Will Switch 2 Even Be the Best Handheld of 2025?

2025 is looking like a huge year for mobile gaming. After many years in the wilderness, pushed into the background by the rise of mobile gaming and the departure of PlayStation from the handheld market, there are now many handheld gaming consoles and computers on the market that are experiencing a renaissance in quality on-the-go gaming.

The largest of them are: the Nintendo Switch2. The company made a stunning comeback with the release of the Switch in 2017, turning around its fortunes after a poor response to the Wii U, selling 150 million units over the next seven years, recycling the Wii U’s unused library, and releasing two of the best Zelda games ever made. With the new version expected in early 2025 everyone is waiting with bated breath to see what Nintendo has in store, although it’s likely that Nintendo will err on the side of caution to continue its current winning streak.

The Switch 2 looks less like a revolution and more like an evolution, with backwards compatibility for Switch games and a design similar to the 2017 console. However, while we have few official details, we do have a lot of leaks.

Reports so far suggest an expanded 8-inch LCD screen, 1080p resolution in handheld mode, 4K upscaling in docked mode, electromagnetic Joy-Cons that do away with the Switch’s current rail mounting system, and a custom version of the Nvidia T234 mobile processor that should at least beat PS4 and Xbox One in terms of performance. Maybe you’ll even be able to use Joy-Con as a mouse!

 

Although I will miss you personally advantages of the Switch’s OLED displayI can’t deny that the more efficient LCD switch is attractive and will most likely be a fashionable purchase for many years to come. The only question to ask is whether the Switch 2 will be as successful or desirable in a market where there is currently excellent competition for mobile devices,

In addition to the continued success of Valve’s Steam deck, we’ve just seen fleet of new gaming computers unveiled at CESmany of which build on previous 2024 devices and have allowed manufacturers to iterate faster than Nintendo’s nearly decade-long console cycles. So, can Switch 2 repeat its victory lap in 2025 or not?

The era of the first switches is coming to an end, or will a new one begin?

For the first few years of the Nintendo Switch’s existence, there was no significant competition – other electronics manufacturers largely abandoned mobile gaming, leaving room for mobile games and the steady succession of Nintendo DS consoles.

The Switch dispelled the assumption that handheld consoles had fallen out of favor with gamers, showing a huge appetite for gaming on the go, boosted by modern display technologies and a pinch of Nintendo ingenuity (home console? Portable? Why not both? ?).

However, success naturally breeds followers. In 2022, we got Valve’s Steam Deck, a gaming PC that cost a little more than the mainstream Switch but managed to capitalize on Nintendo’s popularization of handheld gaming while offering a distinct way of doing things – bringing a PC gamer’s entire Steam library wherever they wanted.

The Steam Deck matches the Switch in many areas, including an equivalent 1280×800 resolution and a price only slightly higher than the $350 Switch OLED (at least for the base Steam Deck model). However, it is distinguished by access to the Steam library and a more massive, more ergonomic design that is not so focused on fitting a child’s hand.

 

While there’s no Steam Deck 2 in sight anytime soon – likely not until 2026 or later – Valve’s machine is still highly sought after and currently surrounded by competition. There’s a wide range of Windows gaming portables available, from the Asus ROG Ally X to the GPD Win 4, which offer all the benefits of a Windows desktop, with access to Steam, Epic Games, Xbox, GOG, and itch.io along with with other applications and services.

And with a new set of AMD Z2 chipsets launching in 2025, delivering improved performance and battery life, these portable gaming PCs look better equipped than ever to compete with the Switch successor.

Who is the competition?

The most important story of new mobile devices is Lenovo Legion Go Sa newer, lighter version of last year’s Legion Go that ditched the previous model’s replaceable controllers in favor of an all-in-one design, doubled the RAM to 32GB, and featured a 120Hz display.

The most interesting thing is that it comes in in both Windows 11 and SteamOS configurationswhich means you can choose the third-party Steam platform or the more extensive Windows ecosystem. You’ll also be able to choose between models with the new Z2 Go chipset and the older Z1 processor, which means a wide range of prices from $599 to $729 considering all the different configurations.

There’s also a next-gen Legion Go 2 on the horizon this year, powered by AMD’s new Z2 Extreme processor and doubling battery capacity – which is handy considering the Legion Go typically only lasted an hour or two between charges.

 

 

Elsewhere, the Acer Nitro Blaze lineup expands to include an 11-inch handheld with a 2560×1600 120Hz display that should make the Switch’s screen look seriously skinny – even if it costs $1,199 and sounds like a literal handful. Meanwhile, the MSI Claw 8 AI+, an update to the MSI Claw, has a new Intel Lunar Lake chipset, an improved 80Wh battery, an 8-inch 120Hz display, an $899 price tag, and a lot to prove after the dismal reception of last year’s vintage model.

I wouldn’t rule out the Asus ROG Ally line either. At the top of our list was the ROG Ally X for $799 the best portable gaming computer guide last year, thanks to a powerful 80 Wh battery, 1 TB of memory and excellent performance on the go. In our review, we said that “with larger and faster memory and twice the battery of the original Ally, Ally X will run any modern game without dying within an hour and a half.” There’s been no official announcement regarding a 2025 successor, but Ally X could very well find an audience for 2025 or receive a successor later in the year.

Which notebook computer will win in 2025?

These improved Windows (and SteamOS) handhelds have a few key advantages over the Switch 2. They largely bypass the sub-$400 market, leaving that easy-to-grab territory to Nintendo or less powerful devices and focusing on more impressive specs.

Compared to the Switch ecosystem, you can generally expect more powerful processors, higher resolutions and frame rates, and the openness of the Windows ecosystem that can access multiple game stores and therefore a greater variety of games. Even if you are locked to SteamOS, Steam itself takes care of it over 70 thousand gamescompared to just a few thousand on Nintendo Switch. So it’s worth remembering that the Switch, for all its charm and exclusive titles, has a much smaller list of available titles overall.

However, Windows 11 is not the ideal interface for a portable gaming PC because it was never designed with this purpose in mind. There’s something about the sharpness and simplicity of Nintendo’s operating system that is often what draws people to a dedicated console in the first place.

The new Switch will likely fall short of specs compared to many handhelds released in 2025, without the raw power that more expensive processors provide and the focus on playing AAA PC games. However, improved mobile support and some scaling of the AI ​​to increase its capabilities in docked mode should close this gap to some extent. Given the Nintendo Switch’s dominance in the sub-$400 market and the strength of the Nintendo Switch name, I don’t think any of these competitors will significantly disrupt the Switch 2’s success or come close to matching its sales numbers, and I would call the Switch 2 the best choice for most gamers in 2025.

 

For committed PC gamers or anyone with significantly more than $400 to spend, the Lenovo Legion Go S may be the best choice – especially with the SteamOS option for those who don’t want to bother with Windows 11’s suboptimal interface. Until official Steam arrives Deck 2, this is probably the best way to play your Steam library on the go.

For a Windows mobile device, things get a little more difficult. I don’t have much hope for MSI’s latest handheld, and while Acer may have cornered the 11-inch handheld market, it probably won’t fit most, er, hands well. I’d probably recommend the Windows version of the Legion Go S or stick with the Asus ROG Ally offering.

Ten years ago, the exponential growth of handheld consoles would have seemed absurd, but the category is experiencing explosive growth with no signs of stopping yet. Now you have a huge set of options at your disposal, whether you’re looking for a portable Steam library, a Windows handheld gaming device, or an enhanced Zelda machine. There is only one real winner in 2025 – mobile gamers.