Gaming handhelds have transformed the way we experience games on the go. Devices like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally pack a lot of power into a relatively small package, and with these advancements in retail units like these also comes inspiration in the DIY space. Building your own Steam Deck from scratch certainly isn't for everyone, but there are varying degrees of difficulty to building your own handheld.

You don't have to go all out with putting together a mini PC with a custom 3D printed case and controller, although people certainly have. You can also just buy a purpose-built enclosure for a Raspberry Pi and put a small emulation handheld together. There are so many different directions to take a DIY gaming handheld project, so here are 4 tips to ensure you're going about it the right way.

4 Set a budget

For time as well as money

As with any DIY project, it's important to set expectations before getting started. Two key things to take into account are money and time: how much are you willing to spend, and how long are you willing to spend actually making the thing? Be sure to account for potential bumps in the road. Depending on your project type and difficulty, it's really easy for something like this to turn into a giant money-sink. If you're buying a purpose-built, off-the-shelf kit, this definitely doesn't matter as much to you, but it's still worth thinking about. Some of the most expensive parts of a custom build can be the screen, NUC internals, and custom PCBs if you require them.

3 Take stock of what titles you'll be playing

Retro, modern, or something in between?

The types of games you'll be using the device for is a key consideration, and will be the determining factor in the type of hardware you'll need to pack into it. Modern titles will require some kind of APU with a dedicated cooling system. The complexity of the project increases rapidly once you decide you want to play modern titles, but if you just want to do some emulation, the requirements lighten significantly.

If you're planning on emulating consoles that are mostly 2D, you can get away with an SBC like the Raspberry Pi most of the time. That, along with a large SD card, battery, screen, and some kind of controller enclosure, would make for an excellent emulation machine. Although it wouldn't be running games natively on-device, you could also go in the direction of making a streaming handheld that streams your games from a much more powerful computer somewhere on your network.

2 Answer the question of form factor

Size matters

Size definitely matters when it comes to thinking about handheld gaming hardware. If you're planning on packing a NUC or mini PC into a 3D printed enclosure or similar, you also need to account for space to cool the internals. Powerful components are no use without proper cooling. If you want something much smaller and portable, you need to change the internal components to match.

Components of the controller also need to be determined early on in the process. You can easily find pre-made buttons on websites like Aliexpress, or alternatively, you can go through the lengthy process of casting them out of resin yourself. One of the advantages of building a handheld from scratch is that you can build it to fit your specific hand dimensions. It might take a lot of test prints if you're going the 3D printing route, but it can be worth it in the long run.

1 Leave yourself room for upgrades later

Like with any gaming machine, upgradability is key

One of the primary advantages of building your own gaming handheld is that you control all the components that it contains. If you're building one from an existing NUC, upgradability is largely determined by how upgradable that NUC was to begin with, but most of the time, components like RAM and storage are easily swapped out.

With devices like the Steam Deck, you can upgrade the storage, but the rest of the components are not able to be swapped out. If you build your own from scratch, you could, in theory at least, swap out the entire NUC within for a different, more powerful one in the future. If you're opting for an SBC-based handheld, the upgradability largely depends on which one you choose, but most of them enable you to swap out the storage at the very least.

Making a custom handheld can be a significant undertaking

Creating a custom gaming handheld is certainly not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're into DIY, have access to a 3D printer, and have extra time on your hands, it can be a very rewarding project. If all of that sounds like too much work for you, you can always just buy an off-the-shelf handheld, like the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, or MSI Claw, all of which have the benefit of being ready to go out of the box.