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PayPalThe upcoming pricey and strangely designed GPD WIN 5 is coming later this year, and it's now confirmed to have support for Bazzite Linux.
Bazzite is a popular choice of Linux for handhelds, with its SteamOS-like appearance but offers up advanced hardware and software support. On the official page for the GPD WIN 5, they actually repeatedly highlight its support for Bazzite. However, the tech specs show it will still be shipping with Windows 11, so this is again a bring your own Linux if you want a change on it.
On their official product page they talk about using Bazzite to make the "Ultimate Steam Gaming Handheld" and the "Ultimate Steam Gaming Console" when docking.
I'm not particularly fond of GPD hardware, or how they've previously acted as a company (like blocking GamingOnLinux on social media for pointing out they were pinching YouTube videos without credit or permission), but found it interesting to see how Linux as a gaming platform continues expanding across other hardware vendors.
The GPD WIN 5 is just a weird device. Powerful? Sure, but there's no internal battery. You either play with it plugged in, or stick it into an external battery pack designed for the device which makes it quite bulky.
Just look at how odd this is:
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What's even sillier, is this external battery doesn't come as standard, it's a separate purchase.
It will come with either the AMD Ryzen Al Max+ 395 (AMD Radeon 8060S) or AMD Ryzen Al Max 385 (AMD Radeon 8050S), with either 32GB / 64GB / 128GB RAM (Quad Channel LPDDR5x 8000 MT/s) with either 1TB / 2TB or 4TB storage.
Definitely not a device I would be going for, I prefer my portables to be actually properly portable without the requirement of attachments. It's just a thoroughly confusing device. Much like the Lenovo Legion Go 2 which is also heavier and pricey, handheld gaming definitely seems to go going in the wrong direction with some companies.
The GPD Win 5 is coming to IndieGoGo crowdfunding sometime soon. It's likely to be priced around US $1,400.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The decision to have an external battery sounds strange at first. But then, maybe it feels fine, having a lighter device in ones hands while the bulky battery sits on the table or wherever.
You can do that with most laptops afaik.
Part of the appeal of a handheld over a laptop is not having to lug around a giant power brick if you want full performance, having said that given the efficiency of newer slim-line laptops you can get decent performance on battery nowadays. and they can sit on your lap (belly) quite comfortably. A portable PC handhelds advantage is too be ..err portable :p
their own 'pocket 4' model is more versatile than this.
strangely designedOn the first image it totally looks like PSP.
The choice of having an external battery depends on your use case. E.g I'm indeed mostly playing my Deck plugged in and have set it to max charge 80%. If this opens up for more powerful hardware... well... it's a solution.
Not sure about the bazzite advertisment though. Cool to see it's "supported", yet if they don't offer it shipping pre-installed... that's weird. Saving some bucks on the Windows licence might be appealing to some folks.
You can do that with most laptops afaik.
Sure, you should be able to do this with every laptop (given a power bank yielding enough power).
Never seen anybody actually doing that though.
Part of the appeal of a handheld over a laptop is not having to lug around a giant power brick if you want full performance, having said that given the efficiency of newer slim-line laptops you can get decent performance on battery nowadays. and they can sit on your lap (belly) quite comfortably. A portable PC handhelds advantage is too be ..err portable :p
Well, yes, and to last long without a power chord, which are contradictory goals.
I wonder - I really do - how many people are only using the portability as far as to their sofa and bed.
how many people are only using the portability as far as to their sofa and bed.
With the deck that's probably a large percentage like, almost everyone. apart from those sicko's who play at their desktop right next to their gaming PC which is being used only for browsing / watching streams :D
i once bought a laptop table so i could use it on the couch / bed but the issue then becomes where do you put the mouse & now your wrist is bent reaching the keyboard and the fan noise is starting to annoy as the laptop is getting too warm & & etc..
the steamdeck fits it's purpose perfectly
( so does streaming from a pc to a retrohandheld / tablet )
Last edited by Lofty on 16 Sep 2025 at 10:12 am UTC
Mohandevir 46 minutes ago
But still having to buy a battery as an option... What a weird and bad idea!
And I will never get tangled in that cable and will never get it stuck in an armrest or table corner...
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