If you thought the market for portable consoles that compete with the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, or Lenovo Legion Go couldn’t include a new player, you were mistaken. Acer has just announced the Nitro Blaze 7, its first device in this segment.
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The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 features a fairly conventional design, and its technical specifications are comparable to those of its main rivals. It is clear that the manufacturer has taken a cautious approach in this initial venture into portable gaming devices.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, although it does leave little room for differentiation when compared directly with other devices of this type. Still, it’s a welcome addition to a sector that has seen substantial growth over the past two years and continues to expand.
The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 features a 7-inch IPS touchscreen with 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels), a 144Hz refresh rate, and 500 nits peak brightness. It is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, paired with an AMD Radeon 780M GPU and 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM. For storage, the console offers up to 2TB of SSD space and includes a microSD card reader.
The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 features a 50Wh battery and supports fast charging up to 65 watts. Unfortunately, the manufacturer has not specified how many hours of battery life it can provide during gaming sessions.
Nitro Blaze 7: Acer’s Entry into the Portable Console Market
In terms of connectivity and ports, the Acer Nitro Blaze 7 is well-equipped. It includes two 40Gbps USB-C (USB4) ports, one on the top and one on the bottom. The device also has a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack and supports Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 6E.
The weakest aspect of the Acer Nitro Blaze 7 is likely its controls. While it includes the basic controls, it lacks configurable buttons on the back—now a standard feature in many similar devices—and does not have touchpads on the front. It does include two analog sticks, a directional pad, ABXY buttons, triggers, and shoulder buttons.
Additionally, the device features a power button with a fingerprint reader, volume controls, and quick action buttons for functions like displaying the keyboard, opening the quick menu, or launching the Acer Game Space app, among others.
Main Features:
- Screen: 7-inch IPS touchscreen with 1080p resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, and 500 nits peak brightness.
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS.
- GPU: AMD Radeon 780M.
- RAM: 16GB LPDDR5x (7,500 MT/s).
- Storage: Up to 2TB SSD, expandable with microSD cards.
- Connectivity and Ports:
- 2 USB-C (USB 4) 40 Gbps ports.
- WiFi 6E.
- Bluetooth 5.3.
- Audio:
- Two 1W speakers.
- Double microphone.
- 3.5 mm headphone jack.
- Battery and Charging: 50 Wh with support for fast charging up to 65 watts.
- Dimensions: 25.6 x 11.35 x 2.25 centimeters.
- Weight: 670 grams.
- Software: Windows 11 Home,
Acer Game Space app pre-installed, and a 3-month subscription to PC Game Pass.
Acer has not yet announced the price or release date for its first portable console, but this information may be revealed in the coming weeks.