{"id":12009,"date":"2026-01-22T15:55:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T15:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextlevelnews.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/01\/22\/i-opened-up-a-bunch-of-handheld-gaming-pcs-to-see-which-ones-are-easiest-to-upgrade\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T15:55:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T15:55:26","slug":"i-opened-up-a-bunch-of-handheld-gaming-pcs-to-see-which-ones-are-easiest-to-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextlevelnews.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/01\/22\/i-opened-up-a-bunch-of-handheld-gaming-pcs-to-see-which-ones-are-easiest-to-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"I Opened Up a Bunch of Handheld Gaming PCs to See Which Ones Are Easiest to Upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/section>\n

Ever since the Steam Deck<\/a> came out, the humble handheld gaming PC<\/a> has been going through a renaissance of sorts. Because while these fun-shaped PCs have been around for a while, being made by the likes of Ayaneo and GPD, they\u2019ve now hit the mainstream. I\u2019ve reviewed a lot of these new \u201cmainstream\u201d gaming handhelds, and while they\u2019re all varying levels of good<\/em>, they\u2019re still not all the same \u2013 especially when it comes to opening them up and upgrading the storage. <\/p>\n

Pretty much every handheld gaming PC will let you slot in a microSD card<\/a> to expand your storage, but if you want to upgrade to a faster, more capacious SSD<\/a>, you\u2019re going to have to pop the handheld open and swap out the drive. I wouldn\u2019t recommend this to everyone, especially if you get queasy at the prospect of tinkering with your electronics, but many of these handhelds make it pretty easy to upgrade. <\/p>\n

So I did what any sane person would in this situation, I took all the handhelds in my lab and opened them up, so I could see how easy (or difficult) they would be to upgrade. And while all of these devices do<\/em> let you swap out your storage, some of them make it quite a bit more difficult than it needs to be. <\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

A Word of Warning<\/h2>\n

This isn\u2019t meant to be a step-by-step guide on how to upgrade the storage on every handheld. That would make this article extremely<\/em> long, and I\u2019d urge you to look up teardown guides if you need any guidance on any of these specific handhelds. Just keep in mind that there\u2019s no shame in not being comfy with tinkering with your devices.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to do any of this yourself, there are a couple of ground rules of sorts you need to keep in mind. The first of which is to try and work in a static-free environment. If you live in a more arid area, it won\u2019t hurt to wear an antistatic wrist band. I luckily live in New York, so this isn\u2019t something I typically need to worry about, but I\u2019d definitely urge you to lean on the side of caution. <\/p>\n

You should also aim to disconnect the battery from the motherboard whenever you\u2019re doing any kind of work on a handheld gaming PC \u2013 this also goes for any electronic, to be fair. You don\u2019t want to risk shocking yourself because you did something wrong. <\/p>\n

Finally, keep your space organized. There\u2019s nothing worse than going to reassemble a device, only to forget which screw goes where. These handhelds are relatively simple when it comes to the different screws that you have to deal with, but they can absolutely get lost if you don\u2019t keep track of them. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

MSI Claw 8 AI+<\/h2>\n

I haven\u2019t got a chance to actually sit down and review the MSI Claw 8 AI+ yet, despite it coming out more than six months ago. But I have spent a lot of time with it, and it is a great little device, even if the software is incredibly bad<\/em>. However, there\u2019s one thing it does better than any other handheld I\u2019ve used: its serviceability. <\/p>\n

All you need to do to get into the MSI Claw 8 is take out the screws on the back of the device, pry off the back and the SSD is immediately accessible. You don\u2019t have to move any cables out of the way or take out any screws. Just unscrew the M.2 retention screw, pull out the drive and replace it. <\/p>\n

Like a lot of handhelds, though, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ uses an M.2 2230 drive. These are tiny little drives that fit in smaller spaces. They\u2019re potentially a little slower than their bigger 2280 counterparts, but not enough that it matters for most <\/em>people. <\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Asus ROG Ally X and Xbox Ally X<\/h2>\n
\n
<\/section>\n\n

I\u2019m a huge fan of both the original Asus ROG Ally X<\/a> and its successor, the Xbox Ally X<\/a>. Despite their smaller screens, they\u2019re just so comfy to actually use. But while these two consoles look pretty distinct from each other on the outside \u2013 largely owing to the Xbox Ally X\u2019s weird controller protrusions \u2013 they have a lot in common. <\/p>\n

For the Ally X, you just have to remove six screws along the back of the device, three of which are captive, which means they won\u2019t come all the way out. Then, you just pry the back open to get inside. The Xbox Ally X is largely similar, with five screws on the back, and three more along the bottom of the device. Once those are removed you can remove the back of the handheld. <\/p>\n

On both of these consoles, though, there is a tiny ribbon cable that runs from the motherboard to the back panel, presumably to power the rear paddle buttons. Be careful you don\u2019t just yank the back of the console off, because it\u2019s very<\/em> possible you\u2019ll rip one of these cables \u2013 I for sure almost did. <\/p>\n

Once the back is removed, though, you\u2019ll be able to see the full-sized 2280 SSD right in front of the battery. Just be careful here, the battery cable runs pretty tight above the SSD, and the actual battery connector on the motherboard is very fragile. You\u2019re going to want to take care not to snap anything when you\u2019re disconnecting it. <\/p>\n

