Yesterday Acer launched the Nitro Blaze 7 which is their first portable Windows gaming console. I had the chance to test it and I can say, it's good that Acer took some time to release this product and didn't rush it because it's definitely a better console. As far as I tried for a while, the Nitro Blaze 7 might attract a lot of attention because of its design, physical buttons and the good Acer Game Space.
SPECIFICATION AND DESIGN
ACER Nitro Blaze 7
7″ IPS screen, FHD (1920 x 1080), 144Hz, 500 nits,
sRGB, AMD FreeSync Premium
AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS CPU
(8-Core, 16-thread, 24 MB cache, reach 5.1 GHz)
AMD Ryzen AI, 39 AI TOPS
AMD Radeon 780M GPU
(Up to 2.7 GHz, AMD RDNA 3 12 CUs)
RAM/Storage 16GB LPDDR5x SDRAM,
Up to 2 TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 Gen 4 SSD
Audio 2x Speaker 1W
2x D-Mic Microphones
1x 3.5mm audio jack port
I/O & Buttons 2x USB4 (Type-C 40 Gbps)
1x Micro SD 4.0 card slot
A B X Y, D-Pad, LB/RB Shoulder Buttons, Analog LS/RS Sticks,
Analog Hall LT/RT Hall, Power button with fingerprint scanner,
Volume button, View button, Menu button, Acer Game Space button,
Keyboard Buttons, Acer Buttons, Mode Buttons
Battery/Charging 50.04 Wh
65W
SIM/Wi-Fi Telephony 6E
Bluetooth 5.3
Windows 11 software
Acer Game Space
PC Game Pass (3 months)
Sale Price European market price
€849 (~RM4,241), 512GB
Malaysian price may be below RM4000
Nitro Blaze 7 is a compact console due to its 7-inch screen size. The width of this screen is approximately the screen of the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. The bezels on the screen are a bit thick for a 2024 product, but since it's a pretty powerful LCD screen, looks good and is Acer's first generation product – it's forgivable. The screen looks bright enough and the touch support is also smooth. The 144Hz refresh rate appears to only be achievable with low graphics settings for some games.
Acer packs as many physical buttons as it can fit, which is quite nice and useful. For example, a keyboard call button is provided to solve the problem of a keyboard that is slow or does not come out on consoles like this. There is an Eco mode button, to ensure that the device returns to a smooth state if the fan starts to be noisy and the device starts to heat up. Too bad, the many buttons in the compact size console made my fingers tire easily in a play session of about 5 minutes.
The Nitro Blaze 7 is also designed for the best airflow. Even with games playing non-stop and the console constantly connected to the charging cable at Acer's showroom, it still doesn't heat up and stays comfortable in the hand. Every control button like ABXY feels a little soft for what I like, but the shoulder and analog buttons are nice to press and I'm sure even if the fingers are tired - I'll force myself to play favorite games in the long run.
USAGE EXPERIENCE
On stage, Acer said that the Nitro Blaze 7 supports multiple video game platforms - don't get me wrong. The developed Acer Game Space does not support console porting or video game streaming. On the other hand, this multi-platform support is for different game launchers like PC Game Pass, Steam, Ubisoft and many more. All this time I thought Armory Crate on ASUS ROG Ally X was beautiful and easy to use, but this Acer Game Space is really more comfortable to use.
Acer Game Space is very simple and easy to control. All settings are clearly displayed and normal users who rarely play video games will definitely have no problem exploring all available settings. When I tested this console, the Acer representative told me that many features on this Game Space are still in the testing stage and only after October 2024 will a stable and smoother version update be included.
Because Acer only had three units of the Nitro Blaze 7 and there were hundreds of other media practitioners who showed up to try it out, I only managed to spend about 10 minutes on the games Horizon Forbidden West and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Matching AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS with Ryzen AI, as well as AMD Radeon 780M GPU which also supports Radeon Super Resolution is the best choice because the performance is very satisfactory.
The default settings for graphics are a mix of high and medium, capable of displaying graphics that are pleasing to the eye and moving at a rate of 60FPS. While at the lowest settings, it's no problem to reach up to 100 FPS with graphics like Android mobile games. However, the highest graphics settings are still enabled but it only runs at 30FPS and below with beautiful graphics but very laggy and stuttering.
Although the CPU used is not for consoles like the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, this brand new Ryzen 7 proves that there is no problem using a laptop or PC CPU on a console if the software optimization is done well.
CONCLUSION
Acer Nitro Blaze 7 although a little late in release compared to other manufacturers, they found a near perfect formula for the first generation portable Windows gaming console. It's nice to hold, an attractive and compact design that's truly "portable", pretty solid performance and the very user-friendly Acer Game Space software. Apart from the button arrangement being too close together, I have no problems with this console and it makes me impatient to wait for it to be sold in Malaysia.
For now, Acer only said that around the end of October to the beginning of November it will be sold in Europe with prices starting at €849 (~RM4,241) for the 512GB variant. If you subtract the European tax of around 15%, the selling price for the Asian market such as in Malaysia may be around below RM4000 like other consoles that have already started to be sold. Let's wait together.
PROS & ADVANTAGES
Design that is more comfortable to hold.
Faster performance thanks to Ryzen AI.
A more efficient cooling system.
Acer Game Space is very user-friendly.
Easily accessible connection port position.
Hall Effect switches are used on analog sticks and buttons.
Additional physical buttons to access the keyboard.
CONS & DISADVANTAGES
The screen is not OLED.
The distance between each button and analog is too close.
Worried about battery life.
Still doesn't have its own accessory ecosystem.