Logitech is unveiling a brand new device today that is both intriguing and easy to understand. The Logitech G Cloud is a handheld console that focuses primarily on cloud gaming services, such as Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now.
While Logitech is better known for its computer peripherals, webcams and gaming accessories, the company is entering a new market with the Logitech G Impair.
If you look at the photo at the top of this article, you’ll think that it looks like a Nintendo Switch or a Steam Deck . That form factor has been massively successful over the past few years, plus Logitech isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. The Logitech G Fog up has a medium-sized display surrounded by gamepad-like controls.
But the gadget philosophy differs drastically from other handheld consoles. The Logitech G Cloud runs upon Android and features deep integrations with Xbox Cloud Gaming plus Nvidia GeForce Now.
Logitech has worked with Tencent to co-develop the launcher, run usability tests and optimize how you can pause games and move them to the particular background. But it remains a true Android device with Google Play.
In other words, gamers now have a third type of handheld console. With the Nintendo Switch, you get the Manufacturers experience along with great first-party games plus a console that just works. With the Steam Outdoor patio, you get a portable PC that can run PC games.
The Logitech G Cloud is unlike the Switch and the Steam Porch. It lets you access your favorite cloud video gaming service without having to rely on a TV or a computer. Steam Deck owners might think they can already do that will. That’s true, but the Steam Deck will be designed to run games locally.
“They have done the phenomenal job. But it’s less about cloud gaming — it is more about ‘how can I have a PC in my hands, ’” VP and GM of Logitech Video gaming Ujesh Desai told me. It has a powerful AMD processing unit, a fan and a lot of on-board storage.
The Logitech G Cloud is relatively cheaper, significantly lighter plus features great battery life. When it comes to internal specs, it has just the particular right amount of computing power to run cloud gaming solutions, but nothing extra.
Image Credits: Logitech
The Logitech G Cloud will be available in October for an introductory price of $299. After the while, the company plans to increase the cost of the device to $349. It will only be available in the U. S. and Canada at first, but there are plans to release the unit in more markets where impair gaming services are obtainable.
Getting a Backbone gaming controller and using it with your phone is a cheaper option. Yet chances are your phone has a smaller display, and you may want in order to be able to use your own phone while you play.
“I’m a fan of Backbone, I love the team there, ” Logitech’s Ujesh Desai said. “But the phone is my business. It is usually also how I talk with my family. I have the fear of our battery draining. ” Phones are also a source associated with distractions.
What you obtain for $350
Modern smartphones are much more powerful than the Logitech G Impair, as the company has opted for a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G system upon a chip with 4GB of RAM. It offers 64GB of storage that you can expand along with a microSD card.
And yet, with cloud gaming providers, most associated with the intensive computing tasks happen in data centers near you. You don’t need a powerful GPU for cloud video gaming.
When it comes to wireless connectivity, the particular G Fog up only supports WiFi 5. It would have been nice to get WiFi 6 support, given that latency and internet bandwidth are so important with regard to cloud gaming.
Everything else seems more or less standard for an Android device — Bluetooth five. 1, a good USB-C port, a 3. 5mm headphone jack, stereo speakers and stereo microphones.
Image Credits: Logitech
Logitech has chosen the Xbox 360 gamepad layout with A/B/X/Y buttons, two analog joysticks, two analog triggers, 2 bumper buttons and haptic feedback. There are a handful of extra control keys to obtain back home or launch the Xbox overlay menu when you’re playing a game on Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Where the Logitech G Fog up stands out is with the particular display plus battery-life. The particular console offers a 7-inch display with a 1080p resolution, and the company says you can expect up to 12 hours of cloud game play. Overall, the particular console weighs 463g — that’s roughly 30% lighter than the Steam Deck and a bit heavier compared to a Manufacturers Switch with Joy-Con controllers attached.
In addition to cloud video gaming services, gamers can use the Gary the gadget guy Cloud to stream online games from their games consoles or PERSONAL COMPUTER using the Xbox or Vapor Link apps, for instance. You also may install applications from the particular Play Store, which means that a person can potentially use Shadow to access a gaming PC within the fog up.
Logitech is not going in order to sell tens of millions of G Impair devices. This isn’t the next breakthrough system, as fog up gaming is still relatively new — presently there aren’t tens of millions associated with people playing games on cloud gaming platforms.
But it’s nice to see something different that opens up brand new opportunities to play video games. It will become more and more popular as cloud gaming services become more mainstream. If you are already familiar with cloud gaming services, the Logitech H Cloud could be considered as a physical extension of those services.