The Nitro Blaze handhelds are coming later this year, and one model has detachable controllers.
Hardware maker Acer is stepping up its fight in the handheld gaming space with the launch of two new portables — the Nitro Blaze 8 and Nitro Blaze 11.
This pair of new Windows handhelds (which honestly sound like some sorta energy drink coffee hybrid), revealed at CES in Las Vegas, both sport AMD's popular Ryzen 7 processor, and as the names imply this upcoming portable comes in either an 8 or 11 inch variant (well, 8.8-inch and 10.95 inch to be precise).
Beyond the processor, these new handheld PCs feature up to 16GB of memory, and a max capacity of 2TB of storage — which taken together, should offer up fast load times and plenty of space for the increasingly massive latest AAA titles.
Wi-FI 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 are the connectivity notes of interest.
Oh, and what's a handheld nowadays without Hall effect sticks? Yeah, these have them too.
However, the 11-inch model of the Nitro Blaze has a neat bonus over its smaller sibling — like the Switch and the Lenovo Go, it features detachable controllers. More of this please!
The 11-inch version (pictured above looking comically large) also has a front-facing camera, meaning you could technically have a face cam on during streaming with this thing maybe.
Acer shared that those who pick up this new portable will get three months of PC Game Pass — which is nice if you fancy playing some Indy on the go.
It's early days, but these handhelds look to be another premium option for portable PC play that can likely stand alongside the likes of the Steam Deck and ROG Ally X.
The new Acer portables will be available in the second quarter of the year, with prices starting at roughly $900 (€999) for the Nitro Blaze 8, and a $1,099 (€1,199) price tag for the Nitro Blaze 11.
ℹ️ Acer Nitro Blaze 8 & Acer Nitro Blaze 11 Specs
| Model | Acer Nitro Blaze 8 | Acer Nitro Blaze 11 |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Home |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS (8-Core, 16-threads, 24 MB cache, up to 5.1 GHz max boost | AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS (8-Core, 16-threads, 24 MB cache, up to 5.1 GHz max boost |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon 780M (Up to 2.7 GHz, AMD RDNA™ 3 12 CUs) | AMD Radeon 780M (Up to 2.7 GHz, AMD RDNA™ 3 12 CUs) |
| Screen | 8.8" WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS Display, 144 Hz, 500 nits, 10-point touch panel, 97% DCI-P3 Color Gamut | 10.95" WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS Display, 120 Hz, 500 nits, 10-point touch panel, 98% DCI-P3 Color Gamut |
| Memory | 16 GB LPDDR5X SDRAM, 7500 MT/s | 16 GB LPDDR5X SDRAM, 7500 MT/s |
| Storage | Up to 2 TB M.2 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD | Up to 2 TB M.2 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD |
| I/O | 1 x USB4 Type-C (40 Gbps), 1 x USB 3.2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.2 Type-A ,Micro SD Card (SDHC) | 1 x USB4 Type-C (40 Gbps), 1 x USB 3.2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.2 Type-A, Micro SD Card (SDHC), |
| Battery | 55 Wh Li-Polymer battery | 55 Wh Li-Polymer battery |
| Dimensions | 30.5 (W) x 13.4 (D) x 2.2 (H) cm | 36.4 (W) x 17.1 (D) x 1.59 (H) cm |
| Weight | 720 g | 1050 g |
What do you think? Are the Nitro Blaze 8 and 11 now on your gaming radar?
