- Aokzoe is ready to compete with other gaming handhelds this year with the A1 X
- Uses the new AMD Ryzen AI HX 370 APU, which uses the same iGPU as the Z2 Extreme
- There’s no confirmation of a release date or pricing
If CES 2025 wasn’t enough of a hint that 2025 could be one of the best years for gaming handhelds, then feast your eyes on this: the Aokzoe A1 X has been announced and it looks set to compete with Lenovo‘s Legion Go 2 and the Asus ROG Ally X, and could outperform the Nintendo Switch 2 based on rumored specs.
As highlighted by VideoCardz, the Aokzoe A1 X will use AMD‘s new Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU which uses the Radeon 890M integrated GPU (the same present in the upcoming Z2 Extreme chip) – and it also has 16 RDNA 3.5 GPU cores, with an 8-inch 120Hz VRR screen, and a 72.7Whr. While it doesn’t quite match up to the Legion Go 2 or the Switch 2’s ergonomics with the detachable controllers, it certainly makes up for it with its processing power.
We still haven’t seen how AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme will perform as there aren’t any handheld gaming PCs using this processor – but, the AMD HX 370 APU uses the same integrated GPU with more CPU cores and threads (12 and 24), and it’s already present in the OneXFly F1 Pro and shown to provide great performance in several games like Cyberpunk 2077 and God of War Ragnarok via ETA Prime on YouTube.
This should be a good indication of how the Ryzen Z2 Extreme-powered Legion Go 2 may perform (depending on its final specs as it’s still a prototype), compared to the recently-announced Nintendo Switch 2 (if rumored specs are legitimate) – but it’s also worth noting that pricing (which hasn’t been confirmed nor a release date) will most likely determine these handhelds’ success in the market.
Is 8 inches the ideal screen size for handheld gaming devices?
With handheld gaming devices like the Acer Nitro Blaze 11, which boasts an 11-inch screen, questions regarding the ideal screen size for these systems must be addressed. As my colleague Christian Guyton stated previously, 11-inch screens on a handheld gaming device is way too large, and I absolutely agree with this sentiment.
Having tested the Lenovo Legion Go (which has an 8.8-inch screen) and spent most of my time with the Asus ROG Ally (uses a 7-inch screen), I can say that 8-inches is the sweet spot. Many of the criticisms that came with the Legion Go from users (and myself included) was that the device is too heavy to hold, especially after long hours of playtime.
Devices like the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and the Lenovo Legion Go S (which both use an 8-inch screen) could provide different results concerning how comfortable they are to hold while gaming, as their designs will vary rather drastically. However, I fully believe 8-inch displays should become the standard for new handhelds, as 7-inches (at least to me) is too small, especially for competitive games. Fortunately, it looks like the majority of upcoming handhelds in 2025 will get the balance right between having a screen big enough to see what’s happening in games, without making a device that’s too big and bulky to comfortably play on for long.
