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Apple’s Best AR Strategy for Now: Build on the Meta Quest

Commentary: Its glasses may be on hold, but the immediate future is already in front of us.

Apple’s first-ever VR-AR or «mixed reality» device is expected this year, and already its follow-up product seems to be on hold. According to Bloomberg’s reliable Mark Gurman, a planned set of AR glasses isn’t coming from Apple anytime soon. That’s OK: AR glasses don’t seem like they’re imminent from anyone.

After a trip to Las Vegas to try out some of the emerging technologies around future VR and AR headsets, one thing is increasingly clear: Everyone’s trying to figure out AR glasses, but everyone’s trying to perfect VR headsets. The difference between those two scenarios is bigger than you think.

All-day AR glasses that are useful, work convincingly, have long enough battery life, work with your phone and function as actually legit prescription glasses haven’t materialized, although the pieces are coming into place. Companies like Meta have promised a decade-long path to these glasses. It turns out, maybe, that’s going to be the case for everyone else, too. I’ve seen smart glasses that look real but don’t do much, or glasses with AR that feel chunky and do some things, but don’t quite work with my vision and can’t figure out how to work with my phone yet. Chipmaker Qualcomm is working on this; Google, Apple and Samsung need to solve it someday, too.

In the meantime, VR already has a very real and reasonably popular product that most families I know in the everyday world are familiar with: the Meta (formerly Oculus) Quest 2.

Read more: The Quest 2 Is Still the Best VR Headset For Now

That recognition is no small thing. I think of the Quest’s place in everyday life like the Amazon Echo was years ago: something odd that over time became familiar, normalized. Something reasonably priced, and good enough to do a few things actually well. The Quest 2 is basically a game console. Where Meta has struggled is figuring out how to expand that base beyond gamers.

Following Meta’s playbook is something I expected Apple would do. Heck, I expect most companies are going to do it. The Quest 2 works just like most people imagine it will, or better. It’s a bit of instant magic that’s totally wire-free.

The Quest 2 does have downsides. In fact, those problems emerge the more you use it. I find connecting with friends and social spaces gets weird and buggy, prone to lag, disconnects and way-too-basic avatars. The battery life is bad. For fitness apps, which the Quest 2 can do surprisingly well, it’s still not good at really managing sweat or keeping my glasses from fogging.

Even though Meta wants the Quest 2 and higher-end, work-focused Quest Pro to open up new ways to work by creating virtual monitors around my laptop, the connections and display quality aren’t good enough to be more than a clever experiment most of the time. I can see my laptop keyboard with the Quest Pro’s passthrough cameras, but typing feels awkward and nowhere near as good as when I’m just on my laptop… and I can’t see my phone screen to check messages, either. The Quest can show me phone notifications like a basic smartwatch from a decade ago, but I can’t interact with them.

These VR headsets can even do some basic AR, using passthrough cameras that «mix reality» to show the real world in fuzzier video, with VR layered on top. The effect is sometimes pretty amazing, and could even approach feelings I’ve had with early AR headsets like the Microsoft HoloLens 2.

So where does that put Apple? Clearly, there’s a headset coming soon. And according to Bloomberg’s Gurman, the next goal after this first expensive headset is to work on a more affordable model. It’s like Meta’s approach to the Quest and Quest Pro, in reverse. And there are plenty of things Apple could focus on to make its entry into VR (and AR) worth the effort.

Better comfort, better fitness

The Quest 2 is already an affordable fitness device, and pairs with watches to show heart rate and fitness stats. Apple clearly has an advantage on time spent developing the Apple Watch, fitness and health tracking, and its Fitness Plus subscription video workouts, which also have overlaid fitness stats.

Apple could emphasize workouts and fitness on its headset, with comfortable, breathable straps and face pieces that could feel better for exercise. Meta is starting to realize it needs to improve comfort for VR: A recent Razer partnership using head straps made by CPAP-maker ResMed shows a need for better materials. I’d expect Apple to make this aspect a key part of the headset’s advantages. There are other advantages, too. Apps like Beat Saber and Supernatural use music for fitness, and Apple already has all of Apple Music at its disposal.

