HP says its open to making a SteamOS-powered handheld

While some key PC manufacturers such as Lenovo, Asus, and MSI have announced handheld gaming PCs, there are others who are yet to join the bandwagon. HP is one of those in the latter category, and in an interview, it has revealed why it hasn’t announced its own handheld gaming PC, and what it will take to release one.

According to an interview conducted by XDA with the Senior Vice President and Division President of Gaming Solutions at HP, Josephine Tan, the reason HP hasn’t made a handheld gaming PC is because of the current state of Windows.

At the just concluded HP Amplify event, Tan was quoted to have said If you look at Windows, I struggle with the experience myself. She also added that Windows doesn’t provide the experience of turning on a handheld and remembering the last game you played similar to what is available on other handhelds like the Nintendo Switch.

However, when asked if she would be open to making a gaming handheld powered by Valve’s SteamOS, Tan responded in the affirmative. That response isn’t surprising considering the popularity of the Steam Deck in the handheld gaming PC space thanks to its easy to use software. So far the Steam Deck is the only SteamOS handheld available to buy now, but that changes soon as the Lenovo’s Legion Go S (SteamOS version) is already available to pre-order.

The chances of an HP handheld running SteamOS is quite slim as Valve revealed back in January that Lenovo was the only manufacturer that had partnered with it to release a SteamOS device. This means that despite the advantages SteamOS brings, it doesn’t seem as if everyone is willing to ship a device with it. Even Lenovo said the upcoming Legion Go 2 will run Windows and not SteamOS.

There’s also the angle that Microsoft is working on making the Windows experience on handheld PCs better. So manufacturers may be waiting for that new software experience rather than entering into a new partnership with Valve.