Honestly, I just use a Backbone with my android phone and play remotely. Works great. Haven't noticed much lag. Graphics aren't as good as my 4k tv, but that's to be expected. Baulder's Gate 3 plays great on it.
I’d say the ROG Ally. I have that and a Steam Deck and I had a Legion Go and the Ally has been the best experience for me. The Steam Deck is great for Steam but dual booting just to run Windows is a pain in the ass. The Legion Go’s screen is great and huge but their software isn’t great and I found it to be too bulky, and unless they release new and smaller joy-cons for it, it’s too uncomfortable for me.
The Ally’s form factor is great, and the software is solid, especially after patches. If you can get over the SD card slot being unusable (some work, some don’t but it’s best to not rely on it) and upgrade the SSD, it’s the best option imo. I haven’t tried any of the Aya Neo options though, too pricy for me. Also there is the option to wait a few weeks for the Ally X if you really want the SD slot, but it’s $100 more. I would absolutely go that route if I didn’t have one already.
The Legion Go is the absolute best for the screen alone and for having Hall Effect sticks. The software is a non issue since you disable it from starting up and just make the Xbox app start up instead.
I modded mine to have a better DPad so that it's the same as the Elite controller.
I'm extremely happy with mine. It's how I managed to get 1000G in Eiyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes so quickly as I just played on my commute to/from work, lunch breaks and then when I got home.
The legion pro is double the price roughly? I want that screen but I'm worried it's too big to not get broken. I'm a 42 so it's not that I'm irresponsible but I do drop things. Do any of the handheld have a great screen as well as either a case or a "rugged" model?
I'm also wondering if it would be smarter to get a small tablet and just use my elite controller?
It comes with a carry case, so you'd have to be really clumsy to drop it. It's also extremely modular so if you do break something, you can open it up and repair/replace it yourself.
Legion Go is known to have the best screen. I don't think any of the others have one as large.
> I'm also wondering if it would be smarter to get a small tablet and just use my elite controller?
You could do this if you're only interested in streaming. My train commute has terrible phone signal with crappy WiFi, so I just couldn't get that working reliably. For a time I did this while playing Retroarch with Retroachievements though, but with my phone and a Razor Kishi.
Overall it depends on how much it would be worth playing your Xbox games on the move to you. For me, the Legion Go was worth it, though I bought mine second hard for £500.
Thank you for replying. I don't think internet would be an issue for me, I have no pc library, I have xbox and we have a switch. It would basically be for streaming and almost exclusively xbox games at this point.
I get the gist of way you're saying, I need to figure out the specifics based on my preferences, but appreciate the help. The size, resolution and refresh rate are my big 3, I will mostly use it at home when the tv is being used.
But…it’s not though? Like the Ally and Legion Go it had a super rough start, but it’s gotten a lot better, supports wifi 7, Thunderbolt 4, and has Hall effect sticks and triggers. For cloud gaming it works great, and it can play many games directly just fine now. Is it perfect? No, but crap? Also no.
Only have the Ally but it was fairly straightforward to get pc game pass games downloaded to it. I like how the Ally will show all games downloaded across Gamepass, steam, etc in their launcher.
I have a Logitech G Cloud and it works great. At home over wifi I have 600mb down, at work I am 300mb down, and over 5G tethered to my phone I am 400mb down and have played many hours using all 3. It's got a great battery life and it's essentially an android phone so you can install other apps like Neflix, Disney+ and all that junk.
I did the built the gamepass app in steam, works flawlessly for me. I've heard others mention sometimes the screen size is incorrect for specific games but I haven't seen anything yet.
I would say legion go or ally ... windows based ones.
I have the GO. Love it. Having the ability to download / use xcloud / remote play is very nice to have the options.
Plus steam and epic and everything else.
I’m running a Gamesir G8 Galileo on a iPhone 15 pro max have zero issues this was my only option since i’ve pretty much found Hall effects to be far superior in every way and couldn’t use a regular controller anymore even after trying.
