Acer Unveils Giant 11-Inch Nitro Blaze Gaming Handheld at CES 2025
Acer has unveiled its largest gaming handheld to date, the Nitro Blaze 11, alongside its smaller sibling, the Nitro Blaze 8, at CES 2025. This behemoth boasts a massive 10.95-inch display, redefining the concept of portable gaming.
Both the Nitro Blaze 8 and 11 share impressive specifications: WQXGA touch displays with up to 144Hz refresh rates, an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor paired with an AMD Radeon 780M GPU, 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and a substantial 2TB SSD. Acer promises "cutting-edge performance and versatile features" alongside "immersive visuals." Buyers also receive a three-month PC Game Pass subscription. The key difference lies solely in screen size; the Blaze 8 features an 8.8-inch display.
However, the Blaze 11's substantial 1050g weight might prove cumbersome for some. This contrasts sharply with lighter competitors like the Steam Deck (approx. 640g) and Nintendo Switch (approx. 297g). While the Blaze 8, at 720g, is heavier than the Switch, it's more comparable to other PC handhelds such as the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally.
All three devices (including the Nitro Mobile Gaming Controller at $69.99) will be available in Q2 2025, priced at $1099 for the Blaze 11 and $899 for the Blaze 8.
Interestingly, while the Nitro Blaze series utilizes the powerful AMD Ryzen 7 chipset, it missed the opportunity to incorporate AMD's newer Ryzen Z2 processors designed for gaming handhelds. Although AMD's promotional materials initially suggested future iterations of devices like the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, and Asus ROG Ally would feature the Z2, Valve swiftly clarified that a "Z2 Steam Deck is not happening." Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais stated on Bluesky that the promotional slide likely represented the processor line's general applicability to handhelds, not specific device announcements. However, this doesn't rule out a future Steam Deck 2, although Valve indicates it requires a significant, next-generation upgrade before its release.
