Xbox gaming handheld rumors heat up with Microsoft survey

(Image credit: Xbox)

Rumors have been swirling over the last few months about Microsoft's "vision for the future of Xbox" potentially including a gaming handheld. Phil Spencer has talked about handhelds and expressed that he's a "big fan of that space," but of course, nothing official from Xbox was ever announced.

April 28, people who have purchased a handheld console — like the Lenovo Legion Go and the Asus ROG Ally — received an email from Microsoft Surveys requesting feedback on their "gaming handheld device." According to various users on NeoGAF and Reddit, this 7-minute survey asked questions about why they purchased and needed a handheld gaming console.

Could this survey be another indication that Microsoft's working on its own gaming handheld? Quite possibly. At least, that's what we're hoping.

Is Microsoft working on an Xbox gaming handheld?

The survey Microsoft sent out could simply be a way to gather information on how Xbox could improve on existing handhelds. But given how much Phil Spencer has been talking about handhelds recently, it's clear he'd want Xbox to take on if it was feasible or if there was enough interest.

Valve's Steam Deck is an exceptional handheld, in large part due to its use of a custom SteamOS UI and a Linux-based desktop mode, not Windows. If Microsoft wants to make a successful handheld console, it needs to solve the incompatibility issues of Windows on handhelds.

Microsoft Survey on gaming handhelds — (Image credit: @Onewaye21 on Reddit)

ChaosprimeZYT (@chaosprimeZ) on X wrote that the survey's questions had an emphasis on native installs, cloud gaming, usage, and the "impact of handheld PC alongside other hardware."

Reddit user @jocruma on r/ROGAlly said "They want to know how we feel about windows and handhelds." But a few other Redditors said that there wasn't much mention of software in the survey or how to improve existing handhelds, and that the focus was more on why they purchased the handheld device and why they need one.

While Microsoft might not have asked handheld console users what they'd change in this survey, Phil Spencer sure has a few ideas on how Xbox can improve handheld gaming. And if Microsoft could tweak the Windows experience on handhelds — perhaps with an additional survey? — Xbox could possibly create a gaming handheld to compete with the Steam Deck.