2023 has been a great year for gamers, whether they prefer to sit on a sofa opposite a TV, strap into a headset or play a portable device wherever they like.
Now, the time has come for the 20th annual Pocket-lint Awards, sponsored by new EE, to celebrate the very best devices and products across 20 tech categories.
With six shortlist slots per product, and each shortlisted product having been reviewed in full by the Pocket-lint team, these devices represent the very best of the tech world.
So, let’s check out the shortlist for the Best Gaming and VR Device 2023:
To read our up-to-date reviews on each device, do click on the links above, but if you’d like a quicker summary of what led us to pick this shortlist, we’ve also got some quick verdicts for you down below, giving each one its flowers in turn.
ASUS ROG Ally
If the Steam Deck opened the door to a whole new set of possibilities for PC gaming, ASUS deserves immense credit for how quickly it sprinted through that door with the ROG Ally, a superb PC gaming handheld that outdoes the Steam Deck in a few ways.
It’s more powerful and has a lovely high-resolution screen, while the fact that it runs Windows means that its compatibility is through the roof (even if it’s a little more fiddly as a result). This is a landmark handheld.
It took quite a long time coming, but the Meta Quest 3 was worth the wait – a VR headset that feels like a meaningful step forward thanks to massive improvements in passthrough video. You can now see and interact with the world around you in full colour, making this a VR headset that is also very much about augmented reality.
It’s also as comfortable and lightweight a headset as we’ve tried, and it looks like we can keep expecting massive improvements between headset generations from Meta.
Nintendo Switch OLED
The Switch might be in its twilight years after launching all the way back in 2017 but you’d barely know it after the 2023 it’s had, with Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder bookending a simply brilliant run of releases.
While this could be its last year as Nintendo’s flagship console, it’s still the best possible purchase for gamers with young kids, and has a jaw-dropping roster of exclusive games that puts it in the running to be the best console ever – and the OLED version is by far its best hardware option.
Sony PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 is settling into its position as the top dog in this console generation so far, with brilliant games coming out all the time and every multiplatform release holding its own on the hardware.
With really quick responsive menus and access to every media app you could care to name, this is a one-stop shop of a console, but it’s the latest games like Spider-Man 2 that really confirm Sony’s lead over Microsoft right now.
Sony PlayStation VR2
Pocket-lint
Sony’s commitment to VR remains impressive, and its second-generation VR headset for the PS5 has been some time coming, finally arriving at the start of this year.
It’s a brilliant bit of kit, too, with incredibly refined controllers that make gameplay a joy, and a headset with brilliant resolution and field-of-view upgrades. It’s comfortable and easy to set up, meaning that it’s now over to developers to give it a proper library of excellent games.
Xbox Series X
While we might think the PS5 is edging things right now, there’s no denying the continued power of the Xbox Series X, which has had some welcome software updates this year to make its menus easier to navigate, as well as the strong year of games that it really needed.
Starfield and Forza Motorsport have filled the big budget gap that Xbox had allowed to open up, bringing in millions of players and showcasing what this superb bit of hardware is capable of.
How the EE Pocket-lint Awards judging works
The winner for the Best Gaming & VR Device category is decided by the Pocket-lint team, along with a panel of expert judges from publications across the industry. Following a rigorous scoring process, the Best Gaming & VR Device winner for 2023 will be announced at an in-person event on 9 November 2023, along with the winners from the other 20 categories.
A Product of the Year winner will also be announced, chosen from the winners of the 21 categories. On the night, we will be announcing the results on the Pocket-lint Twitter handle as they unfold and there will also be a feature detailing the winners once the Awards are over.
