We just got our first proper look at GPD's battery-optional Strix Halo handheld gaming PC and I'm still unconvinced
The GPD Win 5 is looking to be a strange device. An AMD Strix Halo-powered gaming handheld that lacks any internal battery, it doesn't have the benefit of a keyboard like a laptop or the portability of, well, every other gaming handheld. I felt confused when it was announced last week, and now that there's twenty minutes showing the device off, I feel even more confused.
The GPD Win 5 was shown off on the GPD YouTube channel by someone who visited the GPD booth at ChinaJoy. Presumably taken straight from someone's BiliBili account (as is indicated by the watermark and description), then repuploaded, this is how GPD decided to show off the new device, and I can't quite figure out why it made that choice.
The videographer in question not only got hands-on with the device and managed to test it, but they also brought along a thermal camera to get an idea of the temperatures of the device. Effectively, you can either choose to plug the Win 5 directly into the mains via a dock at the bottom or port on the top, or you can snap on an external battery to the back of the device.
The battery itself clicks onto the back through two braces (one on either side) and has a port on the bottom that powers the device. Presumably, GPD went for the external battery here because the Ryzen AI Max 395 chip in the device is both power hungry and runs very hot. At the very end of the video, the camera person is playing Black Myth: Wukong, with the CPU chugging around 56 W of juice and the GPU taking around 55 W.
In the Strix Point powered OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro, which is already a bit powerful and pricey for many potential buyers, we spotted running it at around 15 W provided the best experience. Strix Halo feels overkill for a handheld (and will likely be plenty expensive to boot). The 80 or so fps the Win 5 gets in Black Myth: Wukong is certainly good, but without trying it over time, or tinkering with graphics settings, we can't say that much more about it.
What is noticeable is how much the battery seems to offset the natural curves of the device. Without it, the Win 5 looks relatively slim, but the battery not only appears rather thick on the back, but as someone with fairly big hands, I'd be worried about getting my paws on the battery itself.
Thermals, from first look, seem fine. Running Windows, according to the thermal readout, the top vents were getting around 57 degrees Celsius, and the screen was getting around 47 degrees. In-game, the CPU and GPU consistently sat around the low 70 degrees. We don't yet have a release date or pricing on the Win 5, and some parts may change before its launch, but I'm struggling to get the vision here.
It feels significantly less portable than pretty much every other handheld gaming PC on the market, which is saying a lot, as many out there right now are still pretty hefty. The idea of bringing a separate battery pack (situated over the position of the fans) with me everywhere I go, or bringing a charging brick, feels like a packing nightmare.
Maybe, if the device came with a keyboard, I could understand the pull of such a beefy CPU in a semi-portable productivity machine, but we weren't blown away by the GPU performance of the 8050S in the Ryzen AI Max 390. The 395, with the 8060S iGPU, is naturally a good bit stronger, but if early signs are anything to go off, I'd take Strix Point for almost half the expected price, and with a battery inside.
Not all is lost for Strix Halo handhelds, though. Ayaneo is working on a Strix Halo handheld device right now, and the kicker is that it actually comes with its own battery. Whether or not it will be worth the price and manage to keep those thermals down is anyone's guess, though. We should hear more about both devices in the future.