Shortly after Valve’s Steam Deck turned handheld gaming PCs mainstream, competitors followed units of their own. Notable SKUs came from ASUS, Lenovo, AYANEO, MSI, GPD, Zotac and more. Acer, on the other hand, seems to be the odd one out with no system to speak of. The manufacturer was probably holding off until IFA 2024 for the debut of the Nitro Blaze 7!
Now that that cat’s out of the bag, another Taiwanese company is ready to take on the highly successful Steam Deck. With only a minor hardware refresh in the form of the Steam Deck OLED, the platform remains a global bestseller. Even with more powerful options in its category, most gamers still choose it over rival brands.
Some might consider Acer’s entry into the segment a little late, but its spec sheet makes the Nitro Blaze 7 another attractive alternative. The form factor is nothing to write home about, yet many journalists claim it feels surprisingly ergonomic courtesy of the grips.
Meanwhile, the slightly angular corners remind us of Lenovo’s Legion Go, but there are enough distinct aesthetic elements to easily tell one apart from the other. The Nitro Blaze 7 measures approximately 10.1″ x 4.5″ x 0.9″ and tips the scales at around 1.5 lbs.
Acer Nitro Blaze 7 Specifications
A 7″ 1080p IPS touchscreen rated at 500-nits peak brightness on top of a buttery-smooth 144 Hz refresh rate should equate to stunning visuals. Instead of Intel’s Core Ultra chipset or AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme, Acer wants the handheld device ready for advanced AI support.
Therefore, we have a Ryzen 7 8840HS silicon with Radeon 780M integrated graphics. The processor also has 16 GB of LPDDRTx SDRAM to work with and up to 2 TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD for internal storage. The Nitro Blaze 7 the standard Xbox controller button layout with offset analog sticks.
Near the bottom edge are two forward-firing stereo speakers. Cooling vents adorn the top and rear of its black enclosure. Acer confirms hall shoulder effect triggers, but oddly does not include the analog sticks. Another strange decision was to arm the Nitro Blaze 7 with only a 50 Whr battery.
Discover More
Images courtesy of Acer
