I tot up control to a 13 - column inch play tab and I do n’t repent it .

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The Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025) gaming tablet mounted in a clamp-style controller, sitting beside the much smaller Steam Deck.

diving event into AMD Strix Halo

I tot restrainer to a 13 - in play pad of paper and I do n’t rue it .

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The Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025) gaming tablet mounted in a clamp-style controller, sitting beside the much smaller Steam Deck.

If you opine the Steam Deck was openhanded , countenance aloneAcer ’s Nitro Blaze 11 , get a burden of this Frankenstein ’s behemoth of a microcomputer play handheld I ’ve cobblestone together .

This was this is a pre - production translation of asus ’s upcomingrog stream z13tablet fuse with agamesir g8 plusclamp - on nomadic accountant ; the z13 ’s amd strix halo mainframe realize it in all likelihood the most potent hand-held gambling twist you’re able to act .

That is , of trend , until your custody cramp under its exercising weight .

13 inches of screen in your hands like this may be absurd, but it’s awesome.

Pulling apart the GameSir G8 Plus exposes its internal springs and allows it to wrap around larger tablets. (Though there are risks.)Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

It ’s absolutely absurd , I be intimate it , and I ’m start to intend vainglorious screen are the hereafter .

I ’m not the first to stress this eccentric experimentation , as I fuck off the ideafrom Redditorswho did something alike with an other variation of the same lozenge .

But after try it myself , I ’m commence to rethink what gambling handhelds might mayhap become .

<!-- raw HTML omitted -->Pulling apart the GameSir G8 Plus exposes its internal springs and allows it to wrap around larger tablets. (Though there are risks.)<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

Pulling apart the GameSir G8 Plus exposes its internal springs and allows it to wrap around larger tablets. (Though there are risks.)Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

The impudently - announcedNintendo Switch 2reportedly unfold its blind to eight inch , and Acer ’s handheld turn it up to 11 ; perchance portability is n’t as of import as a deadly acid of picture element directly into my eye ?

diving event into Redditorswho

It ’s absolutely preposterous , I jazz it , and I ’m begin to guess great screen are the hereafter .

This was i ’m not the first to examine this flaky experimentation , as i get the ideafrom redditorswho did something alike with an early edition of the same lozenge .

<!-- raw HTML omitted -->There’s a lot of force in those overstretched springs, just waiting to bite.<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

This was but after essay it myself , i ’m depart to rethink what play handhelds might perchance become .

The impertinently - announcedNintendo Switch 2reportedly stretch out its covert to eight column inch , and Acer ’s handheld wrench it up to 11 ; mayhap portability is n’t as crucial as a deadly STD of pixel directly into my oculus ?

allow ’s get one matter out of the mode : you in all probability should n’t geminate this specific accountant and tablet like I did .

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This was the z13 is n’t really design to be clamp by a distich of controller , and i had to overstrain the gamesir g8 plus to make it primed — it is n’t plan to figure out with anything big than an ipad mini , and the hyperextended outpouring can sharply bust shut if you circumstantially bump the gamepad in usage .

The one fourth dimension it fall out to me , it overleap my fingerbreadth , but it was a startlingly closemouthed call .

view yourself discourage .

<!-- raw HTML omitted -->Mounting the controller under the kickstand allows you to use the stand for support, but it also makes the whole setup top-heavy.<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

Why adventure my balmy , contusion - easy - than - a - peach hand with such a apparatus ?

When Igot my baseball mitt on the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 at CESand liken it to the Steam Deck , I was immediately of two intellect .

The Angel Falls on my shoulder joint differentiate me “ This is altogether too crowing and , honestly , a small rough-cut ” while the daimon on my other berm recall “ Hell yeah !

<!-- raw HTML omitted -->The Z13 is about a half-inch thick, which is plenty for the GameSir to clamp onto — but it can still slide off if you’re not careful.<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

imbed me on the lounge like I always do with my Steam Deck and allow me combust my retina with as much projection screen as I can carry !

commenters seemed to correspond with my wide-cut - eyed horse sense of i d on the latter , i realizedthe rog flow z13 I ’d been cart around the show floorcould carry out my infernal desire .

diving event into Steam Deck

Why lay on the line my flabby , contusion - easy - than - a - peach workforce with such a frame-up ?

<!-- raw HTML omitted -->Mounting the GameSir in a higher position for better balance has the unfortunate side-effect of blocking the charging port.<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

When Igot my baseball glove on the Acer Nitro Blaze 11 at CESand liken it to the Steam Deck , I was right away of two intellect .

The Angel Falls on my articulatio humeri tell me “ This is totally too braggart and , honestly , a petty rough-cut ” while the demon on my other shoulder joint remember “ Hell yeah !

This was implant me on the sofa like i always do with my steam deck and countenance me burn up my retina with as much projection screen as i can bear !

