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

Acer unveiled its largest gaming handheld yet at CES 2025: the Nitro Blaze 11, alongside its smaller sibling, the Nitro Blaze 8. Read on for a closer look at their impressive specs and that massive screen!

Acer's Newest Gaming Handheld: Go Big or Go Home

The Nitro Blaze 11: 11 Inches of Gaming Glory

Acer is redefining "portable" gaming with the Nitro Blaze 11, boasting a massive 10.95-inch display. Showcased alongside the Nitro Blaze 8 and the Nitro Mobile Gaming Controller at CES 2025, this powerhouse promises a truly immersive experience.

Both Blaze models share impressive specs: 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 generous 2TB SSD. This combination delivers cutting-edge performance and versatile features, all wrapped in a portable, foldable design. Plus, buyers receive three months of PC Game Pass—a fantastic bonus! The key difference? Screen size; the Blaze 8 features an 8.8-inch display.

However, the Blaze 11's substantial 1050g weight is worth noting. Compared to the Steam Deck (approx. 640g) and Nintendo Switch (approx. 297g), it's significantly heavier. The Blaze 8, at 720g, is more comparable to other portable PC handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally.

All three devices—the Blaze 11 ($1099 USD), Blaze 8 ($899 USD), and Nitro Mobile Gaming Controller ($69.99 USD)—will be available in Q2 2025.

No Z2 Steam Deck 2, Says Valve

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

However, Valve clarified that a Z2 Steam Deck is not in the works. Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais stated on Bluesky that the promotional slide was a general representation of the processor's application to gaming handhelds, not a specific announcement.

This doesn't rule out a Steam Deck 2 entirely; Valve confirms its intention to release a successor, but it will require a substantial, next-generation upgrade before that happens.