Phil Spencer hints at Xbox gaming handheld being proper competitor to Asus ROG Ally instead of PlayStation Portal

Microsoft unveiled the updated Series S and Series X gaming consoles and a good number of new games at the Xbox Showcase yesterday. After the event, Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, was interviewed by IGN, where he talked about the much-rumored Xbox gaming handheld.

To fill you in, Spencer has been hinting at the possibility of Microsoft releasing its very first gaming handheld for a good while now. He has even indicated that there's a growing interest within the company in entering the handheld market. We also had the survey from April, which clearly hinted that the company is working on something.

However, in the IGN interview, Spencer made the most explicit statement about it to date by saying, "I think we should have a handheld, too." What's more interesting is that he has hinted that the Xbox gaming handheld will likely offer local play functionality, which is something that you don't get with Sony's PlayStation Portal.

More specifically, Phil Spencer said, "I think being able to play games locally is really important," This statement came after he was asked whether the Microsoft handheld would feature dedicated hardware such as Steam Deck or require "a WiFi connection" like the PlayStation Portal.

Spencer also added that he likes gaming handhelds such as Lenovo Legion Go, Steam Deck, and Asus ROG Ally because they all offer the ability to play games locally. The PlayStation Portal, on the other hand, streams games instead. All this means that the Xbox gaming handheld could be far superior to Sony's offering.

Alongside that, if Microsoft makes the Xbox gaming handheld come with a more refined operating system, like the SteamOS, it could stand as a big competitor to the Asus ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme variant curr. $549.99 on Best Buy).