Connect better with laptops, iPads, phones, watches

VR headsets right now have an extremely hard time working well with all the other things we have lying around us. I can’t get a Quest to connect nicely with my phone all the time. To work with my laptop, I need a specialized third-party app with its own thing I have to install on my laptop and turn on.

Meanwhile, Apple has been focusing on handoffs and continuity across AirPods, HomePods, iPhones, Apple Watches, MacBooks, Apple TVs… all over the place. That’s what’s needed to make a VR headset seem seamless and integrated into other stuff. I want to check my watch in VR, or use it to control apps. Or use my phone, and also see the phone. Suddenly grab my laptop, and the headset connects. Incoming calls? No problem. Send myself things back and forth from my phone or laptop and get all the files and things I want, and not feel like I’m on a vacation from them. That’s what Apple’s headset could set out to achieve.

That’s a best-case scenario. Much like the first Apple Watch and iPhone, the actual Day 1 functions of this headset might end up disappointing.

Better social

Even though the metaverse is on everyone’s minds, there aren’t many big social spaces in VR that work well. Microsoft’s Altspace is nice, but often feels empty. VRChat is wild, experimental, full of big features and ideas, and feels like a messy explosion that’s hard to jump into. Meta can’t get enough people into Horizon Worlds. Even when these platforms do work, for concerts or events, the limits on people who can attend at once, the lag and drop-off, not to mention the avatar limits, make it a trade-off versus any other way you could connect on a phone or laptop.

Apple may not be able to solve this any better for larger-scale experiences, but for more intimate and several-person FaceTime-like moments, Apple could make shared experiences in VR work a lot better. Meta hasn’t perfected social VR yet, and someone needs to.

Can Apple make a better controller?

The Quest 2 controllers are fine, but all of VR leans on the same game controller-like inputs for headsets. Apple’s headset could lean more on hand tracking, or wearable inputs like the Apple Watch. I’m curious if a more work-oriented controller or accessory can be created that makes the headset feel better for taking on apps beyond games. Meta’s working on a long-term, game-changing shift to neural input wristbands eventually, but it’s unclear whether this approach will end up succeeding.

I’ve been trying out experimental haptic technology recently, trying to imagine how VR could think its way to new inputs. This headset feels like the biggest opportunity Apple’s ever faced to create a brand-new type of input device that could make a big impact on the landscape. If it’s done right, maybe it’ll be the input accessory that makes its future AR glasses, whenever they arrive, seem feasible.

Build out more interesting mixed reality

For all the Meta Quest Pro promises to blend AR and VR with its mixed-reality capabilities, not many apps tap into its extras yet. I’ve seen some mind-blowing demos of mixed reality in VR with the ultra-high-end Varjo XR-3 connected to a PC, which at least showed me ways that a VR headset could begin to feel like a portal interconnected to my own home reality. Apple could start experimenting with more engaging AR moments in a high-end VR headset, and at least get the ball rolling on things that work in advance of whenever its AR glasses are ready, years from now.

Smaller sessions in VR may make more sense right now

VR is a thing I don’t use all the time, and that’s true for most people. Maybe that’s exactly where Apple should start. It’s not a given we’ll want to wear AR glasses everywhere, or even what those glasses would be good for. In the meantime, a VR headset at home that’s meant to be worn sometimes, but not all the time, is the place most of us feel safest to start. It’s why the Quest is something people actually use.

It’s also a way to avoid dealing with questions of accommodating true prescription vision needs in everyday glasses, something no one’s succeeded in tackling, either. VR headsets sometimes need prescription inserts, but many just fit right over the glasses we already have. I prefer the easy-fit solution: I don’t need to make VR a thing I spend a whole day in. I’ll settle for a truly useful hour or two, and if Apple can make that hour or two even better than what we have now, that’s a big enough step forward for me.

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Technologies

Tariff Impacts Are Real: I Found 13 Companies With Official Price Hikes

A popular brand of smart lights is among the latest products to suffer an official price hike in the wake of Trump’s tariffs.

In a lot of ways and for a lot of products in the US, the biggest impacts of President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff plans are still a ways off in the near future. Still, numerous companies have already hiked prices or said that they will be increased in the near future — including, most recently, a popular and CNET-approved brand of smart lights.

