Your phone + Backbone One
Sure, the Steam Deck can natively play my PC game library and has a bigger screen. And sure, Logitech’s G Cloud streaming handheld has incredible battery life. But I already have a powerful smartphone, so why can’t I play games on that? Whether you’ve got the Pixel 7 or last gen’s iPhone 13 Pro, you can snap on a controller like the Backbone One, which announced this year that it’s available for Android, and start playing games as if your smartphone were a bonafide handheld console (because it is!). The Backbone One works with some local games, cloud gaming services like Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass, and even emulators—most of which will let you remap the buttons. And best of all, when you’re not gaming, you still have your smartphone for everything else.
As much as we love the Steam Deck and still recommend it for anyone willing to splurge, don’t forget that you probably already have a handheld device that can game better than the dedicated machines of years gone by.
– Florence Ion
