Logitech G Cloud Wants to Be Your Steam Deck, but for Cloud Gaming Services – CNET [CNET]
Amazon lists it as available on Oct. 18 — Logitech simply says October — and while it will normally be priced at $350, you can preorder it at a sale price of $300. Subscriptions to the cloud services are not included.
The screen’s pretty basic: a 1080p, 7-inch IPS display with a 60Hz refresh rate and 450 nits brightness. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G with 4GB memory — Android inside. It has stereo speakers with an amp, a stereo noise-canceling mic and both 3.5mm and USB-C audio output (no video), as well as Bluetooth 5.1. You can connect via Wi-Fi 5 only — no cell support, which is disappointing.
Built-in storage is 64GB, but it’s not clear what can get installed or saved locally; it does have a slot for a microSD/TF card. It also professes “linear haptics” for the controls, but it’s not clear what that means. The company promises up to 12-and-a-half hours of play time. It weighs about a pound (463 grams), and its dimensions lie somewhere between the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch.
I’ve got mixed feelings about this. Attaching any type of controller to a phone is still a bit of a hassle, and even big-screen phones feel a little small because they’re long and narrow rather than 16:9. But at its price it competes with the Switch for your money even though they’re very different devices. And it’s specced for least-common-denominator cloud gaming, not something like GeForce Now’s RTX 3080 high-refresh 1440p. Plus, we’ve gotten used to OLED screens on many devices. Nor is there any mention of a charging dock.
This will take some thought. And lots of hands-on testing.