Logitech G Cloud Gaming Handheld, Portable Gaming Console with Long-Battery Life, 1080P 7-Inch Touchscreen, Lightweight Design, Xbox Cloud Gaming,…

Logitech GCloud review

My two weeks with the Logitech GCloud has been wonderful.

1. Short and Sweet Review:
The Logitech GCloud is a great portable gaming handheld if you use services like Xbox Game Pass, Steam Link, GeForce Now, PSPlay, or some google play Android apps (emulators or basic games).

The Logitech GCloud is meant for cloud gaming or remote play gaming and should be treated that way. If you want a console that has the games locally, I would recommend a switch or steam deck.

The performance on this device for cloud activities is amazing. Xbox Remote Play and Xbox Cloud play are buttery smooth and it’s jarring to me how I can play games this well.

Highly recommended.

2. Longer, More In Depth Review:

Continuing off my shorter review, the GCloud is a great device. Logitech is known for creating mice, keyboards, and other great computer accessories, so when it comes to user experience - they definitely know how to provide a device that just FEELS GOOD.

A. The Device Itself:
The grips feel like I’m holding an Xbox controller. The triggers feel like Xbox triggers. The analog sticks are rubber and fit on my larger hands nicely. The touch screen is responsive and smooth. The buttons remind me a lot of Nintendo DS/3DS buttons. They aren’t “clicky” like say, a BackBone device, but moreso a smooth button push that feels hollow. The USB-C and headphone jacks are welcome additions at the bottom of the device, and it’s also nice to get a micro sd card slot for expandable memory.

The device is also not heavy at all. The GCloud is very light, and feels lighter than my Nintendo switch. The device is also thin. It’s thin in the center, and then bulks up on both sides for the controller aspect. Imagine taking a tablet and putting two halves of an Xbox controller on both sides - but somehow making it feel great and weigh nothing.

B. The Operating System
The GCloud’s operating system reminds me of the Nintendo Switch. Which is actually a good thing. Using a Nintendo inspired UI makes the Logitech’s OS feel familiar while still feeling independent.

When setting up the device, you actually get the choice between the OS being an Android look and feel OR the Logitech Gaming Menu. That was a nice surprise to me because it’s nice that Logitech isn’t blocking out Google or the Google Play Store. You can download google play apps to this thing and sign into google play all out of the box.

The operating system is very user friendly and easy to work with. I do recommend updating the device as soon as possible, however. Out of the box, there are some OS quirks that get resolved in an update. Just make sure to update asap.

The GCloud’s OS doesn’t seem to allow multitasking. Only one app can be open at a time. Which isn’t a bad thing. The Nintendo Switch is very similar.

Overall, the operating system of the GCloud is user friendly and easy to use.

C. Performance of Games and Services:
The GCloud shines here. Microsoft worked closely with the GCloud in making sure that Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Remote Play work smoothly and efficiently.

If you have Xbox Game Pass with Xbox Cloud Gaming, cloud games work very, VERY well. Just make sure you’re on a decent WiFi or similar connection and you’re good to go. I’ve played games like The Sims 4, Hello Neighbor 2, Fortnite, etc and they all work great with little to no issues.

Xbox Remote Play is a true star as well. My Xbox is set up in my office, and sometimes I just want to play games on the couch. The GCloud lets me remotely play my Xbox in any room of the house comfortably. This is super convenient. Remote play is amazing.

Steam Link works similarly to Xbox remote play and I’m able to play my entire steam library on the go as well. Steam Link on the GCloud lets you enable a mouse cursor mode, and it’s super cool being able to play mouse oriented games on the GCloud.

NVidia’s GeForce Now is similar to Xbox cloud gaming but it feels more like a launcher if you have pre-existing connections like epic games, Steam, etc. I haven’t touched it too much.

Google Play Store is convenient on this device. I’m able to download and install most mobile games and they run fine for the most part. I love emulators and it is very cool being able to install GBA, SNES, NES emulators with some of my favorite childhood games.

The GCloud does a great job functioning as a full fledged Android tablet and gaming device.

D. Critiques and Limitations:
The GCloud is a cloud device. Any local content is limited unless you have a WiFi connection or some kind of connection to work with. That is also dependent on your interment speed.

If you are for whatever reason unable to connect or have a limited speed, then you’re stuck with local apps - and that’s where this device has limitations. Emulators work great. But some apps that are more graphically intense will chug a bit. The graphics card inside isn’t necessarily meant for local intense gaming - so keep that in mind.

