On the occasion of CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Acer unveiled its new portable PC consoles with the arrival of the Nitro Blaze 8 and especially the gigantic Nitro Blaze 11, with its 11-inch screen and detachable handles.
Even if it has not yet taken off quite to the point of titillating home consoles, the portable PC console market continues to register new players and new products. Launched into the race last September, Acer is not giving up, even if its Nitro Blaze 7 (7-inch screen) had not yet had enough weapons to battle with Valve’s Steam Deck or Asus’ ROG Ally .
Faced with the two big names in the sector who are fighting each other, Lenovo tried a different bet with its larger Legion Go (8.8 inch screen compared to 7 inches in general). The MSI Claw had wanted to balance the well-known weak points (autonomy, power, Intel chip instead of AMD, etc.), but somewhat missed its mark before better refocusing its proposal. Ayaneo consoles continue to appeal to the most seasoned and curious players, but are struggling to find a place in the sun for the general public.
Based on all its findings, Acer has therefore decided to review its copy a little in terms of form, more than in substance. The Taiwanese manufacturer uses the same recipe with an AMD Ryzen 8040 chip (designed for PCs and not the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme version of this type of device), a device running Windows 11, access to different catalogs and gaming services . But this time, he thinks even bigger.
A portable console that thinks big
During CES in Las Vegas, we got acquainted with the Nitro Blaze 11, a beautiful, ultra-massive beast based on a fairly bright 10.95-inch WQXGA screen, with a refresh rate of up to ‘at 144 Hz. And here we find all the AMD technologies for visual gaming comfort (Radeon Super Resolution, FidelityFX Super Resolution). A device weighing more than a kilogram which especially impresses with its size in the hand.
Gripping the two side handles offering asymmetrical joysticks, we can only notice the good weight distribution of this console which resembles an iPad to which two side handles have been attached. And it’s better to hold it fully. If you can play like this, the weight will end up being felt after a while and it will be better to be comfortably seated on your sofa or on a chair to play. Also note that the triggers on top and those attached to the back remain easily accessible without having large hands.
But if you’re tired of having to hold this tablet at arm’s length, Acer has thought of everything. On the back, we find an integrated foot which will serve as a support to hold the console, like what the Nintendo Switch offers. And like the most famous portable console, the Nitro Blaze 11 allows you to detach the handles to play, alone or in pairs, facing the screen. This immediately becomes more practical and, which says large format also means large handle, we find ourselves with a game controller far from being tiny in the hand as the Nintendo Joy-Con can be for some. It is even possible to combine the two handles of the Nitro Blaze in a support to transform them into a larger and more complete controller (option extra).
In this configuration, the Nitro Blaze 11 becomes a more comfortable and user-friendly gaming console with its large screen of almost 11 inches. Combined with a wireless keyboard and mouse, it can also become a real productivity tool under Windows 11. This will be much more appreciable than on the competition’s 7-inch screens (even if Microsoft’s OS remains, in our opinion, still poorly suited to this type of product).
A price that is also soaring
A specialist in computers and laptops, Acer obviously makes no compromises under the hood. There are 16 GB of RAM and configurations that can go up to 2 TB of storage. A microSD card port is present to add space for games and, above all, two USB-C ports so you can recharge while connecting the Nitro Blaze 11 to an external screen (monitor or TV) or any other device. The console is also Wifi 6e and Bluetooth 5.3 compatible.
If you think that the Nitro Blaze 11 is too big and/or too expensive for you (starting at 1,199 euros), know that there is the version with the same 8-inch screen and identical technical specifications. But the Nitro Blaze 8 loses one of the advantages of the 2025 version: the detachable handles (from 999 euros). Both models will be available in the 2nd quarter of 2025.