The fact of the matter is that tariffs — a tax placed on the importing of certain products into a country — will ultimately cause prices to go up, with Walmart characterizing these eventual price hikes as «inevitable» during its earnings call last month. Given Trump’s push to place historically high tariffs on goods from almost every country in the world, you can also expect these price hikes to hit a huge variety of products.

This truth has begun to sink in for a lot of Americans, if a recent survey conducted by CNET is anything to go by. According to the results, about 38% of consumers feel pressured to make certain purchases before tariffs cause them to go up in price. About 10% said that they had already made certain purchases out of the hope that they’ll avoid a future price hike, and 27% said they had delayed purchases for products that cost more than $500. Overall, these concerns about prices were felt the most around popular tech pieces like smartphones, laptops and home appliances.

To help you keep score, I’ve put together a list of all the companies that have either confirmed or warned of price hikes due to Trump’s tariffs. As other companies make such announcements, you can expect new names to be added here.

Continue on for all those details, and for more, find out why it’s best if you wait on buying a new iPhone.

Best Buy

Without getting into specifics, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry told the Wall Street Journal late last month that it has already raised prices on certain products as part of its response to the tariffs.

e.l.f.

Known as an affordable option in the beauty world, e.l.f. announced in late May that it would be implementing a $1 price hike across its product line in response to the tariffs. CEO Tarang Amin claimed that the reaction from customers was positive, on account of the company’s transparency.

«We’re not trying to pull anything over on anyone,» Amin told Fortune. «This is exactly what we’re facing, and they understand.»

Macy’s

Speaking to CNBC in late May, Macy’s CEO Tony Spring said that price hikes will be implemented on some products due to tariffs, while also emphasizing that other tactics — like discontinuing certain products altogether — will also be a response to rising costs.

Mattel

Known for brands like Barbie and Hot Wheels, Mattel sounded the alarm over likely price increases during an early May earnings call. While it’s unclear how much the toymaker’s prices have increased since then, the company told investors that it would be, «where necessary, taking pricing action in its US business,» or to put it plainly, raising prices for consumers to mitigate the impact of tariffs.

Nikon

Camera-maker Nikon will introduce price hikes in response to Trump’s tariffs, effective June 23. This move will only target lenses and accessories the company makes and sells, so the cameras themselves are safe for now.

«We will be carefully monitoring any tariff developments and may adjust pricing as necessary to reflect the evolving market conditions,» a statement from Nikon explained. «We wish to thank our customers for their understanding and know that we are taking every possible step to minimize the impact on our community.»

Philips Hue

Parent company Signify announced that prices for its popular and highly regarded Philips Hue brand of smart lights will see price hikes effective July 1. The company also confirmed that this decision was made «as a direct result of tariffs.»

«Signify reserves the right to modify prices based on new or additional tariffs becoming effective in the future,» the company’s official statement explained. 

Ralph Lauren

Sales at the luxury goods retailer Ralph Lauren have apparently remained steady amid recent uncertainty, but the company is still forging ahead with a plan to combat tariff impacts by raising prices more than it had already intended to, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Shein and Temu

Trump’s tariffs have made a notable target of China, hitting the country with a 30% rate only after initially hiking it all the way to 145%. Online retailers like Shein and Temu rely on direct shipments from markets like China in order to offer the rock-bottom prices that made them famous, so it’s little surprise now that they’ve had to raise prices.

The Trump administration has furthered the issues faced by these companies by doing away with a rule known as the «de minimus» exception, which used to exclude smaller purchases under $800 from import taxes. With that rule gone, Trump’s China tariffs will now apply to both bulk orders of industrial building materials and those shoes you’ve been looking to buy from Shein.

Subaru

Subaru has hiked prices across almost its entire line. The increase ranged from $750 to $2,055, depending on the model, with only the EV Solterra avoiding any change.

As has become a trend with some companies, Subaru avoided attributing the price hikes to Trump’s tariffs, citing only the common refrain of «market conditions.» Trump has notably disparaged companies that explicitly lay the blame for price hikes on his policies.

