Acer has introduced its first Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally competitor, the Acer Nitro Blaze 7. The Verge’s Sean Hollister experiences: Like Asus — however not like most rivals — it includes a seven-inch 1080p variable refresh fee IPS display screen to maintain issues easy, one which refreshes barely quicker at 144Hz. (Acer tells The Verge it is a landscape-native display screen.) It is also acquired a more recent Ryzen 7 8840HS chip, albeit with the identical Radeon 780M built-in GPU as most different Home windows handhelds. With 16GB of 7500 MT/s reminiscence and a 50 watt-hour battery, it is a step forward of the unique Ally’s 6400 MT/s reminiscence and 40Wh pack, and it comes with as much as 2TB price of SSD storage. However with 24GB of reminiscence and an 80Wh pack, the $800 Asus ROG Ally X is presently the Home windows handheld to beat, so I believe this Acer might want to price fairly a bit much less to compete.
The Nitro has no touchpads, however it additionally unusually has no again buttons; most PC handhelds now have at the very least two macro keys round again. However I believe some individuals shall be comfortable that it not solely has two USB4 ports however that considered one of them is on the underside. Hopefully, we’ll get our alternative of whether or not to cost and dock from high or backside with this transportable PC. Acer launched a product launch video on YouTube however hasn’t shared pricing or launch data.
