Although reviews have been mixed, we actually like the Logitech G Cloud. It’s an Android-powered handheld designed to play AAA titles through game-streaming services, in addition to mobile games. You can even play retro titles through emulators like RetroArch. The controls are solid, the hardware feels great, the battery life is astounding, and the seven-inch, 1080P screen is easy on the eyes. The handheld feels a little under-powered, though, and struggles with some of the more processor intensive mobile games currently available, even if your phone would have no issue with them. At $349, it’s only $50 cheaper than Valve’s entry-level Steam Deck. If Logitech knocks the price down a bit for 2023, the G Cloud would definitely be worth considering.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Logitech — The computer peripherals maker jumped 11.8% after Logitech reiterated its full-year guidance, which was lowered in July. Logitech has struggled with weaker demand after a boom in sales during the height of the pandemic.
Upstart — Shares surged 9.8% even after Mizuho initiated Upstart with an underperform rating, saying that there are more challenges ahead for the consumer lending company.
Stem — The stock rose 12.3% after UBS initiated Stem as a buy, saying that AI-driven energy storage company is a market leader that will get a boost from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Hibbett — The sporting goods stocks advanced 9.2% following an upgrade from Bank of America to a buy rating. The bank highlighted the company relationship with Nike and product availability among its reasons for liking the stock.
Xerox — Shares plunged 15% after the seller of print and digital document products and services reported disappointing earnings and cut its full-year revenue guidance. Xerox CEO Steve Bandrowczak said in a release that “profitability remains challenged by persistently high inflation and continued supply chain constraints.”
Brown & Brown — Shares of the insurance company dropped 11% after Brown & Brown missed earnings expectations. Brown & Brown posted earnings of 50 cents per share on revenue of $927.6 million. The company was expected to report earnings of 60 cents per share on revenue of $945.8 million, according to consensus estimates on FactSet.
Qualtrics International — Shares of the customer feedback software company jumped 7.7% after Qualtrics reported earnings that exceeded expectations, and raised its full-year outlook.
Ross Stores — Shares of the off-price retail jumped 5.8% following an upgrade to overweight from Wells Fargo. The bank called Ross Stores one of the “best ways” to trade the sector.
SAP — Shares of the German business software company advanced 6% after SAP reported quarterly results that topped expectations and maintained its full-year forecast.
PulteGroup — The home construction company jumped 5.9% despite disappointing earnings expectations. PulteGroup posted earnings of $2.69 per share on revenue of $3.94 billion. Analyst surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting earnings of $2.82 per share on revenue of $4.17 billion.
JetBlue — The airline slid 3.6% after a third-quarter earnings miss of 21 cents per share, versus a Refinitiv consensus estimate of 23 cents. Revenue was in line with estimates, at $2.56 billion. JetBlue had a quarterly profit of $57 million, due to elevated travel demand and higher fares, which helped offset rising costs.
Planet Fitness — The gym stock jumped 4.5% after Piper Sandler upgraded Planet Fitness to overweight from neutral, saying that shares are attractive and will get a boost from participation from younger generations.
General Motors — Shares of General Motors rose 3.6% after the automaker handily beat third-quarter earnings expectations. The company also maintained its full-year outlook.
United Parcel Service — Shares of the delivery company gained 1% after UPS reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the third quarter. The company earned an adjusted $2.99 per share, 15 cents better than analysts expected, according to Refinitiv. Revenue fell short of expectations, however, as its supply chain solutions segment declined year over year. UPS did maintain its full-year guidance.
General Electric — The stock declined 1.8% after General Electric cut its full-year outlook because of supply chain issues. The company otherwise posted stronger-than-expected revenue.
— CNBC’s Michelle Fox, Jesse Pound, Carmen Reinicke and Samantha Subin contributed reporting.
Logitech is today announcing a quartet of products in its Designed for Mac series of wireless accessories. The first headline item is the MX Mechanical Mini (for Mac), an Apple-favoring variation on the existing MX Mini which launched earlier this year. Fundamentally, it’s the same product as before, offering a refined twist on the mechanical tenkeyless keyboards currently en vogue. Naturally, you’ll get macOS-specific keycaps, and it’s available in a pair of more Mac-friendly colors: Space Gray or Pale Gray.
