I’ve been excited to hear more about the Zotac Zone since its announcement, as it’s poised to be a proper Steam Deck OLED rival thanks to its screen. The only issue is that the gaming handheld scene doesn’t wait around, and while the PC component company has seemingly settled on a $799 MSRP, many other main contenders are wearing much lower price tags. Pre-orders aren’t quite live yet, but the Zotac Zone has officially taken to the best gaming handheld battlefield with a $799 asking price.
That places it in the same thing as the Asus ROG Ally X , and it does admittedly pack more of a performance punch than the Steam Deck OLED thanks to its AMD 's Ryzen 7 8840U APU. In other words, its price isn’t completely outrageous when it comes to premium portables, but my concern is that it’s targeting an audience with devices in hand. Zotac’s launch timing is also slightly unfortunate, as Antec just released its version of the Ayaneo Slide for a ridiculously low $499.
The OG Asus ROG Ally also likes to frequently dip to near that same price point these days, which is bad news for the Zone considering its capabilities are on par with both devices on paper. Should you buy the Zotac Zone? The Zotac Zone is a premium portable through and through, but as a handheld reviewer, I’m looking for it to check three boxes. The first relates to its AMOLED screen, as at 1080p 120Hz, it should offer elevated specs compared to its competition.
If you’re looking for deeper blacks and su.