Support us on Patreon to keep GamingOnLinux alive. This ensures all of our main content remains free for everyone. Just good, fresh content! Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal. You can also buy games using our partner links for GOG and Humble Store.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Here we go again. Another vendor has decided to make their own PC gaming handheld and this time it's Acer with the Nitro Blaze 7.

It is once again using Windows, as most vendors shy away from Linux still apart from Valve with the SteamOS-powered Steam Deck and OrangePi Neo with Manjaro. And again, it's another hardware vendor attempting to deal with the mess that is Windows with their own "Acer Game Space app".

With an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, AMD Radeon 780M Graphics and a 1080p 144 Hz refresh rate FreeSync IPS touch panel it sounds like a pretty nice unit overall. However with no trackpads and no back buttons, I imagine plenty will be writing it off for something else already.

Specifications:

Product Name

Acer Nitro Blaze 7

Model

GN771

Operating System

Windows 11 Home

Processors

AMD Ryzen™ 7 8840HS (8-Core, 16-threads, 24 MB cache, up to 5.1 GHz max boost)

AMD Ryzen AI, Supports up to total 38 AI TOPS

Graphics

AMD Radeon™ 780M (Up to 2.7 GHz, AMD RDNA™ 3 12 CUs)

Screen

7" Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Display, 144 Hz, 500 nits, 10-point touch panel, 7 ms response time, 100% sRGB, AMD FreeSync™ Premium

Memory

16GB LPDDR5x SDRAM, 7500 MT/s (onboard)

Storage

Up to 2 TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 x4 Gen 4 SSD

I/O Ports

2 x USB4® (Type-C 40 Gbps), Micro SD Card (SD 4.0)

Control and Input

A B X Y buttons, D-Pad, LB/RB Bumpers, LS/RS Sticks, LT/RT Hall effect triggers, Power button with fingerprint reader, volume button, view button, menu button, Acer Game Space button, Pop-up keyboard button, Acer quick menu button, Mode switch button,

Audio

Speaker: 2 x 1W

Microphone: 2 x D-Mic

Audio Jack: 3.5 mm CTIA

Battery, Battery life

50.04 Wh Li-Polymer battery

Power Supply

65 W Type-C AC Adapter

WLAN and Bluetooth

Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3

Software

Acer Game Space, PC Game Pass (3 months)

Dimensions

25.6 (W) x 11.35 (D) x 2.25 (H) cm

Weight

670 g

Note: their official press release says 39 AI TOPS, but AMD's own specifications for the processor say 38 AI TOPS as does Acer's product page. So I assume Acer had an error in the press release specifications.

There's no price, region availability or release date being shared just yet. They're jumping into a still quite small market against the Steam Deck LCD and Steam Deck OLED, ASUS ROG Ally and Ally X, Lenovo Legion Go, ZOTAC Zone, various devices from AYANEO, GPD and others I've forgotten. It's a crowded market already.

Apart from being just another handheld, I'm not really seeing anything to make it properly stand out. It's going to need a seriously competitive price considering the competition.

The question is: how long will it be from release to Linux working on it? We have many great Linux distributions designed for handhelds now including Bazzite, ChimeraOS, HoloISO and the latest SteamFork.

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
9 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
See more from me
28 comments
Page: 1/3»
  Go to:

Bumadar Sep 4
It remains a shame that even after the success of the steam deck and proton and steam os the big vendors still keep going back to windows 11. As long as that keeps happening Linux will never really take off. But I guess they rather pay MS a fee for the licence and hire some programmers for another custom app. Money much better spend on steam os and the Linux kernel.

A shame.


Last edited by Bumadar on 4 September 2024 at 2:46 pm UTC
Tuxee Sep 4
QuoteThere's no price, region availability or release date being shared just yet.
But it will have a crappy UI. That's a given.
pete910 Sep 4
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Why, I mean seriously WHY put windows on a handheld!

Am not saying that as a linux fanboy either, I wouldn't recommend a desktop distro either.

Valve spent all that time and effort on the deck UI for a reason!

!TO MAKE IT USABLE AND EASY!
Yeah this constant dependence on Windows kind of shows that they aren't really interested in providing long time support for these devices like Valve has with the SD. Not worth the price tag imo!

Windows is going to continue to get worse and worse for handhelds as they keep introducing more 'services' to the payload, especially Microsofts big shift to everything 'online' AI assistance stuff.


Last edited by TheRiddick on 4 September 2024 at 3:10 pm UTC
QuoteIt is once again using Windows
And I have already stopped caring.
ShadMessa Sep 4
It will be 900$+ just like every other handheld pc with those specs. In my opinion it cannot compete with the steam deck
the Nitro will have better performance but at the cost of battery life and at that price I'd rather just get a laptop or a deck, and that's not even talking about the ecosystem.
tfk Sep 4
What's a nitro blaze? Sounds like a fart after curry...
Klaas Sep 4
Two observations:
  • Windows and the “I hate that type of d-pad” type d-pad. Don't want that.
  • It looks like an Acer device. Don't want that either.
Windows 11... When will they learn? Pfff...

This said, when fully supported by a Linux handheld distro... I'm so fed up with Asus, I would give it a shot first, but I'll wait for the Steam Deck 2.
I don't trust Acer. I recently bought an Acer laptop for some reason and was reminded of why I don't trust Acer.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
Login / Register


Or login with...
Sign in with Steam Sign in with Google
Social logins require cookies to stay logged in.