As a seasoned gamer with over two decades of gaming under my belt and a soft spot for handheld devices, I can’t help but feel a sense of anticipation when it comes to the Zotac Zone. With its aggressive design, intuitive features, and powerful hardware, this device seems poised to shake up the handheld gaming market.
In recent years, the market for portable gaming consoles has significantly expanded, beginning with the Nintendo Switch. This expansion was fostered by the versatility it offered, prompting other manufacturers to join in, leading us to popular devices such as the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo’s Legion Go, and more. Now, a new competitor has entered the fray – Zotac, with its Zone portable gaming device powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 mobile processor.
Before hitting the store shelves, let’s delve into the details of the Zotac Zone – a product we first saw at COMPUTEX in June. Here’s what you should be aware of before it becomes available for purchase.
Zotac Zone: Design and Form Factor
The design for portable gaming devices has generally stayed the same, with many manufacturers opting for a layout featuring a screen surrounded by controllers. Companies like Valve, Nintendo, ASUS, Lenovo, MSI, and Zotac primarily use this layout. However, smaller brands such as Ayaneo and others have experimented with various handheld gaming designs, from flip-open to sliding screens, all the way to a design reminiscent of the classic Game Boy.
The Zotac Zone features an AMOLED display that is flanked by fixed controllers. It has a more aggressive shape with pointed grips, the ergonomics of which could be questionable. At the back is a flip out kickstand, an RGB light strip, toggles for the adjustable triggers, and ventilation holes. The stereo speakers are located at the bottom.
Remarkably, Zotac’s design for the joysticks features symmetry, similar to the Steam Deck, setting it apart from many other portable devices. It also boasts dual trackpads, akin to the Steam Deck, which greatly enhances the user experience when working with Windows 11 on the Zone.
One distinctive feature of the Zotac Zone is the circular controls beneath the joysticks, which enable users to modify system settings instantly just by turning these knobs.
From a devoted enthusiast’s perspective, the Zotac Zone truly stands out with its unique design elements. It offers a blend of user-friendly features and robust enhancements that fans of this specific style are bound to admire.
Zotac Zone: Specifications and Performance
Running the Zotac Zone is an eight-core, sixteen-thread AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor featuring AMD Radeon 780M graphics. This CPU has a power range of 15W to 28W, making it comparable to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme processors found in the ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go, which can reach up to 30W. In contrast, the Zen 2 APU in the Steam Deck OLED has a maximum wattage of 15W, implying better performance than the Steam Deck in both battery and connected modes. The Zotac Zone is equipped with a 48.5Wh battery, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD (2280), which can be expanded using a microSD card.
This device offers connectivity through two USB Type-C ports (USB 4), a 3.5mm headphone jack, advanced Wi-Fi 6E technology, and Bluetooth 5.2 compatibility. It also features a compact front-facing camera and the power button serves dual purposes: it functions as a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello secure log in.
Standing out among competitors and sharing similarities with the Steam Deck OLED and Nintendo Switch OLED is its 7-inch, high-definition, AMOLED touchscreen display, making it one of only three handheld consoles featuring an OLED screen. It can refresh at a speedy 120Hz and boasts a maximum brightness of 800 nits, but it does have noticeable bezels around the entire screen.
Both the joysticks and the triggers use Hall effect technology so they will be highly accurate and more durable than the standard potentiometer-based joysticks. The triggers also have two stages of actuation, which can be controlled by the toggles at the back.
To maintain a cool operating environment within the Zone, Zotac has integrated a fan system along with a triple heatpipe arrangement. This setup employs an intricate heatsink array and well-positioned vents to facilitate effective heat dispersion, theoretically speaking.
From a practical standpoint, comprehensive evaluations will provide the entire picture. Notably, the Zotac Zone shares comparable internal components as the ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go. As such, it’s likely that the gaming performance will be on par with these devices, offering an extra perk of an OLED screen for enhanced visual experience.
Zotac Zone: Price and Availability
Previously noted, the Zotac Zone was initially exhibited during COMPUTEX in June; however, it’s not available for purchase as of now. There’s only one model available, with a price tag of $799. The manufacturer claims that it is open for pre-order in certain regions, but it’s yet to be found on popular online retailers such as Amazon, Newegg, B&H Photo, and Micro Center.
For reference, the Steam Deck OLED starts at $549 for the 512GB model, while the 1TB model costs $649. The ROG Ally X, only available with 1TB storage, costs $899. As for the Lenovo Legion Go, the 512GB model costs $600, while the 1TB model is priced at $750. The MSI Claw with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU and 1TBSSD is priced at $750 as well.
FAQ
Q: How much is the Zotac Zone?
The Zotac Zone is priced at $799 and there is only one configuration.
Q: Is Zotac a Chinese company?
Zotac’s main office is situated in Hong Kong, while its production facilities can be found in Dongguan City, China.
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2024-09-28 17:06