Here we go again. Another vendor has decided to make their own PC gaming handheld and this time it's Acer with the Nitro Blaze 7.
It is once again using Windows, as most vendors shy away from Linux still apart from Valve with the SteamOS-powered Steam Deck and OrangePi Neo with Manjaro. And again, it's another hardware vendor attempting to deal with the mess that is Windows with their own "Acer Game Space app".
With an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, AMD Radeon 780M Graphics and a 1080p 144 Hz refresh rate FreeSync IPS touch panel it sounds like a pretty nice unit overall. However with no trackpads and no back buttons, I imagine plenty will be writing it off for something else already.
Specifications:
|
Product Name |
Acer Nitro Blaze 7 |
|
Model |
GN771 |
|
Operating System |
Windows 11 Home |
|
Processors |
AMD Ryzen™ 7 8840HS (8-Core, 16-threads, 24 MB cache, up to 5.1 GHz max boost) AMD Ryzen AI, Supports up to total 38 AI TOPS |
|
Graphics |
AMD Radeon™ 780M (Up to 2.7 GHz, AMD RDNA™ 3 12 CUs) |
|
Screen |
7" Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Display, 144 Hz, 500 nits, 10-point touch panel, 7 ms response time, 100% sRGB, AMD FreeSync™ Premium |
|
Memory |
16GB LPDDR5x SDRAM, 7500 MT/s (onboard) |
|
Storage |
Up to 2 TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 x4 Gen 4 SSD |
|
I/O Ports |
2 x USB4® (Type-C 40 Gbps), Micro SD Card (SD 4.0) |
|
Control and Input |
A B X Y buttons, D-Pad, LB/RB Bumpers, LS/RS Sticks, LT/RT Hall effect triggers, Power button with fingerprint reader, volume button, view button, menu button, Acer Game Space button, Pop-up keyboard button, Acer quick menu button, Mode switch button, |
|
Audio |
Speaker: 2 x 1W Microphone: 2 x D-Mic Audio Jack: 3.5 mm CTIA |
|
Battery, Battery life |
50.04 Wh Li-Polymer battery |
|
Power Supply |
65 W Type-C AC Adapter |
|
WLAN and Bluetooth |
Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 |
|
Software |
Acer Game Space, PC Game Pass (3 months) |
|
Dimensions |
25.6 (W) x 11.35 (D) x 2.25 (H) cm |
|
Weight |
670 g |
Note: their official press release says 39 AI TOPS, but AMD's own specifications for the processor say 38 AI TOPS as does Acer's product page. So I assume Acer had an error in the press release specifications.
There's no price, region availability or release date being shared just yet. They're jumping into a still quite small market against the Steam Deck LCD and Steam Deck OLED, ASUS ROG Ally and Ally X, Lenovo Legion Go, ZOTAC Zone, various devices from AYANEO, GPD and others I've forgotten. It's a crowded market already.
Apart from being just another handheld, I'm not really seeing anything to make it properly stand out. It's going to need a seriously competitive price considering the competition.
The question is: how long will it be from release to Linux working on it? We have many great Linux distributions designed for handhelds now including Bazzite, ChimeraOS, HoloISO and the latest SteamFork.
Direct Link
A shame.
Last edited by Bumadar on 4 September 2024 at 2:46 pm UTC
There's no price, region availability or release date being shared just yet.But it will have a crappy UI. That's a given.
Am not saying that as a linux fanboy either, I wouldn't recommend a desktop distro either.
Valve spent all that time and effort on the deck UI for a reason!
!TO MAKE IT USABLE AND EASY!
TheRiddick Sep 4
Windows is going to continue to get worse and worse for handhelds as they keep introducing more 'services' to the payload, especially Microsofts big shift to everything 'online' AI assistance stuff.
Last edited by TheRiddick on 4 September 2024 at 3:10 pm UTC
pleasereadthemanual Sep 4
It is once again using WindowsAnd I have already stopped caring.
the Nitro will have better performance but at the cost of battery life and at that price I'd rather just get a laptop or a deck, and that's not even talking about the ecosystem.
- Windows and the “I hate that type of d-pad” type d-pad. Don't want that.
