Review: The OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC – Is It Worth it?

If you keep tabs on video games, the newsflash is that the PC market has been having the highest-ever revenues. And in our OneXPlayer OneXFly review here, we confirm handheld gaming PCs as a great contributor to these soaring records.

The bestselling feature of handheld gaming devices is their compactness and ability to play video games without the TV/ monitor. So, with a device like OneXFly, one can enjoy titles like Cyberpunk or Tomb Raider practically anywhere – in bed, waiting room, during flight, et cetera.

After hours of going through this new  OneXFly, we can agree it has overshadowed Steam Deck in many aspects.

However, does this mean the OneXPlayer handheld console is still worth buying in 2024? What can I do with it? How is the gaming experience? Can I play all my favorite PC games?

Verdict: 8 Crucial Things to Expect on OneXFly Portable Gaming PC

• OneXPlayer OneXFly has a high-performance Ryzen processor
• OneXFly offers up to 4TB internal storage and 64GB RAM
• OneXPlayer OneXFly offers fast downloads via the latest WiFi 6 connectivity
• OneXFly has a 7-inch display with 1080p FHD resolution and 120HZ refresh rate
• OneXPlayer OneXFly can connect to an external GPU via a USB-4 port
• OneXFly battery life is less than desirable on heavy AAA video games
• OneXPlayer OneXFly D-Pad is not always accurate on diagonals
• OneXFly Musashi black finish picks fingerprints and smudges easily

Summary Specs of OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC

In this post, we’ll be offering all the relevant answers you may be looking for about this new OneXPlayer portable gaming PC. But before we come to the full details, the basic specs of OneXFly (compared to Steam Deck) are as follows:

OneXFly is born of the idea of having a “more portable” yet powerful handheld gaming console. It is part of OneXPlayer, a handheld gaming product line of One-Netbook, a China-based manufacturer of laptops.

One-Netbook has not been in the computer hardware industry for a long time, with its initial debut in 2017. But OneXFly proves the OneXPlayer R & D team is set on revolutionizing the gaming industry.

Of course, many of the perks of the OneXFly are what we’ve been having on Steam Deck since early 2022. The difference is that OneXFly packs a heavier punch to enhance all these perks.

For instance, you’ll notice in the summary chart above that OneXPlayer OneXFly runs on AMD Ryzen 7, a rising star in gaming hardware. In the simplest explanation, this system features a stronger CPU and GPU than what is on current Steam Decks.

When Steam Deck uses a Zen 2-based CPU and RDNA2 GPU, OneXFly is on Zen 4 and RDNA3 microarchitecture.

In theSteam Deck vs ASUS ROG Ally review, we see the Republic of Gamers housing a CPU and GPU like OneXFly’s. So, even with seemingly different chips, the two (OneXFly and ROG Ally) will have a lot in common, including performance-wise.

Then again, OneXFly still stands out in various ways as we shall see in the next part of this review.

Breakdown of the Perks, Features & Capabilities of the OneXFly Portable Gaming PC OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC Review: Price in Australia

As usual, our full breakdown of the OneXFly Handheld gaming PC starts with the availability. And unfortunately, OneXPlayer is not available in the local Australian stores.

However, the OneXFly price in Australia through the company’s e-shop or global retailers ranges between AU$1,208 – 1,476. The pricing difference varies with the memory configuration, available in five console variants. See below:

• 512GB/ 16GB OneXFly console price is about AU$1,208 (or $774 in the US)
• 1TB/ 32GB OneXFly console price is about AU$1,342 (or $860 in the US)
• The 2TB/ 32GB OneXFly console price is about AU$1,476 (or $945 in US)
• 2TB/ 64GB OneXFly console AU price is unavailable ($1,200 in the US)
• 4TB/ 64GB OneXFly console AU price is unavailable ($1,300 in the US)

Note:

When unboxing OneXfly, you’ll find the handheld gaming device with a 65W charger and a USB-C cable. But you can also place your OneXFly order as a bundle with a wireless keyboard or ONEXGPU, albeit at some extra dollar.

Also, OneXFly handheld gaming consoles with 64GB of RAM are no longer available for order. The options were last available when the OneXPlayer team was crowdfunding on Indiegogo to complete production.

OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC Review: Design

OneXFly has a sleek design in either a Musashi (matte) black or white finish, with distinctive plates on the front bottom edges. The edge plates are distinctive in manner that they have a smooth glossy finish, plus RGB emblems.

You can have the RGB emblems with the basic “ONEXFLY” name or personalized with your gaming username (additional cost may apply). The dazzling lights, which are also around the joysticks, have 9 modes and 30 special effects you can enable.

As for the build, OneXFly  has a rugged polycarbonate housing like many handheld consoles. But unlike Steam Deck or ASUS ROG Ally, the OneXPlayer console is smaller and lighter by a few points.

Tip: The Musashi black finish of the OneXFly tends to pick up smudges and fingerprints easily. While it’s easy to clean with an alcohol-based solvent, you can consider the white model as it doesn’t show such a mess.

OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC Review: Powerful Processor

Like the ROG Ally, OneXFly fits the bill if looking for the best handheld gaming console you can play triple-A PC games. As I briefly mentioned earlier, the two are using an identical Zen 4 CPU, clocking at a default frequency of 3.3GHz and 5.1GHz on boost mode. Then, the GPU is a 12-core RDNA3 model that clocks at a frequency of 2700MHz.

Again, all this technical jargon may not make sense to most of us. But it basically means OneXfly has more raw processing power and capabilities than the latest Steam Deck OLED.

OneXFly has a maximum TDP of 30W, from as low as 4W. It is easy to adjust the TDP with the OneXconsole software overlay, which you pull up with the integrated “Turbo” button.

Speaking of integration, the OneXPlayer brings you OneXFly with RAM of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB. And for that, the owners with higher memory can enjoy enhanced performance, with the games loading faster.

OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC Review: Good, Vibrant Visuals

In comparison with most of the handheld gaming PCs, OneXFly features a 7-inch LCD display, except with an ultra-thin bezel. The color levels aren’t as deep as we see on the Steam Deck OLED and Nintendo Switch OLED. But the picture still looks amazing and clear, thanks to the high resolution.

The native resolution of the OneXFly display is 1920 x 1080p (or 1080p Full HD) and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.

While many games usually play at 60fps, the 120Hz refresh rate means the display is within the requirements of more demanding AAA games. For example, you can enjoy immersive gaming with smooth motion and responsive gameplay on titles like APEX LEGENDS or Forza Horizon 5.

All that said, the display of OneXfly maxes out at 450 nits on brightness. It can be a challenge to play games outdoors in the sun.

Tip: OneXFly has an FSR2 feature you can activate during gameplay. However, the feature still doesn’t improve clarity as we’d expect, except for a few FPs.

Second, the OneXPlayer gaming console has no variable refresh rate to help smoothen your gameplay automatically.

OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC Review: Best of Local Storage

What are your storage requirements when it comes to gaming? OneXFly is one of the few handheld gaming consoles you may never run out of storage space to hold your data. Few sellers have the variant of the console with a 512GB local drive, but many you’ll find with 1TB or 2TB.

At the time of writing, none of the dealers I’ve checked have the OneXFly with 4TB in stock. But the SSD comes unsoldered, meaning you can replace your current disk with a larger one.

Even better, the OneXPlayer’s portable gaming PC has a built-in MicroSD slot, supporting up to a 4TB card. The MicroSD works fine- no heat-related malfunctions like with the ROG Ally or inability to configure internal storage as with Razer Edge.

OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC Review: Better Games Library

OneXFly is a Windows handheld gaming console- simply a mini-PC. We also saw the device is a real powerhouse, about as powerful as ASUS ROG Ally.

So, you can play many of your favorite PC games on the OneXfly console. Some of the best AAA games you can enjoy include:

1. God of War 4
2. Returnal
3. Witcher 3
4. A Plague Tale series
5. Destiny 2
6. Doom Eternal
7. Final fantasy sequel
8. Shadow of the Tomb Raider
9. Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
10. Forza Horizon 5
11. Apex Legends
12. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
13. Call of Duty sequel
14. Cyberpunk 2077
15. FIFA 23
16. GTA5
17. WWE 2K23
18. World War Z
19. Diablo IV
20. Need for Speed Unbound
21. Red Dead: Redemption 2
22. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
23. Starfield
24. And many others

