SUMMARY
- Steam Deck is a handheld gaming device that broke the boundaries between handheld consoles like Nintendo Switch and PC gaming.
- With its massive success, it has gotten a lot of competition especially in ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go.
With the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) just around the corner, it seems like Taiwanese multinational information technology corporation, MSI, is stepping into the market of handheld gaming consoles. The company recently teased a big announcement that it will soon be launching its handheld gaming device.
With this, MSI becomes the latest company to step in to give a Steam Deck a competition. Although not much is known about the upcoming device yet, the company did confirm their upcoming invention.
MSI to launch a handheld gaming device
MSI tested their upcoming handheld gaming device through an Instagram teaser. Although it is just a short 8-second video that does not reveal much, one can see a heavily shadowed handheld console. It is adorned only with the RGB lights around it, presumably on the left and right control sticks.
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In the dark video, one can barely see the outline of the display and a cluster of buttons toward the upper right of the console. From what is seen so far, it appears like a typical handheld console layout. Additionally, the video also pans over a few more parts of the console. Nonetheless, these are macro shots that do not reveal much about the overall design.
The console also has a cooling vent featuring the MSI’s slogan, “True Gaming.” The new device also has a headphone jack that is visible nearby, thus the jack may probably be located at the top edge.
Other handheld gaming devices in the market
The massive success of Valve’s Steam Deck has prompted other gaming hardware manufacturers to dip their hands in the segment and replicate the success. The first competitor was Asus, which launched the ROG Ally last year. This was followed by the debut of AyaNeo 2 and recently Ayaneo Kun which had more powerful hardware and a much higher price.
Besides there are several Android-based handheld devices that focus more on cloud gaming, such as the Logitech G Cloud and Razer Edge. Even Sony has stepped into the market with the launch of PlayStation Portal in 2023. Then there is Lenovo Legion Go as well.
Keeping in mind MSI’s track record, this new handheld device may probably run Windows in a bid to compete with the Ally and Linux-based Steam Deck. Over the years, mobile-optimized processors have become pretty strong to deliver a handheld Windows device with passable gaming chops.
Notably, the Ally, Legion Go as well as Steam Deck run on AMD chips, allowing them to operate games at low or medium quality. If the settings are pushed higher the battery tends to drain faster.
Experts expect MSI to have either a similar AMD chip or something from Intel’s new Meteor Lake line. Nonetheless, all the curiosity around MSI’s handled device is set to end soon at the CES, which kicks off on January 9, 2024.