Zotac’s got a booth at Computex 2025, and guess what? They’ve got this handheld thingy. It’s packing a 7-inch AMOLED screen and the Ryzen AI HX 370 – sounds like a lot of power, right? But instead of doing the usual Windows or SteamOS dance, they’re rolling with Manjaro Linux. Yep, that’s the OS! They’re calling it Zone 2 now, but who knows, they might rename it later, and nobody has a clue about the price yet. Or when it’s coming out. Mystery abounds.
Last year, we saw the Zone 1 in September. It ran on Ryzen 7 8840U, which came out in December 2023. Seems like Zotac takes their sweet time compared to others. Maybe they’re just more chill? They first showed Zone 2 at CES. Someone from Zotac even said, “Zone 2” might stick, but things can change. Expected later this year for sure. Or not. I guess we’ll see.
The guts of this thing — the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU — is built with a 12-core setup. Technical stuff: 4x Zen 5 and 8x Zen 5c, plus the Radeon 890M graphics. Oh, and a 50 TOPS capable NPU, whatever that means. While others are cautious with the Ryzen Z2, Zotac goes all out. You can get 24/32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The SSD is user-upgradeable, which is neat, I suppose.
Now, the screen is kinda cool. It’s 7 inches, 1080p, and has a 120 Hz refresh rate with a brightness of 800 nits. HDR is on board too. It’s got a kickstand, something you might find familiar if you’ve seen a Nintendo Switch. It even includes touchpads and joysticks with some dual-stage triggers. For those who like specifics, there’s a radial dial too. Handy, huh?
Running on an immutable Manjaro Linux with KDE Plasma 6 — I thought it was like Valve’s SteamOS, but better, maybe. For gaming, Proton comes into play. The catch? Anti-cheat limitations for online games, but most titles should be smooth. Switching to Windows is an option too, if you fancy a change.
Battery-wise, they’ve stuck a 48.5Wh Li-ion inside, so expect similar playtime to Zone 1. Connections? There are a few, like a UHS-II microSD slot, earbuds-friendly 3.5mm jack, and some USB4 ports. Wireless tech is there, with WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. The back has extra buttons and a mesh-styled design to keep it cool. As for when all this becomes available? That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Stay tuned, I guess.
