I’ve never owned a handheld console—not even the popular Game Boy during the 90s or, more recently, the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck. But these announcements at CES are making me rethink my preferences, and you might soon find one of these consoles in my Amazon cart.
Lenovo Legion Go S Powered by SteamOS
I was close to buying the first-generation release of this console last year, but our review of the Lenovo Legion Go made me reconsider, despite being offered a brand new console at a great price. However, I feel that the Lenovo Legion Go S might change my mind, especially with the upcoming release of the SteamOS version in May 2025.
Although this console will only have an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor, which is the weakest of its generation, I believe that SteamOS’s optimizations would make it run better this time. And before you tell me that I should go for a Steam Deck instead, the Legion Go S Powered by SteamOS has similar specifications to the 1TB OLED Steam Deck (16 GB of memory and 1 TB of SSD storage) while offering a slightly larger 8-inch display and more affordable price.
Aside from that, given that the Lenovo Legion Go S (Windows) is almost identical to the SteamOS version, it would be easier to install Windows 11 on the console if ever I wanted to play games from other platforms like Xbox PC Game Pass or GOG.
Acer Nitro Blaze 11
I am a fan of large screens—that’s why I’ve always had a 15-inch (or larger) laptop, my primary workstation (and even portable one) has at least three displays, and why I switched to the 13-inch iPad Air after years of using an Android tablet. So, I was delighted when I saw the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 gaming console and recommended it for MUO’s best of CES 2025 list.
Acer actually released an 8.8-inch version and 11-inch version of the Acer Nitro Blaze, but it’s the latter that caught my attention. Its 120Hz 10.95-inch touchscreen would be the ultimate eye candy for me. Also, its AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor with AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics, plus 16 GB of memory and up to 2 TB of storage, means that it won’t fall short in the performance department when I’m gaming on the device.
Despite its large size, it just weighs a little over a 2.3 pounds, so it won’t be that much of a pain to carry. The controller’s ergonomics also make it seem easy to hold, although we have to try gaming on it for an hour or two for us to say if it really is feasible. Nevertheless, you can remove the controls and deploy the kickstand for tabletop gaming once you feel tired from holding it long.
Handheld gaming consoles have seen a renaissance in the past few years, especially with the launch of the Steam Deck. And while I’ve never owned one myself, these devices launched at CES 2025 might finally push me over the edge and make me get one.
