Acer Predator Atlas 8 hands-on review: Intel’s best shot at gaming handheld supremacy
Intel Arc G3 Extreme came ready to throw down with AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme
Intel Arc G3 Extreme plays Forza Horizon 6 at 10+ fps (on more challenging settings) than the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme
The Acer Predator Atlas 8 is comfortable as the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, without looking fugly
The Acer Predator Atlas 8 isn’t actually that thick
As early hardware, the Acer Predator Atlas 8 is a mess with narrow viewing angles on its display
🕹️The lack of hall-effect sticks really stands out when the rest of the inputs are stock standard
📅 The Acer Predator Atlas 8 will be available this October in NA, EMEA, and Australia
💰 Pricing has yet to be confirmed
The Acer Predator Atlas 8 marks a new beginning for third-generation Intel-powered gaming handhelds. While previous gaming handhelds have squeezed Meteor Lake and Lundar Lake CPUs, the Arc G3 Extreme is Intel’s first chip specifically designed for this type of gaming device. This new Intel gaming handheld is already proving to be promising, as the Acer Predator Atlas 8 can play Forza Horizon 6 at full resolution with high settings and XeSS set to Ultra Quality Plus, all at 55-59fps. That tops the Asus Xbox Ally X and every other AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme-powered handheld I’ve tested by 10+ fps.
On the strictly hardware side, the Acer Predator Atlas 8 feels good, but it still needs work. For starters, the display looks fantastic on paper, having a larger 8-inch screen and taller 1,200 resolution with all the usual 500-nits, 48-120Hz VRR – but it has painfully narrow up and down viewing angles. The lack of hall-effect sticks seems like a miss as well, especially when almost all the other inputs just reach the bar standard to ship.
Now, this could all be fixed by production, as pricing hasn’t been finalized and the Acer Predator Atlas 8 won’t be available until later this October. But I’m already excited about the prospect of a far more powerful Intel gaming handheld that will give anything powered by an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme a run for its money.
📈 Rising to the task. Acer only had the Predator Atlas 8 set up with Forza Horizon 6, but I still came away impressed by the Intel Arc G3 Extreme’s performance. Intel’s new chip was able to play FH6 at the system’s full 1,920 x 1,200 resolution with the high settings preset and crucially XeSS set to Ultra Quality Plus. That actually beats the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and its AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, as it can only push up to 50fps with the same settings and FSR 3.1.5 set to Quality. That’s a direct shot across AMD’s bow for gaming handheld supremacy.
🗜️ Thicc, but not that much thicker. The early renderings had me worried that the Acer Predator Atlas 8 would be too thick. However, holding it next to its closest competitors, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, the Acer Predator Atlas 8 is thicker, but not by much. The Atlas 8 measures 28.5-58.37mm thick, while the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is 24mm, and the Xbox Ally X is 27.5-50.7mm.
🪮 Business in front, party in the back. The front of the Acer Predator Atlas 8 is completely clean. Aside from the face buttons and joysticks, the entire front surface is a single smooth piece of plastic with no lines or dimpled texture. Turning this system around reveals a plethora of ventilation holes along with two big heatsink exhausts set at a 45-degree angle. The rear logo will supposedly light up with a single LED, but the showfloor pre-production model simply had reflective, metallic branding.
☁️ Comfort without compromise. The first thing I noticed about holding the Acer Predator Atlas 8 is that it felt as comfortable in my hands as the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X. Acer has added a pair of contoured grips that bowl out to the sides of the gaming handheld, but they don’t completely flare out as a pair of gaming controller handles on the Xbox Ally X. The overall shape of the handheld is very reminiscent of the Lenovo Legion Go S.
📺 Great display, except… The Acer Predator Atlas 8’s display looks fantastic on paper: it’s slightly larger at 8 inches across, offers higher vertical resolution at 1,920 x 1,200, 48-120Hz VRR, and is 500-nit bright. The display is even covered with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, which should make it more resistant to scratches while also reducing reflectivity – though it didn’t really seem to fix or reduce reflections from the spotlights in Acer’s showroom. The big but is that the Acer Predator Atlas 8 has terrible viewing angles. Even just tilting the gaming handheld by 20 degrees causes a quarter of the color to wash out.
🔫 Hall-effect triggers. Unfortunately, the Acer Predator Atlas 8 doesn’t really distinguish itself much with its inputs. It has an asymmetrical Xbox layout and all traditional controls, with the only hall-effect parts being the triggers, so they’ll outlast any punishing shooters and soulslikes. Those triggers are also tunable, and with a flick of a switch on the back, you can shorten the trigger pull to just a button press.
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam