This Speedcast looked at why handheld prices keep climbing (a reported Qualcomm chip price rise on top of RAM and storage costs) and then went through what is on sale now, from the Xbox Ally X to the MSI Claw line. The host, Kenzou of Gamers’ Generation, was joined by Aish of Digital Nostalgia, Alex of 2LOUD Tech, and Jeeve (The Silicon Foxx).

Big takeaways

• Handheld prices are rising on top of RAM and storage costs. The panel read a reported Qualcomm chip price rise as likely to hit Android handhelds and VR headsets. Those are predictions, not announcements.
• The Xbox Ally X at about $1,000 was no longer seen as a bad price next to the rest of the market.
• Used original ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme) units at roughly $300 to $400 were called good value, with a warning to pick a well-reviewed battery if you mod it.
• The Legion Go 2 was called great but not worth more than about $1,300, and the MSI Claw 8 AI+ only at around $700 to $800 or below.
• Picks at $1,000 and $2,000 varied, and the panel stressed that the right one depends on your library and how you play.

Panel topics: Qualcomm prices, what to buy, regional pricing

• Qualcomm chip prices. Kenzou cited a PC Gamer report that Qualcomm is raising chip prices, and the panel read it as affecting anything with a Qualcomm chip: phones, Android handhelds, and VR headsets such as the Steam Frame. The panel’s view was that this stacks on top of rising RAM and storage costs. One panelist said the Android handhelds that had been good value in the low $500s or less are likely to get more expensive, and expected further price rises from Retroid (the Pocket Nova) and AYN. That is a prediction, not an announcement.
• No relief expected from new memory makers. The panel discussed Chinese memory makers (CXMT and YMTC) and doubted they would bring prices down for long once they are established. Speculation.
• MediaTek and Nvidia. A panelist doubted the partnership would produce cheap competition for Qualcomm soon, and thought it is more likely to show up in laptops. Opinion only.
• Limited editions. A panelist gave the ROG Flow Z13 Kojima edition as an example of a limited edition costing far more than the same hardware (spoken as $3,700 against $2,300).
• Legion Go 2 (Z2 Extreme). One panelist said it is a great device but not worth more than about $1,300. Another said Lenovo pricing has been high for months.
• Xbox Ally and Ally X. Panelists said ASUS has held its prices better than rivals, and that the Xbox Ally X at about $1,000 is no longer a bad price given the rest of the market. The white Xbox Ally was described as a fair Steam Deck alternative at about $600 new, or less open box, if you accept 720p. One panelist said SteamOS still gets GPU driver updates where the Windows version has gone long periods without them. The panel noted that these handhelds use custom AMD drivers, which can cause problems with eGPUs and new game releases.
• Older ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme). Several panelists said used units at roughly $300 to $400 are good value and not far behind the Z2 Extreme. One panelist warned that a battery mod is worth doing but to choose a well-reviewed battery, because poor ones have reportedly damaged motherboards.
• MSI Claw line. Opinions split. The original Claw A1M (Meteor Lake) was called worth considering only at about $250 to $300, with a bigger battery and no microSD card problem, and one panelist said he would not buy it at all. The Intel Lunar Lake Claw 8 AI+ was called a solid device that is hard to justify near its regular price. A panelist said it was about $1,300 regular and on sale at Best Buy, and would pick it only at about $700 to $800 or below, with a similar cutoff of about $800 from another. The Arc G3 Extreme Claw was praised by panelists who have used that chip, but panelists said MSI stock is hard to find.
• Regional pricing. The panel said US-based resale prices set the market in places like Canada, that a lower Legion Go 2 price in Canada appeared to be temporary, and that the Xbox Ally X costs about the same in Mexico as in the US after tax. Figures were read from retailer pages on screen.
• Picks at $1,000 and $2,000. Answers varied: the Xbox Ally X at about $1,000 (more than one panelist), a used Legion Go with an eGPU dock and graphics card, the OneXPlayer 3 (Kenzou noted its campaign price is over), the ROG Flow Z13 at about $2,000 at Best Buy, and the Claw 8 AI+ for one panelist. Kenzou said he would also pick the OneXPlayer 3, or a Legion Go 2 if found at its launch price. The panel stressed that the right pick depends on your library and how you play.

Worth watching if you are buying a handheld PC now and want a panel’s used, open box, and price-cutoff advice rather than a launch review.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: Here’s why your handhelds are so expensive… and what you can do about it

Related Speedcast notes: Arc G3 Extreme vs Ryzen Z2 Extreme (Sep 5, battery and price trade-offs between Intel and AMD handhelds) and OneXPlayer 3 shipping update (Aug 14). More notes are in Articles, and more videos are in Videos.

Sources

Links listed in the video description.

• Notebookcheck: CXMT’s budget DDR5 RAM is now pricier than Samsung’s
• VideoCardz: Acer UK confirms Predator Atlas 8 pricing
• VideoCardz: Intel Arc B390 gains up to 12% with the Linux 7.2 kernel
• VideoCardz: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro may support AI upscaling and frame generation
• VideoCardz: Qualcomm announces Snapdragon price hike before Steam Frame release
• VideoCardz: Original Xbox games on PC reportedly run through the Xbox 360’s XEFU emulator
• VideoCardz: Framework cuts memory on some Laptop 13 Pro preorders
• PC Gamer: More bad news for Valve and the Steam Frame as Qualcomm raises chip prices
• Notebookcheck: Steam Frame price increase looms with rising cost of the Qualcomm chip
• Best Buy: ASUS ROG Flow Z13 (Ryzen AI Max 395)
• JSAUX: ROG Ally battery upgrade

Articles and transcripts are machine generated and human reviewed before publishing; reviews are human written and when machine-learning or AI tools are used, a disclosure is placed next to the author’s name.

Speedcast airs live on YouTube on Tuesdays at 9:30 PM Eastern / 6:30 PM Pacific.