While I personally haven’t had issues with the hardware, the device does have a limited manufacturer warranty that covers some parts and services. I would definitely read it over just in case you have screen pixel issues or drifting analog sticks. Again I’ve had no issues personally. Logitech does have a good customer support from what I’ve read.

The operating system is constantly getting updated which is great. But keep in mind that there are some issues out of the box like volume controls being on max level and remote play not allowing input at all. Again, this gets fixed with software updates and I highly recommend updating before playing anything at all.

The asking price of $349/$299 (when on sale) is a bit much for a device like this. For $50 more ($400) you can get a 64gb steam deck or even a Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset. Hell, even a Nintendo Switch!
In my personal opinion, a price of about $199 to $249 more suitable for a device like this.

I know that Amazon sells their tablets at a loss but makes up for it with software sales and purchases. Logitech doesn’t exactly have that luxury. I think Microsoft should consider partnering up with Logitech and make this a flagship portable Xbox console, maybe then Logitech might be able to price this more competitively.

E. Overall Thoughts:
The Logitech GCloud has changed the way I see gaming. I love that the device lets me remote into my PC and consoles and lets me play anywhere. I love cloud gaming. I love the Android google play availability.

I find myself grabbing my GCloud more than my Nintendo Switch. I’ve used Game Pass way more than I’ve ever used it because of my GCloud.

I do recommend this device because it really is an experience. BUT keep the limitations in mind before purchasing.

Amazing device and I hope That Logitech continues to support and update it. This could totally be Microsoft’s Flagship “Switch” if they play their cards right.

Thanks for reading!

I ordered this system primarily for retro gaming via LaunchBox and RetroArch. And it does that very well. While it took some configuring it's been able to run everything I've thrown at it. I also tried out some games from the Android/Google Play store and the XCloud streaming service. It handled both of those perfectly. In fact, with regards to XCloud, it streamed the games much better than my iPhone does. I did notice some minor input lag, but that's likely going to happen on streaming services no matter the device.

The build quality is fantastic. It's very light, fits into your hands comfortably, and the screen is large and vibrant. The speakers are also quite good for a handheld device - very loud and clear. The dpad and buttons could be a little less mushy, but that's a minor complaint. The battery lasts forever too.

My only real complaint with this device is the price. It's $349 price is way too high. If Logitech could hit $199 or even $249 with this unit they'd have an absolute winner. But at $349 it's in the same range as the Nintendo Switch OLED and base-model SteamDeck and both are more versatile and a better value. That said, if you happen to catch this device on sale and want a great retro/streaming handheld then this one is hard to beat.

I really loved the device, specially it’s android built in with play store

I played GTA5 on this device it’s fabulous

جهاز جميل جدا و محبوب انصح الجميع بشراءه

Best for remote play and streaming services 🎮

I received a G Cloud for Christmas in 2023, so I have had a concentrated week of seeing what the device can and cannot do. Side-note (not factored into the score), the BRAND NEW unit sold by Amazon (not a 3rd party) turned out to be used. The box seal had been opened, and even the screen protector was gone. So I returned it and got another. Second side-note, the first unit came with the wall charger, but the replacement did not (even though it is pictured in the manual). I thought this was a mistake, but then found a slapped-on statement from Logitech saying they stopped including wall adapters for the good of the environment (yeah that gets a huge LOL, congrats on your cost-savings Logitech). On to the real review ...

I wanted the unit mostly to be able to stream games from my PS4 (in my living room) and Xbox Series X (upstairs in a racing / flying cab). And long story short - this unit FINALLY delivers what I have been striving for since I tried using the PSP to connect to my PS3 many years ago (and then Vita, which was equally bad at streaming). The Xbox streaming works great with the Xbox app. The controllers work amazingly well. The PS4 at first worked good enough to play, but the resolution varied and sometimes would get a little blocky. I connected it to my router using a network cable, and that made the streaming become crystal clear. Works great anywhere in my house. To stream anywhere in the world requires port forwarding to be setup on the router, and so I am not going to pursue that. Note that I am using a 3rd party app for the PS4 streaming so the Logitech controls are fully supported. I will say I can detect a slight lag in the controls (probably less than a tenth of a second), which for a high-speed game (think racing) the experience is still playable but is slightly impacted. But for my usage (Fallout 4 on PS4, Flight Simulator on Xbox) gameplay feels just fine and a very slight delay does not impact gaming.

