Acer Drops Gaming Laptop Concept and Its First Windows Gaming Handheld

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Acer sprang a couple of new gaming devices on us during IFA -- a concept laptop called Project DualPlay and a Windows gaming handheld called the Nitro Blaze 7.

Acer intermittently tosses out concept products at trade shows but doesn't do it every year like, say, Razer does. So the reveal of Project DualPlay at IFA comes as a bit of a surprise. And an interesting one at that. DualPlay is a Predator gaming laptop with combo bundled-controller garage and touchpad. The controller drops in and attaches via magnets, plus the control pads detach from the controller body to split into two joystick sections, potentially for co-op or other side-by-side play. The stereo 5-watt speakers can pop out of the sides, and there's RGB lighting everywhere. 

It's a clever design, but my initial reaction to the concept is "what if you don't like the controller?" Embedding it into the laptop makes it convenient for gaming on the go, but I think the idea needs a little refinement in that respect. Also, 5-watt speakers aren't bad for a laptop, and popping them out is a nice idea for the type of lean-back gaming this seems intended for, but I'd like them to flip forward so that the sound comes at you from the front.

The whole thing's a novel concept, but like most, it's not a product that you can expect to see any time soon. In fact, even if it does end up a real device, it might not resemble this version at all. We'll just have to wait and see.

Acer's not the last major laptop company to launch a Windows-based gaming handheld -- HP hasn't, for instance, and Dell/Alienware has occasionally, showing concepts from years back without ever releasing a product -- but it's still behind competitors from Asus (the Allyand Ally X), Lenovo and MSI. Is that a problem? I say no, because the issue with most of these Windows handhelds is...Windows. 

The "gaming handheld" aspect is basically a skin or an app that consolidates your games, in this case Acer Game Space. That means you can get booted out of gaming into the Windows interface, which you then may have to navigate via joysticks and a touch keyboard. Plus, there's Windows overhead on the device, taking up memory and storage. 

All that aside, Acer's Nitro Blaze 7 seems like a reasonable example of the breed, possibly most similar to the Ally X. It's got a 7-inch IPS screen running at 1080p/144Hz, with 100% coverage of the sRGB color gamut and a peak brightness of 500 nits. On the downside, Acer's specs don't say anything about HDR, and like the Ally devices, the screen has a 7ms response time, which may be a little slow depending upon the game. Its size and weight are pretty similar to the Ally as well.

It has Hall Effect triggers (but not sticks) and a typical Xbox-layout with the usual extra buttons for jumping out to the Windows desktop, bringing up the Windows touch keyboard, quick access to settings and more. One-watt stereo speakers aren't great, but you can connect a headset via an analog cable or Bluetooth. 

On the inside, it has an AMD Ryzen 7 8840 HS, with the same Radeon 780M integrated GPU as the AMD Z1 Extreme in some competitors, plus 16GB LPDDR5x-7500 memory (which you really need if it's running Windows in the background). The 780M isn't a great performer, but you should be able to play most 1080p games at a reasonable frame rate with it. You can configure it with up to 2TB SSD, though we don't know what the base amount is or whether you can upgrade it yourself (it's m.2, so it could be in theory).

It incorporates Wi-Fi 6E, has a USB 4 connection and a micro SD slot.

Acer didn't have price or availability for us. Price is critical for determining whether to spring for one of these. The company's Nitro line is its mainstream gaming brand, so it's conceivable it will be on the less expensive side: It's also conceivable there will be a Predator model that more expensive. But I bet that the Nitro Blaze 7 will ship in time for gift-buying season.