Hands On with the Zotac ZONE Gaming Handheld, and Mini PC Shaped eGPU Box

[btarunr]

Zotac took the plunge into the emerging market of Windows-based gaming handhelds that a lot of PC hardware brands are getting into off late. The device has a 7-inch 1080p AMOLED multi-touch display, but you can connect an external display using over DisplayPort. At the heart of the Zotac ZONE is the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U "Hawk Point" processor, with its Radeon 780M graphics. This chip is wired to 16 GB of LPDDR5X-7500, and a 512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD. The device features an M.2-2280 Gen 4 slot, so you are spoiled for choice with SSD upgrades.

The Zotac ZONE handheld console uses Windows 11 Home, but with its first-party One Launcher UI that organizes your games across DRM platforms, lets you configure input, tweak performance or battery life, and much more. The star attraction with this device's connectivity is its two USB4 type-C ports, one of which has DisplayPort passthrough), and PD 3.0. There's also a microSD UHS-II reader. A 4-pole 3.5 mm headset jack handles analog audio. Wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. Powering it all is a 48.5 Wh battery. The device measures 310 mm x 135 mm x 40 mm, and is expected to weigh under 700 g.



We spotted an optional accessory for the Zotac ZONE, the ZD-04 Docking Station. You connect this to one of the USB4 ports with the DisplayPort passthrough, and it gives you a standard size DisplayPort 1.4, an HDMI 2.0, a couple of USB 3.0 ports, and a gigabit Ethernet port. Zotac also has a first-party design carrying case that's part of the Optional package.

Switching gears from the Zotac ZONE, we ran into the Zotac EGB AD3500, an external GPU box that's designed to be compact, and looks quite a bit like a mini-PC, with a volume of just 2.67 liters. Internally, the AD3500 uses an MXM 3.1 type-B slot. The star attraction is the GPU, which is an NVIDIA RTX 3500 Ada Generation (not to be confused with the GeForce RTX 3050). This is a professional GPU based on the newer Ada graphics architecture, with 5,120 CUDA cores on tap, and 12 GB of 192-bit GDDR6 memory. Besides 5,120 CUDA cores, it has 160 Tensor cores, and 40 RT cores. It boasts of up to 369 AI TOPS performance. The EGB-AD3500 is hence meant more for professional graphics, AI development, and some AI acceleration. It connects to the host over Thunderbolt 3. Display outputs include three DisplayPort 1.4a. The GPU has a typical graphics power of 115 W, and comes with a power brick.



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[Gucky]

Those THICC bezels and those controls, were they trying to imitate the Steamdeck 1:1?

 

[Kenjiro]

Those THICC bezels and those controls, were they trying to imitate the Steamdeck 1:1?

They are beautiful, aren't they?

 

[xeph713]

They are beautiful, aren't they?

The main issue is that they are copying the normal SteamDeck. A SteamDeck OLED clone would be more successful. The normal SteamDeck didn't interest me in the slightest, but the OLED version was an instant buy for me.

I can't imagine not using an OLED screen in current year. And to make matters worse, the original SteamDeck has one of the worst screens to ever exist.

 

[watzupken]

This would have been great if Zotac introduce it with more RAM and a bigger battery. I believe the OLED display is going to drain battery faster than an IPS display.

 

[xeph713]

This would have been great if Zotac introduce it with more RAM and a bigger battery. I believe the OLED display is going to drain battery faster than an IPS display.

It's the opposite. The IPS technology requires a constant LED backlight, that works even when the screen is showing black. Meanwhile the OLED technology uses pixels, that are independent from one another and thus they completely turn off, when black is being shown on the screen.

The OLED panels also tend to be slimmer, which allows for either a better cooling or a larger battery to be fit inside of the device. The main issue with the OLED screen is the price, but hey - that's the downside of the nice things in general.

 

[oldwalltree]

It's the opposite. The IPS technology requires a constant LED backlight, that works even when the screen is showing black. Meanwhile the OLED technology uses pixels, that are independent from one another and thus they completely turn off, when black is being shown on the screen.

The OLED panels also tend to be slimmer, which allows for either a better cooling or a larger battery to be fit inside of the device. The main issue with the OLED screen is the price, but hey - that's the downside of the nice things in general.

The OLED screen offers better contrast ratios and consumes more power because of it, especially when displaying brighter content. An LCD screen like this IPS panel does backlight always even when black however, the OLED screen's peak brightness far exceeds the LCD screen making it consume more power overall.

 

[xeph713]

The OLED screen offers better contrast ratios and consumes more power because of it, especially when displaying brighter content. An LCD screen like this IPS panel does backlight always even when black however, the OLED screen's peak brightness far exceeds the LCD screen making it consume more power overall.

