Acer's upcoming Predator Atlas 8 handheld gaming PC is set to launch with prices ranging from £1,000 to £1,500 (approximately $1,300 to $2,000), a cost that reinforces the trend of handheld gaming devices occupying a high-end, luxury market. This pricing follows Intel's recent announcement of new chips for these devices, the Intel Arc G3 and G3 Extreme, which were expected to bring new life to the portable PC gaming space.
The base model of the Predator Atlas 8, featuring a regular G3 chip, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD, will cost £1,000. An upgrade to 24 GB of memory adds £100. For those opting for the more powerful G3 Extreme chip, a configuration with a 1 TB SSD and 24 GB of memory is priced at £1,300. The top-tier model, boasting 32 GB of RAM alongside the G3 Extreme and 1 TB SSD, reaches the £1,500 mark.
These figures place the Predator Atlas 8 squarely in the upper echelon of handheld pricing, a trend mirrored by other recent releases. The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, also equipped with an Intel G3 Extreme chip, is priced at $1,800. While MSI had initially targeted a $1,500 price point for the Claw 8 EX AI+ at Computex, market forces appear to have driven the cost higher. This situation is not unique to Intel-powered devices; even the Asus ROG Ally X, considered by some to be the best handheld gaming PC currently available, launched at $1,000, a price point that now seems relatively more accessible compared to these newer, more expensive options.
Despite the steep price tags, the performance of Intel's latest chips is notable. The G3 Extreme, with its 12 Xe cores, has demonstrated the ability to outperform competitors like the Asus ROG Ally X in certain gaming benchmarks at 1080p resolution. However, this performance comes at a significant cost. The high pricing suggests that the market for handheld gaming PCs may be shifting away from a more accessible entry point into PC gaming towards a niche, luxury segment. The initial promise of more affordable and powerful portable gaming solutions appears to be challenged by these high retail prices, making advanced handheld PC gaming an expensive proposition for many consumers.