Besides PC games, OneXFly also supports emulation of other gaming platforms such as:

• PS2 emulation for games like NBA JAM, God Hand, Devil May Cry, etc.
• Nintendo Switch emulation for games like Mario Kart, Zelda, DKC (tropical freeze), Kirby, etc.
• GameCube emulation for games like Prince of Persia, and others
• PS3 emulation for games like Demon’s Souls, Ridge Racer, Ratchet & Clank, infamous 2, etc.
• Xbox 360 emulation games  like Project Gotham Racing, Blue Dragon, Gears of War 2, and many others

OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC Review: Gaming Experience

When it now comes to the gaming experience, the OneXfly handheld PC fares well. First, the console has a compact and light design that doesn’t cramp your hands. The grips are also rather large and thick for extra comfort and hold firmly.

As for the controllers, they all feel well-made. The buttons are in the famous Xbox XYAB layout, springy and so easy to use.

OneXFly also adopts Hall Effect joysticks, which offer minimal stick drift and no dead zones. Thus, you get to the game with more precision than the consoles with the older analog controllers.

The D-Pad is okay and works fine for the most part. However, the diagonals are not always fluent, as you may need to use a bit of force.

It is worth mentioning that OneXFly has two macro buttons (near shoulder triggers) that you can customize for your preferred functions. It also has a button for a quick shortcut to the onscreen keyboard, and don’t forget the “Turbo” key for the OneXconsole overlay.

If you long-press the “Turbo” button, the console takes you to the library of your games. Then, long pressing the keyboard button turns the joysticks into a mouse.

For the best experience, though, I’d recommend using a separate wireless mouse. After all, OneXfly has a USB-A to plug in a dongle.

Important Notes:

1. The cooling system of OneXfly is also nice, with the intake ventilation at the back and exhaust on the side. It is intelligent enough to control the internal temperature automatically during gameplay. But you can also use the OneXconsole software to set the fan speed manually.
2. OneXFly can be docked to an external monitor or TV for a more immersive gaming experience. You can connect the external display via the USB-C or HDMI (requires the optional OneXfly dock station – sold separately).
3. OneXFly also has a fast USB-4 port where you can hook up an external GPU to improve performance on a heavy workload. The gamers I’ve seen with the external GPU say there is not much difference in clarity, albeit it can increase the fps a bit.
4. OneXfly has a Harman audioEFX full-range sound system, comprising dual speakers on the bottom. The speakers are quite loud, enough to block the fan sound when it’s too loud. If not with the built-in speakers, you can connect wired headsets via the standard 3.5mm jack or go wireless with Bluetooth.

OneXFly Handheld Gaming PC Review: Less than Desirable Battery Life

Lastly, OneXFly portable gaming PC has a built-in 12450mAH/ 48Wh battery. How long the battery lasts after a full charge will depend on the game you’re playing and the settings active.

If playing light retro emulation games like Mario World, at 5W and low 1080p settings, the OneXFly battery can last over 6 hours. Low-end PC games like Hades can last a little over 3 hours at 1080p low settings. But a demanding game like God of War only lasts 80 minutes on the highest settings or about 2 hours on medium settings.

In a sense, the battery life of OneXFly leaves less to desire- especially when it comes to those latest video games. But again, the high battery consumption isn’t surprising with its heavy specs. The battery also takes less than two hours to charge from 0% to 100% using the provided 65W charger.

OneXFly for More than Gaming

At this point, we can conclude that OneXPlayer OneXFly is a great handheld gaming console. It has a compact easy-to-hold design, powerful core system, crisp Full visuals, easy-to-use controllers, and plenty of local storage.

The gaming device also has an extensive library of PC games and emulation from other platforms. All retro and AAA games I’ve seen so far play well, with no lags.

As a window-based system, OneXfly can handle more than playing video games. It comes preinstalled with Windows 11, whereby the initial setup will also open related tools. Some of these tools include a browser, Microsoft Office, Netflix, Spotify, Instagram, WhatsApp, et cetera.

If not interested in any of these apps, you can always remove them from your OneXfly. It is also possible to install other tools to increase your productivity, such as video/ photo editors. Then, remember you can connect a dongle for a standard keyboard + mouse and hook up an external monitor for a full desktop computer experience.