«The changes were made to offset increased costs while maintaining a solid value proposition for the customer. Subaru pricing is not based on the country of origin of its products,» a Subaru spokesperson said in a statement to Car & Driver.

Stanley Black & Decker

In an earnings report published April 30, toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker addressed «Price Actions in Response to US Tariffs,» stating that it had «implemented an initial price increase in April and notified our customers that further price action is required,» and was also looking into ways to shift its supply lines to minimize the impact of tariffs.

Volvo

The price impact of tariffs at Swedish automaker Volvo are confined, for now, to just one model: the electric EX30. Initially it was set to start at $34,950 in the US — a competitive price for an EV — but tariffs targeted at imported cars forced the company to raise the price to $46,195, a 32% bump.

Walmart

The biggest grocery chain in the US, Walmart is perhaps the most prominent company yet to announce imminent price hikes due to Trump’s tariffs. During the company’s earnings call in May, CEO Doug McMillan said price hikes would begin by the end of May and impact things like food, electronics and toys.

For more, see why buying refurbished tech helps you dodge tariffs and helps the planet.

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Technologies

As Tariffs Have Consumers Worried, Here’s What I’ve Found Watching Key Products for Price Hikes

There’s a lot of concern and uncertainty going around the economy amid Trump’s tariff plans, prompting a lot of early purchases to avoid price hikes.

For CNET’s tariff price tracker, I’ve been keeping tabs on several key products we suspect will be vulnerable to President Donald Trump’s contentious tariff policies, watching their price moves every day for possible long-term price hikes. 

For the most part, prices for these items have remained steady in the last few weeks, aside from notable increases for the Xbox Series X and a budget-friendly 4K TV. A few have also gone on sale for brief periods, but as of now, they’ve all mostly reverted back to normal — though you should expect the sale prices to return as Prime Day approaches in July, a good time overall to make purchases that might get more expensive later.

With all that said, the broader impact of these import taxes is still on the horizon, especially as Trump now claims that tariff rates against China are going back up to 55% soon. The Trump administration has also been working to undo a trade court ruling, which found that Trump has no authority to set tariffs as he has been — a move now being argued before an appeals court. We’ll see how that ultimately plays out, but for now, the possibility that the president’s tariff policies will lead to price hikes remains likely. 

CNET Tariff Tracker Index

Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 products included in this piece over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you’ll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked. 

We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things, so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.

Methodology

We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month. 

In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price-tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.

The 11 products we’re tracking

Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree. 

The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.

Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product, and stick around till the end for a rundown of some other products worth noting.

iPhone 16

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.

Something to note about this graph: The price listed is the one you’ll see if you buy your phone through a major carrier. If you, say, buy direct from Apple or Best Buy without a carrier involved, you’ll be charged an extra $30, so in some places, you might see the list price of the standard iPhone 16 listed as $830.

Apple’s been taking a few steps to protect its prices in the face of these tariffs, flying in bulk shipments of product before they took effect and planning to move production for the US market from China to India. A new Reuters report found that a staggering 97% of iPhones imported from the latter country, March through May, were bound for the US. This latter move drew the anger of Trump again, threatening the company with a 25% tariff if they didn’t move production to the US, an idea CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly shot down in the past. This came after Trump gave a tariff exemption to electronic devices including smartphones, so the future of that move seems in doubt now.

Apple’s flagship device is still the top-selling smartphone globally, as of Q1 of this year, although new research from the firm Counterpoint suggests that tariff uncertainty will cause the brand’s growth to stall a bit throughout the rest of 2025.

Duracell AA batteries

A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.

Samsung DU7200 TV

Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company, so it might have some measure of tariff resistance. This model was most recently listed on Amazon at $421, up from the $400 price tag it’s hovered around for most of the year.

Xbox Series X

Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories also were affected and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.

Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.

AirPods Pro 2

The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. For most of the year, they’ve hovered around $199, which is a notable savings on its list price of $249.

HP 962 CMY printer ink

This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.

This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.

Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank

Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers. 

Bose TV speaker

Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose. 

Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush

They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook

Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.

Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)

Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.» 

Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.

All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.