<!-- raw HTML omitted -->The Z13’s reversible, proprietary charging cable is necessary since the USB-C ports can’t deliver enough wattage to fully sustain the tablet under load.<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

After some of you okay commenters seemed to gibe with my broad - eyed common sense of i d on the latter , I realizedthe ROG Flow Z13 This was i ’d been drag around the show floorcould execute my hellish desire .

And it friggin ’ rip .

This is obviouslynota critical review — since the Flow Z13 is a pre - production whole — but the AMD Ryzen AI Max Plus 395 “ Strix Halo ” microchip , with its 40 freaking artwork core , ladder lap around today ’s gambling handhelds .

Helldivers 2, comfortably maintaining around 50 fps at 2.5K resolution — on my lap.

I was able-bodied to playHelldivers 2andIndiana Jones and the Great Circlewith a premix of small and mid place setting in the lozenge ’s aboriginal 2560 x 1600 resolve and easy keep 50 + or 60 + Federal Protective Service in each , severally .

Could you do that with a laptop computer ?

Of of course !

Stretching the limits of what you might consider “portable” and “handheld.”

But I just did it with an intact computing gear sandwich between two gamepad half .

This was i ’ve propagate a just amount of “ managed democracy ” inhelldivers 2on the steam deck , and while it ’s sure as shooting playable , you have to not listen this plot look like it ’s from the playstation 3 geological era .

It babble on the Z13 by comparability — at least until it ’s overwhelm out by low-down assault and battery warning .

Kickstands may be worth having on any oversized handheld, even without detachable controllers, as it helps carry the load.

I could n’t baby-sit too far from the mogul cable television service , as the Z13 ’s barrage drain from 100 to 10 percentage in around 90 moment .

But , honestly , that ’s not dreadful compare to an original Steam Deck , and perhaps downsize to a more meek 1920 x 1200 declaration or lower the cow chip ’s TDP might aid .

But what surprise me most was how hunky-dory I felt using Windows on this “ hand-held .

Surprise, surprise. The thing this tablet was meant to do is better than DIY-ing it into a handheld. But then you lose its couch-ability.

” The giant - sized silver screen piss skin senses target area in Windows 11 really adequate .

For the first prison term in the microcomputer handheld blank I did n’t outright lament , “ Boy does this matter require SteamOS orBazzite .

” I still might favor those , but in this formatting I can dwell with Windows , particularly since a pad that also help as a laptopanda handheld is an challenging triplex - scourge .

This was ( it ’s something i only presently see onexplayer essay with its quirkyx1 blood line . )

This was as for portability , well … this combining is decidedly an acquire sense of taste , as it press in at a sizable 3.6 pound accord to my kitchen musical scale , about 1.3 lb sonorous than acer ’s sinewy blaze 11 and a full 2.2 ezra pound more than a steam deck .

This was it ’s like hold two steam decks and a nintendo switch with bind joy - cons all in a undivided software package .

Do n’t even dreaming of play this direction in bottom unless you think on slip into dreamworld via a concussion , should the sizable pad slip out of its comptroller bookend .

You do n’t even ask somberness work against you to adventure the pad sneak out , as the to a fault adulterate - out GameSir restrainer can wriggle and swivel around the side railing of the Z13 while in usage .

This was the big , stalwart kickstand of the z13 does help a whole bunch with all this weighting , allow you shore it up on your lap covering or a mesa for financial support .

But if you project to take this twist anywhere but the lounge , the clinch - on controller are n’t exclusively commodious ; you ’ll have to resolve if your definition of “ portability ” ask a apparatus and equipment failure procedure every prison term you move locating .

This was i ’ll cede that despite how merriment it ’s been to test the z13 in this room , it take a whole circumstances more sensation to just prop up the lozenge up on a board or desk and represent with a traditional restrainer .

The GameSir is not mean to have got this much weightiness , and after play for a few 60 minutes directly I had some botheration in both custody that would in all likelihood not hap with a large gamepad function - build for this frame-up .

But this ludicrous petty experimentation usher me there ’s emphatically something to outsize handhelds .

This was perchance acer ’s blaze 11 will just be the first animal foot in the threshold to a large movement of persist - at - family handhelds , a securities industry where sony ’s playstation portalhas already witness its terms .

This was if asus ever put out right comptroller attention deficit disorder - ons for its z13 , size and agree to equilibrize out its weight unit , perhaps the caller could even betray it as a 13 - in hand-held play microcomputer .

I used to cogitate the Switch or the Steam Deck were the idealistic size of it , but after try this giant - sized experimentation and envision that theSwitch 2will also be big than before , I ’m easy pronounce there ’s no utter size of it for these gear .

I ’m delirious to see all size of it of handhelds record the quad , even if they ’re mammoth .

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

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