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The first Core Ultra handheld gaming PC is already coming

Jacob Roach
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OneXPlayer X1

Intel just launched its Core Ultra CPUs, and we’re already hearing about a handheld gaming PC packing one of the latest chips. OneXPlayer teased its X1 handheld, which it says is powered by one of Intel’s new Meteor Lake CPUs.

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We saw this coming. Meteor Lake is a new generation for Intel, and our hands-on testing of Core Ultra CPUs showed that the biggest boost for the CPUs comes in the graphics department. We were able to play Cyberpunk 2077 and Fortnite with performance between 40 frames per second (fps) and 50 fps on the integrated Arc graphics. That’s huge.

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More importantly, the integrated Arc GPU managed to beat the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U in 3DMark Time Spy and Fire Strike. The Ryzen 7 7840U is the chip we’ve seen in half a dozen handhelds at this point, including the Lenovo Legion Go, Asus ROG Ally, and Ayaneo 2S. If Core Ultra is able to offer higher performance for handhelds, that could open the door for Intel to make waves in the handheld gaming market.

The chip we tested was Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H, but critically, we don’t know what chip the OneXPlayer X1 will use. For this generation, Intel has U-series chips that run between 9 watts and 15W, and H-series chips that run between 28W and 45W. If the X1 is packing a U-series chip, we expect the performance will take a large dip.

The X1 has more than just the chip going for it. It’s a three-in-one design, according to OneXPlayer, but it’s not clear what those three modes are. From a brief teaser video, we can see the tablet playing games, and it appears as though there are connection points for controllers, similar to the Nintendo Switch. OneXPlayer hasn’t confirmed that this is the design, but the company’s 2 Pro handheld comes with detachable controllers, so that design could be applied here.

In addition, the company confirmed via its Discord server that the handheld will sport an OcuLink interface for connecting an external GPU, as well as fingerprint and Windows facial recognition. OneXPlayer also says the device comes with a 10.95-inch 2.5K screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz, as well as stereo speakers certified by Harman AudioEFX.

We’re still waiting on a lot of details, but OneXPlayer is pushing the device forward. It’s currently recruiting beta testers for the device (we don’t have details on that program yet), and it says it will reveal more details on specifications and features in January 2024.

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Jacob Roach
Jacob Roach
Senior Staff Writer, Computing
Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…
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