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. Let's dive into the specs and impressive screen size.

The Nitro Blaze 11: An 11-Inch Beast

Acer redefines "portable" with the Nitro Blaze 11, boasting a substantial 10.95-inch display. Unveiled alongside the Nitro Blaze 8 and the Nitro Mobile Gaming Controller, the Blaze series shares impressive hardware: WQXGA touchscreens (up to 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. This powerful combination promises cutting-edge performance, immersive visuals, and versatile features in a portable, foldable form factor. Buyers also receive a three-month PC Game Pass subscription. The key difference between the Blaze 8 and Blaze 11 lies solely in screen size; the Blaze 8 features an 8.8-inch display.

However, the Blaze 11's considerable size comes at a cost: it weighs a hefty 1050g. This is significantly heavier than popular handhelds like the Steam Deck (approx. 640g) and Nintendo Switch (approx. 297g). The Blaze 8, while still heavy at 720g, is more comparable to other PC handhelds such as the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally.

All three devices launch in Q2 2025, priced at $1099 USD for the Blaze 11, $899 USD for the Blaze 8, and $69.99 USD for the Nitro Mobile Gaming Controller.

No Z2 Steam Deck 2, Confirms Valve

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. This new line is expected to power the next generation of these increasingly popular devices. AMD's promotional materials featured the Lenovo Legion Go, Asus ROG Ally, and Steam Deck, suggesting future iterations might use the Z2 chips.

However, Valve, the creator of the Steam Deck, has explicitly stated that "There is and will be no Z2 Steam Deck." Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais clarified on Bluesky that a previously circulated slide depicting a Z2-powered Steam Deck was inaccurate, likely intended to represent the processor's general applicability to gaming handhelds.

This doesn't rule out a Steam Deck 2; Valve confirms its development but emphasizes that a substantial, next-generation upgrade is required before its release.