Windows-based gaming handhelds have really started to mature recently. Microsoft is partly to thank for putting some much-needed work in on the software side, while hardware makers like Asus, Lenovo and MSI have had multiple device generations to discover what works – and what doesn’t. That puts a bit of pressure on Acer, who is still relatively new to the party in the West, to impress.
The Predator Atlas 8 looks like a particularly good start. Having just tried one at the firm’s Computex showcase, it has features I’ve yet to encounter on a mainstream handheld. It was also my first taste of Intel’s new Arc G3 Extreme processor, which based on how well it ran Forza Horizon 6, could pose a serious threat to AMD’s handheld dominance.
The Predator Atlas 8 technically isn’t Acer’s first ever handheld: the firm lists multiple Nitro-branded models on its website, but none ever saw a wide release outside of Asia. The stars have seemingly aligned for this latest effort, with the US, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australia set to get it from October onwards.
It doesn’t look all that different from the handheld establishment, with the usual brace of face buttons, shortcuts and analog sticks up front, bumpers and triggers at the top, and a few bonus buttons at the rear. The analog sticks are full size, with customisable LED rings that look very similar to the ones on rival Asus’ ROG Xbox Ally X, but they don’t do anything fancy with Hall effect or TMR tech.
The circular D-pad felt decent enough – accurate and not overly mushy – though I’ll withhold judgment until a full review. Throwing fireballs and uppercuts in Street Fighter 6 remains the best test of any pad.
What immediately stood out to me was how naturally the Predator Atlas 8 sat in my hands. Acer has absolutely nailed the ergonomics here, with brilliant button placement and large, sculpted grips that give even larger mitts plenty to grab onto. They’re finely textured for plenty of grip. It weighs a substantial 810g, but the even distribution hides it well.
The other highlight was the adjustable triggers. These use Hall effect sensors to measure pressure across the entire range, making them ideal for racing games. I could feather the brakes in Forza Horizon 6 and be more delicate with the throttle though corners than on some handhelds, which have overly short triggers that feel almost binary on/off at times. Flick the toggles below each trigger and the pull distance is shortened dramatically, speeding up inputs for fast-paced shooters and the like.
They didn’t feel quite as satisfying as the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro controller’s near-instant activation microswitches, but I loved being able to adjust on the fly depending on what I was playing. From what I can see the only other gaming handheld with adjustable triggers was the Zotac Zone, which didn’t get much traction after launching at a high price and with outdated hardware, so it’s great to see the tech show up again here. I did miss the built-in rumble of the ROG Xbox Ally X’s fantastic impulse triggers, though.
The Predator Atlas 8’s screen feels like a safe bet. It’s not an OLED and there was no mention of HDR support, so isn’t going to worry the Steam Deck OLED for contrast, but the rest of the specs – 1200p resolution, 120Hz variable refresh rate, 500 nits peak brightness – are up there with the best MSI and Asus have to offer right now.
It’s a 16:10 aspect panel that fills the front of the handheld nicely, with decently slim bezels on all four sides and Gorilla Glass Victus protection. I appreciated the anti-glare coating in Acer’s brightly-lit demo area, and had no complaints about colour vibrancy or viewing angles. The 2W speakers seemed to shout fairly loudly too.
There’s nothing to grumble about on the connectivity front, with dual Thunderbolt 4 USB-Cs on the top of the device along with a microSD card slot. The power button also doubles as a fingerprint sensor, which I find very useful for skipping the Windows lock screen.
Naturally the Predator Atlas 8 will arrive with the full-screen Xbox interface on board, keeping precious system resources free until you manually head to the Windows desktop. The UI felt instantly familiar, with Acer’s pill-like shortcuts quickly opening the Game Bar.
Performance was undeniably impressive. The version I played had the spicier Arc G3 Extreme chipset, which combines a 14-core CPU with a a 12-core Xe3 GPU. That’s two more than the regular Arc G3 gets and clock speed is a smidge higher, giving it superior shove even while using the same 8-35W power range.
Forza Horizon 6 was hovering around the 50fps mark at the Predator’s native 1920×1200 resolution and with the High detail preset, even before Intel’s XeSS 3 upscaling tech was brought into the mix. This was with the handheld connected to mains power, admittedly, and in its highest power profile, but that still comfortably eclipses the Xbox ROG Ally X – which also tops out at a lower 1920×1080 resolution. Intel has really brought the goods this chip generation. Acer’s dual AeroBlade cooling fans were able to tame the hardware without sounding like a jet engine too.
I’m hoping time away from the mains will be at least as good as what AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme can manage, though that will depend on how demanding your games are – as well as what power profile you can drop to without tanking your frame rate.
The firm has yet to lock down final specs, but the top-end Arc G3 Extreme Predator Atlas 8 looks likely to get 24GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, along with an 80Whr battery. The step-down Arc G3 version could see 16GB, 512GB and 64Whr respectively.
That’ll almost certainly put firmly in flagship territory. I’m betting it’ll be more expensive than the Xbox Ally X (which currently retails for $899/£849) and hope it’ll undercut the Lenovo Legion Go 2 ($1399/£1249) – although both rivals have suffered because of the ongoing AI-inflicted memory price crisis. By the time October rolls around, things may have stabilised.
When it does, the Predator Atlas 8 also won’t be the only Arc G3-powered handheld; MSI has already confirmed it’ll be revealing its latest Claw at Computex, while OnexPlayer has also tapped up Intel for the new hardware. However, they’ll both have to work hard to outshine the Acer’s customisable controls for gamers that like to jump between genres.
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