MSI Teases A Gaming Handheld To Compete With Steam Deck And ROG Ally
The Instagram teaser doesn't tell us very much. The 8-second video shows a heavily shadowed handheld console, illuminated only by the RGB lights around what we assume are the left and right control sticks. We've boosted the brightness and contrast below to show a little more detail. You can just barely see the outline of the display, as well as a cluster of buttons toward the upper right. It looks like a pretty typical layout for a handheld.
The video also pans over a few other parts of the console, but these are macro shots that don't reveal anything about the overall design. There's a cooling vent (above), emblazoned with the company's "True Gaming" slogan. There's also a headphone jack visible nearby, so this is probably the top edge. There's also a quick shot of the MSI logo, which is probably the back of the chassis.
The success of the Steam Deck has spurred gaming hardware manufacturers to try and replicate that success. Asus launched the ROG Ally last year, and the AyaNeo 2 debuted with more powerful hardware and a much higher price. There are numerous Android-based handhelds that focus on cloud gaming, like the Logitech G Cloud and Razer Edge. Even Sony is kind of making a handheld game machine with the Portal. Given MSI's track record, its handheld will most likely run Windows to compete with the Ally and Linux-based Steam Deck.
Mobile-optimized processors have become powerful enough that you can have a handheld Windows device with passable gaming chops. The Ally and Steam Deck run on AMD chips, which allow them to run games at low or medium quality, but the higher you push the settings, the faster the battery will drain. We expect MSI to go with either a similar AMD chip or perhaps something from Intel's new Meteor Lake line.
We won't have to speculate for long. CES kicks off on January 9th, but some companies start showing off their wares a day or two early.
