00:00:00
we're on the record saying that the
00:00:01
Logitech G Cloud a handheld console
00:00:04
designed exclusively for cloud gaming
00:00:06
sounds pretty dumb the planning for this
00:00:09
must have started before they heard
00:00:11
about steam deck holy good luck
00:00:14
Logitech so I was pretty surprised when
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Logitech slid into my DMs with an offer
00:00:19
to sponsor me to promote the device I
00:00:22
mean I gave them the usual yeah I'm
00:00:25
interested wouldn't you logitech's
00:00:27
check's always clear but I also told
00:00:29
them that I needed to experience it in
00:00:32
person before we could move forward and
00:00:34
well I have and short answer it is good
00:00:37
enough to accept the sponsorship long
00:00:39
answer we didn't accept the sponsorship
00:00:42
which is why this video is brought to
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you by some other sponsor like PDQ PDQ
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trial now at pdq.com LTT Logitech pegged
00:01:02
me completely wrong here I don't hate
00:01:04
cloud gaming and I especially don't hate
00:01:07
handheld cloud gaming I mean I was
00:01:09
probably the single biggest advocate for
00:01:11
the original Nvidia Shield outside of
00:01:13
Nvidia and its entire stick was that you
00:01:17
could use it to play Android games but
00:01:19
it was at its best when you were
00:01:21
streaming AAA games over Wi-Fi from your
00:01:23
desktop gaming rig it was pretty much
00:01:25
the spiritual predecessor to this thing
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and I absolutely loved it even back then
00:01:31
the latency was really impressive and
00:01:34
while image quality lost due to video
00:01:35
compression is going to be a challenge
00:01:37
for any streaming service game streaming
00:01:39
in particular the smaller the screen the
00:01:42
less noticeable any blocking or motion
00:01:44
artifacts will be so game streaming to a
00:01:47
handheld made and makes a ton of sense
00:01:51
the question then is whether this is the
00:01:54
right handheld big black elephant in the
00:01:57
room for the Logitech G cloud is of
00:01:59
course the steam deck even though it
00:02:02
starts at only fifty dollars more
00:02:04
valve's handheld packs so much more
00:02:07
Firepower that it can not only stream
00:02:09
games from the cloud but even render
00:02:11
them locally without an internet
00:02:13
connection it also boasts standout
00:02:15
features like haptic touchpads
00:02:18
programmable grip buttons and a
00:02:20
consumer-friendly approach to user
00:02:21
repair
00:02:23
however after spending some time with
00:02:25
both of them I no longer agree with the
00:02:28
other reviewers who say that the gcloud
00:02:30
should be completely ignored right out
00:02:32
of the gate there's actually a lot that
00:02:33
Logitech did right here it's only
00:02:36
marginally heavier than the OLED switch
00:02:37
from Nintendo with much better
00:02:39
ergonomics thanks to having a
00:02:41
permanently attached controller and the
00:02:43
quality and feel of the Plastics really
00:02:45
highlight logitech's Decades of
00:02:47
experience designing human interface
00:02:48
devices
00:02:49
the screen has a pleasing color profile
00:02:51
right out of the box and is rated at 450
00:02:54
nits which in practice is much brighter
00:02:57
than you will ever need indoors and I
00:02:58
was also pleased to find things that I
00:03:00
used to take for granted but no longer
00:03:02
do like a three and a half millimeter
00:03:04
headphone jack next to the bottom
00:03:05
mounted USBC charging port and a Micro
00:03:07
SD expansion slot at the top next to the
00:03:10
power switch and volume rocker
00:03:12
navigating the initial setup wizard then
00:03:14
gave me a lot of confidence in the
00:03:15
buttons and the joysticks until abruptly
00:03:18
my overwhelmingly positive First
00:03:20
Impressions ended during setup I was
00:03:23
given an unskippable prompt for 10 cents
00:03:26
privacy policy and end user license
00:03:27
agreement it's probably not the worst
00:03:30
Eula that I've ever signed and Logitech
00:03:32
isn't exactly hiding the partnership
00:03:34
given that they've talked about it on
00:03:35
their blog but the only hint at
00:03:37
tencent's involvement on the product
00:03:39
page itself is the subtle grammatical
00:03:42
and spelling errors that are sprinkled
00:03:44
throughout so I feel like some of my
00:03:47
disappointment is Justified here and
00:03:50
unfortunately that feeling carried
00:03:51
through to the interface it's not bad if
00:03:56
all you ever want to do is fire up one
00:03:58
of the three pre-installed cloud gaming
00:03:59
apps GeForce now Xbox cloud or steam
00:04:02
link all of this is likely going to feel
00:04:04
like nitpicking it's just that it's kind
00:04:06
of obtuse you know like why are my
00:04:08
Android notifications under messages
00:04:10
instead of pull down shade why does the
00:04:14
touchscreen work to interact with my
00:04:16
photo gallery but not my Wi-Fi icon why
00:04:19