Other products

As mentioned before, we occasionally swap out products with different ones that undergo notable price shifts. Here are some things no longer featured above, but that we’re still keeping an eye on:

  • Nintendo Switch: The baseline handheld-console hybrid has held steady around $299 most places — including Amazon — since it released in 2017. Whether or not that price will be impacted by tariffs or the impending release of the Switch 2 remains to be seen. This product was replaced above with the Xbox Series X.
  • Overture PLA 3D printer filament: This is a popular choice on Amazon for the material needed to run 3D printers. It has held steady around $15 on Amazon all year. This product was replaced above by the HP 962 printer ink.

Here are some products we also wanted to single out that haven’t been featured with a graph yet:

  • Razer Blade 18 (2025), 5070 Ti edition: The latest revision of Razer’s largest gaming laptop saw a $300 price bump recently, with the base model featured an RTX 5070 Ti graphics card now priced at $3,500 ahead of launch, compared to the $3,200 price announced in February. While Razer has stayed mum about the reasoning, it did previously suspend direct sales to the US as Trump’s tariff plans were ramping up in April.
  • Asus ROG Ally X: The premium version of Asus’s Steam Deck competitor handheld gaming PC recently saw a price hike from $799 to $899, coinciding with the announcement of the company’s upcoming Xbox-branded Ally handhelds.
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Technologies

Best Handheld Gaming Consoles Right Now

While the Nintendo Switch 2 and Steam Deck are the obvious choices for best handheld game consoles, we test out everything the portable game device market has to offer.

Our Experts

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Written by  Scott Stein
Article updated on June 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM PDT
Headshot of Scott Stein
Scott Stein Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.
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  • Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
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I’ve loved gaming, and particularly gaming handhelds, all of my life. I grew up with every variation of the Game Boy and Sega Game Gear, and more. At CNET, I’ve reviewed mobile gaming and handhelds going back to the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, through the launch of the iPhone and iPad, and up to the Switch 2. There are more handheld gaming options than ever, especially if you count phones and tablets. Here below are the best options right for dedicated handheld devices of all forms, and a look forward at what to expect in the next few years.

What is the best handheld game console overall?

It’s a tough time to pick winners, especially since there are so many types of different handhelds right now, but the Nintendo Switch 2 is a newcomer that’s wowed me with its graphics, its improved design, and Nintendo’s focus on making an already-popular Switch even better. The Switch 2 isn’t a necessary upgrade for everyone yet, and makes tradeoffs: Battery life is shorter than other Switch models, and there aren’t that many exclusive Switch 2 games yet. Still, the handheld’s got tons of new perks. 

But I still love the Steam Deck, which remains one of the best-performing and versatile ways to play PC games on the go. The Steam Deck’s big and bulky — and a few years old now — but as a vehicle to play tons of interesting and well-optimized games on Steam, it’s a great option too.

Best gaming handhelds of 2025

A Switch 2 on a table with controllers detached and Mario Kart World on the screen

Photo Gallery 1/1

Best Overall Gaming Handheld

Nintendo Switch 2

Pros

  • Slim design
  • Large 1080p display
  • Notably better graphics
  • Great-feeling magnetic-attaching controllers

Cons

  • MicroSD Express cards are hard to find right now
  • Battery life is worse than the Switch’s
  • Still needs more unique exclusives

Nintendo’s first true console successor to the Switch, the Switch 2 comes with all sorts of welcome upgrades, while keeping the concept and game compatibility with Switch mostly intact. The feel is more like a Windows handheld or Steam Deck, but slimmer, and its graphics upgrades both on handheld and TV-connected are notably better.

A new audio/video GameChat feature could be great for friends and family, the Joy-Cons are easier to snap on and off and double as versatile mice now for supported games, and the included 7.9-inch 1080p LCD display is a welcome improvement from the original Switch. It’s also still a unique perk over other handhelds that the Switch 2 comes with a TV dock and its detachable, shareable Joy-Cons, and the Switch 2 is backward compatible with Switch games and wireless controllers. It also looks capable of running games as advanced as those on Windows game handhelds and Steam Decks. And as always, Nintendo’s new console is family-friendly.

