Which Gaming Handheld Offers The Longest Battery Life?

The ability to play games on a handheld device is no longer a novelty in 2025. There are plenty of options for gamers to choose from, whether you want to play cozy Nintendo games in bed, grind AAA PC titles on a plane, or relive your childhood with retro emulators. However, the fun can often be interrupted by a blinking red battery, which has led gamers to frequently choose their gaming handheld based on battery life. The overall best battery life for gaming goes to the Steam Deck OLED; however, this is slightly subjective. 

The battery life of handheld gaming consoles ranges quite significantly based on how you choose to use them. For example, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ — an expensive handheld focused on AAA titles — allows for about 2.5 hours of battery life while playing demanding games at the highest quality. However, it can play those same games at a lower quality for four hours or more. If you skip gaming altogether and just want to browse the internet, you could scroll for well over 12 hours. For this comparison, we will examine the battery life of gaming handhelds when playing demanding games on them without compromising their quality. 

First, let's compare batteries. The Steam Deck OLED has a 50Whr battery, which is larger than the LED's 40Whr battery. The Lenovo Legion Go S's battery is a bit bigger at 55.5Whr, and the ASUS ROG Ally X has an impressive 80Whr battery. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch 2 features a 5220 mAh battery, and the Retroid Pocket 5 goes down to a 5,000 mAh battery. At a glance, it would seem that the ASUS ROG Ally X has the best battery life based on its size compared to the competition, but that's not the case. While it may last longer if you play less demanding games or just browse the internet, the Ally X only lasts up to 2.5 hours when playing larger titles. This is better than the previous Ally, but the Steam Deck OLED has its beat. 

The Steam Deck OLED can potentially last eight hours while playing pretty demanding games. In a test by The Verge, they could play "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" for eight hours after playing some light lift games and scrolling for an hour. Furthermore, we reviewed the Steam Deck OLED and found that Valve's estimated battery life of 3-12 hours was accurate. IGN ran some tests as well, finding that they could play a massive game like "Cyberpunk 2077" for over 2.5 hours. How is this possible with a smaller battery? That's because the Steam Deck OLED has an updated AMD APU that's more efficient than the LED model.

In a review of the Lenovo Legion Go S, we found the console to have poor battery life. In a test of the handheld on its highest settings, to avoid compromising quality or frame rate, gaming only lasted for an hour. Still, it has tons of power, storage, and quality controls to make the experience quite enjoyable for those few hours. PC Gamer described the battery life as "pretty middling." And it's not just reviewers — everyday gamers have complained as well. On Reddit, one player said that "Elden Ring" was playable for two hours. However, it was an enjoyable two hours: "It's nothing like the Steam Deck's miraculous battery life, but the performance gains are worth it to me." 

The Nintendo Switch 2 is another handheld with underwhelming battery life. One of the main complaints from Nintendo fans is the battery life, with games like "Mario Kart World" and "Cyberpunk 2077" lasting 2.5 hours on max settings. Some reviewers made it to nearly three hours playing Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Switch 2 Edition. While that may not feel like enough for some gamers, our review still found many positives in the console's bright display, useful built-in stand, and selection of launch titles. Sometimes you may need to trade a bit of battery life to get the games and experience you want.