At this point it is unusual for a major technology industry event to happen. without a new handful of handheld devices, and while the Nintendo Switch 2 may still be just a twinkle in Nintendo’s eye, the PC gaming handheld market is booming.
The latest company to jump on this particular gravy train is Acer, which is bringing its budget Nitro gaming brand to the forefront with the new Nitro Blaze 8 and Nitro Blaze 11, officially unveiled at CES 2025 this week. Acer is a little late to the laptop PC party, with Valve’s Steam Deck apparently starting in 2022 and other manufacturers already entering their second generation, like Lenovo with the Lenovo Legion Go S, which was also revealed at this year’s CES. anus.
I’ve been holding out hope that Acer will enter the laptop hall of fame for a while now, partly just because I like Acer hardware; I’ve long been a fan of the Swift line of laptops, and the Predator and Nitro gaming brands have a good track record when it comes to offering solid performance at reasonable prices. But after seeing what Acer showed at CES, I’m not entirely convinced…
A portable monster
Now, we already knew Acer had a handheld in the works, but that was the Nitro Blaze 8; The Blaze 11 was a surprise at CES. The Blaze 8 (which, frankly, should be called Blaze 9 since it has an 8.8-inch screen) looks like Acer’s take on the traditional gaming laptop formula, with specs that are very similar to competitors like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG. Ally
But Blaze 11? It has a huge 10.95-inch 1600p screen and will set you back $1,099 (around £1,000 / AU$1,740), a steep entry price for a product in a market where the $500 mark seems to be the sweet spot.
An 11-inch screen on a handheld is, frankly, a little crazy. Just look at that press photo at the top – does it really look comfortable to wear? How much does it weigh in your hands? Going from something like the Steam Deck or the featherweight Switch Lite to this beefy boy will certainly require some adjustments. And despite its huge screen, the Nitro Blaze 11 only includes a 55Wh battery (possibly to keep the overall weight down a bit), compared to the ROG Ally X’s 80Wh battery.
How big is too big?
11 inches is…pretty big. (You’re in the back, stop laughing). That’s almost the size of the screen of the laptop I’m writing this review on (a 13-inch HP Specter x360), and I don’t have to physically grab it on both sides to use it. he.
I’ll say this in Acer’s defense: like the Nintendo Switch or Lenovo Legion Go, the Blaze 11 has removable controllers (which I’ll refrain from calling “joy-cons”) that sit on either side of the main unit, which in turn It has a kickstand that allows you to use it as a sort of portable gaming screen. While this is a feature I’ve largely despised in the past (I’ve literally never used my own first-gen Switch in this configuration), I admit that it makes more sense with a larger screen. As seen in Acer’s promotional images, the Blaze 11 also comes with a separate connector that can transform those two drawbacks (sorry) into a singular gamepad for a better experience.
Still, with such a large screen and such a high price, I have to seriously question the practicality of the Blaze 11 instead of just buying a traditional gaming laptop. I’ll reserve all judgment until I can properly review this strange and robust device for myself; but now I have to say that this might be the strangest design choice I’ve seen Acer make in a long time.
