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Yet another gaming handheld launch, right? This time around, Acer is picking up the gaming handheld baton, launching its new Nitro Blaze 7 at IFA 2024.
I had some hands-on time with the Nitro Blaze 7, and I’m quite impressed with what I saw; it could well stake a significant place in the crowded gaming handheld market.
The Nitro Blaze 7 Has Decent Specs
As said, it’s a competitive marketplace, with gaming handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally X, Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, and MSI Claw 8 AI+ (which, incidentally, appeared on ourbest of IFA 2024 list).
Thankfully, Acer hasn’t skimped on the hardware, packing in an impressive array:
What’s key to note here is the AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, which is slightly more powerful than the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme used in most of its direct competitors. It also comes with a dedicated NPU, which will allow the CPU and GPU to hand off some tasks, which should boost performance.
There are also two USB4 ports, one of which is Thunderbolt 4, which should be good for video output to a larger screen.
Good Performance
While on the show floor, I was able to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider for a short period. Acer had turned on the AMD framerate tool to show the FPS and settings. In this case, the Nitro Blaze 7 pulled down a steady 60 FPS at 1080p with medium settings while using AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) set to performance mode.
I thought the screen’s overall fidelity was delightful. It looked crisp and sharp without dropping many frames while playing.
Of course, Acer wasn’t allowing us to run benchmarks on the Acer Nitro Blaze 7 on the IFA 2024 show floor, but the initial signs are promising.
A Not Quite Unique Design
I mean, I’m really not holding this against Acer; gaming handhelds pretty much come in one shape, with some iteration around standard features (except for maybe Tecno’s upcomingPocket Go).
A gaming handheld needs buttons, triggers, a D-Pad, and so on. Given the limitations of the form factor and the average hand size worldwide, there isn’t a great deal of room for innovation. That translates to an all-black plastic device with some red and white accents, which help it stand out a little. The rear chassis is smooth to the touch and has two grills, while there is also a ventilation grill on the bottom of the unit.
The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 looks like it could be a good handheld gaming PC. But with so many competitors, is being good enough?
