It was only a couple of days ago when the Zotac Zone was first revealed. Initially, all we knew about the device’s specs was the inclusion of a 7-inch AMOLED display, which should be similar to what you’ll find on the Steam Deck OLED and Nintendo Switch OLED. This was great news for those of you looking for the next great OLED gaming handheld, but little else was known.
Well, that is no longer the case as a full list of specs has been leaked and there’s plenty to tuck into. Straight away though, our thoughts are that the OLED panel is perhaps still the biggest selling point, especially against the likes of the upcoming ROG Ally X – or maybe even the rumored Legion Go Lite. Better yet though, real-life images of the Zone have surfaced.
Zotac Zone specs leak reveals all
In an exclusive leak from VideoCardz, we can get a good look at all the specs. Right off the bat, we can see that it will be using an AMD Ryzen 7 8840U APU. This is in contrast to the Ryzen Z1 series that we’ve seen power some other Windows 11-based handhelds as of late, though it still features the same iGPU at heart.
Overall, the Zone looks like it’ll be trailing behind the upcoming Ally X, particularly in memory capacity, battery life, and the lack of VRR. When we look at these specs, it’s the OLED panel that stands out the most to us. The Zotac Zone is expected to be available in Q3 2024.
| Specification | Details (leaked) |
|---|---|
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 8840U APU |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon 780M graphics (15W default, 28W max) |
| RAM | 16GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD (2280) |
| Display | 7-inch AMOLED Multi-Touch Display, up to 800 nits, 1M:1 contrast ratio, HDR ready |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz |
| Joystick/Buttons | Hall Effect Joystick and Triggers, 2-stage Adjustable Triggers, Radial Dial |
| Connectivity | UHS-II microSD slot, USB4 ports |
| Battery | Li-ion battery (48.5Wh), estimated 1.25 hours runtime |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Weight | Less than 700g |
Images of the Zotac Zone also surface
On top of the specs being leaked, some actual photographs of the Zone have now been posted online. We’re learning a lot about Zotac’s new handheld in a short amount of time and real imagery tops it off. Andreas Schilling posted on X, saying that they had a chance to play around with the new device. Annoyingly, the images are intentionally blurred to add just a little mystery.
Will it be a strong contender?
As far as where it will fall on the hierarchy of gaming PC handhelds, we can’t be certain. If these leaked specs are accurate, we’d have to say that it may not impress quite as much as the newer ROG Ally X (that features an 80Wh battery and 24GB RAM), or indeed the ever-popular Steam Deck. The latter’s OLED model is finally getting some competition from the Zotac Zone, but the reliance on Windows 11 and a weak battery will likely prove to be huge downsides in terms of portability.
We can’t help but feel that the Zone will run into similar problems as the original ROG Ally – poor battery life being the big one. Its OLED display should alleviate this at the very least with better efficiency than a regular-old LCD panel, but perhaps it won’t be enough. Either way, we’re looking forward to what Zotac can bring to the table in this unfamiliar territory.