Next up is a Mac-specific version of the company’s flagship MX Master 3S mouse, again in Space Gray or Pale Gray. That carries over all of the same features as the existing 3S, and if we’re being honest, there’s little reason for this to exist as a separate model. After all, the standard 3S is a universal model, and it can already be customized with Mac-specific shortcuts in the macOS version of Options+, Logitech’s app for accessory tweaking.
Logitech
The other major launch is for the Lift for Mac which, like the above, is a Mac-hued version of its existing vertical mouse. Logitech says that the 57-degree angle of attack places your mitt in a natural handshake position for better comfort. At the same time, the company is rolling out a new color for its K380 wireless keyboard, this time in Blueberry. You can also pick up the accompanying mouse in that same hue, should you wish to go all matchy matchy with your purple M1 iMac.
All four products are available to buy this month from Logitech’s official website and other major retailers. The MX Mechanical Mini will set you back $150, while the MX Master 3S is marked up at $100, with the Lift costing $70, and the blueberry K380 is $40.
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Enlarge / Logitech’s MX Mechanical for Mac has an Apple-friendly layout.
Scharon Harding
Logitech has Mac-ified its MX Mechanical Mini wireless keyboard. That is to say, it has created a version of the truncated keyboard for people who use Mac computers. The Logitech MX Mechanical Mini for Mac joins a small number of mechanical keyboards that are designed for macOS, from its use of Option and Command legends to software support and an Apple-like aesthetic. It’s built for a cable-free setup and has pleasant typing but it’s not a good fit for mechanical keyboard enthusiasts who like various switch options, premium keycaps, or high programmability… or numpads.
True Mac layout
Logitech released the MX Mechanical Mini, a 75 percent keyboard, alongside the full-size Logitech MX Mechanical in May. The portable Bluetooth LE keyboard can wirelessly connect to three devices, allowing users to pick which device they’re controlling by pressing Fn and 1, 2, or 3. Officially, those devices can run Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Linux, Android, iOS, or iPadOS. Because of that, key legends cater to both Windows and Mac users. The bottom row includes a key that can be Option or Start/Windows and one that serves as Command or Alt.
The MX Mechanical for Mac isn’t so neutral. Its layout only includes Mac legends, making for a cleaner-looking bottom row than the original MX Mechanical Mini.
Enlarge / No Windows key here.
Scharon Harding
The MX Mechanical for Mac still supports Bluetooth LE pairing with up to three devices and worked perfectly fine when I used it with Windows 11 and 10 computers, as a Logitech rep told me it would. However, Logitech only lists macOS, iOS, and iPadOS as officially supported platforms for its series of MX-for-Mac peripherals, so support may not be so helpful if the keyboard starts acting weird with any other OS.
And unlike the original MX Mechanical Mini, the Mac version doesn’t include a USB-A dongle. You could still pair the keyboard with a Logitech USB receiver purchased separately, but Logitech doesn’t make a USB-C dongle for Mac users who prefer the simplicity of a dongle or the potential for less latency and don’t have any USB-A ports.
All Mac users like white and gray, right?
You probably also noticed that the MX Mechanical Mini for Mac looks whiter and brighter than its more platform-agnostic counterpart. In a press briefing, a Logitech representative said the company was aiming to better match Apple’s aesthetic. The keyboard added a bright pop to my desk, and the shimmery silver metal top plate sitting atop the grayer plastic base delivered subtle pizzaz. Still, it feels limiting that Mac users aren’t offered at least the darker color scheme of the original MX Mechanical Mini (and vice versa). Logitech assumes that since you use a Mac, you want a whiter keyboard.
White keycaps, however, aren’t easy to keep clean, especially when they’re ABS plastic, which is known to attract fingerprint smudges more than good PBT ones. The keycaps are less slick and slimy than typical ABS but are still decently smooth and lack grip. The legends are laser-engraved with a protective coating added on top, but they should still fade after heavy, frequent use.
