The year of handheld gaming: Switch OLED to Steam Deck, these portable consoles are the ones to watch

With the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S last year and the uptake of mobile games due to the Covid-19 boom, the video gaming market has seen the biggest push in decades. But if 2020 was the year of next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft, this year will likely see the comeback of handheld gaming in a big way.

Portable consoles have raked up excitement before with the Nintendo DS, the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita and the Game Boy. They had a huge installed base and consumers flocked to stores to buy games for the handheld consoles. However, the arrival of smartphones and the shift to mobile games have made portable consoles less appealing.