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 delve into the specs and impressive screen size.
The Nitro Blaze 11: A 10.95-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 powerful internal components.
Both models feature WQXGA touch displays with a 144Hz refresh rate, an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor paired with an AMD Radeon 780M GPU, 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and a 2TB SSD. Acer promises "cutting-edge performance and versatile features," delivering immersive visuals in a portable, foldable form factor. A three-month PC Game Pass subscription is included with purchase. The key difference? The Blaze 8 features an 8.8-inch screen.
However, the Blaze 11's impressive 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 substantial but more in line with competitors 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 out on AMD's latest Ryzen Z2 processors designed for gaming handhelds. AMD's promotional materials featuring the Lenovo Legion Go, Asus ROG Ally, and Steam Deck suggested future iterations would incorporate this new technology.
However, Valve clarified that a Z2-powered Steam Deck is not in development. Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais stated on Bluesky that the promotional slide likely represented the processor's general applicability to gaming handhelds, not a specific device.
This doesn't rule out a Steam Deck 2; Valve confirms its development, but it requires a significant, next-generation upgrade before release.
