When it comes to PC gaming handhelds, there are plenty of options on the market, but Acer is aiming to distinguish itself with its latest offerings: the Nitro Blaze 8 and the Nitro Blaze 11. These devices boast some of the largest screens seen in this category, with the Blaze 8 featuring an 8.8-inch display and the Blaze 11 coming in at 10.95 inches. Both have impressive resolutions of 2560 x 1600, with refresh rates of 144 Hz and 120 Hz, respectively, promising a visually rich gaming experience.
However, with these high-res screens, you’re going to need some serious processing power, especially with AAA games. Acer has equipped both devices with AMD’s Ryzen 7 8840HS CPU, similar to what you’d find in the Asus ROG Ally’s Z1 Extreme chip. You’ll likely find yourself relying on AMD’s upscaling technology to get the most out of your games.
The Nitro Blaze models each come with a 55 Whr battery—more than the original Ally’s 40 Whr and the Steam Deck OLED’s 50 Whr, but falling short of the Ally X’s 80 Whr. They are both packed with 16GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage, featuring touchscreens that reach 500 nits of brightness. Interestingly, Acer highlights the device’s CPUs, which boast 39 total AI TOPS, but don’t expect these handhelds to wow you in terms of frame rates or battery longevity. What they lack in performance, they make up for in screen size, undeniably towering over many competitors.
In terms of design, the Blaze 11 includes removable controllers, making it appear like a larger rendition of Lenovo’s Legion Go, but it’s presumably minus the built-in mouse sensor. The controllers seem to lack specific cursor controls, so you might find yourself navigating through a fair bit of tapping and swiping in the Windows 11 Home OS when not using Acer’s Game Space software.
With all that screen real estate, there’s a compromise on weight. The Nitro Blaze 8 weighs in at a manageable 1.59 pounds, but the Blaze 11 is heftier, tipping the scales at 2.31 pounds. In a brief hands-on experience, the Blaze 11 felt surprisingly manageable compared to how it looked in promotional images, but it’s still not the type of device you’ll casually toss in a bag. It’s more akin to a larger gaming laptop in terms of portability. My biggest worry is the battery life; the high-res, large screen will undoubtedly be power-hungry. That said, it’s primarily a device you’d use at home, keeping your USB-C charger within arm’s reach.
Acer has announced that the Nitro Blaze 8 and Blaze 11 will hit the shelves in the second quarter, with pricing reflecting their sizes: $899 for the 8-inch model and $1,099 for the 11-inch version.
