.

Number 3. Nintendo Switch Lite – Best Budget Handheld Gaming Console

When it comes to handheld gaming consoles on a budget, you don’t have a lot of choices to pick from. Under a tight budget, you’ll only get retro handhelds that are capable of emulation, or cloud-based handhelds that can only stream games through platforms like Xbox Cloud Streaming. That only leaves one logical option: The Nintendo Switch Lite.

This console is a cut-down and more affordable version of the original Switch. It takes away the docking functionality, meaning you can’t hook it up to a TV. As such, this is a handheld-only console, and its weight and size reflect that. Despite this, it has the same performance as the regular Switch in handheld mode.

Design-wise, the Lite has a more playful appearance. You can get it in five colors: blue, yellow, gray, turquoise, and coral. Regardless of which color you go for, you’ll get white buttons and analog sticks. This adds a lot of contrast to the design and makes the device stand out. The screen is 5.5 inches, which is a respectable size for a compact handheld.

In terms of ergonomics, this console is comfortable to play for long sessions. It weighs 275g and isn’t cumbersome to hold. One big change here compared to the standard Switch is the addition of a proper D-pad. Even the Switch OLED doesn’t have this feature, as it uses buttons that serve as a D-pad. That doesn’t always work well, and a dedicated D-pad is objectively better, however, since the joy cons can’t be removed, the analog sticks are harder to repair or replace if you get stick drift.

As for the performance, that’s not something you’ll need to worry about much. All games on this handheld will play at 720p, and you can expect either 30 fps or 60 fps depending on the title. Some third-party games such as Mortal Kombat 1 run terribly, but first-party titles such as Tears of the Kingdom run incredibly well.

While the performance is acceptable across the board, there’s no denying that Nintendo needs to step up their hardware game. The Switch Lite has a weak Nvidia Tegra CPU, and while it’s decent enough for playing games at 30fps or 60fps in 720p, it’s far behind what other consoles are capable of.

Then again, there’s really no competition for Switch Lite. That is exactly why Nintendo is a bit complacent with their hardware. At around this price, you can get the Ayn Odin Lite, an Android-based handheld that is more powerful. However, you’re stuck with either Android games or emulation, as there is no dedicated game library. And that’s where the Switch Lite shines.

This console has been incredibly successful for Nintendo, and the game library is the main reason behind it. You can’t play games like Animal Crossing, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, or Pokemon anywhere else — at least not without emulation.

Battery life is another department where this handheld outshines its competition. Depending on the title, you can expect anywhere from 3 to 7 hours of battery life. If you’re on a long flight, it’s the perfect source of entertainment.

All in all, the Switch Lite isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t need to be at this price. It’s a cheap console that can play all your favorite Nintendo titles in a compact size, and that’s all you need at this price.

To sum up, what I like is…

Compact design
Great battery life
Gigantic game library

On the downside…
Some games struggle with performance
Harder to repair than standard Switch

Ratings:
Game library: 9.5/10
Performance: 7/10
Screen: 7.5/10
Battery Life: 8.5/10
Value: 9/10
Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Number 2. VALVE Steam Deck OLED – Best Premium Handheld Gaming Console

PC-based gaming handhelds have always been popular, but Valve is the company that brought them into mainstream discussion. While traditional gaming handhelds from Nintendo have always relied on their own software and exclusive games, PC handhelds are different. They either run on Windows or Linux and have access to any game that’s been released on PC. The Steam Deck OLED is the pinnacle of these types of consoles.

The OLED version is a major improvement over the original Steam Deck. It adds a 90Hz OLED screen, better battery life, WI-Fi 6E, better thermals, and faster memory. We rarely see such major hardware upgrades early on in a console lifecycle, so this is certainly a breath of fresh air.

In terms of design, this handheld is much bigger than something like the Switch OLED. You can verify this just by comparing the weight: The Switch OLED weighs 422g, and the Steam Deck OLED weighs 640g. This may make it seem like this is an uncomfortable console, but that’s not the case. The rear of the console has curved grips that make it comfortable to hold.

It’s large and a bit heavy, but much more comfortable than bigger handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go. The D-pad is in the top-left corner, and the face buttons are in the opposite right corner. You’ll find the analog sticks in the middle, and two capacitive touchpads right below that. These touchpads function like a mouse, and you can use them in first-person shooters.

On the back, you’ll find extra rear buttons that you can map to any in-game action. You’ve likely seen this before in-game controllers like the Xbox Elite and Dualsense Edge, so it’s a welcome addition here. The only problem with the design is that it only comes in a black color, which is a bit boring.

Most PC handhelds use Windows as their operating system, but Valve is using a custom Linux OS called SteamOS. This is based on their existing Steam app on PC and has a very close resemblance to the big picture mode in the app. You buy all your games from the Steam storefront, meaning you have access to every game that’s ever been released on Steam.

