Is it a laptop computer? Is it a pill? Is it a gaming handheld? No, it’s simply the brand new GPD Pocket 4, and it’s a little bit of all three — though with out a lot of an emphasis on “gaming.” Not like the Steam Deck, GPD’s new mini-PC packs a number of the newest {hardware} and will blow away its rivals.
Clearly, the shape issue of this factor is fascinating, however the AMD Zen 5 chip underneath the hood is equally attention-grabbing. GPD’s Pocket 4 would be the first handheld to make use of one among AMD’s best processors, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (12 cores/24 threads) and the Radeon 890M iGPU. This could give it a leg up in efficiency over techniques just like the ROG Ally X, particularly in relation to gaming.
Other than efficiency positive factors, although, the machine comes geared up with an 8.8-inch 2,560 by 1,600 touchscreen with a 144Hz refresh fee that may attain as much as 500 nits of brightness. Among the different specs embody LPDDR5X RAM working at 7,500MT/s and as much as 4TB of SSD storage.
GPD additionally serves up loads of ports, together with one Sort-C USB 4 port, one Sort-C USB 3.2 port, and two Sort-A USB ports (one 3.2 and one 2.0), in addition to one HDMI 2.1, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader. There’s additionally a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port for wired connections.
On its product page, GPD doesn’t place a lot emphasis on gaming, though it’s talked about right here and there in regard to system efficiency. The corporate as an alternative leans into the spectacular versatility that this mini-PC serves up. The keyboard is certain to be good each for players and creatives, however there’s additionally a variety of flexibility — you should utilize the GPD Pocket 4 in laptop computer and pill modes, and the display can rotate as much as 180 levels. Truthfully, it’s extra of a tiny 2-in-1 laptop than a gaming handheld.
As pointed out by Tom’s {Hardware}, there’s one caveat to contemplate, and it’s that the GPD Pocket 4 won’t take advantage of its highly effective Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor. The chip contained in the mini-PC is proscribed to twenty-eight watts; usually, the CPU can go as much as 54 watts.
Contemplating the small dimension of the machine, it is sensible that the wattage can be restricted, however this additionally implies that we are able to’t anticipate wherever close to the utmost efficiency that the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 can put out at 54W. If not for this limitation, this might’ve been essentially the most highly effective gaming handheld; now, we’ll have to attend and see the way it compares to the Z1 Excessive.
It’s unclear when this machine will hit the market or how a lot it’ll price. For now, it’s positively an attention-grabbing little machine to think about, even when that’s all it finally ends up being.
