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As promised, Zotac is using the Computex show in Taiwan this week to provide an early look at its next-gen handheld gaming PC. The company is showing off a prototype of the new Zotac Gaming Zone that looks, at first glance, a lot like last year's model. But there are some big changes under the hood.
For one thing, the new 2025 model is powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor which should bring a big boost in CPU and graphics performance. And while the original shipped with Windows 11 software, the new model is also expected to ship with a version of Manjaro Linux that's been optimized for gaming handhelds.
That's an interesting move – a lot of criticism around handheld gaming PCs that aren't the Steam Deck have focused on the fact that Windows isn't really designed for small-screen devices that lack keyboards, which makes navigating the operating system difficult. Valve's Steam Deck runs a Linux-based operating system that's designed to make the company's handheld feel more like a console, and Valve has been working with other companies to bring SteamOS to third-party hardware.
Rather than go that route, it looks like Zotac may have partnered with the same folks who had been working to bring Manjaro to the Orange Pi Neo handheld gaming PC. The move could provide a way to make Zotac's next handheld easier to use without the need to develop special software in-house the way that Asus, Lenovo, GPD, AYANEO, and One Netbook have done (each has some version of a tool that's supposed to make it easier to adjust settings and other features on Windows handhelds). It's unclear why Zotac didn't opt for SteamOS though.
Also unclear is why the company didn't put a bigger battery in its second-gen handheld. Like last year's version, the new Zotac Gaming Zone handheld has a 48.5 Wh battery, despite having a processor that's capable of consuming more power.
Zotac hasn't announced how much the new handheld will cost or when it will be available for purchase. But here's what we know so far about how the new model stacks up against the original:
Zone (2025) Zone (2024) Display 7 inches1920 x 1080 pixels120 HzOLEDUp to 800 nits brightness Processor AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 37012 x Zen 5 Series CPU cores / 24 threads(4 x Zen 5 + 8 x Zen 5c)Up to 5.1 GHz15 – 54W TDP AMD Ryzen 7 8840U8 x Zen 4 CPU cores / 16 threadsUp to 5.1 GHz15 – 30W TDP Graphics Radeon 890M16 x RDNA 3.5 coresUp to 2.9 GHz Radeon 780M12 x RDNA 3 coresUp to 2.7 GHz RAM 24GB or 32GBLPDDR5x-8000 16GB LPDDR5x-7500 Storage 1 x M.2 2280PCIe 4.0 x4 Battery 48.5 Wh Wireless WiFi 6EBT 5.2 Ports 2 x USB41 x 3.5mm audiomicroSD card reader OS Manjaro Linux Windows 11 Controllers Hall Effect joysticks & triggers2-stage adjustable triggers and radial dialRear buttonsDual touchpads Other features Built-in kickstandFingerprint reader Launch price ? $799
via TweakTown, Wccftech, and KLGadgetTV (YouTube)
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