Unlike the original MX Mechanical Mini, which you can buy with low-profile linear, tactile, or clicky switches from Kailh, the MX Mechanical Mini for Mac only has Kailh’s low-profile tactile switches. A Logitech representative told me that this is because Mac users tend to want something quieter and with strong tactile feedback.
A white Xbox Series X has been spotted in a new Logitech advert, but it’s unclear if it’s an official colorway.
The console, spotted by VGC, is seen in the background of an advert for the Astro A30 wireless headset but has not been promoted anywhere else.
The scene itself depicts several consoles and peripherals placed on shelves… but it’s unclear whether this is a real, upcoming version of the console or simply a custom version made for this advert.
The Logitech advert’s white Xbox Series X is seen to the right of the model. (Image credit: Logitech)
Other than special editions, such as the Halo Infinite Xbox Series X, the Series X has only been available in black since its launch in November 2020.
However, the white (or two-tone) style of the recently released Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller may well hint that a white Xbox is coming… or it just looks the part whether you’re playing on Xbox Series X or S. Either way, the appearance of a white console in the new Logitech advert is intriguing.
We’ve reached out to Microsoft for further information.
The new Xbox Elite Series 2 Core edition launched alongside the Xbox Series X|S September update, which added a new feature for this controller. You can now change the color of the Xbox logo, as well as alter hue and saturation.
Elsewhere, Logitech’s Steam Deck rival, the Logitech G Cloud Gaming Handheld will launch this October and costs just $349.
The G Cloud Gaming Handheld uses Android 11 and comes with Google Play Store pre-installed. Marketed as the first dedicated cloud gaming handheld, the console is capable of using Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now, and can also install additional apps via the Google Play Store, including remote play and video streaming apps.
Want to read more about the Xbox Series X|S? Check out the new Xbox September Update as well as details on its new noise suppression feature.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Having a (relatively) small device that can play basically any big game on it is a cool idea, and that’s what I love about Valve’s Steam Deck. But the Deck can be a bit bulky, and its battery just doesn’t last sometimes. Plus it doesn’t work easily with Xbox Game Pass. So the idea of a new, smaller handheld dedicated to streaming Game Pass and Xbox titles sounds great! However, at $300, it seems too expensive in a world where the Steam Deck and Switch OLED exist at around the same price point.
Announced today by Microsoft and Logitech, the new G Cloud handheld gaming console is a small Android-powered device built around streaming video games. 10 years ago this would have seemed like a weird idea. But today, you can stream practically every game across most platforms with enough tinkering. The idea behind this new G Cloud device is to cut out the tinkering and modding and provide players with a simple, fast, and lightweight way to stream all the great games on Game Pass.
First, the positives. The new Android device claims to have an extended battery life, probably thanks to the fact it is only streaming games and not running them natively. It boasts a solid 1080p 7-inch touchscreen, built-in controls, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a button and stick layout similar to an Xbox controller. I also really like the look of the device. It’s a bit smaller than Steam Deck, which should be nice for folks who have smaller hands.
But here’s the problem: The price. Currently, you can pre-order the G Cloud at $300 which is pretty high considering this is basically a fancy Android phone with built-in controls, a bigger battery, and no ability to make phone calls. It does have support for the Google Play Store, so presumably, mobile games and apps will work on it. And being based on Android, it will basically be moddable from day one. But still, $300 for that seems high.
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And that’s just for now. Once it’s out on October 17, the price shoots up to $350, aka the same price as a new Switch OLED and only $50 less than a 64GB Steam Deck. Now, it’s true that the Switch can’t stream the entire Game Pass library, but with some tinkering the Steam Deck actually can, while also playing (most) of your Steam games.
When I first saw the G Cloud on Twitter I was interested. A small device dedicated to Android apps and Xbox Game Pass cloud streaming could be nice to have. But only for like…$200. At the current price, I’d recommend folks buy a new phone, an external controller for their current phone, or a Steam Deck instead.
