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Black Friday weekend has arrived the handheld gaming PC deals are live. If you're after a good deal on a handheld gaming PC, you're in good company. These compact computers are all the rage right now, and for very good reason: we've finally reached a time when they're actually any good.
You can get a genuinely good gaming experience out of a device no bigger than some graphics cards. To name a few of the heavy-hitters, there's the ROG Ally X, MSI Claw 7, Steam Deck, Legion Go, Ayaneo Flip DS, alongside many more.
Interest in handheld gaming PCs grew exponentially with the Steam Deck, but I've had my mitts on them since the days of Project UFO and the original GPD models. If you remember those, well done, you are also old. Over that time, I've become learned in the ways of what's hot and what's not.
👉We're curating all the best Black Friday PC gaming deals right now👈
Guided by the breadth of our handheld reviews and our guide to the best handheld gaming PC in 2024, I'm sniffing out the genuinely good deals this Black Friday. There are already a few available now, even before the big day arrives.
My experience goes back to the pre-Steam Deck days of handheld gaming, including trying the Project UFO prototype from Alienware back at CES and the original GPD machines. I've reviewed a few of them, too, including the Legion Go, Ayaneo Air 1S, and Ayaneo Flip DS. I am also the proud owner of a Steam Deck, and currently I'm getting to grips with emulation across Android powered handheld devices.
What does 'price watch' mean?
We've added a new "price watch" qualifier to all our individual deals, making it easy to see whether a price has gone up 🔼 or down 🔽 since we last checked it out. It's important to note that any deal in this guide (even if it's slightly risen in price) is still one of our top picks, as we only show you deals that are actually worth buying.
Black Friday handheld gaming PC deals — quick links
- Amazon: All the Amazon Black Friday handheld deals
- Best Buy: Every Black Friday handheld deal on Best Buy
- Newegg: The full Newegg Black Friday handheld deal list
- ROG Ally X: $699.99 @ Best Buy
- Lenovo Legion Go: $473 @ Amazon
- Steam Deck LCD: $337 at Steam
Handheld gaming PC deals
Handheld gaming PC accessory deals
Handheld gaming PC deals — UK
- Amazon UK: All the Amazon Black Friday handheld deals
- Currys: Every Black Friday handheld deal at Currys
- Argos: Every Argos Black Friday handheld deal
- ROG Ally: £399 @ Amazon
- Lenovo Legion Go: £479 @ Amazon
Live
Hey, Jacob Ridley here. I cover all things hardware here at PC Gamer, and I'm the guy that likes to talk about handhelds a lot. So, without further ado, let's talk about some handhelds.
Let's talk about the best of the best, the ROG Ally X.
The Ally X feels like the final hurrah for this generation of AMD-powered Windows handhelds. Built around the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor that also can be found inside the ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go, and more or less the same chip as in most other Windows-based handheld, it excels in other ways.
First off, the battery life is great. That's thanks to an 80 Whr battery that really makes a difference to the longevity of this device. That's really important for taking this thing on a long plane journey—you can get some good hours of gaming in without worrying about finding an outlet.
The other big improvement is the 24 GB of RAM onboard. That's more than the 16 GB we expect to see, though a little less than you'll find on premium, more niche handheld brands such as some from Ayaneo or OneXPlayer. The processor in the Ally X uses the same memory pool for both the CPU and GPU components, and more memory means a fairer share between both. That's good for performance, and in our testing we did notice a slight advantage for this design over others.
The screen is still a 1080p, 7-inch IPS—there's no OLED model. Don't expect to be making the most out of its 120 Hz refresh rate too often, either, though it does help keep the desktop sufficiently smooth.
And of course, I'm not just saying this to whet your whistle with no payout. The ROG Ally X is $100 off right now, which is pretty good going for a device that came out back in July and is still considered the hot, new thing.
