There’s an undeniable momentum shift happening in the burgeoning handheld gaming space, where the underdog is beginning to chip away at the popular juggernaut. I’m obviously talking about Valve’s SteamOS versus Microsoft’s Windows 11. We’re only two months away from the world’s leading PC manufacturer, Lenovo, launching the Legion Go S powered by SteamOS. And now we have some choice words from HP about the “struggle” of Windows on handheld devices, suggesting HP wants to get into the game, but wants to differentiate its offering from the pack.
XDA Developers recently spoke to Josephine Tan, SVP and Division President of Gaming Solutions at HP, who shared some uncharacteristically frank thoughts for an OEM shipping millions of Windows-powered devices each year.
“If you look at Windows, I struggle with the experience myself,” Tan says, seemingly addressing the handheld gaming experience. “If I don’t like it, I don’t know how to do a product for it.”
Enter SteamOS, Valve’s streamlined, gaming-focused operating system that was always destined for devices beyond the Steam Deck.
Tan is clearly a fan. When asked directly if she would be interested in developing a handheld gaming device powered by SteamOS, she gave a one-word answer: “Yes.”
“If I’m buying a handheld, I want a very simple setup,” Tan says. “The minute I turn on my handheld, it will remember the last game I played.
This is a sentiment continuously hammered home by reviewers as well, whether it’s the ROG Ally, the Legion Go, or even a powerful new contender like the MSI Claw 8 AI+. The bloated, non-intuitive Windows 11 interface was never designed for gaming. Shrink it down to a small screen, and it’s a cumbersome and often frustrating experience.
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An HP OMEN Handheld?
The Steam Deck is currently the only PC-centric handheld that feels like using a console, and it stands to reason that Valve is leading the market. It also stands to reason that HP wants a piece of that pie.
The logical path is for HP to enter the market with an OMEN-branded handheld, using the same design staples it employs for its lineup of OMEN gaming PCs. Basically, a product that looks and feels premium, with a level of customization no other OEM is offering.
To be clear, HP hasn’t announced anything on that front, but it’s only a matter of time. I would imagine Tan is waiting to see what kind of reception Lenovo’s Legion Go S powered by SteamOS receives. But it’s highly likely that HP is already experimenting with SteamOS in-house, and equally as likely that prototypes have already been developed, since R&D for products like this can take years.
The big question aside from HP’s potential future involvement in this space, is how quickly Microsoft will bring its own “gaming mode” of Windows 11 to market? For that matter, when will we see the elusive Xbox handheld?
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