If you’re a regular visitor of the site, you’ll probably want to get ready for the wild ride that’s coming soon. Next week, RH will be on location at CES 2025, where we hope to take in the sights, have a few laughs, and catch all of the handhelds that we can.

Seeing as this is my first trip to CES, I’ve really had a tough time trying to decide what gear I’m going to bring. More specifically, it’s been practically impossible trying to nail down exactly what I should pack, and what I should leave behind.

While trying to make some sort of “final” decision, I remembered that Zu published a similar video before embarking on his trip to CES 2024. With that, I figured this might something fun to write up, while also serving as a way to hold myself accountable.

Handhelds for All Occasions

When you rarely travel and then get the chance to be away from home for a week, trying to figure out what to bring can be rather daunting. That’s how it’s felt for me, as I keep going back and forth. After a bit more thought, I’m pretty sure these are the handhelds that will be joining me.

ASUS ROG Ally X

Flying from the East Coast to Las Vegas gives me enough time to actually sink myself into a game or two. However, this isn’t your ordinary Ally X, as I’ve set it up to dual-boot between Windows and Bazzite, giving me the best of both worlds. I don’t have to worry about compromises in performance, and with the 4TB SSD paired with a 1TB microSD card, needless to say there’s plenty of games to choose from.

To be honest, I’m still on the fence here. The ROG Ally X has gotten the most of my attention, and I’ve been wanting to write something about the Legion Go. Then, my Steam Deck OLED just stares at me from the shelf, doing everything it can to remind me that it’s still there when I’m ready.

TrimUI Brick

This is one of the handhelds that I was on the fence about bringing. Not because of anything negative. It’s just that when you look at the other handhelds on the list, there’s definitely a need for something small and pocketable. The Brick is the perfect fit.

AYANEO Pocket DMG

There’s little denying that the Pocket DMG might be the best example of an “overkill handheld” out there. It’s packing the same chip as the Pocket S and Pocket EVO, while coming in a vertical form factor. I’ve had a blast being able to play Switch games on here. It really is the epitome of a modern Game Boy, and then some.

Odin 2, Pocket S, or Retroid Pocket 5?

Okay, so I was already struggling between the ROG Ally X, Steam Deck OLED, and Lenovo Legion Go. But trying to decide on a horizontal Android handheld is proving to be even more difficult.

The Odin 2 hasn’t gotten much love this year, as my focus has been turned to the growing number of Android handhelds. So I thought it might be a good time to revisit it and see whether all of the admiration is still warranted.

If you asked me two weeks ago about the Retroid Pocket 5, I probably would’ve said something to the effect of “what’s the point?” As it turns out, the ROCKNIX community swiftly changed my mind. Not only can you boot into ROCKNIX instead of Android, but thanks to the amazing devs, you can play both Xbox and PS3 games via Xemu and RPCS3.

Originally, I was going to take the Pocket S and call it a day. Then I thought about how the DMG shares the same specs, making it rather redundant. There’s still a slim chance that I might, but I’m definitely leaning towards leaving it behind.

CES 2025 Should Be Fun

As I mentioned before, this is my first time attending CES. With the onslaught of announcements we’re expecting and an endless number of booths to visit, there’s a good chance that I won’t even turn on a handheld after I get off the plane.

Even if that’s what happens, I’ll at least know that I’m covered in the event that I get a hankering to play a game or two during down time. Now, I just need to figure out where all of my cases are so I can actually start packing.

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