Acer's Massive 11-Inch Handheld Exposed at CES 2025

Acer's Nitro Blaze 11 and its smaller sibling, the Nitro Blaze 8, debuted at CES 2025, marking Acer's entry into the large-screen handheld gaming market. Let's delve into the specs and impressive screen size of this giant gaming device.

The Nitro Blaze 11: An 11-Inch Gaming Beast

Acer redefines "portable" with the Nitro Blaze 11, boasting a substantial 10.95-inch display. Showcased alongside the Nitro Blaze 8 and the Nitro Mobile Gaming Controller, the Blaze series shares impressive hardware: WQXGA touchscreens (up to 144Hz refresh rate), an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor paired with an AMD Radeon 780M GPU, 16GB LPDDR5x RAM, and a generous 2TB SSD. This powerful combination promises cutting-edge performance, immersive visuals, and versatile features in a foldable, portable package. Buyers also receive a three-month PC Game Pass subscription. The key difference between the Blaze 8 and Blaze 11 is simply screen size; the Blaze 8 features an 8.8-inch display.

However, the Blaze 11's large screen comes at a cost – it weighs a hefty 1050g. This is significantly heavier than competitors like the Steam Deck (approx. 640g) and Nintendo Switch (approx. 297g). The Blaze 8, at 720g, is still substantial but more in line with other portable PC handhelds such as the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally.

All three devices (Blaze 11, Blaze 8, and the controller) will launch in Q2 2025, priced at $1099 USD, $899 USD, and $69.99 USD respectively.

No Z2 Steam Deck 2, Confirms Valve

While the Nitro Blaze series utilizes the powerful AMD Ryzen 7 chipset, it missed the opportunity to incorporate AMD's latest Ryzen Z2 processors, designed for high-performance handheld gaming. AMD's promotional materials initially suggested future iterations of handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go, Asus ROG Ally, and Steam Deck would feature these chips.

However, Valve, the creator of the Steam Deck, definitively stated that a "Z2 Steam Deck" is not in development. Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais clarified on Bluesky that the promotional slide likely represented the Z2's general applicability to handheld gaming, not a specific product announcement.

This doesn't rule out a Steam Deck 2; Valve intends to release a successor, but only when a significant, next-generation upgrade warrants it.