If it's going to do double duty as a computer, it might as well have a keyboard, right?
Senior Editor / Computers and Gaming Hardware
Senior Editor / Computers and Gaming Hardware
While we tend to think of Windows gaming handhelds as primarily gaming devices, they really have more in common with ultralight laptops: They run Windows, have a built-in screen and perform like them thanks to mobile processors with integrated graphics. And though some people have always used them as a primary computer, today’s high prices for both handhelds and traditional computers make handhelds seem like an even more attractive general-purpose option for gamers.
But if you want to play a game with a keyboard and mouse, much less nongaming uses, you frequently experience the cumbersome process of connecting to the input devices or being restricted to wherever you’ve got a dock set up.
Acer’s Project DualPlay Mini concept takes a Transformers-like approach to making a handheld more suitable for general computing and KBM gaming: It’s a clamshell laptop design with the speakers on either side of the display, but the 8-inch screen flips up, and the grips are on the back of the speakers, so it turns into a traditional handheld when closed.
You’d still have to connect a mouse, but the built-in keyboard remedies the most awkward design issue. As with any of these devices, you can connect to an external monitor as well as other peripherals as well.
The closest I’ve seen to a multipurpose design in a Windows gaming handheld is Lenovo’s Legion Go series (not the Legion Go Fold, though). But “close” in this case just comes down to a built-in kickstand that makes it a little easier to use on a desktop.
There aren’t any specs for it — it’s not a real product, at least at the moment — but Acer says it will use the same Intel G3 chips as in its Predator Atlas 8, announced at Computex 2026 in May and slated to ship later this month for an as-yet-unannounced price. The company has followed that with another launch this week for the Predator Atlas 7, a slightly smaller, lighter — and presumably cheaper — 7-inch model. It’s expected to ship around October or later in 2026.
