Acer Unveils Giant 11-Inch Nitro Blaze Handheld at CES 2025
Acer redefined "portable gaming" at CES 2025 with the Nitro Blaze 11, a colossal 10.95-inch handheld gaming powerhouse. Joining it is the smaller Nitro Blaze 8, and the Nitro Mobile Gaming Controller.
Both Blaze models boast impressive specs: WQXGA touch displays (up to 144Hz), an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, AMD Radeon 780M GPU, 16GB LPDDR5x RAM, and a 2TB SSD. Acer promises cutting-edge performance, immersive visuals, and three months of free PC Game Pass. The key difference? Screen size – the Blaze 8 features an 8.8-inch display.
However, the Blaze 11's substantial 1050g weight is a significant consideration. This contrasts sharply with the Steam Deck OLED (approx. 640g) and Nintendo Switch (approx. 297g). The Blaze 8, at 720g, is more comparable to competitors like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally.
All three devices launch in Q2 2025, priced at $1099 (Blaze 11), $899 (Blaze 8), and $69.99 (controller).
No Z2 Steam Deck 2, Says Valve
While the Nitro Blaze series utilizes the powerful AMD Ryzen 7 chipset, it missed out on AMD's latest Ryzen Z2 processors designed for handhelds. AMD's promotional materials initially suggested future iterations of devices like the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, and Asus ROG Ally would incorporate this technology.
However, Valve definitively stated there are no plans for a Z2 Steam Deck. Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais clarified on Bluesky that the promotional slide was likely a general representation of the Z2's target market, not a specific product announcement.
This doesn't rule out a future Steam Deck 2, but Valve emphasizes it requires a substantial, next-generation upgrade before such a release.
