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Logitech's G Cloud: A $349 Android Powered Game Streaming Handheld
Peripheral giant Logitech has dipped a toe into the teeming handheld streaming console waters with the G Cloud(opens in new tab), a Steam Deck(opens in new tab)/Nintendo Switch lookalike with seemingly unimpressive specs but a nice range of apps from Xbox, Stadia, GeForce Now, Steam Link, and presumably any other streaming service with an Android app.
The internal storage matters less when you consider that the G Cloud isn’t made for playing games locally, although it should be able to play many games available on the Play Store. Logitech's G Cloud runs Android 11, and uses streaming apps and its Wi-Fi 5 connection to bring the action to its 1080p IPS screen, which measures seven inches across its diagonal and has 10 finger multi-touch.
Around the back, you’ll find a single USB Type-C port, but there's no video output specified, so it looks like being a purely handheld device with no capacity for docking with a larger display. Controls come in the form of two analog sticks, a D-pad and face buttons, along with gyroscope-measured motion controls and haptic feedback from two motors.
Dimensions are 10.11 x 4.61 x 1.30 inch (257 x 117 mm x 33 mm) making it smaller than the Steam Deck but larger than a Switch, and weighs in at 16.33 oz (463g). Being an Android device, we’d be surprised if it couldn’t manage media streaming apps alongside the gaming ones. A ‘tablet mode’ alluded to in Logitech’s FAQ also suggests a gaming launcher that can be removed to reveal a classic Android home page underneath. Battery life can be up to 12 hours depending on usage.
While nice looking - Chinese company Tencent Games had a hand in the design, as revealed in a leak last month - the device doesn’t do anything you can’t do with an Android phone/tablet and a Bluetooth controller, and even a Raspberry Pi can be charmed into streaming most of these services. And at $349.99 (a preorder discount is in effect that brings this down to $299.99) you might be better off with one of the best tablets and a controller, or one of the Steam Deck rivals.
