A new report has suggested that an Xbox handheld is coming this year, but Microsoft isn’t going to be making it. Instead, it has reportedly reached out to partners and struck a deal that will see a device hit the market sometime in 2025. Unfortunately, it is likely to still be running Windows, with no sign of a new handheld version of the OS set to land soon.
While the Steam Deck is still the best handheld gaming PC for most people, this new rumored initiative from Microsoft has the potential to be extremely disruptive. Windows has long been viewed as the biggest weakness of any handheld on which it’s installed, which begs the question, is Microsoft putting the cart before the horse if this reported Xbox handheld is released before Windows is optimized for it?
In a report from Jez Corden at Windows Central, it is stated that Microsoft has reached out to an unspecified manufacturing partner and an Xbox handheld gaming PC is due later this year, “if plans are met.” The codename for the project has been revealed as “Keenan” and the device will even feature Xbox branding and an Xbox guide button, according to the report.
Not much else is confirmed in the report, and this leaves me concerned about Microsoft’s intentions with this handheld. At face value, if the report is accurate, it appears as though this will be just another Windows handheld, only with some Xbox branding slapped onto it. If this is the case, then I struggle to see the unique selling point and expect it will struggle to compete against the Steam Deck’s superior operating system, as with so many other handhelds.
The first Xbox handheld, whether it’s this reported device or another system made by Microsoft, should introduce a new, streamlined, and better-optimized version of Windows for portable devices. Instead, no matter the branding on the outside, an Xbox handheld is possibly doomed from the start if it is to rely on Windows in its current state, where game and app compatibility is shaky at best.
It also doesn’t help that there are already countless Windows devices on the market, including the Asus ROG Ally X, MSI Claw 8 AI+, and Ayaneo 3, all of which pack serious power alongside high MSRPs. To drop another handheld into this market and assume the Xbox branding alone will make it stand out is naive.
I wait with bated breath, hoping that there is more to this Xbox handheld report than just a branded Windows handheld, but only time will tell if this is the case.
If you want to read our impressions from some of the other Windows-based handhelds, check out our Asus ROG Ally X review and Lenovo Legion Go review.
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