There’s yet another Steam Deck rival in town with the brand new OneXPlayer X1 Mini being the latest device to enter the battle for gaming handheld supremacy. But this is no boring cookie-cutter copy – this new handheld has just about every extra feature you could imagine.
While the Lenovo Legion Go seemingly already tried the “add more features” approach in an attempt to secure the best handheld gaming PC title, the X1 Mini takes the feature set to a new level. It has similar removable side controllers to Lenovo’s Steam Deck rival, but it also adds a detachable keyboard, plus you can easily upgrade its SSD.
The device centers on an 8.8-inch, 144Hz display – the same size and specs as that on the Legion Go – with the comically comparatively compact controllers then clicking into place on the sides. A kickstand can then be deployed and a keyboard attached, converting this handheld into a full-on mini PC.
It’s set to be powered by an AMD 8840U CPU, which is essentially a very similar chip to the Z1 Extreme used in the ROG Ally and Legion Go, and a big upgrade in overall performance over the AMD chip in the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED. Meanwhile, on the side you’ll find the all-important easy-access SSD upgrade slot, which lets you easily swap out storage without dismantling the whole device.
So far, the Legion Go has had limited success in trying to make a single device that does it all, rather than the more focused approach of the Steam Deck. However, with a few refinements, there’s no reason the X1 Mini can’t deliver on its promise.
The new device currently only exists as an Indiegogo campaign, but OneXPlayer has previously successfully launched other devices so this isn’t a purely fantasy device. Plus, if you sign up for one of these devices now, you’ll get a 30% discount, although OneXPlayer doesn’t note the overall cost of the device upon which you’ll be getting that discount.
While you wait for that Indiegogo campaign to complete and for the X1 Mini to come to market, your best bet is to check out our Lenovo Legion Go review, as that’s the closest equivalent to the X1 Mini so far, and you’ll get a good idea of where it won and lost against its handheld gaming competition.