Acer's first US handheld PC has had its full review from Retro Game Corps, and the headline is in the title: the Predator Atlas 8 is, the channel says, the sleeper hit of the year. The reasons are comfort, performance and a price that, by the video's description, undercuts every other high-performing handheld PC.
Xarmo covered ETA Prime's first look at the Atlas 8 in October. This is the longer verdict, built on Retro Game Corps' review and published specs, not on our own testing. The description notes the review unit was loaned by Acer, which didn't see the video before it went up.
What you're buying
The basics, per Engadget: the Atlas 8 is $1,300, sold exclusively at Best Buy in the US from 1 November, and comes in one configuration with Intel's Arc G3 Extreme chip and Arc B390 graphics. It has an 8-inch, 120Hz IPS screen rated at 500 nits, 24GB of LPDDR5x memory, a microSD slot, TMR sticks, dual-mode triggers, Wi-Fi 7 and Windows 11. Retro Game Corps goes through the specs and SKUs in more detail.
What Retro Game Corps liked
The big one is how it feels in the hands. The video rates the rounded, teardrop-shaped grips among the best ergonomics it has seen on a handheld PC. The face buttons get praise too, and the cooling system keeps temperatures in check under heavy load.
Performance is the other headline. The game testing section runs through Acer's power modes across a spread of PC games, and the summary lists the screen, button feel, thermals, chip performance and value among the Atlas 8's strengths.
The weak spots, and a quick fix
Three things hold it back, per the video's likes-and-dislikes run-down.
The D-pad. It's the weakest control, described as mushy with inconsistent diagonals. That lines up with what ETA Prime said in the first look. If you play a lot of 2D fighters or platformers, weigh this one.
The speakers. Out of the box the audio sounds muffled. Retro Game Corps tries a third-party tool, FxSound, to improve it, so this one has a workaround.
Low-power play takes setup. The power profiles are tuned for raw performance, so getting long battery life in lighter games means setting the power limit yourself. Here's the useful bit: if you mostly play indies or emulators, spend five minutes building a manual low-power profile on day one and you'll get far more out of the battery. Just don't expect the presets to do it for you.
What viewers said
The comment section splits two ways. Plenty of viewers who already own one back up the review, praising the grip and screen size, and several mention trading in other handhelds for it. The pushback is mostly about price, and about the LCD screen at this money, with a number of viewers saying they'd only buy with OLED. Opinions on the D-pad are mixed, and a lot of people are simply waiting for it to come back into stock.
Verdict
Going by Retro Game Corps' review, the Atlas 8 is one of the strongest handheld PCs at its price, and the conclusion recommends it on that basis. Buy it if comfort over long sessions and raw performance matter most. Skip it, or try one in a store first, if you live on the D-pad or won't accept an LCD at $1,300.
From the creators
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