The laptop space continues to grow and the biggest of them all is The new Nitro Blaze 11 from Acer. As soon as I saw it announced at CES, I knew I had to try to get my hands on it, at least out of sheer curiosity of “Will this thing even work?” fit in my hands? The answer is yes, although barely.
I brought a Steam Deck OLED with me for a quick size and feel comparison. One of the first things I noticed is that it's much more precarious to pick up the Blaze 11 the way I'm used to holding the Steam Deck: by grabbing it by the top and bottom edges. My fingers barely stretch enough for this position. Once in hand, the 2.3-pound Blaze 11 actually feels lighter than you might expect, so it's not too unwieldy if you play most of your “portable” gaming at home on the sofa, like I do. (Playing it in bed can be dangerous to your face.)
While the Blaze 11 isn't as heavy as I feared, the Steam Deck OLED's 1.41 pounds feels like a featherweight in comparison. The cover also feels a little more solid. Acer's handheld isn't flimsy, but it looks cheaper.
But give credit where it's due: playing games on such a large screen in your hands is a pleasure, and the kickstand feels solid for holding it in tablet mode with standalone controllers, something the Steam Deck can't do. Acer also gets points for using Hall-effect levers and triggers.
Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