does it take a colossal 20 interactions
00:04:22
and entering my PIN to go from handheld
00:04:25
mode to regular Android tablet mode
00:04:27
something that you will probably find
00:04:29
yourself needing to do at some point
00:04:30
even if it's just to get access to the
00:04:32
back button and then while we're at it
00:04:34
why the Sam heck does it not have a back
00:04:37
button In fairness to Logitech or
00:04:40
realistically 10 cent put pretty much
00:04:42
every game under the sun uses face
00:04:44
buttons for both confirm and for bag and
00:04:46
both opening and closing the Quick
00:04:48
Settings overlay is intuitively handled
00:04:50
with the home button though I wouldn't
00:04:52
recommend using the gcloud as an Android
00:04:54
gaming handheld anyway to which you
00:04:56
might say what how can an Android Tablet
00:05:00
with a controller bolted to the side
00:05:01
possibly be bad for gaming
00:05:03
oh it can
00:05:06
to hit their aggressive 350 dollar price
00:05:08
point it is pretty clear that Logitech
00:05:10
cut some Corners the Qualcomm Snapdragon
00:05:13
720g that powers the gcloud was targeted
00:05:16
at Emerging Markets when it was
00:05:18
announced nearly three years ago and if
00:05:21
you attempt to run anything heavier than
00:05:23
casual games you are going to be
00:05:24
extremely disappointed one of my
00:05:27
personal favorite Android games bomb
00:05:29
squad is a total blast on this thing but
00:05:32
it's an ancient game I used to play it
00:05:34
on my original Shield portable try to
00:05:36
play something like fortnite it was an
00:05:38
absolute stuttery mess when I tried to
00:05:41
run it at Native resolution and that's
00:05:43
even ignoring the current lack of proper
00:05:45
Gamepad detection and on-screen control
00:05:47
mapping Logitech says they're working on
00:05:49
this but for now that doesn't help me
00:05:51
and it was seriously awkward to jump
00:05:54
with the face buttons and then Fire by
00:05:57
reaching over them to the touchscreen
00:05:58
since the right trigger wouldn't do
00:06:00
anything furthermore while it's not
00:06:02
something that I explored in detail
00:06:04
running Android console emulators is
00:06:06
snow walk in the park either according
00:06:08
to Gary over at the fox it can easily
00:06:10
handle consoles from the 90s but even
00:06:13
heavier PlayStation 2 and GameCube games
00:06:16
were a struggle for its weak SOC and he
00:06:19
often find himself frustrated by poor
00:06:21
controller mapping agree with you 100
00:06:22
their men however there's one aspect of
00:06:26
Gary's excellent and detailed review
00:06:27
that I take issue with and I alluded to
00:06:30
this before his recommendation to
00:06:32
completely ignore the gcloud and buy a
00:06:35
steam deck instead let me explain
00:06:38
Logitech has been careful to Market this
00:06:40
device very specifically while they
00:06:43
don't get in the way of running any
00:06:45
Android app you want including playing
00:06:47
games or watching great behind the
00:06:49
scenes content from our channels over on
00:06:50
floatplane.com and they are apparently
00:06:53
even discussing the possibility of
00:06:54
unlocking the bootloader
00:06:56
other than to say that it runs Android
00:06:58
11 they make no mention of Android
00:07:01
whatsoever on the product page it's for
00:07:04
running Cloud games and for that purpose
00:07:06
it's really really good
00:07:08
like the steam deck it packs a large
00:07:11
7-inch display for a big screen portable
00:07:13
gaming experience but unlike the steam
00:07:16
deck it's 1080p meaning that your
00:07:18
streamed games will end up looking
00:07:20
noticeably sharper than your friend's
00:07:22
locally rendered games and actually even
00:07:24
streamed games onto this team deck
00:07:26
because the screen resolution is so much
00:07:28
lower and because all game rendering is
00:07:31
being done remotely the gcloud never
00:07:33
gets loud or hot I can't stress enough
00:07:35
how much of a difference this makes I
00:07:38
would describe the stereo speakers as
00:07:40
pretty darn solid but by far the best
00:07:42
thing about them is that I can actually
00:07:44
hear them over the zero other noise that
00:07:47
the system is making
00:07:49
[Music]
00:07:52
it's the kind of quality life difference
00:07:54
that might not get captured by a typical
00:07:56
review process which is all about your
00:07:59
measurements and your fps's but it makes
00:08:01
a big difference when you're actually
00:08:03
living with the thing and so does the
00:08:05
form factor I love the steam deck as
00:08:07
much as anyone for real I'm on the
00:08:10
record saying things like it'll
00:08:11
revolutionize the console industry and
00:08:13
even the broader gaming industry but
00:08:16
part of loving something is being
00:08:18
willing to be honest with it and steam
00:08:20
deck is kind of cumbersome the size and
00:08:23
weight difference between these two
00:08:25
devices is enough that if I had both of
00:08:28
them on my bedside table I know which
00:08:30
one that I would grab to lie on the
00:08:31
couch and veg and it wouldn't be the
