When we reviewed the G Cloud, hoping it would fill the middle ground niche it’s clearly targeted towards, we were unimpressed by its power to price ratio, and urged most readers to buy a Steam Deck instead for just $50 more.
Instead, they’re beefier than dedicated retro emulator consoles like the Anbernic, but primarily sell themselves on providing a more lightweight AAA experience than the Steam Deck by solely using the cloud for AAA titles. Handhelds like the Razer Edge and the Logitech G Cloud are trying to capture the middle ground, aiming to be more powerful Switches while not quite having the built-in power of the Deck. The Steam Deck is admittedly a bit heavy and unwieldy for some users, so much less powerful devices like the Anbernic RG35XX have flourished alongside it. The big contender here is the Steam Deck, which uses modern PC hardware and users’ existing Steam libraries to scratch the itch for a “Switch Pro.” Starting at $400, its competitive pricing and ability to play most titles, including AAA games, emulated games, and games hosted on the cloud, makes it hard to ignore. This gives it some multipurpose usability as an e-reader or browser, but also runs the risk of making the handheld feel redundant next to your phone, or compromised as a dedicated device.įor that reason, and one more we’ll touch on in a moment, it’s hard to find where the Edge fits into the larger handheld race we’re seeing right now. It centers on a Snapdragon G3X Gen 1-powered removable tablet, uses a detachable controller, has a phone-like aspect ratio, and even has a front-facing selfie cam.
The Razer Edge’s unique approach is that it’s much more similar to your phone than the competition. Nintendo’s foot-dragging and the advent of cloud gaming, smartphone controllers, easy portable emulation, and viable Linux and Android based gaming software means the handheld market is booming right now as it tries to fill the desire for something new. Especially egregious is the Switch’s weakness, as a dedicated gaming handheld, compared to the phones that many of us carry in our pockets every day. While great games are still being made for the platform, recent buggy releases like Pokémon: Scarlet and Pokémon Violet show that the power of the system, which uses SoC architecture originally designed for even older Nvidia Shield hardware, is starting to lag behind the imaginations of developers and the desires of gamers. It’s been six years since the Nintendo Switch launched, and the handheld market is clamoring for a successor.
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