Acer unveils entry into handheld PC gaming market
Acer introduces its first handheld gaming PC Nitro Blaze 7 at the IFA tech expo in Berlin, Germany on Sept.4, 2024. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News
BERLIN, Germany – Acer unveiled the Nitro Blaze 7 handheld PC gaming device along with other new gadgets at the company’s event ahead of the IFA (Innovation for All) 2024 tech expo in Berlin.
First popularized by the Steam Deck IN 2021, the handheld PC gaming market has exploded in the past few years, with several PC vendors releasing their own models. Unlike gaming phones or consoles such as the Nintendo Switch or PlayStation Portal, these are essentially PCs that can run graphics-intensive games that require powerful processors and graphics cards.
Acer said its Nitro Blaze 7 features an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, with Ryzen AI that optimizes performance and responsiveness across a wide range of games and applications.
“It leverages AMD Radeon 780M graphics, and Radeon Super Resolution in the panel for real-time graphical upscaling and lag-free experiences,” Acer said.
It also has a 7-inch Full HD IPS display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and a touch interface. The Nitro Blaze 7 runs on Windows 11 and features the new Acer Game Space application which supports the addition of games from multiple platforms, the company said.
The Nitro Blaze 7 can be configured with up to 2 TB of M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD and 16 GB LPDDR5x memory at 7500 MT/s for higher data transfer rates and bandwidth, Acer said. It also has 2 x USB4 Type-C ports, an audio jack, two 1-watt speakers, and a Micro SD Card slot. Hardcore gamers will also be glad to know that it has Hall effect triggers.
“It is also fully compatible with mainstream gaming platforms and includes 3 months of PC Game Pass for access to hundreds of high-quality PC games,” the Taiwanese tech giant added.
Aside from Acer, gaming brand MSI introduced its Claw handheld gaming PC, which it claims to be the first such device to use Intel’s just announced Core Ultra Series 2 processors.
Other PC vendors such as Asus and Lenovo released their own handheld gaming PCs earlier this year. A retailer in the Philippines lists the cheapest and most low-spec’d handheld PC at P21,795 while the highest-end device available was at P56,995.
Acer has yet to announce availability and pricing in the Philippines for the Nitro Blaze 7 but is expected to compete with other devices in terms of price.
IFA 2024 runs from Sept. 6 to 10.