Logitech is hosting an event today, during which it’s revealing some new products for gamers and streamers. Details on one of those leaked in advance as a preorder page for the Logitech G Cloud Gaming Handheld went live on Amazon Canada a bit early. The company has now officially unveiled the device.
According to the listing, which was spotted by Lbabinz on Twitter, the Cloud Gaming Handheld will arrive on October 18th and cost $400 CAD. Logitech’s press materials, on the other hand, say the product will ship next month. The system will also be available from Amazon in the US, where it costs $350 USD, or $300 if you preorder. That’s fairly pricey for a dedicated cloud gaming handheld, especially considering that a Nintendo Switch OLED is the same price (and can be jailbroken to run cloud gaming services).
Logitech
The specs and design align with leaked details from late August. You’ll be able to stream games in 1080p at up to 60 frames per second on the seven-inch, 450-nit touchscreen. The handheld, which is a customized Android tablet housed inside a controller unit, offers haptic feedback, gyroscope controls and remappable buttons. It has the inputs you’d expect, including a D-pad, face buttons, dual thumbsticks, bumpers and triggers, along with option buttons on both sides, a G button and a Home button.
Because you’ll be streaming games for the most part, the Cloud Gaming Handheld doesn’t require a ton of processing power. That’s one likely reason why Logitech has been able to limit the weight to 463g, or just over a pound. For comparison, the Nintendo Switch weighs 0.88 pounds (398g) when the Joy-Cons are attached and the Steam Deck weighs around 1.5 pounds (669g).
The device runs on an octo-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G. It has 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 64GB of storage, which is expandable through a microSD slot. Logitech claims the battery will run for up to 12 hours on a single charge. If the power’s off, it should fully recharge in around 2.5 hours through a USB-C cable.
There are stereo speakers and a stereo microphone, which offers echo canceling and noise suppression. In addition, the device has Bluetooth 5.1 and USB-C headphone support, as well as, thankfully, a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Logitech
Logitech and Tencent (who built the device together) collaborated with Microsoft and NVIDIA to ensure there’s native support for Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now. You’ll be able to use the Steam Link app to play games from your PC remotely, while the Xbox app supports remote play from consoles. Logitech notes that users will be able to download apps from the Google Play Store. So, you should be able to access the likes of Google Stadia and Amazon Luna, as well as social media apps, Android games and streaming video services such as YouTube and Netflix (you can use the device in tablet mode).
“What we wanted to do was challenge ourselves to build a device that was perfectly optimized for cloud gaming,” Ujesh Desai, vice president and general manager of Logitech Gaming, said in a statement. “This meant precision controls – similar to a high-end Xbox controller – a large HD screen, amazing battery life and lightweight design so players can enjoy long gaming sessions, without any compromises.”
Update 12:12 PM ET: Added more details from Logitech.
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Enlarge / Logitech is allegedly working on a handheld, Android-powered gaming console.
Evan Blass
There are many Nintendo-Switch-style, Android-powered gaming handhelds out there, usually available as imports on eBay or AliExpress. Some, like the AYN Odin, are fairly well-regarded. Others, like the Retroid Pocket 2+, are less good, but they’re so cheap that they’re still worth buying for people who want a portable console for old-school game console emulators. But it’s rare for any of them to have backing from a major company, reliable hardware and warranty support, or clear software update policies (beyond occasional Android version updates or support from alternate Android distributions).
That’s why the rumors of a Switch-like, Android-based portable from Logitech caught our eye. Originally teased by prolific leaker Evan Blass (and preserved by The Verge following a DMCA takedown), the handheld is definitely reminiscent of a Switch Lite. It has four face buttons (arranged Xbox-style with the “A” on the bottom and “B” on the right, rather than Nintendo-style with these buttons reversed), left and right shoulder buttons and triggers, asymmetrical dual joysticks, a D-pad, and four other face buttons for various system functions. But the device appears to run a customized version of Android with full Google Play access, and it seems to have built-in access to Microsoft’s, Nvidia’s, and Valve’s game streaming services for portable PC gaming.