00:08:33
steam deck the last major advantage for
00:08:36
the gcloud is battery life Logitech
00:08:38
advertises 12 hours and as far as I can
00:08:41
tell they are selling themselves majorly
00:08:43
short here
00:08:45
it over to the lab where at a screen
00:08:47
brightness of 2 which is plenty bright
00:08:49
for indoors it managed five and a half
00:08:51
to seven and a half hours in Apex
00:08:53
Legends mobile depending on the frame
00:08:55
rate target so far so not that
00:08:58
impressive but then we set it up
00:09:00
streaming playing bravery and greed on
00:09:02
G-Force now and we managed a whopping 15
00:09:06
hours of battery life
00:09:08
that is another huge W for the gcloud
00:09:11
that goes beyond just bigger number
00:09:13
better and into my battery anxiety just
00:09:17
disappears compared to my other
00:09:19
handhelds of course that doesn't mean
00:09:22
that there's no room for improvement in
00:09:24
what appears to be an effort to make the
00:09:25
gcloud more comfortable for children
00:09:27
they crammed the face buttons so close
00:09:29
to the right thumbstick that I
00:09:31
accidentally bump it constantly both in
00:09:33
games and in menus
00:09:36
and that isn't even the thumbstick's
00:09:38
worst quality I think Logitech nailed
00:09:41
the size of them they're kind of in
00:09:43
between the Nintendo switch and the
00:09:45
full-size sticks on the deck but I
00:09:47
cannot emphasize enough how bad the dead
00:09:50
zones are whether we're talking racing
00:09:53
or shooting games the absolute last
00:09:56
thing that you want to do on a console
00:09:57
that already has anywhere from 50 to 100
00:10:01
plus milliseconds of extra input delay
00:10:03
is ADD even more input delay it's not
00:10:08
too bad for All or Nothing inputs like
00:10:10
in Hollow Knight but it makes fine
00:10:12
adjustments to aim or steering basically
00:10:15
impossible if you're attempting anything
00:10:17
other than a casual playthrough I'm
00:10:19
waiting to hear from Logitech whether
00:10:20
this is something they can fix in
00:10:22
software we'll have the answer either
00:10:23
overlaid or in the video description but
00:10:25
if it isn't
00:10:27
I would recommend steering clear of the
00:10:29
gcloud until they've revised the
00:10:30
hardware to address it which is a real
00:10:32
shame because that's my only real game
00:10:34
breaker here though of course there is
00:10:37
another elephant in the room and that's
00:10:39
the cost it's not only designed for use
00:10:42
alongside an existing gaming PC or
00:10:46
monthly cloud service both of which cost
00:10:48
money but at the time of writing the
00:10:50
gcloud itself costs over eight times as
00:10:53
much as strapping a Razer Kishi to your
00:10:55
phone I understand that that's not an
00:10:58
Apples to Apples comparison your phone's
00:11:00
screen is a lot smaller and the gcloud
00:11:02
is Worlds more comfortable but your
00:11:04
phone also doesn't turn into an
00:11:05
expensive paperweight if you want to
00:11:07
take a break from your monthly
00:11:08
subscriptions and use it for something
00:11:10
else making it a much more practical
00:11:12
option
00:11:14
now I've seen people saying hey yeah I
00:11:16
love the concept and if the price was a
00:11:18
hundred dollars I could totally justify
00:11:20
it but 300 ain't happening the issue is
00:11:23
that the only decent Android tablets
00:11:25
that I've seen for 100-ish dollars are
00:11:27
Amazon Fire tablets and those only exist
00:11:30
because Amazon can sell them at a loss
00:11:32
and make up the difference with the
00:11:33
prime subscriptions and other Revenue
00:11:34
that they're assuming that they'll
00:11:35
generate Logitech enjoys no such luxury
00:11:38
and while we have seen them discount the
00:11:40
gcloud there is no way it's going to
00:11:43
make it that low because they need to
00:11:45
make money on every unit or they might
00:11:46
as well just cancel the project which I
00:11:49
sincerely hope they don't there are some
00:11:51
obvious bugs to resolve in the software
00:11:53
like this weird floating error or the
00:11:56
inconsistent behavior of back in the
00:11:58
menus but overall I actually do like the
00:12:01
concept and with a bit more on device
00:12:04
performance the combination of an
00:12:06
enormous catalog of cheap Android games
00:12:08
and outstanding streaming performance
00:12:10
would make this thing a serious
00:12:12
Contender for my money because compared
00:12:14
to buying my kids something like a
00:12:15
switch
00:12:17
now steam deck customers you guys know
00:12:19
who you are and this product isn't for
00:12:22
you but for other people the gcloud
00:12:26
really does bring something new and
00:12:28
interesting to the table and I'm rooting
00:12:30
for it to be a success in the long term
00:12:31
by the time this comes out it'll be too
00:12:34
late to do that Black Friday sponsorship
00:12:35
deal but that's okay I had a lot of fun
00:12:38
working on this review I don't get to
00:12:40
write much these days and I can probably
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