Key Takeaways
- A new PC gaming handheld is on the horizon, and comes from an unlikely source.
- Zotac’s Zone will feature a Ryzen 7 processor, 16GB RAM, and 512GB storage – poised to rival others on the market.
- While not official, there are already concerns about the battery life based on its leaked specs.
It’s hard not to get excited about a new PC gaming handhelds in 2024. While it all first started with Valve’s Steam Deck, many companies have since stepped up to the plate to deliver their own offerings. As we wait for new devices from the likes of Lenovo and Asus, an unlikely source has now made an announcement that it will bring a new gaming handheld to market soon.
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The brand in question is Zotac, which is known for its mini PCs and graphics cards. The company has teased through its social media a new gaming handheld, which will apparently be announced sometime during Computex. Luckily, we won’t have to wait too long to get the official details as the event is set to start on June 4 and will run through June 7.
Something is coming, but will it be enough?
Better still, it looks like we won’t even have to wait that long as news outlet VideoCardz has managed to gain exclusive information about the upcoming console, sharing the details about its specifications. As far as what’s known, the upcoming handheld will be called “Zone” and will be powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor.
In addition, it will reportedly have a 7-inch 120Hz AMOLED 1080p display with a peak brightness of 800 nits. As far as other important bits, the console will come with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of internal SSD storage. Apparently, the console will make use of an M.2 2280 SSD, which should make upgrading the console much simpler when compared to console’s using M.2 2230 SSDs.
For the most part, the rest of the device looks like pretty standard fare for a Windows PC gaming handheld, with hell effect joysticks and triggers, microSD card slot, and USB4 ports. One part that was highlighted by the publication was the device’s 48.5Wh battery, which is a little larger than what comes in the current Asus ROG Ally.
We mention this because a huge complaint about that device has been with regard to its battery life. And by the looks of it, the upcoming Zotac Zone could be making the same mistake. Of course, there could be optimizations in play here that we have yet to hear about, so we will have to wait and see how this upcoming handheld performs.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a price yet, and the final weight is also TBD, since what is being shown at Computex will apparently be a demo version of the unit. Dates could shift, but right now, the Zone is set to arrive sometime in Q3 2024. But let’s hear from you. What do you think about this new handheld and at what price will you be tempted to buy?