Handheld PC makers are slowly losing touch with Valve's successful Steam Deck template of affordability, and that's very concerning

It’s fairly well known now that the source behind the success of handheld gaming PCs in the past few years is Valve’s Steam Deck. After launching in 2022, it went on to become a huge success, stemming from its affordability, making it the easiest and one of the most inexpensive ways to play PC games.

SteamOS is a huge factor in its success, with a simple console-like UI that allows gamers to jump straight into games without tweaks or configurations. At $399 / £349 / AU$649, it is arguably the best handheld gaming device on the market, keeping gaming experiences fun with reasonable performance at a price that a large majority of gamers can afford.

While it would be naive of me to expect much more powerful hardware to release at the same price range as the Steam Deck, it doesn’t change this one matter: handheld gaming PCs are becoming far too expensive, specifically from mainstream manufacturers like MSI, Asus, and Lenovo.

It’s not like expensive handhelds are suddenly a new thing; handhelds before the Steam Deck were more niche and up in the $1,000 department. However, the reason handhelds have suddenly become popular again is because of the Steam Deck’s pricing, while still being able to deliver good performance in multiple Steam games.

You could argue that the jump in pricing is justified, since new handhelds wield more powerful hardware. That’s true. Still, the difference in performance capabilities between something like the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme versus the MSI Claw 8 AI+ isn’t enough to warrant such a huge retail price for the latter device.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ and MSI Claw A8 are prime examples of steep pricing

The new MSI Claw 8 AI+ Polar Tempest, and the MSI Claw A8 — (Image credit: MSI)

Don’t get me wrong, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the best handheld I’ve used so far, as you’ll eventually see in an upcoming review. The performance boosts coming from an Asus ROG Ally are very noticeable, and the battery life gave me a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, that’s not enough to go from a device like the Asus ROG Ally that has a $649 / £599 / AU$1,299 retail price (which often has significant discounts now), to one that’s just under $1,000, at $899 / £899 / AU$1,799 (and the price has now increased to $999 for US consumers). It’s also worth noting that the Claw A8, using AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, is around the same price based on listings at European retailers, and early benchmarks suggest it may be on the same level as the Claw 8 AI+ or slightly worse in performance.

It makes matters worse when you realize that there’s little to no availability for these handhelds in many regions – and in all fairness, this is likely due to the recent issues with tariffs, but frankly, consumers won’t care about that.

Perhaps, an easy solution would be to ensure that expensive handhelds have much cheaper counterparts; MSI (and others) have done this with its Claw 7 AI+ that uses the same Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor as the Claw 8 AI+, but just has a smaller 7-inch screen and a 54.5 WHr battery.

Its retail price is $799.99 / around £700, which is still a hefty sum, but far more reasonable compared to $899. The problem is I’ve yet to come across a single listing of this device at any retailer in the UK – and if you’re in the US, its price has jumped up to $899 on Best Buy, the same retail price the MSI Claw 8 AI+ was at before it saw an increase.

ROG Xbox Ally & Legion Go S — (Image credit: Future)

It’s not just the MSI Claw either, as rumors about the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally suggest we could see similar price patterns of between $800 and $1,000, depending on the configuration.

The Asus ROG Ally X is also a culprit, priced at $799.99 / £799 / AU$1,599, and it’s another device that has seen a $100 price increase, available at Best Buy for $899.

The same also applies to the Lenovo Legion Go S Z1 Extreme model, which has seemingly almost disappeared off the face of the earth, with one of the only listings I’ve seen available at Best Buy. That’s available for $829.99. Do you see what I mean now?

We’re fast approaching a stage where Valve’s template of keeping its Steam Deck models affordable is forgotten, and instead, taking handheld PC gaming back to its old niche status. I understand that some will be willing to bite the bullet and pay these prices for stronger gaming performance, but the longevity of the handhelds will likely suffer, as a large majority of gamers won’t be able to afford them.

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Handheld PC makers are slowly losing touch with Valve’s successful Steam Deck template of affordability, and that’s very concerning