The next popular handheld game console may come from Qualcomm and Razer

The past few years have seen a resurgence in handheld game consoles. Some say it's because the Nintendo Switch has made its debut, creating a new genre of game consoles that can be played both outside and on TV, while others say it's all thanks to smartphones. Switch and "Steam Deck", which will soon appear from Valve, are looking for ways to play games for stationary game consoles and PCs on the go, while Qualcomm announced a new chip for mobile gaming, "Snapdragon." G3x aims to evolve the gaming smartphone into a TV-connected game dedicated system with a large screen and high processing power.

The G3x chip announced by Qualcomm on December 1st is a high-performance chip supplied by the company for smartphones optimized for games, and uses the GPU "Adreno" and Qualcomm's CPU "Kryo". integrated. Since the number of clocks and chip details have not been announced, the actual performance in games is unclear, but Qualcomm claims stable operation and improved frame rate, and TV output at high frame rate is also possible. and

Qualcomm has already partnered with gaming device maker Razer to develop a handheld game console for developers powered by the G3x chip. The goal is to encourage the development of software and new hardware based on the chip. This means that the device, co-developed by Qualcomm and Razer, is not for consumers and is not expected to hit the market in the near future.

However, now that everyone has a smartphone, who would dare to buy a device dedicated to gaming? Qualcomm's answer is yes. In particular, there seems to be a need for large-screen home-use game machines. However, it will not be a small handheld game console like a smartphone, but a Switch-like big screen device that supports game streaming.

I don't know if Qualcomm can bring this idea to market faster than others. But the market seems worth exploring. Game consoles like the Nintendo Switch are well-made devices, but they lack the flexibility of smartphone-like interoperability and app compatibility. Smartphones, on the other hand, seem to squeeze advanced games onto small (and sometimes very small) screens.

Future devices will be able to consistently deliver consistent frame rates, and the user experience will remain the same no matter how long you play,” said Micah Knapp, Head of Gaming Platforms at Qualcomm.

CNET got a chance to try out Razer's developer kit, which uses a new chip from Qualcomm. We also spoke with Qualcomm about the features of the new chip, upcoming devices, and the big differences between next-generation handhelds and high-end "Android" smartphones.

Large Body

Razer's developer kit is anything but small. It looks similar to Valve's mobile game PC Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch organic EL model. It's thick, and the top is lined with vents to cool the gaming chip and improve performance. The sturdy housing is smaller than "PlayStation 5" and gaming notebook PCs, but it is long horizontally. Smartphones also have a horizontally long shape if you attach a controller such as "Backbone" or Razer's "Kishi", but it is not a size that you can easily carry anywhere. For smartphones, at least the controller is detachable.

The developer kit from Razer is fully loaded with dual analog sticks, buttons, D-pads, shoulder buttons and triggers. The screen is a touchscreen, but like a game controller for smartphones, you can configure it to operate mobile games with physical buttons using the button mapping function. The built-in battery is 6000mAh, which is quite large compared to general smartphones.

This console — or at least the prototype we got our hands on for Razer's G3x gaming platform — is designed to be played in landscape mode. You can also play games in portrait mode (vertical orientation), but the buttons are arranged assuming a wide screen like a TV. This is to support cloud and local game streaming, which Qualcomm believes will be the main use for G3x-equipped devices. Already, smartphones, tablets, and laptops can stream and play games from cloud gaming services such as "Xbox Cloud Gaming," "GeForce Now," and "Google Stadia." Qualcomm believes that interest in handheld game consoles that can connect to these services will grow further in the future.