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Zotac reveals next-gen gaming handheld with AMD Strix Point and Manjaro Linux
Quoting: Zotac reveals next-gen gaming handheld with AMD Strix Point and Manjaro Linux - Liliputing —
As promised, Zotac is using the Computex show in Taiwan this week to provide an early look at its next-gen handheld gaming PC. The company is showing off a prototype of the new Zotac Gaming Zone that looks, at first glance, a lot like last year’s model. But there are some big changes under the hood.
For one thing, the new 2025 model is powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor which should bring a big boost in CPU and graphics performance. And while the original shipped with Windows 11 software, the new model is also expected to ship with a version of Manjaro Linux that’s been optimized for gaming handhelds.
Notebookcheck:
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Zotac Zone: New OLED gaming handheld shown with unusual Manjaro Linux distributon
We have managed to get our hands on the latest version of the Zotac Zone as part of the company's Computex 2025 showcase. Teased before Taipei's annual tech expo, the new Zotac Zone is still at the prototype stage, despite being first presented in January during CES 2025.
To recap, the original Zotac Zone arrived relatively late in the life cycle of AMD's Ryzen 7 8840U APU. By contrast, Zotac's second-generation gaming handheld should mirror the performance of current generation options like the Ayaneo 3 or OneXFly F1 Pro (curr. $1,439 on Amazon) thanks to its Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU and Radeon 890M iGPU.
Tom's Hardware:
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Zotac Zone 2 demoed with Manjaro Linux and an AMOLED panel — 12-core Zen 5 CPU and 32GB RAM under the hood
Zotac's Computex 2025 booth has a beautiful handheld for showcase, pairing a 7-inch AMOLED panel with AMD's powerful Ryzen AI HX 370 APU from the Strix Point family. Breaking from Windows and SteamOS, Zotac has opted for Manjaro Linux as the Operating System. The handheld is currently called Zone 2, but its final name, pricing, and availability are still unconfirmed.
Zotac's original Zone 1 handheld debuted in September last year. It is powered by AMD's last-generation Ryzen 7 8840U, introduced in December 2023. Zotac has clearly been on a slower release schedule compared to the competition. Initially revealed at CES in January, Zotac has once again showcased the expected follow-up to the Zone 1 at Computex. Their representative confirmed that the "Zone 2" designation isn't final, but that's what it will likely be called, with an expected launch window sometime later this year.
PCWorld:
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Zotac's Zone gaming handheld switched from Windows to Linux | PCWorld
Handheld gaming PCs are awesome. Handheld gaming PCs running Windows are… measurably less awesome. That’s probably why the launch of SteamOS on multiple devices beyond the Steam Deck is so exciting. But Zotac is going for something a little different with the updated version of the Zone handheld: running a custom Linux. Adam Patrick Murray got his hands on a prototype at Computex 2025.
The new Zotac Zone looks, well, a whole lot like the original Zotac Zone. The external body looks almost identical, notably including dual touchpads on either side like the Steam Deck. Underneath the beige body is a new AMD Ryzen AI 9 370 HX processor, which is massively powerful for a new handheld, along with more RAM and storage.