Phil Spencer on a Handheld Xbox Becoming Reality

We’ve seen handhelds come and go with varying success. Nintendo has the space locked down, even melding its home console with a handheld for the popular Switch. PlayStation doesn’t make dedicated handhelds anymore, but they do have mirroring handhelds you can purchase for your PS5. Xbox, on the other hand, hasn’t really explored the space beyond brainstorms and daydreams. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer hopes that might change one day given the increased interest in handheld gaming hardware akin to the Steam Deck or ROG Ally.

In comments made to Polygon, Spencer shared the desire to eventually see an Xbox handheld hit the market. “I want to be able to boot into the Xbox app in a full screen, but in a compact mode,” Spencer said. “And all of my social [experience] is there. Like I want it to feel like the dash of my Xbox when I turn on the television. [Except I want it] on those devices.” I think it’s safe to say that many fans feel similarly, and while other options are on the market, there would certainly be room for Xbox in this space.

The company has tried to put one foot into the space with its massive investments in Xbox Cloud Gaming. I’ve spent a good bit of time using the platform with a Backbone controller and my iPhone. It’s not awful, but it’s certainly not built to be a main way to play games at this stage either. Spencer shared in his comments that his idea would be to not rely solely on cloud tech for an Xbox handheld. “I want my Lenovo Legion Go to feel like an Xbox,” Spencer said.

If there’s room for the technology and output of an Xbox Series S to be built into a handheld, I think that’s the most logical way to make this dream a reality. There’s not a chance that we see Series X tech in a handheld any time soon, but a mix of Series S specs and cloud technology could make a handheld Xbox a fierce competitor of the ROG Ally or Steam Deck.

Let us know if you would be interested in a handheld Xbox console in the comments!