Opinion: Handheld PCs could show the future of the Switch
It’s genuinely miraculous to think about the pure logistics of the Nintendo Switch. Officially, the device (fancy OLED screens aside) is 6 years old, but the guts inside – nVidia’s Tegra X1 SoC – is almost 8 years old. When it debuted in 2015, the Tegra was an absolute beast – easily one of the most powerful mobile chips on the market. It sipped power yet was able to pump out up to 512GFLOPS of GPU render, double what the most powerful Apple chip (The A9, which powered the iPhone 6S) could manage. In fact, it was so powerful it ran nVidia’s Shield Pro, a device that was still getting regular updates and solid performance through 2021/2022.
However, where its graphical output soared, its CPU was far less impressive. Not only did the A9 chip flog it at the time, with less cores and less heat, by the time Apple met and exceeded GPU parity with the A12 in 2018, it was almost 6x more powerful on a compute level. But it was that downgraded CPU that allowed the Switch to punch so much above its (literal) weight – it kept battery use low, and allowed games far above any other mobile title to run natively, albeit, with some caveats.
Flash forward to 2023, and the Switch is looking and feeling decidedly… choppy. Years of firmware updates, game engine enhancements and OS improvements have gradually chipped away at any sort of advantage the head start on the GPU gave it. Even if you don’t compare it to any full-size consoles, almost any flagship mobile chip (and even some less so) would blow it away when it comes to output. An Apple A16 chip uses less power, less GPU clock and is physically smaller than the X1 but puts out 4x its GPU capability and almost 10x its CPU.
NVidia even has its own beefy SoC that plays on the same level – its ORIN class chips, which are destined to run Electric Cars and VR units – also meets and in some cases exceeds Apples own efforts. So even if Nintendo decided to pull something “off the shelf” to power the Switch’s successor, it wouldn’t even need to move away from ARM. This means backward compatibility, and the same power sipping, lightweight, slim device we’ve all loved to use over the years.
Let’s be clear – specifications aren’t everything. Nintendo and its 3rd party developer partners have proven time and again that they can pull rabbits out of this hat. The phenomenal depth and breadth of games like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and the stunning graphical fidelity of FF7: Crisis Core Rebirth are a testament to developer skill when it comes to optimization and clever use of tools. But all tech reaches the point where we wonder – how much better could this look, run or play on something with more teeth?
Already, there are competitors on the horizon. The last 7 years have given plenty of other companies, particularly legacy PC brands, time to improve and iterate on the Switch’s model. Already, there are 3 big options that are available (or soon to be) for Australians, and they give a good idea what we may be looking at when Nintendo breaks open its vault to show us what’s coming next.
Option 1: The Fan Favourite – Valve’s Steam Deck ($800 – 64Gb – Kogan/Amazon AU)
The Steam Deck, both in size and software, was the first genuine shot off the block that targeted Nintendo’s hybrid model. On the surface, its specs alone are impressive in comparison – a custom AMD APU capable of up to 1.6TFLOPS, more than 3x the Switch, along with 16Gb of Ram, plenty of sticks, buttons, and trackpads for all sorts of games.
It also has a custom OS based on Linux (like the Switch) which allows for almost the entire existing Steam PC library to run, thanks to its Proton layer, as well as custom software from other game marketplaces. This OS, easily the best of any handheld device, provides an easy yet powerful way to customize the device, browse and install games, as well as play around with graphical performance to optimize battery life. Valve also managed to code in the Switch’s killer app – the ability to suspend any game, at any time, regardless of where you managed to drop it.
The extra power comes through too – playing games like Elden Ring or Control, Spiderman or Cyberpunk 2077 on a native portable system is phenomenal. Many of them run at 30 or exceed it, leaving many to choose the “sweet spot” of 45FPS to balance performance and battery life. It’s also dead simple to buy a HDMI dock for $20 off eBay or Amazon, Bluetooth a controller (or KB/Mouse!) and play on a TV or monitor. Games tend to be cheaper and the store is much simpler to navigate and interact with.
