In case you missed it, Acer announced the Nitro Blaze 7 last week at IFA in Berlin and it’s yet another addition to the gaming PC handheld market. It follows in the footsteps of other Windows 11 handhelds such as the ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go, sitting closer to the former if you were to look at them all on a spectrum. We took a deep dive into the specs list as soon as it was revealed and were happy with what we saw for the most part.
A fast 144Hz refresh rate outdoes the ROG Ally, and the support for Ryzen AI with the AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS chip is a nice touch, though we can’t exactly say we asked for it. Furthermore, its VRR support via FreeSync Premium is a must-have if it wants to compete. However, a 50Wh battery means it falls well behind the recently-refresh ROG Ally X. We feel that battery life is something it desperately needs to get right judging by the reaction to the original ROG Ally.
Acer’s Nitro Blaze 7 may be held back by its 50Wh battery
As the name indicates, a 50Wh (or 50Whr) battery is rated to provide up to 50 hours of power when running at 1W. For comparison, the Steam Deck can run anywhere between 3 and 15 Watts at the user’s discretion; and it’s likely more efficient thanks to a combination of its weaker hardware and lightweight custom operating system. We don’t yet know how the finalized power settings on the Blaze will look, but we expect it to struggle with sub-par battery life based on the announced specs.
Comparing Blaze 7 vs Steam Deck does reveal that both devices opt for a similar battery (LCD Steam Deck is 40W and the OLED is 50W), with the latter rated for 3-12 hours of gameplay. Regardless, the laptop-level CPU in the Blaze and its Windows 11 operating system could spell danger if you’re looking forward to long playtime, especially compared to the Deck’s more lightweight specs. Being able to tweak your device’s TDP to find the right balance of performance and battery life is important, but it can only go so far if both the hardware and software are taxing.
Looking back to last year’s ROG Ally, which donned just a 40Wh battery, the sustainability of it as a ‘true’ handheld was criticized. That’s why the ROG Ally X and its 80Wh battery was much praised as soon as it was even rumored, never mind confirmed. Off the back of that, putting out a new handheld that is less portable than the competition (in terms of battery life) feels like a risky compromise and one that could bite back Acer. Possibly a repeat of when we saw the ROG Ally launch with the Steam Deck as its main competition.
User reaction online paints a similar picture
In reaction to the handheld’s announcement, users online were quick to comment on the 50Wh battery. One user on Reddit says “Why do companies try to make these handhelds so capable performance-wise but stick a 50wh battery in it? It makes no sense to me.” Valid point, we’d say. They also went on to say that the device will “flop” – especially given the tough competition it faces now that the Steam Deck has paved the way for so many alternatives on the market.
