ZOTAC, a company with a significant presence in Germany, has introduced its first gaming handheld, the ZONE, at Gamescom, an event hosted in the same country. The company has revealed the pricing and announced that the product will be launching soon. Today, there’s an update on the release date and preorder details.
The ZONE is equipped with the Ryzen 7 8840U, the same chip found in the Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen 7040 series, with only minor differences, such as the NPU (Neural Processing Unit) speed or its absence (the Z1 doesn’t have an active NPU). The main point is that all these processors are built on the same Zen 4 and RDNA 3 architecture. The performance variations between devices using these APUs will likely depend on their power settings and thermal management, which can also impact clock speeds.
The ZONE is now available for purchase at €849 in Germany, £849 in the UK, and 3,899 PLN in Poland. In these regions, the pricing is similar to that of the ROG Ally X, which is priced at €899, £799, and 3,899 PLN in the same countries.
According to German retailer Caseking, the ZONE will be available on September 12th, while a Polish retailer indicates it will be in stock on September 24th.
One of the standout features of the ZONE is its 7-inch AMOLED screen, making it the first AMD Phoenix handheld device to use this technology, as most competitors are still using IPS screens. However, the system comes with only 512GB of storage and 16GB of LPDDR5X memory by default, which is significantly less compared to the 1TB SSD and 24GB of RAM offered by the Ally X.
The ZOTAC ZONE hasn’t received any reviews yet, aside from a few hands-on videos from Gamescom. While the hardware might be impressive, other factors like software, drivers, and real-world performance—including battery life and screen quality—are also important. Currently, the ZOTAC ZONE seems to be launching late and at a very high price, especially considering it’s the company’s first handheld system and when compared to competitors.
It’s also notable that the ROG Ally 2023 and Legion Go are now often available for under $600. For instance, the Legion Go is currently priced at $542, which is much more attractive compared to the ZOTAC ZONE’s $799 MSRP.
Via Videocardz