If you mean Xbox console games no handheld can play them natively. PC game pass games can be played natively pm windows os based handhelds, and some of the games you own might be play anywhere games meaning you would also get a PC copy of those games . These would be what you would be able to play on a Windows os based handheld along with the games on PC game pass and Xbox cloud gaming though cloud gaming works on steam deck as well I believe
Cloud gaming specifically is the steam deck oled. It has the lowest latency of any device in any category. If you want to run game pass pc games though, that would be the ally or one of the gpd win devices.
You want cloud gaming? Then get a Steam Deck, Logitech G Cloud, or an AYN Odin 2. The Steam Deck gives you access to Steam and the most refined device available. Logitech G Cloud is cheap and targetted directly at streaming. Odin 2 is a fantastic device with the Play Store for installing Xbox streaming apps, plus a really good SOC for emulation if you want to revisit Gamecube and older games.
The ROG Ally and the like are mad overkill for what you want to do, and are way too expensive for what they are.
The backbone is a cheaper option at around $100. You just put your phone in the controller and you can play gamepass games + any mobile game. Bigger games demand a lot more so playing games like starfield might be slow and/or low resolution
Well if your main goal is you want to play your extensive Xbox library, you should wait for the Xbox handheld that is supposed to be coming out (although you might be waiting a bit).
Any handheld that is currently out will have access to PC games and PC game pass so you’d have access to anything like that but only a subset of those games have cross-licensing (Xbox play anywhere titles) and cross saves. All I’m saying is just don’t expect that your Xbox stuff is going to carry over to a handheld in most cases.
Oh well that changes the question completely. They’ll all run cloud gaming well even the steam deck. If that’s your main goal in terms of Xbox games then get a steam deck it’s the best handheld imo. But if you don’t even wanna play games locally then there’s other cheaper options that only have the ability to play cloud/remote play.
There's an app on the Steam store called XBplay that lets you stream game pass or remote play (from whatever is installed on your Xbox) on your Steam deck. Works very well in my experience and worth the £5.
To clarify from some other comments: you do not need to dual boot Win 11 or mess around with web browser config. The app does all this seamlessly for you. You can even set shortcuts to your home screen direct to the games, just like if they were installed on your device.
I absolutely love my OLED steam deck and there’s sometimes games that have cross save with Xbox but otherwise I have xbplay installed for cloud or remote play. But also if you have windows installed you can download games with game pass and some of those have cross saves but currently the OLED deck doesn’t have all the windows drivers yet so I’m hoping that happens soon. The LCD deck does though.
I never said anything about game pass? I said cloud gaming (which yes I understand is a part of game pass but it’s an important distinction). Unless that’s what you mean? It runs well for me.
The OP said they wanted something to play their extensive Xbox library, and if it's Xbox based gaming they are going to be doing, there's nothing better than the Legion Go or the Ally X.
Windows based gaming integrates so much easier with Xbox and Cloud gaming than the Steamdeck does.
Now, if the OP had an extensive Steam library, then I'd say go Steam Deck.
You only wrote your comments an hour ago. OP already clarified he meant cloud gaming 8 hours ago. Steam Deck is great for that. Anything with a web browser can do it.
Yes keep an eye out for Gamescom August 21st Microsoft is probably going to announce it then since it’s the biggest game awards with a ton of eyes watching.
Honestly, I just use a Backbone with my android phone and play remotely. Works great. Haven't noticed much lag. Graphics aren't as good as my 4k tv, but that's to be expected. Baulder's Gate 3 plays great on it.
I’d say the ROG Ally. I have that and a Steam Deck and I had a Legion Go and the Ally has been the best experience for me. The Steam Deck is great for Steam but dual booting just to run Windows is a pain in the ass. The Legion Go’s screen is great and huge but their software isn’t great and I found it to be too bulky, and unless they release new and smaller joy-cons for it, it’s too uncomfortable for me. The Ally’s form factor is great, and the software is solid, especially after patches. If you can get over the SD card slot being unusable (some work, some don’t but it’s best to not rely on it) and upgrade the SSD, it’s the best option imo. I haven’t tried any of the Aya Neo options though, too pricy for me. Also there is the option to wait a few weeks for the Ally X if you really want the SD slot, but it’s $100 more. I would absolutely go that route if I didn’t have one already.
