What you need to know
- PC gaming handhelds like Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and Legion Go have become extremely popular in the last few years.
- There has also been speculation that an Xbox handheld is in the works.
- In a tweet, Redherring32 recently posted a portable Xbox PC handheld that they built.
- It features a 9-inch 480p display and 100W USB-C charging. Redherring32 plans to add WiFi 6 and wireless Xbox Live functionality in the future.
Handheld gaming has long been a popular method for enjoying video games, but it was only with the release of the Nintendo Switch and shortly thereafter with the Steam Deck that we really started to see a significant shift of AAA titles on these portable devices. Since then, we've seen additional PC gaming handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go also enter the market to varying degrees of success. With this new focus on the on-the-go experience, many people have wondered if Xbox will create its own Xbox handheld sometime soon. Our own Jez Corden even wrote about how An 'Xbox handheld' isn't just likely. For Microsoft, it's absolutely necessary.
Ahead of any actual gaming handhelds revealed by Xbox or Microsoft, X user (formerly Twitter), @Redherring32 tweeted a post showing off an Xbox gaming handheld they had built, and I'm very impressed by it.
I built a portable Xbox.This isn't a PC handheld, it isn't emulation, this is a real motherboard from a real Xbox. It has a 9” 480p display, pure digital video/audio, 100W USB C charge and play, and I'm currently adding WiFi 6 for wireless Xbox Live functionality.Yes, really. pic.twitter.com/yK7p0vPqUnOctober 18, 2024
According to @Redherring32, this portable Xbox device features a 9-inch 480p display with pure digital video/audio, and 100W USB C charging. They also have plans to add WiFi 6 in order to make Xbox Live possible. To create this Xbox dream device, Redherring "trimmed [an] original Xbox motherboard," making it so the device can play all games within the Xbox library. Apparently, this process took over four months since "nobody had ever tried it before," and it required "reverse engineering nearly the entire board" while using "12! (sic) different fully custom PCBs." That's really quite an impressive feat and something that would have taken a lot of time and effort.
As part of their post, Redherring32 also provided links to the PCBs on Github, as well as the Xbox trimming guide for anyone interested in checking those out.
An official Xbox gaming handheld seems very likely
It's pretty clear that many people are interested in getting a portable Xbox gaming device, but is an official Xbox handheld in the cards?
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While consoles and traditional PCs continue to be popular, it seems likely that our shift toward handheld gaming will only grow as time goes on. Nintendo opened up the industry's eyes when it released the hybrid Switch, which can not only play the company's AAA games while docked to a TV in the standard way but can also be taken on the go and played anywhere. That convenience is something we're likely going to continue to see as Xbox and PlayStation continue to release hardware.
And honestly, I'll be very surprised if Xbox isn't already deep into planning some kind of Xbox gaming handheld. After all, last year in an exclusive interview with our own Jez Corden, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer previously said, "I think about those handheld PCs, almost extensions of my Xbox console." I myself have an ROG Ally and a Legion Go, which I frequently use to access the Xbox app and play my Xbox Game Pass games. So, in that way, it really does feel like I'm playing an Xbox console on the go at times.
Of course, during that same interview, Spencer also explained that he was traveling with his Legion Go, and that in and of itself tells me that he already keeping handhelds in mind and planning for what Xbox might do within that arena in the future.
I won't be at all surprised if one of the next devices announced by Microsoft/Xbox is a gaming handheld. For all our sakes, I hope it's one that incorporates a handheld-tailored OS similar to Steam Deck's SteamOS, which is currently far easier to navigate than Windows 11 on handhelds. Depending on how the company goes about it, Microsoft could even make it so that Windows 11 is easier to navigate on handhelds with a Windows 8-style tile design. We'll have to wait and see.
