We always expect some bizarre tech to come out of CES, and Acer has made it clear that 2025 is no exception, unveiling its enormous 11-inch Windows gaming handheld, the Acer Nitro Blaze 11.
The Nitro Blaze 11 is one of the company's two new gaming handheld announcements of CES 2025, with the other being the Acer Nitro Blaze 8, which offers a far more reasonably sized 8.8-inch display.
This comes a few months after Acer unveiled the Acer Nitro Blaze 7, the company's first Windows gaming handheld, showcased at IFA Berlin 2024. These devices share an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics, 16GB of LPDDR5X-7500 RAM, and up to 2TB of SSD storage. However, the Nitro Blaze 11 takes things up a notch with its screen size. Way up.
The Acer Nitro Blaze 11 boasts a massive 10.95-inch display, making it the largest major Windows gaming handheld we've seen since these devices have begun to catch on in popularity since the Asus ROG Ally's launch in 2023. Even excluding specifically Windows devices, it's enormous compared to any other handhelds most are accustomed to.
For context, The Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck LCD both boast 7-inch displays. The Steam Deck OLED is a bit larger at 7.4 inches, while the Asus ROG Ally also has a 7-inch display. The MSI Claw initially launched with a 7-inch panel but upgraded to 8 inches with the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus.
Initially, the Lenovo Legion Go was the largest of its competitors, coming in at 8.8 inches. It was also the heaviest at 1.9 pounds, but at the very least, all of these devices existed within a somewhat reasonable 7-inch to 9-inch range.
It seems Acer has no interest in maintaining the status quo with the announcement of the Acer Nitro Blaze 11, as its 10.95-inch screen size is above and beyond the biggest of the competition, also coming in at 2.3 pounds, which is more than two pounds. For context, the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is 1.3 pounds, meaning the Nitro Blaze 11 is a whole pound heavier than the original Asus ROG Ally.
Of course, weight isn't everything necessarily. Ergonomics are also important to consider, as the device's 2.3-pound weight may feel comfortable if the device is designed well. However, seeing images of people holding the device, it's hard not to note how enormous and unwieldy it appears.
We're also somewhat worried about what its massive 10.95-inch display and 2,560 x 1,600-pixel resolution could do to the battery life, especially considering it still only has a 55Wh battery. For context, smaller machines like the 8-inch MSI Claw 8 AI Plus and 7-inch Asus ROG Ally X both feature an 80Wh battery.
While we cannot wait to test the device ourselves, especially considering its ridiculous size and weight, we cannot help but be worried about the comfort of using it over a long period of time, alongside whether or not its large 2K display will result it in having a weak battery. If you'd like more of the latest news in the world of technology, check out our CES 2025 page.