There are downsides, though, besides the price: Battery life is considerably worse than that of other Switches, lasting only a few hours before needing a recharge, and expandable storage requires more expensive and harder-to-find microSD Express cards. 

You just may not need to make an upgrade yet, but the Switch 2 still stands out as the best new handheld system, and upcoming Switch 2 exclusives like Donkey Kong Bananza should make it even better. Just keep in mind you’ll need to live in Nintendo’s world and play games from Nintendo’s eShop.

  • Display: 7.9-inch, 1,920×1,080 LCD IPS (up to 120Hz)
  • Storage: 256GB included, microSD Express card expandable
  • Games: Switch and Switch 2 compatible
  • TV connection: Yes, dock included (4K output)
  • Size: 4.5 x 10.7 x 0.55 inches
  • Weight: 1.18 pounds
  • Wi-Fi: Yes (Wi-Fi 6)
  • Bluetooth: Yes
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Steam Deck game handheld with No Man's Sky on screen, and yellow background

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Best PC Handheld

Steam Deck OLED

Pros

  • Vibrant HDR OLED display
  • Runs many Steam games well
  • Excellent controls, improved haptics
  • Better battery life

Cons

  • Large size
  • Doesn’t have removable controllers
  • Some Steam games don’t run on it
  • Screen can sometimes feel small for some games

Valve’s big and versatile Steam Deck is still a marvel. Although it’s three years old now, it can still play a wide variety of PC games surprisingly well, and is the dream portable for any hardcore Steam fan, or anyone who has a big library of PC games. The Steam Deck can get expensive for the larger storage tiers, but for what it’s capable of, it’s not a bad deal. And, while third-party hardware manufacturers are starting to make SteamOS handhelds (the Lenovo Legion Go S is the first new option, and CNET’s Lori Grunin’s preferred pick over Steam Deck), the Steam Deck still has a standout set of controls, haptics, and trackpads that make it feel great for me.

The model to buy is the OLED version: while more expensive, its more vivid, slightly larger display, better haptics and improved battery life are worth it. The LCD model costs $399 with 256GB of storage, while the OLED models ramp up to $549 and $649, with 512GB and 1TB of storage, respectively. Steam game downloads can eat up a lot of space, so larger storage sizes are recommended unless you’re playing smaller indies.

While the Steam Deck runs Linux as opposed to Windows and Valve’s own SteamOS, you can load other software and hack other solutions onto the Steam Deck if you’re up for the effort. You can play local PC games or stream cloud-based games, and connect to a monitor, keyboard or other accessories, too.

One of my favorite parts of Steam Deck is how Valve indicates which Steam games are Steam Deck optimized in the store, helping remove the guesswork that can make Windows handhelds so frustrating. More options for PC gamers are popping up every month, but for now, Steam Deck is the best way to go.

  • Display: 7.4-inch, 1,280×800 HDR OLED
  • Storage: 512 or 1TB included, microSD card slot
  • Games: Steam compatible
  • TV connection: Yes, dock sold separately
  • Size: 4.6 x 11.7 x 1.9 inches
  • Weight: 1.41 pounds
  • Wi-Fi: Yes (Wi-Fi 6E)
  • Bluetooth: Yes
  • Processor: AMD Zen 2 APU
  • RAM: 16GB
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Best Handheld for Retro Games

Analogue Pocket

Pros

  • Crisp LCD screen makes old games look great
  • Plays Game Boy and Game Boy Advance cartridges
  • Adds Game Gear, Lynx, Neo Geo Pocket with extra adapters
  • USB-C charging
  • Other extras include TV dock

Cons

  • No Wi-Fi means sideloading OS updates via microSD card
  • A little too big for most pockets

The Pocket looks like a totally remade Game Boy, and it is, in a sense. Analogue’s gorgeous handheld can play original Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges perfectly, and can even play Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, Neo Geo Pocket and Turbografx-16 games using separately sold adapters. It has a high-res color screen and USB-C charging, and there’s a separately sold dock for TV play.