Replacing a handheld's SSD — it can be done
Swapping out a smaller SSD for a larger one is an easy job on a standard gaming PC. On a handheld, it usually requires unscrewing more stuff. Still, I'm here to tell you it can be done.
The first thing you should know is that most of the time you'll want a PCIe 4.0 SSD with a 2230 form factor. That is a specially squished form of solid state that takes up far less room than your average NVMe stick. The one major exception to this is the Legion Go, which requires a 2242 SSD, and some Ayaneo devices actually use the full 2280 SSD form factor.
Here are two of the 2230 SSDs we've tested right here on PC Gamer, both of which are discounted right now:
I've got a few handy videos to outline the process, depending on which handheld you've got.
Just note, you'll likely need to clone your existing drive using an SSD clone tool like Macrium Reflect to get your handheld working as intended. This is a lot easier to do if you have access to a Windows PC with a spare NVMe slot to run the application and clone the drive.
Steam Deck — SSD replacement guidance
Here are some written step-by-step Steam Deck SSD upgrade instructions covering what needs to be done. If you're a visual learner, here's a video instead:
@pcgamer_mag ♬ original sound - PC Gamer
ROG Ally — SSD replacement guidance
Asus has put together a decent step-by-step guide on how to replace your ROG Ally SSD. You can read it here.
The teardown video below also shows the general job of getting the handheld open to access the NVMe.
The best MSI Claw deal is dead, for now
Unfortunately I've had to remove the sub-$400 MSI Claw deal from the list above.
That Intel-powered handheld was available over at Newegg for a small sum compared to the other AMD-powered handhelds on this list, which made it worth picking up. However, it's back to well over $400 and for that price I'd rather the more reliable and chunky form factor of the Legion Go for $500.
Here's hoping we see that MSI drop again before Black Friday is done. I'll keep an eye on it as the week progresses.
We've got some new ROG Ally price war action going on over at Amazon right now, with the Ally down to its lowest price yet on the marketplace.
The exact dollar value seems to depend on which retailer is vying for the top spot at any one time, but the handheld is currently cheaper than ever.
To give you a brief overview of the differences between this and the newer ROG Ally X, here's a table:
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Asus ROG Ally X | Asus ROG Ally |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme | AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme |
| CPU architecture | Zen 4 | Zen 4 |
| Core / threads | 8 / 16 | 8 / 16 |
| CPU boost clock | 5.1 GHz | 5.1 GHz |
| GPU architecture | RDNA 3 | RDNA 3 |
| Shader count | 768 | 768 |
| GPU boost clock | 2.7 GHz | 2.7 GHz |
| VRAM | 8 GB (shared, adjustable) | 8 GB (shared, adjustable) |
| Memory | 24 GB LPDDR5-6500 | 16 GB LPDDR5-6500 |
| Screen | 7-inch IPS LCD display | 7-inch IPS LCD display |
| Resolution / Refresh rate | 1920 x 1080 / 120 Hz | 1920 x 1080 / 120 Hz |
| Peak brightness | 500 nits | 500 nits |
| Storage | 1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 2280 SSD | 512 GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 2230 SSD |
| Connectivity | 1x USB4 Type-C, 1x USB 3.2 Gen Type-C, 1x 3.5 mm audio, 1x UHS-II microSD reader | 1x ROG XG Mobile, 1x USB 3.2 Gen Type-C, 1x 3.5 mm audio, 1x UHS-II microSD reader |
| Dimensions | 280 x 111 x 24.7-36.9 mm (11.02 x 4.37 x 0.97-1.45 inches) | 280 x 111 x 21.2-32.4 cm (11.02 x 4.37 x 0.83-1.28 inches) |
| Weight | 678 g (1.49 lbs) | 608 g (1.34 lbs) |
| Price | $800/£799 | $650/£599 |
Repairing a Steam Deck
One thing you might worry about with an expensive handheld you're likely to take out in a backpack is what happens if something breaks? I have good news on that front for Steam Deck owners, it couldn't be much easier.