I am also using the unit as a retro-gaming handheld. Gaming is fantastic for all consoles that are GameCube and earlier. PS2 works great for some titles, but has some slowdown for others (but settings can be tweaked to be playable for just about anything). For me, having a giant library of Advance titles, SNES, Genesis, and yeah even Atari is awesome.

The ergonomics of the G Cloud is fantastic. I have fairly large hands, and it is comfortable to play. The screen at 7 inches doesn't sound big, but compared to my Switch Lite and older PS handhelds, the screen is a magical giant gift from the gods. Resolution is a very sharp 1080P. Touch works great, and so the hardware is quite impressive. Battery life is outstanding.

So the memory at 64GB is one weak point of the system. There IS a microSD expansion, and I had to spend a couple of days to get everything working well. Bottom line, I first tried a 512GB Sandisk card, and it did not work correctly, despite trying every formatting method out there. Folks, 256GB is the max, trust me. So a Sandisk 256GB works like a charm. It will NOT work correctly if you extend the storage as part of the Android device. It has to be formatted as external storage, and then it works great.

The beauty of this device is that it is truly just an Android device with Google Play. So the gaming options are almost unlimited. And you can use it to watch movies, or control your thermostats, or whatever you use a normal Android device for.

In summary, this is an amazing device and I could not be happier with it!

Like console gaming, and don't have a library of games on PC? Want the ease of Portable seamlessly transitioning from PS5, Xbox, Emulators, and Droid games all from a single device? Have a PS5 but no X box the Gcloud is for you. I have a PS5, Nintenso Switch, Occulus Quest 2 and the first 2 devices I even have switches so I can swap between my 70 inch screen tv and 120 inch projector. I have a 8 TB external drive on my PS5, 2 TB internal ssd drive and the 600 GBs of internal storage. Yes that's over 10.5 TB of games like 300+ titles. I like gaming and really liked remote access to my PS5 what I didn't like was syncing blue tooth devices attaching devices, battery drain,and the 6 inch screen on my Ultra. I don't own an Xbox but wanted a simple way to just turn on a device and play their exclusives. With game pass now I have access to a library of 400 rotating games. I even figured out how to use gamepass on my firecubes and fire stick, but again it's more trouble then just turning on the gcloud. I have a bunch of android games like final fantasy 3 and 9 Chrono Trigger, Diablo Immortal, COD mobile but I can't get used to on screen controls now I can easily play them. Button mapping is a beautiful thing on the Gcloud works on everything I've thrown at it even emulators. Speaking of emulators I had 0 working knowledge of how to emulate games. I was running wii, gamecube, and GBA roms in less then 10 minutes on the Gcloud. I have a 1gbs network speed avering 300 mbs and 100 mbs on my 5g, speed is not a problem for me. I was remote playing Destiny 2 from my PS5 with no latency or lag last night, which back in the day my PS4 natively struggled with. Why did I choose the G cloud? I love high end console gaming and didn't want to sacrifice picture quality buying a steam deck or ROG. I work with PCs all day and hate using PCs. I don't even own a laptop. I have a high-end $1200 Asus Chromebook at home. I can game all day there was no way the deck or ROG's battery life would work for me and what is the point of a handheld gaming device if I have to be tethered to a powersource? The G cloud has no fan so nothing to compete with the audio like on steam deck. It doesn't get hot not even warm. My cellphone heats up after prolonged use, 10 hours on the G cloud and not even warm. The ergonomics are wonderful I can play all day on the G cloud, my Switch even with all my comfort grips gets uncomfortable after 2 hours and the battery is usually low by then. I don't know how many times I put the ROG, steam deck, and
new Playstation portal in a online shopping cart before I bought the g cloud. I spent days/hours trying to figure out what met my needs. I finally realized I wanted to without tinkering comfortably be able to play game console quality games with everything on one device without having to tinker on a beautiful screen with a comfortable form factor and long battery life. The ROG and Deck had lots more performance capability for what I needed it was actually overkill. Why pay an extra $100 for something I didn't need. Instead of buying games on steam, I opted to spend $16 a month on gamepass and have access to 400 games. The portal has a bigger better screen and the dual shocks I love, but I'd be limited to just my PS5 and only saving $100. That extra $100 got me a lot more in my g cloud. I didn't feel like the deck would give me much more for $100 more and the Rog being $400 more again was more machine then I needed for more than twice the cost of the G cloud. Update: I bought an Asus ROG Ally and Legion GO and love both devices, but they can't compete with battery life and ease of use. PsPlay kills Chiaki. For those of you that waisted your money on the Playstation portal this device fixes all the shortcomings of the portal. Problem with the portal is there is no internet browser meaning you can't use public wifi. The battery life is double that of the portal. The G cloud isn't as unwieldy to tote around. The best part of the G cloud is you aren't locked in Playstation's ecosystem, you have the versatility of playing games on multiple platforms. Unlike my handheld PCs this device is very light weight, it doesn't get hot, and no fan noise. It's $100 more than the portal but you're getting so much more with this device.

