In today’s crowded handheld market, Acer is looking to make a splash with its new entries: the Nitro Blaze 8, featuring an impressive 8.8-inch screen, and the Nitro Blaze 11, which sports an even larger 10.95-inch display. These devices boast some of the largest screens seen in portable gaming so far. Both come with a high-level resolution of 2560 x 1600, matched with refresh rates of 144 Hz for the smaller model and 120 Hz for its larger sibling. This sets the stage for quite an immersive visual experience with plenty of pixels in play.
Now, if you’re wondering about the prowess of these gadgets to handle AAA games, the high-resolution and high-refresh IPS screens will undeniably push the boundaries of current technology. Under the hood, both the Blaze 8 and Blaze 11 have AMD’s Ryzen 7 8840HS CPU, echoing the same 780M GPU features found in Asus’ ROG Ally’s Z1 Extreme chip. This suggests gamers will need to utilize AMD’s upscaling to get the most out of these devices.
In terms of power, Acer has equipped both models with a 55 Whr battery. While that’s a bump up from the original Ally’s 40 Whr and Steam Deck OLED’s 50 Whr, it still falls short next to the Ally X’s 80 Whr. Both devices support up to 16GB of RAM and offer storage options up to 2TB. The touchscreens, setting themselves apart with 500 nits of brightness, should handle various lighting conditions fairly well. Interestingly, Acer points out the CPUs’ 39 total AI TOPS, though their exact impact on performance isn’t clear. Setting performance expectations aside, these gadgets do make their mark by sheer size alone.
Taking a closer look at the Blaze 11, it’s worth noting it comes with detachable controllers, making it a direct large-scale competitor to Lenovo’s Legion Go—minus the built-in mouse sensor. The absence of dedicated cursor controls means users will be doing a fair amount of screen tapping and swiping when navigating Windows 11 Home OS outside the specialized Acer Game Space.
Weighing in at a fairly light 1.59 pounds, the Nitro Blaze 8 is convenient. However, the Blaze 11 packs a little more heft at 2.31 pounds, which might make it less portable than one might hope. A brief hands-on revealed that while the Blaze 11 isn’t as cumbersome as it may appear in marketing images, it’s certainly not pocket-sized, akin to the dilemma with larger gaming laptops. My main worry, however, is the battery life; that expansive, high-res screen is likely to consume power rapidly. Still, for home use lounging scenarios, you won’t be too far from your charger, making it less of an issue.
Coming in Q2, Acer’s Nitro Blaze models are priced in line with their size, starting at $899 for the 8-inch version and $1,099 for the 11-inch model. Whether they can truly stand out in the gaming crowd will depend on how much value gamers place on that extra screen real estate.
