The whole prospect of an Xbox handheld is starting to feel very real now! Yesterday, it was reported that Xbox is seemingly planning a first-party handheld for sometime in 2027, and a branded partner handheld for later this year.
With that in mind, we’re starting to think about what we’re hoping to see from an Xbox handheld when either of them release in the future. The first-party version and the branded version will probably be quite similar anyway – we’re guessing Microsoft will be using the branded one to inform the decisions that go into making the first-party version.
So, let’s get into this! We’ve picked out five things that we think an Xbox handheld needs to include when it releases, and here’s hoping they’ll all be crammed into the 2025 branded version – we want an excuse to buy hardware this year!
Xbox Series S Comparable Performance
It’s been noted how an Xbox handheld could have a big potential advantage over a Sony competitor thanks to the already-existing performance target for Xbox Series S games, although admittedly that’s probably more the case for the first-party handheld in the future – rather than the branded one that will apparently arrive later in 2025.
The branded one will probably just be based around the Xbox app on PC, but even so, it’s going to need comparable performance to the Xbox Series S anyway. PC handhelds are getting more powerful all the time, and slapping an Xbox sticker on it won’t be enough – it’s going to need to be a beast to compete with everything else on the market!
A Dedicated Xbox Interface
Much has been made of how clunky the Windows experience can be on PC handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally, and Xbox has actually set a goal to bring a console-like experience to these systems in 2025. It’s clearly a big focus for the team, and we’re assuming the branded Xbox handheld will mark a debut-of-sorts for this new Xbox interface.
Of course, the Xbox PC app features a “compact mode” that’s designed for handhelds specifically, but a dedicated Xbox handheld needs something like Steam OS – an easy-to-use dashboard that pushes Windows bloat to the background.
Battery Life That Can Sustain Long Trips
The biggest problem with PC handhelds has arguably been the battery life, especially when it comes to AAA titles. It’s inevitable that games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are going to struggle to last for anything more than a couple of hours at a time, but the results have typically been much more varied when it comes to indie games.
Nobody’s expecting Xbox to suddenly start getting 6-7 hours out of AAA titles with a handheld right now, but if some of the indie games on Xbox Game Pass can last that long, you’ve suddenly got a device that can sustain long trips. Not everyone will use an Xbox handheld just for travel purchases, but if you’ve already got a Series X or S at home, the allure of a long battery life makes it much more feasible to carry an Xbox on vacations, work trips and other getaways.
An Xbox Play Anywhere / Backwards Compatibility Focus
Xbox Play Anywhere is an amazing service that Microsoft just doesn’t advertise very well for whatever reason. If you haven’t heard of it, it basically allows you to buy a game on your Xbox console and get the PC version for free on the Xbox app, meaning it’s the perfect complement to owning both an Xbox console and a PC-based Xbox handheld.
Fans have discovered that Xbox Play Anywhere supports well over 1100 games right now, but Microsoft needs to do way more to make us aware of these. This is a feature that should be front and centre of the branded handheld that’s rumoured for 2025 – think of all the PC games that you might already own without knowing about them!
And then, if Xbox is planning to add support for console games as part of its dedicated first-party handheld that’s rumoured to arrive in 2027, it surely needs the ability to run all backwards compatible games available on console too.
Competitive Price, With Plenty Of Official Accessories
It goes without saying that any Xbox handheld will need to be priced competitively. Xbox boss Phil Spencer mentioned recently how selling $1000 consoles wouldn’t build the market for the brand, and the same can obviously be said of any potential handheld – although we know that these devices are often priced pretty high when they first launch.
Alongside a competitive price tag, we’re really hoping to see Microsoft go all-in with an Xbox handheld in terms of things like official accessories – cases, docks and whatever else might be in the pipeline. That should end up being the case, especially thanks to the “Designed for Xbox” program that’s brought us plenty of great accessories in recent years.
It’s obviously still very early days right now and we don’t have any official confirmation of an Xbox handheld as things stand, aside from the odd suggestion from Phil Spencer that Microsoft is working on something behind the scenes.
It certainly looks like we’re going to be getting at least one device and probably multiple devices over the coming years though, so here’s hoping they stack them with enough great features that they end up proving too good to pass up!
