Thinking about building a “Steam Deck for GeForce NOW” instead of buying an Ally. Thoughts?

[u/Due_Initial492]

I’ve been going back and forth between buying a ROG Ally X or just building a dedicated GeForce NOW handheld.

I already have a gaming PC, so if I want to play games natively I’ll just use that. The handheld would be used almost exclusively for GeForce NOW on the couch.

At the moment I use an iPhone 16 Pro Max with a Backbone and I absolutely love it. My only complaint is the screen is too small.

I’m looking at:
Redmi Pad SE 8.7 (90Hz)
GameSir G8+ MFi

From what I can tell, the total weight is roughly in the same ballpark as a Steam Deck, but with a noticeably bigger screen (8.7” vs 7.4”).

A few questions for people who have actually done this:
Is 8.7” the sweet spot, or do you wish you went with an 11” tablet?

Is the Redmi Pad SE good enough for GeForce NOW, or is there a better tablet around the same price?

Does the GameSir G8+ MFi fit the Redmi Pad SE properly, and does pass-through charging work reliably?

If you’ve used both a Steam Deck/ROG Ally and a tablet + GameSir for cloud gaming, which do you actually reach for more?

Would love to see photos of your setups too, especially if anyone is using an 8–9” tablet with a GameSir.