All these reviews about this device being underpowered for emulating are really missing the point of this device. This is really a switch like controller that runs android so it can run remote play apps or cloud gaming apps (though much more comfortable to hold then a switch with better battery life.) if you want a device that can do emulation and full console gaming but portable you will definitely want to look elsewhere for something like a price subsidized steam deck, or Retroid device or any of the other smaller emulation designed devices would better suite you.

I however was looking for a high quality, portable sturdy second screen with good controls and good battery life which 12 hours is hard to beat. (Yes you can do with with an iphone / ipad or android phone / tablet but if you have tried that like i have you will find the screen size to be too small with thick black bars to make a 16:9 aspect ratio that is standard with TVs or for the case of tablets too large and now sitting on a table bluetoothed to a controller.) This device out of the box (at least for xbox, playstation requires a 3rd party app called PSPlay as the Sony official app doesn’t support the g clouds controllers yet (maybe with an update to Sony's app)) will take your console and make it portable just be sure to have wifi 5 (which is the wifi spec on the g cloud) or greater as this all requires a lot of local bandwidth on your personal wifi network.

I found for the best results i had to hard wire my consoles over LAN and then to use my eero wifi 6 system as the final wireless step to the g cloud, i have had almost no artifacting, latency issues, or ghosting since switching to this setup notice i didnt say none.. just 99% perfect streaming. Even with other traffic on my network like my partner streaming movies over apple tv etc. this setup performs almost perfectly enough to think its happening on device.

I did initially try to use the PS4 pro and Xbox S on wifi, and while the xbox s’ modern wifi worked great, the ps4 pro’s was not good, downloading or updating software while trying to remote control the console would resort in artifacts and issues. I mostly blame Sony’s` wifi in the ps4 pro as even when it was connected to the tv i had issues with it. The minute i put it on LAN all those issues went away and it was as if the G cloud was directly connected to the PS4 Pro i was able to crank up PSPlay’s streaming settings to max and the gaming became buttery smooth. Microsofts Xbox App does a lot of the work for you when it comes to remote play and is frankly superior to sony’s app and even the 3rd party PSPlay (which is an improvement on the official Sony one.) The xbox app will automatically scale the graphics quality based on current wifi and other factors to smooth out the experience so, while not unusable as the ps4 pro was over wifi, it was just not a perfect experience but still playable! But, again for best results hardwire LAN to the xbox s and then wifi 6 to the g cloud for buttery smooth, full hd, no artifacting or noticeable lag while gaming.

I did try some Xbox Cloud Gaming but found that to be sorta redundant as I have a console in my home but i guess the option is nice if you don't.. however the streaming was only ok in my opinion. I have fios fiberoptic gigabit internet with wifi 6 and i still had artifacting and some lag, while playable for non timing critical games definitely not a perfect or optimized experience. It just seems at this time that game streaming from servers outside the home is just not ready for prime time in my opinion.

I think playing my consoles on g cloud is going to replace playing my consoles on my tv as I prefer the handheld form-factor and casualness of just picking up and playing like the switch but the graphics of the better consoles really pop on the 7” screen which is really the star of the show. The screen really is good for a LCD, the black levels are good, colors pop and it gets very bright! Hard to find something like this with this battery life.

The android version on the device is basic but the addition of tablet mode means you can multitask (something you cant do in the “console ui”) The device software in its current revision lacks screen mapping of the controls so android games will run but wont take advantage of the extra hardware buttons and sticks (this is something that can be added with 3rd party software but as I only use this as a console portable screen I have not tried this, as all the software I use is designed for the controls or has control mapping) this is apparently not good if you want to run games natively on the device but with its specs it wont really do a good job at that.

This device really has been narrowly designed for streaming games and its processor does an amazing job at that for 12 hours but your milage playing game software locally will vary (not that i have tried just seen other reviewers attempts.)

Just download the psplay app and use it ...

The product is very good, but in uae cloud gaming is not possible yet. So it’s waste in UAE to buy this. It can just remote play through xbox which your phone can do as well. Game pass ultimate nothing works it will show you error