The number of players in the handheld gaming PC space seems to grow by the day, and Gigabyte has shared that it\u2019s considering crafting its own portable powerhouse. Intriguingly, the company is in no hurry to simply follow in the footsteps of rivals, big and small, and says its own design must stand out from the crowd.<\/p>\n
Eddie Lin, CEO of Gigabyte, told outlet PCWorld as much in an on-camera interview during CES 2026. In their conversation, Lin declared his belief that \u201ca handheld gaming PC is not hard to build,\u201d highlighting the prevalence of Chinese manufacturers as an illustration of relative manufacturing ease.<\/p>\n
As much as the brand could easily produce a handheld, the company is still considering how it can separate itself in an increasingly crowded space. Lin asks, \u201cWhat kind of differentiation can we have? I don\u2019t want to produce a \u2018me too\u2019 product; it doesn\u2019t make sense. We are Gigabyte.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Interpreting Lin\u2019s comments at face value, it seems we\u2019ll be waiting a while for any kind of Gigabyte handheld. That\u2019s no bad thing, as I agree with his perspective that any device in this space absolutely must come with a unique selling point in order to truly succeed.<\/p>\n
However, it\u2019s difficult to see what kind of niche Gigabyte could fill. Running through just a few of the would-be handheld\u2019s many competitors, Asus\u2019 ROG Xbox Ally X<\/a> offers a controller-like experience, Lenovo\u2019s Legion Go 2 gives us detachable controllers and an OLED screen, while MSI\u2019s Claw 8 AI+<\/a> offers a surprisingly strong alternative to AMD APUs via Intel Lunar Lake.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not forgetting the Steam Deck OLED<\/a>, of course, which aims to provide the best bang for your buck, pairing less-powerful specs with a more-affordable price. Could we be waiting so long for a Gigabyte handheld that it goes toe-to-toe with a Steam Deck 2<\/a>? Time will tell.<\/p>\n In any case, I\u2019m excited to see what direction Gigabyte takes its handheld ambitions, particularly if it can translate some of its expertise in the world of gaming laptops, as you can see in my Aorus Master 18 review<\/a>, to this new format. If we\u2019re lucky, Lin could be obfuscating how far along development of a Gigabyte handheld, and we could optimistically hope for a PC powered by a Panther Lake GPU<\/a>.<\/p>\n