Cloud gaming at its best

Handheld gaming devices are taking the market by storm, and South Africans have plenty of hardware to choose from. Even at the NAG office, we have a few floating around so we can play games away from our desks – which happens more often than you’d think.

While I love our handheld gaming hardware, I was particularly interested in a new handheld gaming device that hit the local market towards the end of last year. Called the abxylute, this handheld device looks like you’d expect, with a large screen in the centre and built-in controllers on either side. Unlike the handhelds we’ve reviewed from Asus, MSI, and Lenovo, this one is technically classified as a cloud gaming device, so its internal hardware is nothing to boast about, but if you have a good WiFi connection, that won’t matter.

Unlike those other gaming handhelds, the abxylute One is designed to stream your games instead of running them locally. Technically, you can install and run certain basic games from the Google Play store natively on the abxylute One, but this device shines when you stream games from your console, PC, or, better yet, GeForce Now.

The abxylute One runs on Android 12 and the Google Play Store, and for all intents and purposes, it’s seen as a phone when installing apps from the Play Store – minus the GSM components, of course. Unfortunately, there’s only 4GB of DDR4 RAM, but the mid-range Mediatek MT 8365 SoC can effortlessly manage graphics and performance tasks. Let’s not forget that this product is not really designed to run games natively, but it can do so pretty well, within reason. You can even run some emulators for retro games, which is great, but newer emulated console games will struggle.

So, who is the abxylute One aimed at? Firstly, any PC or console gamer looking for a remote play device to game around the house. You can connect to your console or PC and use a remote play function to play games from those devices. I had awesome gaming sessions using Steam Link, which I connected to my PC to play games around the house. This is great for those times when I did not want to sit in front of my PC.

The second type of gamer who will enjoy the abxylute One is the lucky few in South Africa who have access to cloud streaming services like Nvidia’s GeForce Now powered by Rain. These elusive services are hard to come by, but if you have an account and a really good WiFi and Internet connection, cloud gaming is a fantastic experience. I enjoyed many game sessions at my local pub where my phone’s 4G connection is good. Your mileage may vary depending on the game and connectivity, but I found the overall experience rather enjoyable.

The abxylute console feels good in the hand and weighs just over 450g. The Hall Sensor Joysticks and Triggers feel responsive and precise, while the front-facing stereo speakers deliver decent game audio. There is Bluetooth 5.0 support for wireless earphones or a soundbar and a microSD card slot to add more games, apps or emulator things to game with.

There is a built-in Gyro, so you can steer a vehicle by tilting the abxylute to the left or right, for example, and dual motors that provide vibration feedback in games that support it.

While I had a great time with the abxylute One handheld, this device won’t be for everyone. If you want a true offline gaming experience, you’ll need to invest in a more powerful handheld device like the Asus Rog Ally or the MSI Claw, which can run most games natively. With cloud gaming, you’ll need to be connected via a local network to your gaming PC or remotely via a cloud gaming service.

I was really impressed with how well it handled Android games like PUBG Mobile, Diablo Immortal, Dead Cells, and Call of Duty Mobile natively. This, paired with its other streaming functions, offers a lot of value for under R5,000. If you are looking for a large-screen, handheld experience for your PC, console or Geforce Now account, check out the abxylute One.