Best Android handheld consoles in 2024

The best Android handheld gaming consoles offer a mobile gaming experience equal to anything Nintendo or Sony can produce, whether you want to play the best Android games without fuss or stream AAA titles. They offer a balance between playing native, emulated, and streamed games. Consoles like the Ayaneo Pocket S can easily handle all three, while budget devices like the Abxylute are best paired with streaming games only. However, some Android consoles are built for emulation only; they’re perfect for booting up a GBA or N64 emulator.

Android handhelds used to be a niche market, but a recent explosion in popularity means there’s an overwhelming number of options. To help you out, we’ve curated the best Android consoles available on this list so you can find your perfect mobile gaming companion. If you’re unwilling to spend this much, Android controllers are a more affordable way to play games on your phone. Most flagship Android phones can handle emulated, streamed, and native games and many tablets offer similar capabilities.

Top Android gaming handhelds

Ayaneo has built a solid reputation with its line of high-performance Windows-based handhelds, but the Pocket Air is its first foray into the world of Android. It’s undoubtedly a success; our review noted its ability to handle any emulated or native Android game without breaking a sweat. While the software is a little confusing, there’s a lot to love about this Android handheld.

The Pocket Air is admittedly pricey; the cheapest variant starts at $299, but this gets you 6GB RAM, 128 GB storage, a 1080p AMOLED screen, and a massive 7350mAh battery. This is enough to compete with the best Android gaming phones that cost over twice as much.

If you’re experienced with emulation software and also want to play Android games, the Ayaneo Pocket Air is the best Android handheld you can buy.

The Ayaneo Pocket S boasts the Qualcomm Snapdragon G3x Gen 2, which can easily handle emulated and native Android games. Whether playing Genshin Impact, emulating GBA games, or streaming, the Pocket S stayed cool. However, keep your fingers away from the vents as they produce uncomfortably hot air while playing intensive games.

The Pocket S is small; the entire console is about the same as a Switch Lite but with a 6-inch borderless screen. This does come with the compromise that the buttons and triggers are smaller than on full-size controllers, but the whole console is hefty enough to give you a firm grip while gaming.

If you don’t want to use all the Pocket S’ power, you can flip it to balanced mode, which is more than enough for less demanding Android games and emulated GBA titles. Depending on what emulated system you’re using, you can enhance the physical controls with touchscreen overlays. For Play Store games, you can map the physical buttons to areas on the screen to activate buttons that would otherwise be touchscreen only.

When we tested the Abyxlute console, we felt it succeeded in its goal of being the best budget streaming console. While there are more flaws with the Abyxlute than the Logitech G Cloud, it’s significantly better priced at just $209. It doesn’t skimp on the essential features, either. The 7″ screen offers crisp visuals, and an 8-hour battery life is plenty for long gaming sessions. Admittedly, it isn’t as ergonomic as we would like; the rounded edges are too angular. Your hands will also cover the speakers this way, but headphones are a must regardless of the weak volume.

While the performance on some Android games isn’t stellar (I struggled to get the Genshin Impact to rise above 20FPS), less-intensive games like Dead Cells ran at a smooth 60FPS after tweaking the settings. Emulation is a similar story; stick to GBA, N64, or PS1-era games.

While it certainly cuts corners, what the Abxylute can do at its low price is remarkable. Expect to encounter some performance issues occasionally, but it’s hard to beat the value of this Android gaming handheld.

Although the Logitech G Cloud is advertised as a cloud gaming handheld, its hardware can run native Android games and some emulated consoles. It’s the largest Android handheld on the list, but this is primarily thanks to its ergonomic grip. You get a 1080p screen and an Xbox-style layout, both ideal for cloud gaming, hence the console’s name.

The G Cloud can play graphically intensive Android games, but you must tweak the video settings to hit a reliable 60FPS. Emulated games are similar; 2D games will run with few (if any hiccups), but you may encounter poor performance in 3D games from PS2 emulators and the like.

The Logitech G Cloud is a great all-rounder, but this performance comes at a price. $350 is a lot to spend on a handheld, especially one dedicated to streaming. That being said, you’re certainly getting what you pay for here. Logitech hasn’t cut any corners; you’ve got the requisite amount of ports (3.5mm audio jack, USB-C, MicroSD card slot), and the battery should last the advertised 12 hours, as long as you stick to streaming games.