Luckily, once the battery is disconnected, it\u2019s super easy to remove the M.2 retention screw, pull out the SSD and replace it. And, because it\u2019s a 2280 drive, pretty much anything you find on Amazon will do the job. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Lenovo Legion Go <\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n
<\/section>\n\n

At first, it seemed like the Lenovo Legion Go<\/a> would have been one of the easiest handhelds to open up and upgrade. After all, the removable controllers make removing the back panel extremely easy, without worrying about shoving thumbsticks into the table. <\/p>\n

However, after you remove the six screws on the back and remove the panel, you\u2019ll see how much of a pain the Legion Go really is. Looking more like a traditional laptop than most of the other handhelds here, you\u2019ll see what\u2019s essentially a sticker covering the battery and SSD. To replace the drive, the sticker needs to be pulled back a bit, in order to reveal the wires between the drive and the battery. Then, once you\u2019ve disconnected the battery, you can get at the 2230 M.2 SSD. <\/p>\n

However, the SSD is covered in this weird mylar tape, likely to protect the electronics on the SSD from the tape that was just removed. I don\u2019t know how necessary it is, but I\u2019d take that mylar tape from the original drive and wrap it around the replacement drive, just in case. <\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Lenovo Legion Go 2 <\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n
<\/section>\n\n

The Lenovo Legion Go 2 <\/a>is pretty much<\/em> better than the original in every way. Better display, better controllers, but it is so much harder to get into. <\/p>\n

Not only is there an extra screw under the stand, but once I got inside, I saw the drive immediately \u2013 it was just sitting between the CPU fan and the battery assembly. But seeing is only half of the battle here. <\/p>\n

First, I had to take out two screws on either side of the fan, and then pull out the whole battery \u2013 which is huge, mind you. Once the battery is out of the way, there\u2019s another screw on the bottom right of the fan assembly that is securing it to the board. Once that is removed, you have to tenderly remove the heatsink, which is attached via thermal pads to the SSD, RAM modules and the cooling system itself. <\/p>\n

Finally, I got to the SSD. The Legion Go 2 does come with a 2245 drive, but it at least has space for a full-sized 2280 drive, you\u2019ll just have to move the adapter over a little. That\u2019s a small win, but it comes along with a handheld that you have to almost completely tear down to upgrade the SSD. But, hey, at least Lenovo is still letting you upgrade it. <\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Steam Deck <\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n
<\/section>\n\n

Handheld gaming PCs would probably still be niche if not for the Steam Deck, so credit where it\u2019s due, but Valve\u2019s handheld is one of the hardest ones to crack open and replace the drive. Valve even went out of its way to try and warn people that opening it would make the Steam Deck more fragile, in a teardown it did with The Verge<\/u><\/a>. But I did it anyway. <\/p>\n

Getting the Steam Deck itself open isn\u2019t hard \u2013 just take out the screws around the exterior and remove the back panel. But once that\u2019s out of the way, it\u2019s not immediately clear where the SSD is. Turns out, it\u2019s hiding underneath this silver metal bracket right next to the battery and fan. After removing it via three small screws, one of which is hidden underneath silver tape for some reason, I was able to remove this little shield. <\/p>\n

Once that\u2019s out of the way, the little 2230 drive is right there, and just like the original Legion Go, the drive is wrapped in mylar tape, but this time it seems like it\u2019s to stop it from shorting against the metal plate that\u2019s placed over it. I\u2019m not entirely sure that\u2019s necessary, but I\u2019d keep it wrapped up around any new SSD you toss in your Steam Deck either way \u2013 it can\u2019t hurt. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Lenovo Legion Go S<\/h2>\n

The Lenovo Legion Go S<\/a> is probably my favorite handheld, particularly the one that comes with SteamOS installed. It just has such a beautiful design, and it feels so good in the hand. Unfortunately it\u2019s a pain in the ass to actually open it up. <\/p>\n

I stared at the Legion Go S for a good few minutes, noting that it only has three screws immediately visible on the chassis, and decided to look up a guide. Luckily, this teardown video from WinDeck Tech<\/u><\/a> was extremely <\/em>helpful. <\/p>\n

After removing the three screws on the bottom of the device, I had to pry off the little strip of plastic that runs along the buttons on the top. Then, there are three more screws under that. But that\u2019s not all, because after those screws are gone, you have to pry the left and right bumper out of their slot to access two<\/em> more screws under those. Just keep in mind that those are captive screws, and won\u2019t come out. <\/p>\n

Once those last two screws are loosened, I started prying it apart, but just like WinDeck Tech explained in his video, the captive screws around the triggers did<\/em> get stuck a couple times, so I had to gingerly work my way around them, until I eventually got the thing apart. <\/p>\n

Luckily, once I worked my way into the system, the SSD is sitting right in the open, right beneath the CPU fan. You just have to remove the power cable, which is also very easy, and you\u2019re good to replace the 2245 SSD the handheld comes with. Luckily, like the Legion Go 2, this handheld is compatible with a full-sized 2280 drive. So at least it has that going for it. <\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her <\/em>@Jackiecobra<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever since the Steam Deck came out, the humble handheld gaming PC has been going through a renaissance of sorts. Because while these fun-shaped PCs have been around for a while, being made by the likes of Ayaneo and GPD, they\u2019ve now hit the mainstream. I\u2019ve reviewed a lot of these new \u201cmainstream\u201d gaming handhelds, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nI Opened Up a Bunch of Handheld Gaming PCs to See Which Ones Are Easiest to Upgrade - Next Level News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stay on top of the gaming world with Next Level News. 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