Handheld & Travel
Handheld Kit That Earns Its Bag Space
The accessory market for handheld PCs is enormous and most of it is bulk. Five things worth carrying, judged on what they prevent rather than what they add.
Contents
The accessory market for handheld gaming PCs is enormous, and a large share of it adds bulk to a device whose entire appeal is being carryable. The organising principle: it must prevent a specific failure or fix a specific complaint, and it must be worth the space it occupies in a bag.
Ordered by how much it prevents relative to its size.
A note on this collection: chosen on what each earns against the space it takes, not on a bag carried here. See how we test.
A screen protector
Glass or anti-glare film over the display.
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Handheld screen protector
Glass for feel and scratch resistance, anti-glare film if it gets used outdoors.
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A charger with real headroom
A USB-C supply that delivers more than the device draws under load.
USB-C 65W wall charger
Size it against the draw under load, not the charging rate. Headroom costs very little.
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The reasoning is in charging a handheld properly.
A short right-angle cable
A cable that turns along the body of the device rather than protruding from it.
Short right-angle USB-C cable
Check the angle direction suits where your device's port is.
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An A2-rated microSD card
Storage chosen on random access rather than on the headline sequential figure.
High-speed microSD card
Look for the A2 mark. The big number on the front describes a workload games do not have.
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A kickstand
Something that holds the device upright on a table.
Handheld kickstand
Cheaper and quieter than a clip-on fan, and frequently more effective for the same reason.
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What was deliberately left out
Clip-on coolers. They cool the shell and the shell is not what throttles, and a frame rate cap achieves more for nothing while improving battery life instead of consuming it. Covered honestly in do clip-on handheld coolers work.
Docks. Genuinely useful and not bag kit — a dock plus its power supply is a substantial thing to carry, and a travel adapter covers the occasional hotel screen for a fraction of the bulk.
Grip cases. A comfort product rather than a protective one, and they add exactly the dimension that stops a carrying case closing properly.
Portable monitors. A real product with a real use, and not something that earns space in a bag alongside a handheld unless it is also serving a laptop.
Thumb caps and back-button attachments. Preference items rather than problem-solvers. They appear on do controller thumb grips improve aim with the conditions that decide whether they suit you.
Questions people actually ask
What is the first handheld accessory to buy?
What is the most over-bought handheld accessory?
Do you need a case if the device stays home?
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