Wow, so Zotac’s showing off this new handheld thing at Computex 2025, right? And let me tell you, it’s not just any handheld. They slapped a 7-inch AMOLED screen on it, which is like, way better than my old TV. What’s wild is they’ve ditched Windows and SteamOS for Manjaro Linux. Who wakes up one day and decides, “Manjaro it is”? Maybe they’re onto something, or maybe it’s just a quirky phase. They’ve dubbed it “Zone 2” for now. Seriously, who knows if that’ll stick. It’s kinda like naming a guinea pig before you’ve even brought it home.
Anyway, their first one, the Zone 1—original, I know—showed up last year, using the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U chip. It’s been a minute because Zotac doesn’t exactly rush things. I mean, they’ve been holding onto this idea since CES in January. The new “Zone 2” or whatever it’ll be called, might pop up later this year. But then again, who really trusts timelines anymore?
The juicy part? Inside, it’s got this AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU. Twelve cores, a fancy Radeon 890M iGPU… those numbers mean something if you’re into that, I guess. There’s 24/32GB of memory and a whole 1TB of storage you can tinker with. I’m getting sidetracked, but it sounds like they crammed quite a bit in there.
Oh, and there’s this display—like 7 inches pumping out 1080p joy, 120Hz, HDR and all that. Almost blinding at 800 nits. It’s like carrying a pocket sun. They even borrowed the Switch’s idea of a kickstand, so it’s perfect for… well, wherever you’d need a kickstand in daily life.
Running Manjaro Linux, if that didn’t scare you off, it’s similar to SteamOS. You’ll be dealing with Proton, so expect some headaches with multiplayer games because of those pesky anti-cheat things. But hey, single-player? Go nuts. Or swap out the OS if you’re feeling adventurous.
Battery life? It’s got a 48.5Wh Li-ion thingy, similar to the Zone 1, so you’ll get a few solid hours before needing a recharge. I/O-wise, there’s a microSD slot, audio jack, and USB4 ports. Oh, and it’s got WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, if you care about that sort of connectivity stuff. Plus, there are extra buttons and some mesh design at the back for cooling, because who wants to hold a pocket heater?
So yeah, more to come but no idea when. Keep your ears on standby—or just follow Tom’s Hardware for updates. Or not. No pressure.