Depends on the content and wether you use HDR or not. It's also rare to see OLED screens with a higher peak brightness than the IPS screens. Sure, the SteamDeck OLED is an exception, but who even uses the 1000 nits of peak HDR brightness? The OLED screens are best used in a fully dark room. I don't use my OLED TV on it's maximum brightness either, because it's overwhelming.

On the same brightness level the OLED screens tend to consume less and that's my entire point. Getting a 3000 nits OLED TV is quite a bit more expensive, than a 3000 nits micro-LED for example. The brightness tends to be a bit of a luxury with the OLED technology.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Those THICC bezels and those controls, were they trying to imitate the Steamdeck 1:1?

Seems like it. Except this system looks much better than the Steamdeck. And with better specs it kicks the Steamdeck in the nads.

They are beautiful, aren't they?

Not really..

I believe the OLED display is going to drain battery faster than an IPS display.

And that would be wrong. Because OLED is a self-luminescent technology, it is MUCH more efficient.

The OLED screen offers better contrast ratios and consumes more power because of it

Incorrect. LCDs use a back-light to pass photons through a filtering layer. They have to be very bright to do so as some of the photons emitted are lost into the materials in the transfer. OLED's emit their own light directly and thus no photons are lost during the process. On a per-pixel basis, OLEDs are half as power hungry as even the best IPS LCDs at the same brightness levels.

 

[Gucky]

Seems like it. Except this system looks much better than the Steamdeck. And with better specs it kicks the Steamdeck in the nads.

Specwise yes, but it doesn't have OLED. And for the better specs you have to pay extra.
Do you really want to pay that much more compared to a switch or even a fullsize TV console, but actually have much worse specs?

 

[lexluthermiester]

but it doesn't have OLED

THAT is not important to everyone. For some of us, a quality IPS display is perfectly fine.

And for the better specs you have to pay extra.

Yeah, but you're not limited to Steam either.

Do you really want to pay that much more compared to a switch or even a fullsize TV console, but actually have much worse specs?

You seem to be missing the point of this device and I'm not going to explain it.

 

[Gucky]

Yeah, but you're not limited to Steam either.

The Steamdeck is not limited to SteamOS, you can install Windows and still play your Steamgames, but it'll take a hit on the CPU performance.
There is even dual-boot for the Steamdeck, if you want to keep SteamOS.

THAT is not important to everyone. For some of us, a quality IPS display is perfectly fine.

Have you experienced OLED? Seeing your answer, probably not.

 

[lexluthermiester]

The Steamdeck is not limited to SteamOS, you can install Windows and still play your Steamgames, but it'll take a hit on the CPU performance.
There is even dual-boot for the Steamdeck, if you want to keep SteamOS.

I'm not going down this rabbit-hole. There are problems with dual-booting the SteamDeck and they more than just annoying.

Have you experienced OLED? Seeing your answer, probably not.

News flash, not everyone is impressed by OLED. Also, some of us know that burn-in is a real thing and we don't want to deal with it. IPS does not suffer burn-in.

 

[Gucky]

I'm not going down this rabbit-hole. There are problems with dual-booting the SteamDeck and they more than just annoying.

I wouldn't do it either.

News flash, not everyone is impressed by OLED. Also, some of us know that burn-in is a real thing and we don't want to deal with it. IPS does not suffer burn-in.

You should be. OLED is better then most cinema screens.

And burn-in is...misunderstood. IPS can suffer burn-in as well, but are not as prone as OLED.

My C2 OLED has about 8500 hours of runtime in 2 years, more then Rtings, and it has no burn-in.
I have not added any protective measures, I only use the ones included in the TV which are on by default, like auto-dimming and pixelshift.
But I do use HGiG for HDR tonemapping, which is generally a bit dimmer, but also closer to the real colors in games.

Burn-in is only an issue with static content that is visible for hundreds of hours, like playing the same game over and over for a thousend hours without playing something else.
I have a true mixed usage with movies, animes, games, reading mangas, youtube and general surfing. So I have no burn-in problems even with over 8000 hours.

You will profit from OLED if you play games with RT/PT or games with much shadow, especially horror or stealth games.
Or if you like to watch movies.

 

[lexluthermiester]

You should be. OLED is better then most cinema screens.

Not really. I've seen the difference. I'm not saying that OLED is not pretty or impressive. What I'm saying is that it doesn't impress me enough to avoid a device I would otherwise be interested in. I still have and use my IPS based Nintendo Switch. The OLED version is nice, but it's just not nice enough to make me buy a whole new Switch($350) just to have it. No thanks.

And burn-in is...misunderstood.

True. But it's still a thing and one that can not be avoided.

IPS can suffer burn-in as well, but are not as prone as OLED.

Lets see it. If it is a thing, is it so rare as to be effectively non-existent.

C2

?!?

You will profit from OLED if you play games with RT/PT or games with much shadow

That is a fair point, but again, not a good enough one to stop me from buying Zotacs offering as RT will not be a thing with this device.

Or if you like to watch movies.

Once again, not a deal breaker.