Home » Mobile » Zotac Zone Gaming Handheld Teased and Specs Got Leaked Shortly
by Peter Paul
Gaming handheld devices are gaining popularity. At first, it was just Steam Deck, and then several players entered the market. Lenovo released its Legion Go. Asus has the ROG Ally, and they are now releasing an updated and improved version—the ROG Ally X. MSI also joined the bandwagon with its Claw A1M. But their handheld is quite unique in the sense that an Intel processor powers it. Now, Zotac intends to enter the market, and they recently teased the Zotac Zone gaming handheld. And in an unexpected event, its specs got leaked!
The Zotac Zone is Like an ROG Ally-ish With An Unexpected Twist
There are only two options or two routes if Zotac wants to join the gaming handheld bandwagon. Either they go the common way—via AMD—or they do it the Intel way, like MSI did. I was anticipating that they may opt for Intel. However, it seems Zotac opted for the most popular solution, using the more popular AMD Zen 4 and RDNA 3 architecture. Perhaps it’s best since AMD’s Ryzen APU has performed better than Intel’s solution.
Videocardz published an (exclusive) article in which they leaked the key specs and features of Zotac’s Zone gaming handheld. According to the specs sheet Videocardz obtained, the Zotac Zone is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 8840U APU and an AMD Radeon 780M graphics. The Ryzen 7 8840U has 8 cores and 16 threads, similar to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme powering the ROG Ally (X) and Legion Go.
Similar to the first ROG Ally, it will also have 16GB of LPDDR5X memory and 512GB of storage capacity. However, instead of a 2230 M.2 SSD, the Zotac Zone supports a full 2280 M.2 SSD. The memory will also have a clock speed of 7500MHz, similar to the new ROG Ally X. The Zone will also feature a USB4 connectivity option.
While most of the specs are similar to those of the existing gaming handheld device, Zotac has an ace up its sleeves. The Zotac Zone has a 7-inch display, 1080p resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 800 nits of brightness, but instead of an IPS panel, Zotac uses an AMOLED panel.
We have reviewed an OLED gaming monitor, and compared to an IPS panel, there’s no doubt that an OLED panel looks better than an IPS display. It has better color, better contrast, a better HDR experience, and very low latency. It’s simply a better panel for gaming and multimedia consumption overall. Using an AMOLED touchscreen display could be its key selling point.
Aside from the key specifications, the Zotac Zone will feature a hall effect joystick and triggers with a 2-stage adjustable triggers. It will also feature a radial dial for on-the-fly adjustments, and it is HDR-ready since it uses an AMOLED display.
In addition to the 2280 M.2 SSD and USB4 interface, the Zone will also have a UHS-II microSD card slot. However, its battery is not that impressive, as it will only have a 48.5Wh battery, similar to most handhelds. Like most handhelds, it will run on Windows 11 as its operating system.
According to the leaked document, the image of the Zotac Zone may not be in its final form. It’s just a prototype model, and some of its “cosmetics and internal hardware and specs may differ on mass production.” This means that Zotac could change some of its specs, and I hope they bump some of the specs to better compete with the, also new, ROG Ally X.
Zotac Zone Price and Release Date
There has yet to be any word regarding the Zotac Zone’s manufacturer’s suggested retail price. However, since it uses an AMOLED display, and if Zotac decides to change or bump up some of the specs, it may end up with a premium price. It could even end up more expensive than the ROG ALLY X. However, I don’t think Zotac will price it too high, as potential buyers may be turned off despite having an AMOLED display.
The good news is that we will soon learn more about the Zotac Zone, which will soon hit store shelves. The company plans to release it sometime in Q3 of 2024 and is also expected to reveal it at Computex 2024 next week.
Source: Videocardz
