Casting a Price Hike Spell: Handheld Gaming PCs Get Seriously Spendy
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Get ready, folks, because next-gen handheld gaming PCs are about to get significantly pricier, with new models like the Lenovo Legion Go 2 hitting gaming laptop territory, and the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X likely following suit, all while offering more battery life than raw performance gains.
Right, so apparently, the universe decided handheld gaming PCs needed a bit of a... *level up* in price. And by level up, I mean it feels like someone cast a 'Greater Wallet Drain' spell, and we're all about to feel its full effect. I've been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared, forcing us to ask: are these shiny new gadgets worth blowing a hole through our savings?
Remember when the Steam Deck first burst onto the scene just over three years ago? It landed with a thud – a glorious, affordable thud – at a mere $399. Fair dinkum, mate, that felt like pure magic. A proper PC gaming rig shrunk down, letting us blast through our Steam libraries on the couch, in bed, or even, controversially, on the loo. It was an absolute bargain, a gateway drug to portable PC gaming for the masses. But fast forward to the eve of 2025, and those halcyon days feel like a distant dream, replaced by something a bit more... *pricy*.
See, we're on the cusp of a new generation of these portable powerhouses, largely powered by the new AMD Z2 Extreme chip. And while 'new generation' usually conjures images of groundbreaking performance, it seems this time it’s also conjuring up some seriously beefy price tags. We just got the first peek at pricing for one of these beasts, the **Lenovo Legion Go 2**, and prepare yourselves: it’s starting at $1,099. Let that sink in. The previous model kicked off at $699, so that's already a steep climb. And if you want the Z2 Extreme flavour, you’re looking at a staggering $1,479. One thousand, four hundred and seventy-nine quid! That, my friends, is firmly in gaming laptop territory – for a machine that, let’s be honest, probably won't be outrunning a dedicated gaming laptop any time soon. While the Legion Go 2 is just one system, it's casting a long shadow, signalling a category-wide price bump that’s coming next month.
Now, the big green elephant in the room: the **Asus ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X**. We know they're dropping on October 16th. Six short weeks away, and still no official price tag from Asus or Microsoft. It’s a bit like waiting for a legendary loot drop but not knowing how much gold it’ll cost you. But given that the new Ally's specs are rumoured to line up pretty closely with the $1,049 version of the Legion Go 2, it's starting to look like our beloved Xbox handheld is going to be a rather pricey little number too. The original Ally launched at a much more palatable $599 with the non-extreme AMD Z1. Could Microsoft's involvement help subsidize the cost a bit? Maybe. But I reckon it won’t be enough to keep it anywhere near its predecessor's price. There's a parallel universe where the ROG Xbox Ally costs nearly *twice* as much as its ancestor, and frankly, that thought makes my digital wizard beard twitch.
But before we collectively throw our hands up in despair, it's worth noting that the Legion Go 2 and the ROG Xbox Ally aren't identical twins. The Legion Go 2, for instance, boasts swanky removable controllers and an OLED display – both of which naturally apply a bit of upward pressure on the price. The Xbox Ally, on the other hand, is a more traditional, single unit (quirky controller grips notwithstanding) with a more conventional LCD screen. This might just give the new Ally X a fighting chance to avoid quite the same stratospheric price jump as its Lenovo counterpart. But, as always, only time (and Microsoft's marketing department) will tell.
So, the big question: Is it actually *worth it*? It's easy to get swept up in the allure of 'shiny new processor!' and assume the speed gains will magically justify the higher price. Here’s the rub, though: we don’t actually know how much faster the Z2 Extreme will truly be for gaming. The AMD Z1 Extreme is still a formidable little chip, packing 12 RDNA 3 graphics cores and 8 Zen 4 CPU cores. The Z2 Extreme *does* upgrade that, but it's only to RDNA 3.5 on the GPU front, not the full leap to RDNA 4 many might have hoped for. What RDNA 3.5 *is* particularly good at, apparently, is graphics performance in low-power packages – like, well, a handheld. This should translate into much better efficiency and, crucially, longer battery life. And let’s be honest, battery life was a bit of a boss battle for that first generation of Z-powered handhelds.
However, even with 4 extra graphics cores, my gut tells me the Z2 Extreme probably won't deliver a monumental leap in raw gaming performance – certainly not enough to justify nearly doubling the price of some models. I’ll have to get my hands on one in the lab, but my prediction is that the gen-on-gen difference will be most pronounced where it truly matters for portable gaming: battery life. These new systems are still likely to struggle with high-end AAA games in the same way their predecessors did, albeit perhaps for a bit longer on a single charge.
Ultimately, whether that extra hour or two of battery life is worth hundreds of extra dollars is a deeply personal quest. If handheld gaming PCs are going to cost as much as a decent mid-range gaming laptop, it's going to be a much tougher sell for the average punter. I’m still a card-carrying member of the handheld fan club, but this rising price point is definitely narrowing the appeal, turning what was once a disruptive, accessible segment into a more niche, enthusiast-only playground. It makes you wonder if we're chasing raw power in a form factor that simply can't deliver it affordably, or if the true magic lies in optimizing what we already have. Perhaps the real innovation needed is in making these things *more* accessible, not less.
**This insightful analysis was inspired by an original report from IGN South Africa. While the original author isn't listed, their hardware and buying guides editor, Jackie Thomas (@Jackiecobra), is certainly a PC components queen whose work we deeply appreciate.**
Tags: Handheld Gaming PC, Hardware, Price Hike, AMD Z2 Extreme, Gaming Tech
Original article: IGN South Africa