Acer Reveals the Predator Atlas 8 - A New Handheld with Battery Power and Visuals at the Fore

Acer, ahead of the Computex global tech expo, has revealed its latest handheld device designed to go up against the likes of the ROG Ally and Valve's Steam Deck (and to a lesser degree, Nintendo Switch 2) -- the Predator Atlas 8.

With a tilt towards specific handheld power usage, as well as screen size and visual outlay, the Atlas 8 is already sounding like a winner for PC and Xbox gamers, with full Xbox Mode and Game Pass support alongside a full Windows 11 OS setup. More importantly, however, is what's under the hood of this new beast, which includes "up to" Intel Arc G3 Extreme Processor for "breakthrough handheld performance and battery efficiency", as well as "up to" Intel Arc B390-powered visuals featuring full ray-tracing support as well as AI upscaling powered by Intel X^eSS 3. All of this means, for the lay-person, that this machine will offer a smooth and consistent visual experience alongside optimised battery life for those moments when you're not docking it to your TV as a portable PC.

Additionally, it will feature the Predator AeroBlade cooling architecture, marking the first time a handheld of this magnitude has featured a metal fan in its framework, though that does beg the question around its overall weight (stated as being under eight grams with the 80 WH battery). It will also have an 8" WUXGA screen that outputs at 120Hz with variable refresh rate which, again, points to a relatively smooth on-screen experience for pretty much all games.

So far we're on track in Australia for a "late Q3/early Q4 2026" release, though no price-point has yet been revealed for our market. Stay tuned for more, though, as we have it.