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Cloud gaming makes it possible to stream games to just about any device with a decent screen and internet connection since you don’t need a powerful CPU or GPU if a remote server is rendering graphics. But it does help to have a device that’s comfortable to hold and which has decent game controllers.
At least that’s what companies like Logitech and Razer are banking on – they’ve each released Android-powered handheld game consoles designed for cloud gaming in the past year. Now a startup called Abxylute has announced plans to join them… while undercutting those devices on price.
The Logitech G Cloud sells for $300. The Razer Edge will go on sale next week for $399 and up. But
The Abxylute cloud gaming console features a similar design and functionality, but it’s expected to retail for $249. Before it hits that price though, folks will be able to reserve one for $200 during an upcoming crowdfunding campaign… assuming you’ve got the risk tolerance to engage in crowdfunding a product that may or may not actually ship on schedule (or at all).
Abxylute’s device has a 7 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel 60 Hz LCD display, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage plus a microSD card reader. Wondering why this model is so much cheaper than the Logitech or Razer handhelds? It has a much less powerful processor.
While the Razer Edge features a Qualcomm Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 chip (basically a variant of the Snapdragon 888) and the Logitech G Cloud has a Snapdragon 720G processor, the Abxylute handheld is powered by a MediaTek MT8365 processor, also known as the Genio 350.
That’s a pretty basic chip with four 2 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores, Mali-G52 graphics, and support for WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1. But if you primarily plan to use the handheld to stream games from NVIDIA GeForce Now, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, or Amazon Luna, then you may not need a more powerful processor.
On the other hand, if you plan to install native Android games or emulators for classic game consoles, then you’re probably better off getting a device with a better chip.
And that’s what’s kind of weird about this emerging category of handheld “cloud gaming consoles.” They’re basically Android tablets with built-in game controllers… and they’re not exactly new.
Chinese device makers like Anbernic, AYN, GPD, Retroid, and Powkiddy have been cranking out similar hardware for years. They just marketed them as retro gaming devices rather than cloud gaming products. Many are smaller and cheaper than the new crop of cloud gaming handhelds. But you can still use them for game streaming, among other things.
What may be most interesting about the new cloud gaming category is that brands with an established presence in Western countries including Logitech and Razer are getting in on the action. But I suppose if you want a model with a similar display and controller layout at a slightly lower price, it’s nice to have another option like the Abxylute handheld. Here’s how it stacks up against the biggest names in the space:
| Abxylute | Logitech G Cloud | Razer Edge | |
| Display | 7 inches 1920 x 1080 pixels 60 Hz LTPS LCD | 7 inches 1920 x 1080 pixels 60 Hz IPS LCD | 6.8 inches 2400 x 1080 pixels 144 Hz AMOLED |
| Processor | MediaTek MT8365 (Genio 350) 4 x Cortex-A53 cores @ 2 GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G 2 x Cortex-A76 @ 2.3 GHz 6 x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 1 x Cortex-X1 @ 3 GHz 3 x Cortex-78 @ 2.42 GHz 4 x Cortx-A55 @ 1.8 GHz |
| Graphics | Mali-G52 | Adreno 618 | Adreno |
| Memory | 4GB LPDDR4 | 8GB LPDDR5 | |
| Storage | 64GB microSD card reader | 64GB microSD card reader | 128GB UFS 3.1 microSD card reader |
| Wireless | WiFi 5 Bluetooth 5.1 | WIFi 5 Bluetooth 5.1 | WiFi 6E Bluetooth 5.2 5G & 4G (optional) |
| Ports | 1 x USB Type-C 1 x 3.5mm audio | 1 x USB Type-C 1 x 3.5mm audio | 1 x USB Type-C 1 x 3.5mm audio 1 x SIM card slot (cellular models) |
| Battery | 5,200 mAh | 6.000 mAh 23.1 Wh | 5,000 mAh |
| OS | Android 12 | Android 11 | Android 12 |
| Other features | Gyroscope Ambient light sensor Vibration motors | Stereo speakers Dual microphones 6-axis sensor Ambient light sensor | Stereo speakers Dual mics 5MP front-facing camera |
| Dimensions | 250 x 115 x 30mm | 257 x 117 x 33mm | 260 x 85 x 11mm |
| Weight | 430 grams | 463 grams | 264 grams (tablet) 401 grams (tablet + controller) |
| Price | $200 (crowdfunding) $250 (retail) | $300 | $400 |
via Stuff, wccftech, and AndroidPhoria
Not a “gaming conse” as long as pretty much every mid-high end pho e can deliver same experience.
Sigh. The Nvidia Shield K1 was 7 years ago. It had the same 7″ 1080p screen. It had a state-of-the-art Tegra K1 SoC. It played the latest Android games of the day locally instead of streaming Genshin Impact and Fortnite. It was the hardware prototype for the (much more financially successful) Nintendo Switch. And it cost $199, or $50 less than this thing.
Good grief people. Just use an AMD Ryzen 3 5425U to build a $300 Steam Deck knockoff that uses ChromeOS (maybe $350 if you use an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H). It would actually be “different” and have a shot.
The Chinese companies who make these things never support their operating systems, and will always do the least amount of work necessary to adapt someone else’s OS to their hardware, so realistically, they would just use chromeOS so they can have android emulation out of the box instead of having to support Waydroid.
But I hope Valve considers maintaining Waydroid on SteamOS, that would give some people incentive to actually use it instead of Windows or ChromeOS.
I choose to pronounce that name like Sean Connery, assuming the X in the name is pronounced ‘sh’ like in Portuguese. Absholute.
The “problem” with many of those retro devices when it comes to cloud streaming is the controls. A lot of modern games use analog triggers and MANY retro/gaming devices don’t have what we would consider a “full” set of controls nowadays (even cheaper controller attachments for phone can lack analog triggers or clickable joysticks with no buttons to replace them). This is not really an issue with retro pa lot of retro games since controllers were simpler in the past. But without a full controller the cloud gaming experience can be lacking, especially since GeForce Now streams PC games, many of which may not be optimized for controllers but for keyboards and mice. So yeah, an “incomplete” controller is putting limitations on top of limitations.
weird, I put this in the normal comment box, not in a reply box…
That’s obviously the way to pronounce it. The name is genius. You get the “absolute” but with the AB and XY at the beginning referring to controller buttons. It’s a totally gamer name if you pay attention. Now whether the device will be as genius as the name remains to be seen (when and IF it ships)