The newer chip also allows for newer tech – there’s AI upscaling, much improved Bluetooth compatibility, better WiFi and USB support. There are, however, caveats to this mobile nirvana. The Steam Deck is solid, and comfortable, but it is heavy. It’s twice the weight of the Switch, and you can feel it. It’s also louder – the mobile X64 APU runs faster but hotter than the Tegra, so when you’re pumping out the polygons, you can hear it.
There’s still plenty of games that don’t run – especially big ones like Fortnite or Apex Legends – due to the custom Linux OS and lack of proprietary software protection that makes publishers happy. Battery life tends to top out around 2-4 hours, which compared to the newer Switch models, is roughly half. Finally, the Steam Deck, while working and running fine, isn’t officially available in Australia. You’ll get a (limited) warranty from Kogan or Amazon, but this also introduces a larger price premium.
The Steam Deck is the closest thing to a Switch – there’s an easy launcher, default controllers, simple shop and installer. There’s an enormous range of games, including a number that do exist on the Switch, but run significantly better.
Option 2: The Newcomer – Asus’s ROG Ally – ($1299 – 512GB – Asus/ JB HIfi)
It should be noted that the ROG Ally isn’t really a Switch competitor – its high price (more than 2.5x an OLED Switch) and Windows heavy interface make this more of a Linux-Free bump on the Steam Deck. But it does provide decent comparisons sake as the Ally is attempting to split the difference between both devices. It’s also running a custom AMD APU – the Ryzen Z1 Extreme – which is both newer and more powerful than the Steam Deck. It promises a staggering 8.6TFLOPs – more than 4x the Steam Deck, 16Gb of Ram, and a 120HZ Full HD screen.
On paper, the Ally should be a bit of a wet dream for any handheld gamer. It sort of is. The screen is gorgeous, slick, and smooth like a great Asus gaming monitor should be. It’s narrower and a little thinner than the Steam Deck, which has shaved off a few grams, but its still, again, double the Switch’s weight although it feels more balanced in the hand. That said, it does have a cheap, almost plasticy feel to it. Some of the buttons stuck a little in my testing, so I’m not sure if this is standard or the unit was defective.
It runs Windows 11, and you can tell it’s had a bunch of improvements – such as custom UI scaling and power management – to reduce the overhead. Asus have also attempted to “Steam OS” themselves into an app to run games from any launcher – but unfortunately, it’s pretty terrible. Thankfully, you can run Steam in “Big Picture” mode which effectively turns the Ally into a Steam Deck, complete with store/library/controller experience, which negates most of those issues.
The other benefit of Windows is that its much easier to add other launchers – such as Epic, Ubisoft, Xbox Game Pass, Amazon etc – and play games like Fortnite, Apex or Warzone, which currently don’t run on the Steam Deck. The added graphical umph really shows – games run significantly smoother, with less jitter and higher frame rates overall. That said – surprisingly – some of those bumps aren’t as produced as you’d expect the hardware to provide. I would assume this is due to the lower wattage from the battery capping some of the larger potential gains.
One of the added benefits of both the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally are the *much* improved sticks and buttons. The ergonomics of both devices are also designed for larger hands, making them feel a lot more solid and firm for faster paced experiences. While they can’t be removed for docking experiences, one of the big Switch benefits, they do support a much wider range of peripherals, including Switch controllers, so there is more choice available.
But where the Ally really gets tough to recommend is when it comes to battery life. Most games were lucky to top out at 2hrs, with some I was able to stretch to three. If you’re going to be playing on the go, I would expect you’d need a power bank or two to keep this powerhouse chugging along. In many cases, this is less than half of what you’d get out of the Switch, but with the benefit of exceedingly better performance. WIth such a powerful APU it really needed a bigger battery.
