The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 puts the power of a gaming laptop in your hands
A new PC gaming handheld challenger appears with a laptop processor and AMD FreeSync Premium
đź Acer enters the PC gaming handheld market with the Nitro Blaze 7
âïž Utilizes a AMD Ryzen 8040 laptop processor instead of the Z1 Extreme made for handhelds
đș Features a 7-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS display thatâs 500-nits bright, 144Hz, and supports FreeSync Premium
đ§ Also equipped with 16GB of LPDDR5x 7500 MT/s memory and up to 2TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage
Acer Nitro Blaze 7 is the latest PC gaming handheld challenger to enter the fray â but unlike the Asus ROG Ally X or Lenovo Legion Go itâs not just another AMD Z1 Extreme machine.
Instead this 7-inch handheld comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 8040 Series processor designed for traditional laptops. Before you get too excited, the Ryzen 8040 isnât one of AMDâs newest generation Ryzen AI 300 chips and itâs already been used in other handhelds like the GPD Win Mini.
Still, the AMD Ryzen 8040 should make the Acer Nitro Blaze 7 a potent gaming handheld with its AMD Radeon 780M graphics. Acer promises its gaming handheld will ship with AMD FreeSync Premium to eliminate the stuttering and tearing you see on every other device aside from the Asus ROG Ally X and GDP Win Mini.
The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 also shakes up the handheld game with a much brighter 500-nit IPS display â though Acer has yet to confirm if itâll support HDR gaming. The display also features a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution and 144Hz refresh rate.
Acer has also outfitted its first gaming handheld with 16GB of LPDDR5x 7500 MT/s memory and up to 2TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage. Unfortunately, Acer hasnât confirmed what the base storage capacity for the Nitro Blaze 7 will be just yet. Lastly, this handheld supports slightly faster Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity.
Pricing and availability havenât been announced yet, but we hope itâll arrive soon and be competitive at retail with the $399-$799 gaming handhelds from other major manufacturers.
Kevin Lee is The Shortcutâs Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.