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Acer’s wild Project DualPlay Mini is a foldable handheld that doubles as a netbook — concept shown alongside Predator Atlas 7 handheld sporting Intel’s Arc G-series chip The Predator Atlas 7 is a real product; Project DualPlay Mini is just a concept. Acer debuted the smaller Predator Atlas 7 handheld at IFA 2026, joining the larger Atlas 8 that we saw earlier this year. Like its larger sibling, it packs up to an Intel Arc G3 Extreme SoC, now with a smaller 7-inch, 1080p screen. Alongside it, Acer teased Project DualPlay Mini, a concept that brings together an 8-inch gaming handheld with the idea of a netbook in a foldable design. Project DualPlay Mini is certainly the more interesting of the two announcements, though Acer was clear that it is “a concept only” right now. Specs-wise, Acer shared very little. The handheld is powered by an Intel chip (presumably a G-series SoC, though possibly full Panther Lake), and it uses the same dual-fan cooling apparatus as the Predator Atlas 8, with one AeroBlade metal fan and one plastic fan. The handheld is split in the middle, allowing you to flip up the front on a hinge and expose a keyboard underneath. Once open, the screen area shows two large speaker grilles. The screen itself is on a hinge that can flip to the other side of the shell, allowing you to use the handheld as a very small laptop, reminiscent of a netbook (though likely with far better compute capabilities). View Original View Original View Original View Original View Original Based on Acer’s renders, the device sports two USB-C ports, two back buttons, as well as either a touchpad or fingerprint reader. None of those details were included in Acer’s press release, though the renders of the design provide some hints as to what the goal of the device actually is. Acer says the keyboard has a backlight, and that the device will be able to connect to an external display. Assuming Acer used the Predator Atlas 8 as a blueprint, that display support likely comes through Thunderbolt 4. To celebrate Acer’s 50th anniversary, the back of the handheld has “Acer 50 since 1976” inscribed in Morse Code, which you can just barely see on the render of the back of the device in the gallery above (look toward the bottom). More consequential in the immediate term is the Predator Atlas 7. It, too, features a dual-fan design with one AeroBlade fan that’s made of metal with 89 blades measuring 0.1mm thick, alongside a plastic fan. The specs from top to bottom are identical to the Atlas 8, just with the smaller 7-inch display. You get up to an 80Whr battery, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, a UHS-II micoSD card slot, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, and dual 2W speakers with DTS:X Ultra spatial audio support. At the heart of the machine is the Arc G3 or Arc G3 Extreme, alongside up to 1TB of PCIe 4.0 storage through the M.2 2280 slot and up to 24GB of LPDDR5X-7467 memory. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. The screen differs in size, though it sports identical specs to the Atlas 8 otherwise. It’s a 16:9 display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 10-point multi-touch support. Acer claims it can achieve 500 nits of brightness, and it’s an IPS panel. As is the case with the Atlas 8, the larger 80Whr battery is paired with the Arc G3 Extreme, while a smaller 60Whr battery is used for the base Arc G3. The battery size will change the weight, with Acer claiming the device weighs “under 700 grams” and “under 750 grams” for the 60Whr and 80Whr batteries, respectively. Acer has yet to put a price on the Atlas 7, though given what we’ve seen with Arc G-series handhelds like the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, it’s reasonable to expect a price tag north of $1,500. The Atlas 7 goes on sale in North America in Q4 of this year. The Atlas 8, meanwhile, will be available in North America in EMEA regions in Septembe, after being revealed at Computex earlier this year. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Jake Roach is the Senior CPU Analyst at Tom’s Hardware, writing reviews, news, and features about the latest consumer and workstation processors. - Andrew E. Freedman Senior Editor
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