Acer Unveils Giant 11-Inch Nitro Blaze Gaming Handheld at CES 2025
Acer has debuted 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 substantial 10.95-inch display, redefining the concept of portable gaming.
Both the Nitro Blaze 11 and 8 share impressive specifications: a WQXGA touch display with a 144Hz refresh rate, an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor paired with an AMD Radeon 780M GPU, 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and a spacious 2TB SSD. Acer promises "cutting-edge performance" and immersive visuals in a portable, foldable form factor. Buyers also receive a complimentary 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 the Steam Deck OLED (approx. 640g) and Nintendo Switch (approx. 297g). While the Blaze 8, at 720g, is heavier than the Switch, it's comparable to other PC handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally.
All three devices (including the Nitro Mobile Gaming Controller at $69.99) are slated for release 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 latest Ryzen Z2 processors designed for gaming handhelds. Although AMD promotional materials initially suggested future iterations of handhelds 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 slide likely represented the processor line's general applicability to gaming handhelds. This doesn't rule out a future Steam Deck 2, but Valve emphasizes it would require a significant, next-generation upgrade.
