The first day of Computex 2024 saw announcements from a number of leading brands. Zotac, traditionally known for its high-end graphics cards and Mini-PCs wasted no time in announcing the launch of its new gaming handheld, the Zone. The console is set to be equipped with a 7-inch screen and integrates a Ryzen 7 8840U APU, making it not only a larger device but a powerful one. It will be a few months before we see it on the shelves, so let’s take a closer look to see what this console is capable of.
We recently discussed some of the leaked specs for this console, and although Zotac hasn’t yet revealed absolutely everything related to this product the predictions made in the leak are correct. Therefore, some of the other speculated features in our leak coverage are likely to be correct also, but we’ll just have to wait until more is officially confirmed.
What does the Zotac Zone have to offer?
Along with the announcement of the launch came the announcement of the console’s specifications, providing customers with more of an idea of how the Zone will perform. The Zone will host a Ryzen 7 8840U APU (Hawk Point), which is an 8-core Zen4 processor with 12 RDNA3 Compute Units. There has been no official confirmation from Zotac about the TDP speed, however, Videocardz has already exclusively revealed that the default TDP is 15W and the Maximum is 28W.
Another, major aspect of the appeal of this product is the AMOLED 7-inch screen, complete with 120Hz refresh rate. OLED screens within the world of handheld gaming consoles are a relatively new phenomenon. The Steam Deck is one of the only handhelds that features an OLED display, therefore with the Zone’s AMOLED screen, the two may be competing for the top spot. In addition to this, the trackpads seen in the released images of the Zone compare to the ones featured on the Steam Deck, drawing another comparison between the two.
There seems to be some controversy behind the choice of a native portrait screen, which some gamers don’t like due to the game support for this type of panel. During Videocardz handheld testing they reported that consoles utilizing native portrait screens sometimes encountered issues of games displayed in the wrong direction, although this only affected a small number. This is definitely something to bear in mind if you’re thinking of purchasing this product.
This gaming console seems to be on the larger side, with measurements of 31.0 x 13.5 x 4.0cm, which is larger than Steam Deck. The screen is a relatively normal size of 7 inches, however, the bezel is where it carries most of its size. This console will be even bigger than the upcoming ROG Ally X which hosts a 64% larger battery.
The ZONE is set to release in September, so we hope to hear a little more about its design by then. The has been no official confirmation from Zotac about the price, however, Geeknetic reports it to be around $800 USD, the same as the new ASUS ROG Ally X. This certainly makes it on the pricier side despite its lack of the most recent APU (Ryzen AI 300). Regardless, we’re excited to see what else comes out about this handheld, so stay tuned if you want to keep up-to-date on all that is revealed.
