Acer is still trying to find its handheld people, and its freshly unveiled Project Dualplay Mini concept feels like it's for Bop It players. I'm probably in that camp since I love portables that flip, and the 2-in-1 design of this concept lets you transform it into a tiny laptop. It's a two birds, one stone approach that looks slick, but my eyes already feel the strain.
The Acer Predator Project Dualplay Mini, to give its full best gaming handheld contender title, isn't a real thing yet. That's probably a good thing given the reality of portable PC prices right now, but it does showcase the long-standing PC giant's ambitions to make a handheld-laptop hybrid. It's a fully-fledged concept too, one that considers thermals as well as flippy keyboard tomfoolery.
If you've got zero interest in using a handheld as a laptop, or flipping gadgets like some sort of fidget toy, there are already portable PCs out there. I'd start with the ROG Xbox Ally since it's "affordable" at $599.99, and Best Buy has open-box options for under $500, which is the price I'd personally pay.
For instance, the DualPlay Mini's Predator AeroBlade fans apparently facilitates "10% more airflow" using metal blades instead of plastic. We've got no idea at this stage which chipset that system will actually be cooling, but disclaimers at the bottom of Acer's page specifically namedrop Intel, meaning it could theoretically be an Arc G3 portable. That said, there's no point pretending we're not all here for the transforming laptop moves, and those are pretty unique.
Just in case you're too dazzled by the Need For Speed-inspired street racing imagery in the video, here's what the Dualplay Mini is physically all about. Technically speaking, it's a clamshell handheld since it hinges a top display to a bottom half with all the innards. Opening the sandwich reveals a 60% keyboard, presumably with scissor-switches to maintain a low profile, with the separated top screen doing a backflip on another hinge to become a tiny laptop.
It's all a bit like watching a flamboyant stunt show, and rapidly spinning the handheld into a laptop Rubik's Cube style could be a fun party trick. As a concept, though, it avoids touching on specs, instead focussing on the elements made in house by Acer. I should note that laptop-handheld hybrids aren't exactly new, and the OneXPlayer X2 Mini Pro barks up a similar tree, but it uses a separate keyboard like a tablet.
Naturally, there's no Predator DualPlay Mini release date yet, hence why Acer is prefacing it as a "project" for now. Keep in mind that the only portable PC that's made it to market so far is the Acer Nitro Blaze 7, so while I'd love to torture my astigmatism with trying to use this presumably 8-inch device as a tiny laptop, it arguably needs to get in a release line behind the Predator Atlas 8.
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Check out the best retro handhelds if you'd rather stick with the classics.
