SteamOS handhelds outperform Windows in gaming performance

The Steam Deck remains the top choice for handheld gaming due to its user-friendly SteamOS. This success could soon extend to handhelds made by Asus and Lenovo. Videos have emerged showing SteamOS running on these brands’ devices, demonstrating better performance than their Windows versions. Valve, the company behind Steam, announced that SteamOS 3.8 will support non-Valve handhelds, sparking excitement among gamers. The Lenovo Legion Go S is set to be the first device with SteamOS preinstalled, expected to launch later this year. Meanwhile, a YouTuber named Phawx successfully installed SteamOS Holo on the unsupported Asus ROG Ally. However, this version does not fully utilize the device's features and limits its power consumption to 15 watts. Despite these limitations, the Ally outperformed the Steam Deck in some games like Batman Arkham Knight. The Ally uses a more powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip, leading to better average frame rates. However, the Steam Deck still excelled in other titles, so fans don’t need to worry about abandoning it just yet. In the past, modders have run alternative operating systems, like Bazzite, on non-Valve devices. Recently, another YouTuber demonstrated SteamOS 3.8 on the Lenovo Legion Go S, noting slight improvements over its Windows version. Overall, SteamOS is showing better performance than Windows for handheld gaming. This might present challenges for Microsoft, which is developing an Xbox-focused handheld in collaboration with Asus. If SteamOS continues to offer better performance and user experience, it could change the landscape of handheld gaming dramatically.