Surprisingly, a lot of them work well. Playing Red Dead Redemption 2 on the 90Hz OLED screen is a fantastic experience, and the performance is quite decent. Sure, it doesn’t go above 30 or 40fps in most cases, but if you lock the framerate, the experience is quite smooth. Indie games such as Hades, Hollow Knight, and Stardew Valley run even better and take great advantage of the 90Hz screen.

Buying, installing, and playing games from SteamOS is simple, as Valve has created a seamless console-like experience. It’s much better than the Windows handhelds, as you won’t run into annoying bugs or glitches for the most part.

Battery life is decent, but it really depends on the game. For example, if you’re playing something like Cyberpunk 2077, you’ll only really get 2 hours of battery life at most. On other less intensive titles like Vampire Survivors, you might be able to get seven, eight, or even 10 hours of battery life. This experience is inconsistent, and one of the major drawbacks of the Steam Deck.

In this space, there are a few competitors, and the main one is the ASUS Rog Ally. The Ally runs on Windows, meaning you can easily play games with anti-cheat. However, the issue with Windows is that it wasn’t designed for handhelds, and the setup process for some games is quite cumbersome. The Steam Deck is more accessible and easier to use for a wider audience, and SteamOS provides a more seamless experience.

Putting all of that together, the Steam Deck OLED is the premium handheld gaming console you can buy. It still requires a bit of tinkering depending on the game, but it’s much easier to use than any other PC handheld.

To sum up, what I like is…
Access to the Steam library
Gorgeous 90Hz OLED screen
Great performance for most games
Surprisingly ergonomic

On the downside…
Inconsistent battery life
Somewhat boring design

Ratings:
Game library: 9.5/10
Performance: 8/10
Screen: 8.5/10
Battery Life: 7/10
Value: 9/10
Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Number 1. Nintendo Switch OLED – Our Top Choice

While PC-based handhelds are great, they require a bit more setup and aren’t as easy to use as a traditional console. This is why Nintendo has been so dominant in the handheld gaming console space. Their handhelds are intuitive, have a great game library, and deliver decent enough performance to enjoy your favorite games. These are exactly the reasons why the Switch OLED is the best handheld out there on my opinion, even though it’s nearing the end of its lifecycle.

Compared to the original Switch, the OLED version introduces a bigger and brighter OLED screen, better battery life, and more storage. It also bumps up the internal storage from 32 to 64 gigs. That might not sound like a lot, especially if you download all your games but still it’s an upgrade. Fortunately, you can expand the storage with an SD card, and they tend to be quite cheap.

In terms of design, this console is very similar to the standard and Lite variants. It’s a bit bigger, but not by a lot. Unlike the Switch Lite, it doesn’t have a dedicated D-pad, but arrow buttons that function as a D-pad. A dedicated D-pad is always better for diagonal movements and rolling between directions, so this is a bit disappointing. At least the joy cons are detachable, making them easier to replace in the event of stick drift. Also, the Switch OLED has a more robust and improved kickstand than its predecessor.

Other than that, this console has the same CPU and RAM as the standard Switch. However, the battery life is a bit better. This is mostly thanks to the efficient OLED screen that completely turns off areas of the screen to display true blacks. The difference might be negligible in some games, but it’s noticeable in others. In general, you can expect up to 9 hours of battery life, depending on the game.

As this console has the same layout as the other Switch variants, it’s just as comfortable and ergonomic. It’s much heavier than the Switch Lite, but the weight is distributed well. You won’t get tired of playing games on this quickly, and that’s important for what’s primarily a handheld-focused machine.

With that said, you can also use this console in docked mode to hook it up to a TV. The box includes the Dock required for this functionality, and certain games play well on the big screen. Unfortunately, there’s no 4K support, but there really isn’t a handheld out there that can properly handle 4K gaming yet.

With the Switch 2 expected sometime next year, this console is nearing the end of its life cycle. However, it’s still a great time to buy one. You get instant access to the gigantic library of games, and Nintendo announced that it’s still going to be releasing a lot of games in 2024 for this console, and we’re even expecting a few new titles in 2025.

Still, it’s important to note that the Switch platform as a whole does have its problems. For one, all Switch variants use a very weak CPU, and while first-party games run well, several third-party games tend to struggle. The list of games that run well is quite long, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that we need a hardware revision for better performance.

Despite that complaint, this console still outshines its competition. The Steam Deck is the closest competitor, but as it’s a PC-based handheld, it’s intended for an entirely different audience. If you care more about playing Nintendo games at a cheaper price, the Switch OLED is your best bet.

So, if you’re looking for a handheld console that’s cheaper than the competition, has a better game library, and is easier to use, this is still the best handheld gaming console right now.

To sum up, what I like is…

Fantastic OLED screen
Slightly better battery life than the standard Switch
Improved kickstand
Superb game library

On the downside…

Some games struggle with performance
No 4K support

Ratings:
Game library: 9.5/10
Performance: 7/10
Screen: 8.5/10
Battery Life: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Overall Rating: 8.5/10

So what do you think? Which of these is the best handheld gaming console for you?

Or do you think another gaming console is better?

Tell us in the comments below.