Alright, so I found myself wandering into Zotac’s space at Computex 2025. They were showing off this new handheld thingamajig, the Zone 2—or at least, that’s what they’re calling it for now. Names, right? Anyway, it caught my eye. Maybe it’s the 7-inch AMOLED screen with colors that pop out like candy. Or maybe it’s that chunky Ryzen AI HX 370 APU under the hood. Who knows?
Oh, and they’re running it on Manjaro Linux instead of the usual Windows or SteamOS. Linux, huh? I mean, that’s a switch from what’s expected. Not sure if it’s about breaking away or just being different for the sake of it.
So, let’s back up a sec. Remember the Zone 1? It popped up last September? Yea, powered by that older Ryzen 7 8840U. Zotac’s not rushing these things out every other minute, kinda taking their sweet time. They first teased the Zone 2 at CES earlier this year, saying something about a launch by year-end. We’ll see.
Now for the super techy bit. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is a beast. It’s got 12 cores—don’t ask me how they fit them all in there—and the Radeon 890M for graphics. Zotac is also giving folks the option between 24 or 32 gigs of RAM. Seems enough for most things, right? Plus, there’s a 1TB SSD you can switch out if you need more room. I guess folks who hoard massive game libraries might dig it.
And man, that display is something. 120Hz refresh rate, HDR, pretty bright at 800 nits too. They even tossed in a kickstand like the Nintendo Switch. Convenient, though I can never get them to stand perfectly without toppling over. Maybe it’s just me.
Running on Manjaro Linux, but don’t let that scare you off. There’s a KDE Plasma 6 desktop environment. They’re using Proton for game compatibility too. Sounds fancy and could mean fewer fights over which games will work and which won’t. Though, there’s that pesky anti-cheat stuff for multiplayer games, like playing devil’s advocate against you.
Battery’s a 48.5Wh Li-ion pack. They say it’s similar to their first handheld, Zone 1, in terms of playtime. Some basics include a microSD slot, the beloved 3.5mm jack, and a bunch of USB4 ports—faster than a caffeine rush.
In the I/O department, there’s WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. And yeah, the back has these extra buttons and toggle switches. Good heat dissipation too with that mesh design. Zotac promises more info when they’re ready to unleash it to the world. All we can do is wait and see if it lives up to the hype.
