Zotac Zone handheld to be revealed at Computex, packing OLED and maybe a CPU to blow away the Steam Deck

Could this be a Lunar Lake-powered portable?

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Zotac has ahandheldin the works to join the many such devices that have come into existence since theSteam Decksparked the portable PC gaming craze.

VideoCardzreports that the Zotac Zone will be shown off at Computex next week, but the company – best known for itsgraphics cardsamong other PC hardware – is teasing some info on the device early.

Namely that the Zone will feature a 7-inch AMOLED screen, and as such it’ll be hoping to make its mark with a high-quality display.

That’s the main nugget of info we’re given, though we have also been treated to some rather shadowy pics of the handheld, showing that the Zone will have Xbox-style buttons, and we’re told it’ll feature two-stage adjustable triggers. There’s also an RGB strip on the rear of the device to jazz up the appearance somewhat.

Tony Wong, Zotac’s CEO, makes the expected promises of raising the bar in the handheld space and delivering a product which is “tailor-made with competitive features for all gamers.”

Zotac’s Zone isn’t ready yet, mind, and what we’ll see at Computex is a ‘functional’ prototype – although that could be a hint of something exciting, perhaps.

Analysis: Lunar rocket?

What are we talking about in terms of potential excitement here? Well, if the Zone handheld is still some way from release, that presents an intriguing possibility. As VideoCardz theorizes, it’s likely that Zotac’s device will run with anIntelCPU – mind you, we don’t know that for sure.

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However, if this is the case, then the Zone could have a Meteor Lake CPU (Core Ultra 100) for an engine – or alternatively, if it’s still a fair way off release, we might be seeing a Lunar Lake chip inside. That’s exciting because Intel is making some big promises with Lunar Lake as seriously nifty power-efficient silicon, and we’re very keen to see how this might pep up the world of handhelds.

That said, whileLunar Lakeis supposedlyready for a Q3 launch, volume production won’t happen for a considerable time after that. And if Zotac has a functional prototype right now, odds are it’ll be using Meteor Lake at this point, we’d imagine.

Still, with Intel expected to tease Lunar Lake at Computex, could Zotac’s Zone revelation tie into that somehow? Well, we can hope, but we’re not convinced – Meteor Lake seems more likely, frankly, if an Intel chip is used. Whatever the case, another handheld option withOLEDis going to be good to see, going up against theSteam Deck variantwhich offers that display too.

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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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