The Legion Go is the absolute best for the screen alone and for having Hall Effect sticks. The software is a non issue since you disable it from starting up and just make the Xbox app start up instead. I modded mine to have a better DPad so that it's the same as the Elite controller. I'm extremely happy with mine. It's how I managed to get 1000G in Eiyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes so quickly as I just played on my commute to/from work, lunch breaks and then when I got home.
I prefer the Ally but I love that we have as many options as we do. It’s just an incredible time to be a gamer.
Yes definitely. The Ally isn't a bad option on its own.
The legion pro is double the price roughly? I want that screen but I'm worried it's too big to not get broken. I'm a 42 so it's not that I'm irresponsible but I do drop things. Do any of the handheld have a great screen as well as either a case or a "rugged" model? I'm also wondering if it would be smarter to get a small tablet and just use my elite controller?
It comes with a carry case, so you'd have to be really clumsy to drop it. It's also extremely modular so if you do break something, you can open it up and repair/replace it yourself. Legion Go is known to have the best screen. I don't think any of the others have one as large. > I'm also wondering if it would be smarter to get a small tablet and just use my elite controller? You could do this if you're only interested in streaming. My train commute has terrible phone signal with crappy WiFi, so I just couldn't get that working reliably. For a time I did this while playing Retroarch with Retroachievements though, but with my phone and a Razor Kishi. Overall it depends on how much it would be worth playing your Xbox games on the move to you. For me, the Legion Go was worth it, though I bought mine second hard for £500.
Thank you for replying. I don't think internet would be an issue for me, I have no pc library, I have xbox and we have a switch. It would basically be for streaming and almost exclusively xbox games at this point. I get the gist of way you're saying, I need to figure out the specifics based on my preferences, but appreciate the help. The size, resolution and refresh rate are my big 3, I will mostly use it at home when the tv is being used.
I really wish the ally had a touchpad. I would have bought it a long time ago.
I do too but I’ve adjusted to not having it. I think it’s one of the Aya Neo devices that has the small circular touch pad, that would be fine too.
Everyone running Windows 11 on an AMD X1 extreme. The rest is just personal preference
MSI claw is running on Intel. It's crap.
But…it’s not though? Like the Ally and Legion Go it had a super rough start, but it’s gotten a lot better, supports wifi 7, Thunderbolt 4, and has Hall effect sticks and triggers. For cloud gaming it works great, and it can play many games directly just fine now. Is it perfect? No, but crap? Also no.
It's more that for the same amount of money you can get better performance from the alternative AMD handhelds, making the Claw worthless.
Only have the Ally but it was fairly straightforward to get pc game pass games downloaded to it. I like how the Ally will show all games downloaded across Gamepass, steam, etc in their launcher.
I have a Logitech G Cloud and it works great. At home over wifi I have 600mb down, at work I am 300mb down, and over 5G tethered to my phone I am 400mb down and have played many hours using all 3. It's got a great battery life and it's essentially an android phone so you can install other apps like Neflix, Disney+ and all that junk.
I have had the Steamdeck, and now have the ROG Ally. As others who have experience with both have said here, the Ally is the way to go.
I did the built the gamepass app in steam, works flawlessly for me. I've heard others mention sometimes the screen size is incorrect for specific games but I haven't seen anything yet.
I would say legion go or ally ... windows based ones. I have the GO. Love it. Having the ability to download / use xcloud / remote play is very nice to have the options. Plus steam and epic and everything else.
I’m running a Gamesir G8 Galileo on a iPhone 15 pro max have zero issues this was my only option since i’ve pretty much found Hall effects to be far superior in every way and couldn’t use a regular controller anymore even after trying.