There’s also support for FPGA cores that can replicate classic game hardware and play ROMs. There’s no game store for buying games: Pocket is a system to play classic cartridges or other games in amazing quality, if you want to tinker around with FPGA. There’s also a big library of Pocket-compatible software in indie gaming channels like itch.io that can be sideloaded to a microSD card, too.

The Pocket also comes in a lot of different colors, many of which sell out fast as limited editions. It still stands on its own as a wonderfully complete retro-capable handheld for collectors of classic cartridges.

  • Display: 3.5-inch 1,600 x 1,440-pixel LCD
  • Storage: microSD card slot
  • Games: Plays classic Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance carts, or Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, Neo-Geo Pocket or Turbografx-16 carts with separately sold adapters. Can also sideload games.
  • TV connection: Separately sold dock
  • Size: 5.86 x 3.46 x 0.86 inches
  • Weight: 0.6-pound
  • Wi-Fi: No
  • Bluetooth: Yes
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Best Tiny Novelty Indie Handheld

Panic Playdate

The tiny, yellow, black-and-white-screened Panic Playdate looks like a weird Game Boy with a mechanical crank sprouting from its side. But this system, made by the game company that developed Untitled Goose Game, plays its own indie-developed games. Twenty-four of them come included with the purchase and appear over time like weekly presents, and a new second season of games has been equally good. More games can be bought on the Playdate’s on-handheld store (the tiny gadget has Wi-Fi), or sideloaded via sites like itch.io. Alas, the Playdate doesn’t have any backlighting — you’ll have to find a lamp instead. 

Even three years into its debut, the Playdate has been a constant source of weird little mini-games. If you ever loved Nintendo’s classic Game and Watch and wanted something new that could fill a similar magical desire, and don’t mind being limited to the mysterious games and apps that developers have cooked up for this, the Playdate is a bit of genius that no other handheld can match.

  • Display: 2.7-inch 400 x 240 pixel black-and-white reflective LCD (no backlighting)
  • Storage: 4GB included
  • Games: Plays games from Playdate online store or can sideload games installed via Playdate website
  • TV connection: No
  • Size: 2.99 x 2.91 x 0.35 inches
  • Weight: 0.19-pound
  • Wi-Fi: Yes
  • Bluetooth: No
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Panic Playdate review

Other gaming handhelds we’ve tested

Nintendo Switch OLED
This used to be our favorite Switch, and its battery life and vivid OLED are still good. But we’d recommend a Switch 2 purchase now over this expensive Switch model, unless you find it on sale.
Nintendo Switch Lite
The most affordable (and smallest) Switch lacks detachable controllers and TV docking capabilities, but it’s still a great pick as a lower-cost way to bring along Nintendo games on the go.
PlayStation Portal
Sony’s oddball streaming-only handheld companion to the PlayStation 5 is actually really good as an in-house way to extend your games on a remote screen with haptics and force-feedback triggers, but performance depends on internet connectivity.
ModRetro Chromatic
Possibly the best pure Game Boy recreation available, this well-built handheld has a great display and build quality, but it’s also pricey and can only play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games.
Lenovo Legion Go S with Steam OS
An excellent Steam Deck alternative (and Lori Grunin’s preferred pick over the Steam Deck OLED), this handheld benefits from a larger display and a different control layout.
Lenovo Legion Go S with Windows
Laggy performance and an awkward Windows-on-a-handheld experience made this one feel forgettable.

How we test the best handheld gaming consoles

There are lots of ways to play games on the go, and many of them are extremely different from each other. Since the common threads are often pretty different, our goal is to think about the whole play experience as a relative versus other options. Price comes into play, as does gaming libraries. But also, we pay attention to battery life, which we judge by playing games over time. Ideally, that’s for at least a week, preferably more.

When appropriate, we’ll also look into benchmark testing, although that currently comes into play for Windows-based handhelds because of common benchmark apps that can run on the hardware.

Is the experience family-friendly? Is it portable enough? Is it possible to connect to a TV, and would you do it? These are all parts of the equation. Most importantly, it’s key to look at each gaming handheld on its own terms, versus direct comparisons to products it’s not really trying to emulate. For instance: the Panic Playdate and Steam Deck are extremely different beasts.

What’s the difference between all these gaming handhelds?

