Acer joins in with its Handheld gaming device called Nitro Blaze to compete with ROG and Steam Deck!

Acer has announced its first handheld gaming PC, the Nitro Blaze, entering a market dominated by Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally.

Acer has announced its first handheld gaming PC, the Nitro Blaze, entering a market dominated by Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally. The Nitro Blaze features a 7-inch 1080p variable refresh rate IPS screen, refreshing at 144Hz, and houses a Ryzen 7 8840HS chip with Radeon 780M integrated GPU. With 16GB of memory, 50Wh battery, and up to 2TB SSD storage, the Nitro Blaze is a step ahead of the original Asus ROG Ally. However, it lags behind the $800 Asus ROG Ally X, which boasts 24GB of memory and an 80Wh pack. To compete, the Acer Nitro Blaze may need to be priced lower.

The device has no touchpads or back buttons but features two USB4 ports, including one on the bottom, allowing for flexible charging and docking options. Dedicated keys include mode switch buttons and a virtual keyboard key. Notably, Acer did not partner with Microsoft for this device, so significant UI improvements for Windows handheld gaming PCs are unlikely. The Nitro Blaze’s design and features position it between the Asus ROG Ally and ROG Ally X. Its success will depend on pricing, as it faces stiff competition in the handheld gaming PC market.