Acer's Massive 11-Inch Handheld Exposed at CES 2025

Acer's Nitro Blaze 11 and its smaller sibling, the Nitro Blaze 8, debuted at CES 2025, marking Acer's entry into the large-screen handheld gaming market. This article details their impressive specs and the surprisingly large screen size.

The Nitro Blaze 11: An 11-Inch Gaming Giant

Acer redefines "portable" with the Nitro Blaze 11, boasting a substantial 10.95-inch display. Showcased alongside the Nitro Blaze 8 and the Nitro Mobile Gaming Controller, the Blaze series boasts identical powerful hardware: a WQXGA touchscreen (up to 144Hz), an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor paired with an AMD Radeon 780M GPU, 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and a generous 2TB SSD. This combination promises cutting-edge performance and immersive visuals in a portable, foldable design. Buyers also receive a three-month PC Game Pass subscription. The key difference between the Blaze 8 and Blaze 11 is simply the 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, at 720g, is still heavier than many competitors but comparable to other high-performance portable PCs such as the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally.

All three devices will 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, According to Valve

While the Nitro Blaze series utilizes the potent AMD Ryzen 7 chipset, it missed the opportunity to incorporate AMD's latest Ryzen Z2 processors, designed for high-performance handhelds. AMD's promotional materials included the Lenovo Legion Go, Asus ROG Ally, and Steam Deck, suggesting future iterations might feature these chips.

However, Valve emphatically denied any plans for a "Z2 Steam Deck." Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais clarified on Bluesky that the promotional slide likely represented the Ryzen Z2's broader applicability to handheld gaming, not a specific Steam Deck model.

This doesn't rule out a Steam Deck 2; Valve confirmed its intention to release a successor, but it will require a significant, next-generation upgrade before launch.