Valve's Steam Deck is on sale for Cyber Monday, and it's better than a gaming laptop
And so are our other favorite handheld gaming PCs
Cyber Monday deals are in full swing, and I'm thrilled to see one of my most anticipated deals of the last few months still available. For a limited time, you can save big on Valve's Steam Deck as the storefront kickstarts its Steam Autumn sales.
I'm itching to join the handheld gaming PC revolution, and the Steam Deck has been on my wishlist for a long time. I have a gaming laptop, but I just want something better, and I think handheld gaming PCs are the way forward.
However, maybe I'm just terrible with money because my wishes and my wallet never quite seem to align when there's an undeniable moment to dive in with both feet on Valve's handheld gaming PC.
But today might be the moment that I (and many others) have been waiting for as Valve has slashed the price of the Steam Deck (LCD, 512GB) to just $336, a 25% saving on its regular $449 asking price.
Admittedly, it's the newer OLED models of Steam Deck that people will be itching to see discounted. However, at the time of writing, these models are holding on to their regular pricing. That said, we'll keep a close eye on Valve's Steam Deck for any changes.
- More gaming deals: Best Cyber Monday gaming laptop deals
A world of handheld gaming PCs beyond the Steam Deck
While the scope of the Steam Deck sales is quite narrow, the wider handheld gaming PC space is rife with Cyber Monday deals that are well worth taking a look at.
For example, Best Buy is offering $150 off of the ASUS ROG Ally with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, and an extra $50 off of this price for My Best Buy Plus members. That means you can now grab an Asus ROG Ally for as little as $349 at Best Buy.
However, that's just one of the many deals on gaming handhelds you'll find this Cyber Monday. Let's dive into our complete selection below!
Today's best Cyber Monday deals on handheld gaming PCs
Save $113 on Valve's handheld gaming PC, the Steam Deck during Cyber Monday and throughout the Steam Autumn Sale (ends December 4).
Valve's Steam Deck kicked off a trend of handheld gaming PCs in the mainstream, and rightly so. This portable gaming rig is affordably priced, runs a ton of AAA games, has fantastic support, and can easily be upgraded beyond its out-of-the-box specs.
While it's not the most powerful of handheld gaming PCs in our curated list of deals, it is a favorite, offering a polished experience that's highly compatible with hundreds of titles on Steam.
Features: 7-inch (1280x800) 60Hz LCD touch display, AMD Zen 2 quad-core CPU, 8-core RDNA 2 GPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, WiFi 5, 40Whr battery (rated 2-8 hours), Carrying case, exclusive Steam profile bundle.
Save $100 on the Asus ROG Ally X in Best Buy's Cyber Monday sales.
Asus' ROG Ally X is at the forefront of handheld gaming PCs, offering a powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU with 24GB of RAM and a sizeable 1TB SSD to store a respectable game library on the go.
It also offers a full-HD gaming experience with a speedy 120Hz refresh rate and an improved battery of 80Whrs, doubling that of the standard ROG Ally.
This handheld gaming PC is all about portable performance, and it strikes a fine balance of power and longevity, meaning you can enjoy it for longer without hunting down a free outlet.
Features: 7-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) 120Hz LCD touch display, AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU w/ RDNA 3 graphics, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD, WiFi 6E, 80Whr battery, Windows 11 Home.
Save $150 ($200 for My Best Buy Plus members) on the Asus ROG Ally in Best Buy's Cyber Monday sales.
The original ROG Ally was announced on April Fool's Day, but since then it has proven to be anything but a joke.
Full-HD gaming on the go powered by AMD's Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU and 16GB of RAM makes this a formidable handheld, and a popular choice for those interested in tackling games from across multiple storefronts thanks to its Windows 11 OS.
Features: 7-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) 120Hz LCD touch display, AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU w/ RDNA 3 graphics, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, WiFi 6E, 40Whr battery, Windows 11 Home.
Save $200 on the Lenovo Legion Go at Best Buy this Cyber Monday.
Lenovo's Legion Go takes the first-gen Ryzen Z1 Extreme handheld gaming PC formula and dials things up a notch, offering a much larger 8.8-inch display with a WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600-pixel) resolution and a faster 144Hz refresh rate.
Even its battery is an improvement, with a higher 49.2Whr rating over the standard ROG Ally, but the improvements don't end there.
Lenovo's Legion Go takes cues from the Nintendo Switch, bringing detachable Joy-Con-like TrueStrike controllers into the mix for more ways to tackle your favorite games.
Features: 8.8-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) 144Hz LCD touch display, AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU w/ RDNA 3 graphics, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, WiFi 6E, 49.2Whr battery, Carrying case, Windows 11 Home.
Save $230 on the MSI Claw handheld gaming PC at Walmart this Cyber Monday.
MSI's Claw takes a different approach to other handhelds, making use of Intel's Core Ultra 7 processor, technically making it a handheld gaming AI PC.
After some performance hiccups at launch, MSI has done well in turning the Claw into a viable gaming handheld, though its choice of processor doesn't offer the same level of fine-tuned performance as the ROG Ally or Legion Go.
Still, this handheld has plenty to offer, with access to all storefronts across Windows 11 Home and a speedy 120Hz 7-inch display.
Features: 7-inch FHD (1280x800) 120Hz LCD display, Intel Core Ultra 7-155H CPU, 8-Core Intel Arc Graphics, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, WiFi 7, 54.5Whr battery, Windows 11 Home.
Rael Hornby, potentially influenced by far too many LucasArts titles at an early age, once thought he’d grow up to be a mighty pirate. However, after several interventions with close friends and family members, you’re now much more likely to see his name attached to the bylines of tech articles. While not maintaining a double life as an aspiring writer by day and indie game dev by night, you’ll find him sat in a corner somewhere muttering to himself about microtransactions or hunting down promising indie games on Twitter.