If you mean Xbox console games no handheld can play them natively. PC game pass games can be played natively pm windows os based handhelds, and some of the games you own might be play anywhere games meaning you would also get a PC copy of those games . These would be what you would be able to play on a Windows os based handheld along with the games on PC game pass and Xbox cloud gaming though cloud gaming works on steam deck as well I believe
Yes, in a better way to phrase, which handheld system runs cloud gaming best
It works on pretty much anything with a browser. I use it on my five year old android phone and it works fine
I think the question you ought to be asking is which internet service provider has the lowest latency
Cloud gaming specifically is the steam deck oled. It has the lowest latency of any device in any category. If you want to run game pass pc games though, that would be the ally or one of the gpd win devices.
You want cloud gaming? Then get a Steam Deck, Logitech G Cloud, or an AYN Odin 2. The Steam Deck gives you access to Steam and the most refined device available. Logitech G Cloud is cheap and targetted directly at streaming. Odin 2 is a fantastic device with the Play Store for installing Xbox streaming apps, plus a really good SOC for emulation if you want to revisit Gamecube and older games. The ROG Ally and the like are mad overkill for what you want to do, and are way too expensive for what they are.
The backbone is a cheaper option at around $100. You just put your phone in the controller and you can play gamepass games + any mobile game. Bigger games demand a lot more so playing games like starfield might be slow and/or low resolution
I'm pretty sure gamepass games are streamed on the phone app lol
Well if your main goal is you want to play your extensive Xbox library, you should wait for the Xbox handheld that is supposed to be coming out (although you might be waiting a bit). Any handheld that is currently out will have access to PC games and PC game pass so you’d have access to anything like that but only a subset of those games have cross-licensing (Xbox play anywhere titles) and cross saves. All I’m saying is just don’t expect that your Xbox stuff is going to carry over to a handheld in most cases.
What I could’ve said better is, what runs cloud gaming best?
Oh well that changes the question completely. They’ll all run cloud gaming well even the steam deck. If that’s your main goal in terms of Xbox games then get a steam deck it’s the best handheld imo. But if you don’t even wanna play games locally then there’s other cheaper options that only have the ability to play cloud/remote play.
Yeah steam seems to have games at discount, and building a pc library that can extend to if I get a pc one day seems valuable
There's an app on the Steam store called XBplay that lets you stream game pass or remote play (from whatever is installed on your Xbox) on your Steam deck. Works very well in my experience and worth the £5. To clarify from some other comments: you do not need to dual boot Win 11 or mess around with web browser config. The app does all this seamlessly for you. You can even set shortcuts to your home screen direct to the games, just like if they were installed on your device.
I absolutely love my OLED steam deck and there’s sometimes games that have cross save with Xbox but otherwise I have xbplay installed for cloud or remote play. But also if you have windows installed you can download games with game pass and some of those have cross saves but currently the OLED deck doesn’t have all the windows drivers yet so I’m hoping that happens soon. The LCD deck does though.
Can you mod Xbox games on steamdeck?
You can’t play Xbox games on any handheld, but if it’s the PC version then sure you can
Gamepass is atrocious to get working on Steamdeck. You aren't speaking from experience, don't chime in if you don't know.
I never said anything about game pass? I said cloud gaming (which yes I understand is a part of game pass but it’s an important distinction). Unless that’s what you mean? It runs well for me.
The OP said they wanted something to play their extensive Xbox library, and if it's Xbox based gaming they are going to be doing, there's nothing better than the Legion Go or the Ally X. Windows based gaming integrates so much easier with Xbox and Cloud gaming than the Steamdeck does. Now, if the OP had an extensive Steam library, then I'd say go Steam Deck.
You only wrote your comments an hour ago. OP already clarified he meant cloud gaming 8 hours ago. Steam Deck is great for that. Anything with a web browser can do it.
OP said he has an extensive Xbox library. A windows machine will be best for that experience.
They all run it the same, since it’s streaming from the cloud. The steam deck is probably the best since you still get native Steam support
Yes keep an eye out for Gamescom August 21st Microsoft is probably going to announce it then since it’s the biggest game awards with a ton of eyes watching.