The New Steam Deck Alternative From Acer Is Comically Massive

The handheld video gaming room has observed numerous interesting launches because the Heavy steam Deck ruptured onto the scene in 2022 The latest contender to make its visibility felt in the section– and one that is right here to make a huge declaration– is the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 This behemoth of a pc gaming console obtains a laptop-sized 11 -inch display screen and weighs a little over a kilo, overshadowing its rivals in dimension, weight, and large audacity. While the saying “larger is constantly better” is normally real, is that truly the situation when the device concerned is a portable gaming console?

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The Acer Nitro Blaze 11 is not the very first portable from the Taiwanese computer manufacturer. Previously in 2024, the firm came up with the much smaller and sanely sized Nitro Blaze 7 While that product is yet to officially reach the consumer’s hands, Acer has made use of CES 2025 to add a mid-tier 8 -inch offering (Acer Nitro Blaze 8 and the top-of-the-line Acer Nitro Blaze 11 designs to its lineup of portable consoles.

Measuring 10 95 inches throughout, the IPS LCD panel used on the Nitro Blaze 11 is just one of the largest to be included on a portable gaming console. This is apparent when comparing it with competitors, like the Vapor Deck, which just has a 7 4 -inch display. At a tremendous 1050 grams, it’s nearly as heavy as a little laptop computer. For context, rivals like the Vapor Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go all float listed below the 700 -gram mark. Even the Nitro Blaze 8, at 720 grams, feels lightweight by comparison.

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Regardless of being literally bigger than its 7 -inch and 8 -inch siblings, the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 obtains the same equipment specifications. The Windows 11 -powered maker obtains the AMD Ryzen 7 8840 HS processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, providing to 24 MB cache and up to 5 1 GHz max boost. There’s a scattering of AI as well with AMD’s Ryzen AI suite, with the ability of going up to 39 AI TOPS. For graphics, the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 obtains the AMD Radeon 780 M GPU that clocks up to 2 7 GHz.

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Keeping pc gaming demands in mind, the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 ships with 16 GB LPDDR 5 X SDRAM and leaves to 2 TB of storage making use of M. 2 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD. The device is additionally well outfitted on the connection front thanks to twin USB-C ports (one of which is USB 4 certified). Remarkably, Acer has actually also tossed a legacy USB Type-A port into the mix alongside a microSD card port. Wireless connection features include full-fledged assistance for Wi-Fi 6 E and Bluetooth 5 3 For sound, the Nitro Blaze 11 obtains a microphone port and a 3 5 mm sound jack. The controllers that decorate both sides of the Nitro Blaze 11 are detachable and play a part in contributing to its general size.

Powering all the hardware is a 55 Wh Li-Polymer battery, which, strangely, is the same ability as the much smaller sized 8 -inch model. Acer, perhaps realizing that the larger display screen on the gadget will lead to higher battery consumption, consists of a 100 W battery charger with the tool, rather than a smaller sized 64 W battery charger that includes the 8 -inch version.

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Acer says that it means to bring the Acer Nitro Blaze 8 and Nitro Blaze 11 handhelds to the North American market by the second quarter of 2025 Rates for the 8 -inch variant will start at $ 899, while the Nitro Blaze 11 will certainly be a great deal more costly at $ 1099 These rates make the gadget considerably costlier than a lot of the competitors.

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For contrast, rates for the entry-level 256 GB Vapor Deck LCD begin at $ 349, rising to $ 649 for the OLED version. The Asus ROG Ally begins at $ 499, rising to $ 799 for the latest 2024 ROG Ally X. After that there is the Lenovo Legion GO, which starts at $ 699 It do without stating that Acer really thinks possible customers would certainly incline spending a couple of additional dollars for the larger display. To sweeten the deal, Acer will certainly offer customers 3 months of computer Game Pass, giving them priority access to titles like “Phone call of Obligation: Black Ops 6,” “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle,” “Ara: History Untold,” and video games from EA Play.

So, is the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 the best portable pc gaming console? For some, its enormous screen and top-tier specifications will be a dream become a reality. For others, its sheer dimension, weight, and costs rates could be a dealbreaker. In either case, Acer’s most recent development has actually made one clear: In the world of portable gaming, going big is most definitely a choice.

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