The handheld market is likely to see a well-deserved shake-up if new performance figures boasted by AMD are accurate.
Though the market for gaming handhelds has exploded since the release of theSteam Deck, many of the devices have had one thing in common – the7840U 780Mchip combo. It’s in all the Ayaneo handhelds like theSlideand theFlip DS. Even the AMD Z1 Extreme that powers theAsus ROG Allyis just a variant on the same chipset.
Only a fewhandheldssuch as the MSI Claw andAyn Odin 2have departed from this tried-and-trusted hardware, with MSI trying out Intel’s new Arc graphics tech, while Ayn settled on a Snapdragon 8 CPU.
It’s no wonder that the vast majority of people are happy to stick with the Steam Deck. Everything else is more or less the same thing in a different package. There is little excitement to that, especially when the majority of Steam Deck rivals are saddled with the bloatedWindows 11OS.
However, Chinese manufacturer GPD accidentally leaked some numbers when it was showing off its new ‘Duo OLED’ laptop, which is powered by the same APU.
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For graphics, the Radeon 890M within the APU is up to 36% faster in gaming scenarios than the Radeon 780M.
We’ve already seen manufacturers and developers squeeze some impressive results out of the 7840U 780M in handheld configurations. This is especially true when paired with sufficient cooling and good optimization. With this in mind, the thought of what the next generation of handheld hardware could be capable of is awe-inspiring.
Having an entire gaming rig small enough to fit into a glove compartment is impressive enough already, and if power loads and heat can be kept low, it will only get better.
Rebecca Hills-Duty was a Tech Writer on Dexerto’s UK Team, specializing in PC components, VR, AMD, Nvidia and Intel. She has previously written for UploadVR and The Escapist, hosts a weekly show on RadioSEGA and has an obsession with retro gaming.
