Acer unveiled two new gaming handhelds at CES 2025. The company clearly believes that bigger always means better, as it is pushing the physical limits of gaming handhelds with an enormous 10.95-inch display.
Named the Nitro Blaze 11, the device comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor — a CPU originally designed for laptops — with a built-in AMD Radeon 780M graphics unit. It has 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and can be configured with up to 2TB of internal storage.
But what makes this device truly special is its size. It weighs more than 1kg (2.3 pounds) — it’s not only as big as the 11-inch iPad Air, it’s as heavy as two iPad Airs stacked together.
Fortunately, the controllers on the sides of the device are detachable, like on the Nintendo Switch or the Lenovo Legion Go. You then get a tablet with an external controller, which seems like a more reasonable setup.
This gaming handheld runs Windows 11 along with Acer’s own gaming hub, and packs a 55Wh battery. There are two USB-C ports (including one with USB 4 support), a USB Type-A port and a microSD slot. The screen supports resolutions up to 2560×1600 with a 120Hz refresh rate.
Acer is also releasing a more reasonably sized gaming handheld, the Nitro Blaze 8, with an 8.8-inch 144Hz display. Other than the size of the device, technical specifications are identical for this smaller handheld, but the controllers can’t be detached on this one.
Both devices will be available at some point during the second quarter of 2025 for $1,099 (Nitro Blaze 11) and $899 (Nitro Blaze 8).
