One of the biggest booms for gaming 2022 has been on the portable PC front. Sure, gaming laptops are getting more powerful every year, but they're also expensive machines that take up space. If all you want to do on a portable monster is game, you can save money and hassle by going for a machine that's purpose-built for games like the new and ever-more-popular Switch-like handheld PCs.
While rumours are circulating around the Steam Deck 2, there's not much concrete. We don't even know when to expect the new handheld PC/console hybrid, and Valve is still getting through the backlog of current orders. It's still a little shaky whether or not you'd get your hands on one, but other companies are more than happy to fill the gap.
One such is OneXPlayer. This company has been pumping out handheld PCs for quite a while now and they come in a fair variety of builds featuring AMD- and Intel-based designs. Now the latest line of AMD units, the 7-inch OneXPlayer Mini Pro, is up for preorder, and it comes with a discount and some bonuses for those ready to put down a deposit.
The new handheld is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, potentially like the AOKZOE AI, which is another competitor that's still up for preorder. Though the AOKZOE has offered preorders for a while, this new one from OneXPlayer feels like a fairer bet, given OneXPlayer already has a decent track record for these machines, like the One-Net Netbook OneXPlayer Mini we reviewed.
Steam Deck review: Our verdict on Valve's handheld PC.
Steam Deck availability: How to get one.
Steam Deck battery life: What's the real battery life of the new device?
How loud is the Steam Deck? And will it pass the Significant Other test?
Steam Deck - The emulation dream machine: Using Valve's handheld hardware as the ultimate emulator.
The similarities don't stop there, as, like the unreleased AOKZOE, these new units from OneXPlayer boast a Radeon 680M GPU with the hot new-gen LPDDR5 RAM. These tell the story of very strong AMD handhelds coming in the near future, with claims that the OneXPlayer Mini Pro boasts a 200% framerate increase over previous units. Paired with a 1920x1200 HD 323 PPI panel, these could be beautiful little machines. But of course, they're by no means cheap.
The OneXPlayer Mini Pro is set to retail for $1,199 but if you're happy to drop $50 on a deposit first, it's well worth it for the perks. Preordering unlocks a 23% discount bringing the total price down to $919, plus a bonus docking and protection bag to go with it. With its own updated software, and the potential down the line to maybe run Steam Deck software, it could be a great little handheld. If you're already sold it makes sense to get a preorder in for the bonus goodies.
