GPD show off AMD’s super chip hitting the Win 5 and no benchmark can convice me it isn’t daft

I love handhelds. Retro-inspired ones like those from Anbernic and Retroid, to the PC handhelds of the Steam Deck and ROG Ally. Recently, I even dug out my PlayStation Vita to play Phantasy Star Nova and TxK. A big part of why I adore this new spate of handheld advancements and iterations is that they’re cramming big power into portable devices.

These APUs, an all-in-one processor and graphics combination, have allowed handhelds to flourish. The Switch 2 has the backing of Nvidia, while AMD and Intel are trading punches in the PC handheld space.

However, AMD’s latest and greatest mobile Ryzen processor, the AI Max 395+, might be one step too far. GPD, a stalwart in the PC handheld market, known for its micro laptops with gaming controllers baked in, has revealed the performance of its latest Win 5. The PSP-looking device will feature the super-powered chip and can allegedly take on an Nvidia RTX 4060, which launched in 2023.

GPD Win 5 benchmarks

Now it’s best to take these numbers with a pinch of salt, solely because drivers and settings can be altered to get more performance out of the device once it actually lands. We’ve no idea when it will, as GPD haven’t announced any info you’d actually want to know.

For context, the current top dog, AMD’s HX 370, still chugs with modern games due to its limited capacity. It’s more on par with an Nvidia GTX 1650, in terms of its graphical performance, a graphics card that came out in 2019.

A big outlier in the numbers is Alan Wake 2, which runs at 46fps according to GPD. This is down to the test being run with full raytracing and all the trimmings. Cyberpunk also runs at that pace when various other settings are applied.

GPD Win 5 is offering a handheld in all but name

While we already know what the chip is capable of, thanks to its spotty releases in devices like the Asus Z13 Flow and Framework’s Desktop, the GPD Win 5 is the first serious attempt at running the chip in this form factor. It’s asinine and is more of a “why” than anything.

Despite some impressive numbers, like Red Dead Redemption 2 running with “high special effects” (I assume high settings) at 75fps (the Steam Deck, after a bit of tinkering, can do around 40fps), it doesn’t take away from the fact that the GPD Win 5 has zero internal battery.

There’s an external battery that can be hot swapped, once the device is put into hibernation. It’s an ugly solution to a self-made problem. The 395+, or any chip of this calibre, was not intended to be the next gold rush for handhelds. That battery pack is 80W. I regularly use the HX 370-equipped Ayaneo 3 at 30W, and at 50% brightness, I get about an hour to two hours, depending on the game. It’s going to guzzle power like no tomorrow.

It’s “handheld” in all but the fact that you need your hands to hold it. Like when you were younger and had to plug your Gameboy, Game Gear, or Lynx into the wall because you ran out of AA batteries. Except it’s anticipated to cost a fortune and still be billed in the same market. It also adds an additional 565 grams of weight to an already hefty device.

This is why Valve isn’t making a Steam Deck 2 yet

At least OneXPlayer, another competing handheld maker, has some semblance of an idea of how to handle this chip. It’s not even bothering, really. The company is intending to go after Asus with its own take on the tablet-laptop hybrid, offering a 14-inch 2.8K OLED panel with the AI Max 395+.

It’s not exactly what I’d want out of OneXPlayer, but it’s a damn sight better than trying to do what was never intended. You know how Valve has said repeatedly that they don’t intend to make a Steam Deck 2 until the hardware is in the right place? This is why.

Handhelds are quickly being outpaced in some areas, but we don’t need more than we have right now. In fact, if you don’t intend to play the latest and greatest, the Steam Deck OLED is still the best option to get out of all of these. We don’t always need the hottest, latest chip, because look at the compromises being made to fit one in.

There’s also the matter of cost. The ROG Flow Z13 currently goes for $2,299.99 if you don’t get all the bells and whistles. GPD claims the Win 5 will cost less, but OneXPlayer’s will absolutely hover around that range.

Look, I’m with a lot of people. If I could have a singular device that played my Steam library and most emulators exceptionally well without much compromise, I’d be a happy bunny. This, however, seems to be far off from what was ever supposed to happen. We’re breaching the other side of weird tech territory, and I’ll be intrigued to see where these companies poke around next.