Acer might not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of gaming handhelds. Rivals like ASUS and Lenovo usually steal the spotlight. But that could change later this year with the Predator Atlas 8.
The reason? It will be one of the first portable gaming PCs to run on Intel’s brand new Arc G3 chips.
Acer hasn’t changed the overall look or design much compared to its earlier models. Instead, the focus is on what’s inside. The Atlas 8 comes with an 8-inch IPS screen that runs at 1,920 by 1,200 resolution. The display hits 500 nits of brightness and has a 120Hz variable refresh rate for smoother motion.
Under the hood, Acer is using either Intel Arc G3 or G3 Extreme processors. These chips support Arc B390 graphics and use Intel’s XESS 3 AI upscaling tech. That helps cut down on stutter and input lag while boosting your frames per second. To help with battery life, Intel added a new Endurance Gaming mode. It balances performance and power use so you can play longer without hunting for a wall outlet.
The rest of the specs look solid too. You get a large 80 watt-hour battery, 1 terabyte of storage, and up to 24 gigabytes of shared memory. There are also Hall Effect analog triggers, a Gorilla Glass Victus screen, a microSD card reader, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports. That’s more than most handhelds offer.
Acer also updated its cooling system with an AeroBlade fan. The company says it delivers 10 percent better airflow than previous models. Dual two-watt speakers with DTS:X Ultra audio are included, plus support for Wi-Fi 7. Gamers who like to adjust trigger feedback will appreciate a physical switch. It lets you go from a very shallow pull for shooters to a deeper, more sensitive pull for flight sims or racing games.
Now for the bad news. Acer hasn’t shared official pricing yet, and there are no real-world benchmarks to compare against devices like the Lenovo Legion Go 2 or the ASUS ROG Ally yet.