The Ayn Odin is a remarkable device that ticks all the boxes for an Android handheld, with some extra features that make it our best overall pick. The Ayn Odin packs a 6″ 1080p screen, and while the size and look are akin to a Nintendo Switch Lite, the Ayn Odin is more functional and ergonomic to hold.

Inside the Odin Base model, you’ll find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset with integrated Adreno 630 GPU (the same chipset found in the Google Pixel 3), which is more than enough for playing native Android games.

The Ayn Odin is designed to tick all the boxes for an Android handheld, and unlike most other handhelds, it can handle emulated consoles up to and including the PS2. If you fancy some extra RAM and storage, you can upgrade to the Pro model for $289, but you probably won’t notice any difference over the Base model as you can easily expand storage via the SD card slot. At $199, the Lite has a weaker chipset but comes with Android 11, WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.2, making it more reliable on the software side without sacrificing much performance.

In 2022, Razer released the Kishi V2, a snap-on controller for your phone that offered an unbeatable gaming experience without breaking the bank. The Razer Edge is essentially an Android gaming tablet that ships with the Kishi V2 controller. The tablet boasts a vibrant 6.8″ OLED screen and hardware to handle any native Android game; the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 chipset far outstrips anything else in the Android gaming handheld world.

Alongside the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, you get 128GB of internal memory, WiFi 6E support, and 6GB RAM (you can upgrade to 8GB). This can handle any game you throw at it, whether streaming AAA titles or playing the most demanding games on Android. Unfortunately, the screen’s bizarre 20:9 ratio means you’ll inevitably run into pillarboxing, especially with streamed games.

It’s worth noting again that the Kishi V2 controller is a separate entity from the Razer Edge tablet. It’s not modified to fit the tablet; it’s the same controller you can snap onto your phone. You can expect a few days of use with intermittent gaming, and for marathon sessions, the Edge recharges in under two hours.

While other Android gaming handhelds offer better hardware and a more ergonomic fit, few manage to compromise, as well as the Retroid Pocket 3+. While its small 4.7-inch screen and compact body may suggest it’s a device designed for emulators first and foremost (which it is), there are no restrictions for streaming or playing native Android games. A whopping 128GB of storage means you rarely have to worry about running out of storage space, and the 4,500mAh battery is ideal for long trips.

At $149, the Retroid Pocket 3+ is priced competitively; while you can find cheaper Android gaming handhelds on the market, they’ll usually cut some corners to hit that mark. The Retroid Pocket 3+ still manages to cram in some handy extras. A Micro HDMI port is a nice touch, and we celebrate any handheld with a 3.5mm audio jack built in. The Unisoc Tiger T618 processor, found on budget Android tablets and 4GB memory, can tackle most emulated or Android games you want to play.

The Anbernic RG353P is an unashamedly retro device, making this one of the best Android gaming handhelds for GBA or PSP games. The 1.6ghz RK3566 CPU can’t handle the kind of games the Razer Edge or the Ayn Odin are designed to handle, but the chipset, combined with 2GB RAM, can easily run anything up to the PS1 era.

The 3,500mAh battery backs up the Anbernic RG353P’s goal of being the perfect retro handheld. Expect to get up to 5 hours of gaming, depending on your emulator of choice. As an Android handheld, you can technically run native Android games or use game streaming apps, but the blocky 3.5″ screen is far from ideal.

For what you’re getting, the price is more than reasonable. It’s the best Anbernic product you can buy right now, and small touches like a touchscreen (ideal for emulating Nintendo DS games), and the rounded grips make all the difference.

Find the Android gaming handheld for you

Android gaming handhelds have come far since the days of unreliable retro consoles funded by unfamiliar names. Logitech’s G Cloud and the Abxylute highlight how Android is fast becoming the ideal platform for companies looking to expand into handheld gaming, and there’s still space for names like Ayaneo to take the lead with powerful consoles.

Many Android handhelds allow users to play games in multiple ways, but few do it better than the Ayaneo Pocket Air. While expensive, thanks to the powerful chipset, it can handle any game you throw at it without breaking a sweat. Its emulation-friendly software and high-quality build make it easy to see why this is our favorite Android handheld console.

The Ayaneo Pocket S is the most powerful Android console we’ve reviewed. While it comes with a few caveats, it’s capable of easily handling any compatible game. It’s a great choice if you don’t want to worry about what games you can play on your handheld console.

However, the budget Abxylute console shows you don’t need fancy hardware to relax with emulated or streamed games. While it struggles to handle even moderately intensive Android games, the range of games available through platforms like Xbox Game Pass means you’ll never be short of games to play.