Blass points out that the handheld is likely the fruit of a recently announced collaboration between Logitech and Chinese tech company Tencent. In early August, the companies said they would “combine Logitech G’s expertise in hardware with Tencent Games’ expertise in software services” to create a streaming-focused handheld gaming console at some undisclosed future date.
Enlarge / The console appears to have space for a microSD card slot on top. It looks more than a little like a Nintendo Switch Lite.
While we know what it looks like, we don’t know the device’s specs, including its SoC, its screen size or resolution, its RAM or storage allotment (it does appear to include a microSD slot on top, however), or its battery life. A faster chip would make the console cost more, but it would also allow it to capably emulate newer consoles like the Dreamcast, GameCube, PS2, and Wii, whereas many cheap portables top out at the original PlayStation or the Nintendo 64.
And pricing will be key. The console could probably afford to be more expensive than some of the $100-ish no-name Android consoles out there, but it would ideally be quite a bit cheaper than x86-based handhelds like the Steam Deck. These consoles are larger and heavier than most Android consoles, but they’re also much more versatile because they’re powerful enough to run PC games directly instead of via streaming. They can also emulate newer consoles at higher quality settings.
At the start of this month, Logitech and Tencent teased the Logitech G Gaming Handheld, and images of that device have now leaked.
Evan Blass this evening shared a trio of images of the “Logitech G Gaming Handheld,” which was the name shared at the beginning of August on an official teaser page. That brand is particularly known for PC gaming peripherals, like keyboard and mice. This “cloud gaming handheld” is coming “later this year,” according to that initial preview.
With a Nintendo Switch-esque form factor, the device is predominantly white in color. There are black thumb sticks flanking the screen, which has sizable bezels, while a D-Pad is at the left and X/Y/A/B to the right. There are also four buttons placed roughly at each corner of the display, including Home. The top black edge has trigger buttons, volume rocker, and possibly a mute switch (whether it’s for microphone or sound is unclear), as well as what looks to be a memory card slot.
The UI is also Switch-like, and prominently shows the Google Play Store, followed by Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Steam (Remote Play). Other UI elements include a row of five navigation sections in the top-left corner, while the time, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and battery are at the other end.
We also see cards for Chrome and YouTube, which pretty much guarantees that the Logitech G Gaming Handheld will be powered by Android. Meanwhile, this could be running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 “purpose-built” Android gaming chip from last December that first debuted on a Razor developer kit.
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Logitech G is working with Tencent Games to launch a dedicated cloud gaming handheld later this year. The new hardware will be designed for cloud gaming services, offering a dedicated device with controls instead of the typical cases you attach to phones. The cloud gaming handheld will support Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia’s GeForce Now service, and Logitech and Tencent are both working with Microsoft and Nvidia on the hardware.
Logitech and Tencent are simply teasing the device today, and there’s no mention of a release date, pricing, or even what the cloud gaming handheld looks like. Logitech will obviously be leaning on its experience building PC and console gaming accessories, while Tencent looks to be more of an operations partner.
“As one of the leading global platforms for game development, publishing and operations, Tencent Games has been at the forefront of innovation and it’s why we partnered with them,” explains Ujesh Desai, general manager of Logitech G. “As someone that grew up playing video games, the idea of being able to stream and play AAA games almost anywhere is super exciting, and we can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve been working on.”
Backbone recently launched a new PlayStation-inspired iPhone controller.Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
The new cloud gaming handheld only has a dedicated website where you can sign up for updates, but Logitech is promising a launch later this year so we should get more information in the coming months.
This new mysterious handheld comes months after Valve released its Steam Deck handheld, which has helped transform the idea of PC gaming on the go. Steam Deck supports cloud gaming services like Stadia and Xbox Cloud Gaming, but some people (like Verge managing editor Alex Cranz) might want a cheaper alternative to the Steam Deck that can run cloud games and isn’t reliant on your phone. It looks like Logitech is building just that.
