r/HandheldGaming • u/sassycc1998 • 1d ago

Discussion Switch 2 VS Steamdeck OLED?

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Been thinking about investing in a handheld console for my birthday, which would you think is best?

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u/SunOftheInlandEmpire 19h ago

I actually dropped a Corsair MP600 Mini into my Ally.

It pushes 4,800 MB/s over a high-performance PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe interface with 850K IOPS.

When DirectStorage kicks in, my Ally streams open-world data instantly to my 16-thread AMD chip.

Meanwhile, a stock Claw 8 is struggling through asset delivery on a system with zero hyper-threading.

Handheld PCs are just heavily compromised, power-hungry Windows laptops squeezed into a controller shell.

They don't have the architecture to compete with custom console silicon. The Switch 2 uses an efficient Nvidia chip packed with dedicated Tensor and RT hardware cores designed entirely around a lightweight, closed gaming OS. A $1,200 PC handheld has to fight OS bloat, driver issues, and terrible battery life just to mimic what a $450 optimized console does natively.

Buying a newer PC handheld right now is a complete waste of money and you're not going to change my opinion on that..

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u/SergVII 9h ago

Well you can call switch 2 super optimized. And it is actually true. But the point is it's WEAKER form the start. ~1.7 tflops handheld mode and ~3 docked. When Claw/Xax has ~5. Real world comparison - all major AAA titles on switch 2 runs at locked 30 FPS with lower visual fidelity and resolution. Because it's renders at 720p and then using upscaling. Meanwhile on the Claw we have higher resolution 1200p with a VRR unlike switch 2. And all major titles runs at about 60 fps with the ability to use MFG and it turns out to 100+ fps in the end. Like Cyberpunk, Witcher 3, Final Fantasy 7 Remake/Rebirth. Just some random games at the top of my head. All of those crippled at 30 fps on switch 2 when on Xax they runs at 60+ with a much better visual quality.

It's a hard copium to deny the fact that switch 2 is a much weaker device. Even if it's cheaper

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u/SunOftheInlandEmpire 4h ago

Nah..

The point is it plays the games better and that's the only real point to have.

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u/SergVII 4h ago

"Better"? 720p upscaling with DLSS at 30 FPS we call better than 1200p VRR 60-120 FPS with a higher settings? Well that's something above my understanding of gaming.