- It looks like an Acer device. Don't want that either.
Mohandevir Sep 4
This said, when fully supported by a Linux handheld distro... I'm so fed up with Asus, I would give it a shot first, but I'll wait for the Steam Deck 2.
Mohandevir Sep 4
I don't trust Acer. I recently bought an Acer laptop for some reason and was reminded of why I don't trust Acer.
Not really surprised... It should be a matter of time before DELL joins the fray with an Alienware handheld... But the price?!
If device is designed on quite standard PC parts - Win11 will be supported by Microsoft for many, many years.
There is no commercial Linux distribution for handholds with support for many years (except Android)... So the real option for them is just Windows...
Maybe, perhaps someone from IBM/Red Hat should consider create Linux distribution for handholds with long commercial support?
Well My honest opinion. I don't trust Acer. Windows 11? No interest from me for now. Only Linux matters so when it supports Linux I can consider it.
What's a nitro blaze? Sounds like a fart after curry...It's when your weed makes you laugh.
Mountain Man Sep 4
It remains a shame that even after the success of the steam deck and proton and steam os the big vendors still keep going back to windows 11. As long as that keeps happening Linux will never really take off. But I guess they rather pay MS a fee for the licence and hire some programmers for another custom app. Money much better spend on steam os and the Linux kernel.The problem is that the big vendors have contracts with Microsoft that give them a discount on Microsoft products in exchange for installing Windows and related malware on every PC they sell. If Acer were to ship this Nitro Blaze thing with an alternate operating system, they would likely be in breach of contract and facing a lawsuit from a ruthless company with deep pockets and well-paid lawyers. At the same time, Valve has proven that the portable PC gaming market is too profitable to ignore, and so we end up with handheld PCs with Windows installed despite it being the least suitable operating system for the purpose.
A shame.
While is being managed better than Steam Machines, Deck could sell A LOT more by making it available everywhere.
It remains a shame that even after the success of the steam deck and proton and steam os the big vendors still keep going back to windows 11. As long as that keeps happening Linux will never really take off. But I guess they rather pay MS a fee for the licence and hire some programmers for another custom app. Money much better spend on steam os and the Linux kernel.The problem is that the big vendors have contracts with Microsoft that give them a discount on Microsoft products in exchange for installing Windows and related malware on every PC they sell. If Acer were to ship this Nitro Blaze thing with an alternate operating system, they would likely be in breach of contract and facing a lawsuit from a ruthless company with deep pockets and well-paid lawyers. At the same time, Valve has proven that the portable PC gaming market is too profitable to ignore, and so we end up with handheld PCs with Windows installed despite it being the least suitable operating system for the purpose.
A shame.
Sadly, there's no way out of this... or there could be?
TheRiddick Sep 5
Deck in a lot of countries
Just AU/NZ and warzones at this point, lol
sony, nintendo, microsoft and others spend their time showing the games you could play on their platform, it was exciting in many cases...
then the pc gaming space? specs, specs and more specs, what a boring presentation.
and more likely, Playstation but... with an open platform like steamdeck unlike their consoles, it wouldnt be the first time , they tried to make something like that with the OtherOS on Playstation3 , and Linux Support on PS2, so... who knows? maybe they finally decide to fight against microsoft in their homeland?
It remains a shame that even after the success of the steam deck and proton and steam os the big vendors still keep going back to windows 11. As long as that keeps happening Linux will never really take off. But I guess they rather pay MS a fee for the licence and hire some programmers for another custom app. Money much better spend on steam os and the Linux kernel.The problem is that the big vendors have contracts with Microsoft that give them a discount on Microsoft products in exchange for installing Windows and related malware on every PC they sell. If Acer were to ship this Nitro Blaze thing with an alternate operating system, they would likely be in breach of contract and facing a lawsuit from a ruthless company with deep pockets and well-paid lawyers. At the same time, Valve has proven that the portable PC gaming market is too profitable to ignore, and so we end up with handheld PCs with Windows installed despite it being the least suitable operating system for the purpose.
A shame.
i dont think microsoft will sue then, they will charge then more on every other device, wich means they would have to be crazy to challenge microsoft.
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