The handheld gaming market has gained significant momentum in recent years, and the Zotac Zone is the latest offering to fit into this growing niche. Positioned as a direct competitor to the ASUS ROG Ally X, the Zotac Zone aims to excite both casual and hardcore gamers with its performance and flexibility. After the presentation in June 2024, the release now follows.
What the Zotac Zone has to offer:
- PC-level performance: The Zotac Zone is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 8840U APU, which, in combination with the integrated Radeon 780M graphics, offers enough power to run even demanding games smoothly.
- Handheld design: With a compact 7-inch Full HD touchscreen, the Zone offers an optimal mix of mobility and gaming comfort.
- Expandable storage capacity: The Zotac Zone features 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and a 1TB NVMe SSD for fast storage access and plenty of room for gaming.
- Compatibility and flexibility: The device runs on Windows 11 Home, allowing users to run both PC games and applications as they would on a traditional desktop PC.
Powerful hardware in a compact housing
At the heart of the Zotac Zone beats an AMD Ryzen 7 8840U APU, which provides enough computing power with eight cores and 16 threads to master even resource-intensive applications. It is supported by the integrated Radeon 780M graphics, which proves powerful enough to play current games in medium to high settings at smooth frame rates. The Zotac Zone is therefore in no way inferior to its stationary counterparts, but offers the flexibility of a portable device.
The 7-inch Full HD touchscreen with 120 Hertz is not only sharp, but also offers brilliant color reproduction, which makes the gaming experience on the go even more intense. Weighing less than 700 grams, the device is also light in the hand, making longer gaming sessions comfortable.
For the triggers and sticks, the Zone relies on Hall effect sensors, which deliver increased precision and should be protected against drift. There are also radial dials around the sticks that allow game settings to be adjusted.
Storage space and connectivity
The Zotac Zone comes with 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM, which provides enough memory for multitasking and intensive applications. There is also a 1 TB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD, which offers fast loading times and plenty of space for extensive game libraries. Should you run out of storage space, the Zone offers expandable storage options via a MicroSD card slot.
On the connection side, the Zotac Zone is well equipped: In addition to two USB 4 ports, the device has a 3.5 mm headphone connection and an HDMI output, which enables connection to an external display. This means that the device can also be used as a replacement for a stationary PC when connected to a monitor. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 are supported.
Conclusion: A serious competitor for the ROG Ally X and co.
The Zotac Zone offers a powerful alternative to other handheld gaming devices on the market. With its powerful hardware, compatibility with Windows PC games and flexible design, it is an interesting option for anyone looking for a portable gaming experience without sacrificing performance.
According to the manufacturer, the Zotac Zone is now available in Germany at a price of 849 euros, making it a serious alternative to the ROG Ally X. So if you are looking for a new handheld gaming device, you should definitely take a closer look at the Zotac Zone.