Valve has teamed up with iFixit to offer a range of spare parts and teardown guides for the Steam Deck.
One of our handheld fans on team, Jacob Fox, has been ranting and raving about the Legion Go ever since he got his hands on one. He also made me aware of this deal on the 1 TB model that's just $50 more than the 512 GB model.
Do you need 1 TB on a handheld? Personally, no, but if you feel like you might, an extra $50 now will be cheaper than buying a 1 TB SSD separately later, and you don't need to install it yourself. Most of all, it means you don't have to mess around with the Legion Go's quirky SSD size, 2242.
Ayaneo Flip DS
I can't claim to have found a deal on the Ayaneo Flip DS, though I wanted to highlight it as my favourite handheld I've used to date.
You might not think much of this unsuspecting Nintendo DS-looking thing, but it has the most adept controls of any handheld gaming PC around. It has clever trigger mouse cursor controls, a touch-responsive nubbin for mouse control, and two touchscreens. The bottom one even works as a trackpad or keyboard. That makes cruising around the desktop to install a launcher or game and entering your details into heaps of login screens super easy.
It's also still packing a 7-inch screen within that clamshell exterior. A clamshell that lets you stuff this handheld in your bag without a second thought for scratching the screen.
With AMD's Ryzen 7 8840U, alongside up to 32 GB of RAM and a 2 TB SSD, it's as powerful as the rest of them. Though the version I reviewed only came with 16 GB and 512 GB, and that's been plenty enough. I mean, I'm only playing Balatro and Vampire Survivors on this thing nowadays.
What is a handheld gaming PC good for?
I get asked this a lot, mostly by PC gamers with a desktop and no desire to expand into other form factors. But let me explain in just one word:
Or two words:
Yes, Balatro and Vampire Survivors are the two games I play most of all on my handheld gaming PC. Mostly from the comfort of my bed on a Saturday or Sunday morning. For this sort of ultimate lazy-day gaming, not even a laptop can compete with the trusty handheld PC.
Similarly, I find handheld PCs offer me more time to play games where I otherwise simply wouldn't. I'm not always by my PC, or simply sometimes I don't have the time to sink a couple hours into Frostpunk 2. With my handheld on my person, whether I'm travelling or sat in the office, I can switch it on and be playing Balatro, Vampire Survivors, Lorelei & the Laser Eyes, or Thank Goodness you're Here! within minutes.
And if I only play for 10 minutes or more, so be it... I've still got some gaming time in when I otherwise would just doomscroll TikTok or doomscroll the news. I'm chipping away at my Steam library, 10 minutes at a time.
Price reduction!
If only an extra $5 saving, the ROG Ally is now $485 on Amazon. Every penny saved is a... penny earned? I don't know my idioms.
Price reduction x2!
The Legion Go has dropped in price by nearly $30 today. That's great news if you didn't follow my advice yesterday and pick one up already.
Sorry if you did.
Travel tips, with James Bentley
Our James has put together an article on all the travel accessories he uses with his Steam Deck. I recommend going to check that out, though here's just the nuts and bolts of his post:
- Get yourself a mega-sized battery pack
- Grab a pair of earbuds for undercover gaming on-the-go
- A compact mouse and keyboard are actually great for playing more PC-centric games at a cafe
UK price reduction!
I don't have much to say to folks in the US, the prices are pretty stagnant today. Though there's good news for any Brits hoping for a handheld bargain.
The Lenovo Legion Go is down to a new low price at Ebuyer at £480. That's a box-fresh new handheld, and cheaper than some used models over at Amazon.
Steam Deck price drop!
Yes, you read that right. Valve has dropped the price of the Steam Deck down to a lovely low of $337. That sure beats whatever the heck this machine is for the same money—seriously, a Steam Deck is much better than that.
Sadly, no such luck on price reductions in the UK.
