We are excited to see Microsoft putting its name in the hat on offering a premium gaming handheld. Great Android gaming handhelds can comprise budget options like Abyxulute or something on the premium end with the Ayaneo Pocket S. Where Microsoft lands its Xbox gaming handheld is still unknown. But we hope it brings more to its game than being an Xbox Cloud Gaming machine. Our list includes the top features we’d love to see come to the upcoming Xbox gaming handheld that Microsoft keeps teasing.



1 Optimized Xbox Cloud Gaming support

Seamless access to your Xbox Cloud Gaming library

samsung galaxy s23 playing xbox game tunic on phone

Playing your favorite Xbox titles on the Xbox Cloud Gaming service would be a great perk. The service has over 300 titles in its arsenal. In November 2024, Microsoft opened up streaming options for over 50 titles you own with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Having the same capabilities for the Xbox Gaming handheld would bring flexibility without pressuring you to re-buy your games. It should be a given since other handhelds can easily play Xbox and PC Game Pass titles without hassle.

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2 A familiar form factor and design

Include a screen built into the middle of a standard Xbox controller

Close up of a black xbox controller next to a stack of Xbox One games

Source: Pexels

The Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally are some of the best PC gaming handhelds. But what makes a great handheld is the familiarity with buttons and hand placement. If you re-invent the wheel and choose an odd design that people aren’t familiar with, you may fail to grab people. We hope the Xbox handheld doesn’t try anything bizarre and sticks with the screen in the middle with the controller on the side; it’s practical, comfortable, and would work excellently with a standard Xbox controller layout.


3 A 16:10 screen with more native support

The black bars for 16:9 games are distracting

A picture of the Steam Deck on a desk mat, highlighting its matte display



Some handhelds, like the Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go S, use a 16:10 screen. You also see 16:10 on most tablets. However, games that only run 16:9 will have noticeable black bars. If Microsoft plans to sell this handheld, it would be great if they could add games that work well with the 16:10 screen. Otherwise, seeing unfilled vertical space might dampen the small display experience.

It’s not exceptionally important if it doesn’t come with a 16:10 screen, but what’s important is that it can make use of its screen for the best viewing and resolution. If Microsoft wants the Xbox handheld to be a media center, the extra space the 16:10 brings may suit other tasks better.


4 A great battery life to promote portability

One that can suffice with moderately demanding titles

steam deck laying on keyboard screen up



The idea of being able to play a shackle-free gaming handheld shouldn’t be too out of reach. But sometimes it is. Depending on how often you crank up the settings for these devices (graphics and FPS are the main culprits), you may only get a few hours tops (I can attest to this when I use the High preset for Cold Steel III on the Steam Deck). If you compare that to the Asus ROG Ally X, the battery life is slightly better since it houses an 80Whr battery compared to the 40Whr battery the Steam Deck has.

Bigger isn’t always better since the battery capacity doesn’t always tell the whole story. You need to consider the efficient charging practices and power consumption of handhelds. We’d love it if the Xbox handheld would copy a page from Asus’ book with the Ally X for battery size and follow Valve’s optimized power consumption with the Deck.


5 Include a 24GB model at launch

16GB and 24GB of LPDDR5x-7500 RAM would be ideal

The Asus ROG Ally X is a handheld, Windows-powered gaming console following up on 2023's Ally.



To keep your handheld future-proof for running demanding games, you want your handheld to be at least 24GB (ideally 32GB, but that’s expensive and slightly overkill). Currently, 16GB of RAM gets you plenty of games running comfortably, but if you plan to exclusively play higher-end console games and set it up as a portable PC center, you will want to shell out for a model with 24GB. Though having two models available on 16GB and 24GB would be perfect, having more choices is always great. Anything below 16GB would be a hard sell if Microsoft has premium plans for its handheld.


6 An Xbox handheld OS that isn’t overly restrictive

Don’t hard-lock us in the Microsoft ecosystem

a person holding the lenovo legion go showing the UI display

Source: Lenovo



A handheld operating system can make or break your handheld. The idea of using Windows 11 on the Asus ROG Ally deterred me from buying one. I went with the Steam Deck instead. Windows 11 is awkward to navigate since it wasn’t made for handheld. It’s too small and requires mouse and keyboard input. If Microsoft can make an Xbox handheld OS that works with Windows but doesn’t force an exclusive Microsoft Store or Xbox Games Store — that would be great. If it can also work with access Steam games, that would be awesome, as nobody wants to repurchase games for their handheld.


7 Incentivize handheld software support

Make future games worth it on the Xbox handheld

Sonic the Hedgehog game and handheld console

Source: Pixabay

It would be a shame if the Xbox handheld only existed as another alternative to other premium handhelds on the market. It would also be a shame that it was just another peripheral for cloud gaming since it’s not very interesting if the handheld could do what other handhelds do, but maybe slightly better.



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We’d love for future gaming titles to be optimized for the Xbox handheld, similar to how developers have put effort into making the Steam Deck great for PC titles (look at Stray, for example). If Microsoft keeps acquiring more companies under its umbrella, why not use companies like Blizzard and Bethesda to make games optimized for the new hardware?

Make the price just right

Gaming handhelds are still a luxury. Everyone wants a premium experience, which drives up the product’s price. The Nintendo 3DS had done spectacularly as a handheld system, while the premium market competitor, the Sony PlayStation Vita, had problems.

A device to bring something new needs a lot of accessibility, including the pricing. We hope the device is comfortably under $1000. Otherwise, it becomes hard to justify the price when other less costly alternatives exist. Microsoft needs to get its foot in the door before going heavy on the premium features, which is why we outlined the more basic features one can hope for with a new handheld coming into the market.