Phones and tablets already do a fine job of playing tons of great games and streaming games from consoles or the cloud. Dedicated devices can provide unique features, exclusive games or extra power to do things your phone can’t. The difference between types of game handhelds at the moment can feel vast, but let’s break it down into some clear categories. Handhelds can be full TV-connectable consoles, tinier versions of full PCs, or smaller, purpose-built ways to play retro games, indies, or even novelty experiences. Some are, like PCs and phones, built on more standard OS forms. Others are locked down.

The Nintendo Switch and Switch 2

Nintendo’s consoles are a platform all unto their own. Nintendo locks down its hardware to only work with games bought in physical game card format or on Nintendo’s eShop, and the Switch and Switch 2 also require subscriptions for online play.

The Switch 2 can play nearly all the games that work on the Switch, with the exception of ones that either needed the original Switch dimensions (Nintendo Labo, if you can find it) or the original Joy-Con’s IR camera (Ring Fit Adventure, which works with Switch 2 if you pair original Joy-Cons to it wirelessly). It does have its own accessories and added functions: GameChat for talking to other Switch 2 owners, USB-connected camera support for games and chat, and the new Joy-Cons can work as optical mice with supported games. It works the same way the Switch does, but has better graphics and a larger screen, and worse battery life. To expand Switch 2 storage, you need to buy microSD Express cards, which are different from standard microSD.

PC game handhelds

A growing number of beefy handheld systems can run either full Windows OS onboard, or specific Linux-based SteamOS software. The Steam Deck, Asus Rog Ally and Lenovo Legion Go are the best current options and come in several forms and flavors.

Most of these handhelds run similar-performing types of AMD-based processors with integrated graphics which deliver surprising functional gaming on the go provided the games you’re playing are properly optimized. Valve makes this super easy on Steam Deck and on the new Lenovo Legion Go S with Steam OS, making it very clear on its Steam store which games are optimized to play well. On Windows handhelds, you gain the freedom of full Windows OS, and its complications. You could run any game from any source (and on SteamOS handhelds, with some tinkering, you could do this too), but your mileage will definitely vary. I’ve often had some games not run at all, or run so badly they were unplayable. Indie and smaller games are often great choices on handhelds for this reason.

Still, games like Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, Spider-Man 2 and No Man’s Sky are a few of the games that are great to play on the go with these handhelds. Expect battery life to vary based on the type of game, and many of these handhelds are pretty heavy, too (up to 1.5 pounds). They can connect with monitors and accessories, too, but don’t come packaged with docks.

Retro handhelds

The Analogue Pocket and ModRetro Chromatic are remastered Game Boys for playing classic cartridges you might still have or buy. The Pocket can also play other game cartridges, and even emulations of games that can be sideloaded. The Evercade series of handhelds, alternatively, plays rereleased compilations of games on custom cartridges.

While the Pocket and Chromatic and Evercade models are geared towards physical cartridges, there are also tons of small handhelds that can play ROMs and emulated games. CNET doesn’t review those at the moment, but know that there’s a big space there to explore. 

There’s also the weird stuff: the Panic Playdate is its own beast, a custom mini-handheld that plays its own library of games. There’s nothing else quite like it, but Nintendo’s limited edition Game & Watch re-releases come to mind. 

Streaming handhelds

While Windows handhelds can stream games from sources like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now, so can your phone or tablet. Another streaming option to consider is the PlayStation Portal, which only plays either PlayStation Plus streaming cloud games or streaming games via your PlayStation 5, but also adds haptics and force-feedback triggers. The future of gaming might be increasingly streaming, but for now, it’s a tool that lots of devices are throwing in the mix.

Your phone, or tablet

Tablets and phones are extremely valid game consoles: The iPad has tons of games on the App Store, and hundreds more on Apple’s subscription-based Apple Arcade. The iPad can pair with Bluetooth game controllers, too. iPhones and Android phones have tons of games as well, obviously, and a number of great game controller cases are available, including the Backbone and the Razer Kishi.

Phones and tablets also offer other advantages, including an ability to cloud-stream games on a growing number of services including Microsoft Game Pass Ultimate and PlayStation Plus.

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