ONEXPLAYER has announced its latest gaming handheld, which is powered by Intel’s Arc G3 Extreme processor featuring B390 graphics. For those not following recent gaming handheld announcements, it’s becoming a common trend for models to be priced between $1,000 to $2,000 now, and given the current component shortage, price hikes are likely to occur before the year is over. For example, MSI recently announced its MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, which also features the same Intel processor and 32 GB SSD / 1 TB of memory, for $1,799 on its store, but could be found for $100 less on Newegg (via VideoCardz).
The ONEXPLAYER 3 is currently in a pre-order stage on the manufacturer’s Indiegogo page in three configurations. The lowest priced model comes with 24 GB LPDDR5X (7,467 MT/s) and 512 GB NVME for $1,399, and for a $100 more, storage can be upgraded to PCIe 4.0 1 TB. The $1,699 flagship model gets faster 32 GB LPDDR5X memory at 8533 MT/s and also 1 TB of storage. All models use an 8.8″ AMOLED HDR display with up to 1100 nits brightness, with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 supporting variable refresh rates of 30Hz – 144Hz, supporting 100% DCI-P3, and a 1000000:1 contrast ratio for what ought to be a very sharp and vividly colorful display.
The Intel Arc B390 graphics is said to offer performance comparable to an NVIDIA RTX 4050 and supports Intel XeSS 3, including frame generation. PR materials state that the Arc G3 Extreme also includes an NPU, which is capable of up to “50 TOPS of NPU AI performance and 180 TOPS of total platform AI compute power.”
While the days of low-cost, but powerful, gaming handhelds seem to be riding off into the sunset, these new PCs on the go (let’s face it, they have truly reached that status now) are raising the bar on what can be packed into a mobile device smaller than most laptops. The ONEXPLAYER 3 has an 85 Wh battery, but its controllers detach, and it also comes with a magnetic backlit keyboard, allowing it to function in a tablet/laptop configuration as well.
Details regarding ports are absent from current PR materials, but 1x USB3 and 2x Type-C ports can be seen in marketing images. If either of the Type-C supports DP, then this gaming handheld could truly offer competition to Valve’s recently announced Steam Machine with what could be a much more powerful processor and added options.