Option 3: The Wildcard – Ayaneo 2S (Price: TBA – Likely to be between $1600 and $2000 – 32GB+2TB – Ayaneo / JB HIFI)
You genuinely can’t get much fresher off the boat than the Ayaneo, from the model topping Chinese hardware makers that arguably win the award for most models in the shortest amount of time. The Ayaneo 2 launched in December 2022, barely 7 months ago, and the “S” model is an obvious jump to get ahead of the ROG Ally. But with an extra cost premium are some staggering specs – a cutting edge RDNA 4 Ryzen 7 AGU, claiming to push out 8.9 TFLOPS, along with a 7-inch IPS bezel-free screen and 32gb of DDR5 RAM running at 7500Mhz – double its competition.
Its similarities to the ROG Ally don’t end there – it also features Windows 11, custom UI scaling and power management, and, unfortunately, a terrible software app launcher. But, again, like the ROG it doesn’t actually matter since Steam’s Big Picture is such an elegant handheld solution that in most cases, you’ll never actually leave it unless you’re playing on another publisher’s storefront.
What is different is the build quality – the Ayaneo 2S feels a lot better in the hand then any of the other devices, including the Switch itself. It curves around in the right places, and feels lighter than its combined mass (which is actually heavier than both the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally) which I feel is due to the symmetry and distribution of weight evenly across the device. I didn’t feel weighted down like I did with the Steam Deck on long playthroughs. The sticks feel solid and move cleanly, and the slightly larger triggers are brilliant for shooters.
In addition, the 2S features Hall sensing sticks and triggers, which avoid the likelihood of the dreaded Switch drift overtime, WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, a 50W (as opposed to 40W) battery, 3(!) USB-C ports both top and bottom, a very fast Micro SD card slot along with a split NVME/SSD storage array. In fact, the only thing the ROG beats the Ayaneo on is refresh rate, with the Ayaneo having a brighter and significantly better colour balanced screen. For a few hundred dollars extra, it feels like a more complete product.
In terms of performance, I found the Ayaneo and the ROG Ally to have very similar output, although there would sometimes be a 5-10fps gap in games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Hogwarts. Being both Windows, there was literal difference in how games ran and launched. Both of these systems support FSR2.0 and benefit from upscaling from lower resolutions, although the Ayaneo’s 25% larger battery and slightly more efficient CPU meant I was usually balancing between 3-4 hours on most games, even on AAA.
I felt like the Ayaneo was largely a better version of what the ROG Ally was attempting – it looks and feels cleaner, has more input flexibility, and I enjoyed the bezel-less screen as it felt a lot closer to the experience of using the Switch OLED. The added performance to battery life ratio also helped – very few devices that aren’t using power-lite ARM processors are going to give 2nd Gen Switch level battery life, but if you would love a device to tide you over on the non-Nintendo offerings, you could do a lot worse.
So, you ask, I’m a Switch owner but I’m looking for something to tide me over until the new model. What do I pick?
If you’re on a budget and don’t tend to play games like Warzone or Fortnite, it’s hard to avoid picking the Steam Deck. Its lower price makes it easier to indulge, and Valve are very committed to continuing to update and improve it on a regular basis. It’s easy to pick up and play and provides the most “Switch like” experience out of the box. If you’re a big Fortnite player, it’s not worth upgrading, but if you’re after titles that need more guts – say Cyberpunk 2077, Spiderman, Street Fighter 6, Elden Ring or RE4 WITHOUT the cloud – there’s a nextgen experience waiting.
If you have the money to splurge, I would recommend the Ayaneo 2S over the ROG Ally. It has the most cutting-edge tech that will give it quite a bit of longevity, along with a better physical design and more comfortable weight distribution. The benefit of Windows means you can play anything you can get on a PC, including Game Pass titles and Epic freebies. However, it isn’t as simple to use out of the box – Windows isn’t designed well for launching games on handhelds (yet), although Steam in Big Picture mode is almost identical on this unit or the ROG Ally as it is on the Steam Deck. Some games have issues with keyboard inputs and other little niggles, however.
But above all, what it does show is how forward looking the market has become 7 years on. The next Switch is going to be a lot more powerful, regardless of how it ends up on a spec level, which means bigger and broader games, better frame rates and better cross platform compatibility for PS5/SeriesX games.
