The last few years have seen a major increase in gaming handhelds. While the Nintendo Switch has aided this rise, it's really been the Windows PC makers that have risen to advance what's on the market.
Earlier this year, my colleague attended Computex in Taipei and tested all of the latest and greatest options – from MSI, Acer, Asus and OneXPlayer – and his consensus was that, while they're all great, they're all just rather large.
Acer's latest gaming handheld, the Predator Atlas 7, looks to address that balance, though, fixing the one big problem with the previous Atlas 8 – ultimately its size. That's achieved in part by opting for a 7-inch rather than 8-inch display.
As a result the 7-inch handheld maxes out at 48.4mm thick, compared to the 58.4mm of the 8-inch version. That might not sound like a lot, but trimming down on the chunkiness factor will make a big difference in comfort and usability.
There's nothing trim about the Predator Atlas 7's internal hardware, though, offering up to an Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor and even 24GB LPDDR5x RAM and 1TB storage if specified in your build.
The handheld runs Windows 11 Home and comes with an Xbox Game Pass subscription out of the box, so you'll have access to loads of titles. The 7-inch display runs at up to 120Hz, supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.
But all that power brings inevitable heat, which is where Acer's Predator AeroBlade fan setup comes into play. One metal fan is joined by a second plastic one, cooling the system in tandem with internal channels to dissipate heat.
Despite being a smaller system, the Atlas 7 offers up to an 80Wh battery – the same capacity as found in the larger Atlas 8 and, therefore, offering the same or better longevity potential. That's a big win in the handhelds world.
However, the Predator Atlas 7 doesn't replace the Atlas 8. The latter will finally be available in Europe from later this month, while the newer, smaller model will be coming in November. Pricing is yet to be revealed.
