Acer’s new concept hardware is a gaming handheld with a keyboard
Acer has showcased a concept gaming handheld called Project DualPlay Mini that features a unique flip-and-swivel design to reveal a built-in keyboard. While currently a concept, it aims to bridge the gap between portable handhelds and gaming laptops.
Why it matters
This device highlights ongoing innovation in the PC gaming hardware space, specifically targeting users who want the portability of a handheld with the utility of a keyboard.
For the last few years, PC gamers on the go have had a choice: Buy a gaming laptop, or pick up one of the many Steam Deck–inspired handhelds that are a fraction of the size but a lot less versatile. Acer’s latest concept device, Project DualPlay Mini, is an attempt to upend that dichotomy by sticking a keyboard in a handheld.
The DualPlay Mini is first and foremost a Windows gaming handheld, cut from the same cloth as Acer’s existing Predator Atlas 8 (which is being joined this week by a new 7-inch model). In its default configuration, the handheld’s screen is flanked by analog sticks, a D-pad, and Xbox-style ABXY face buttons, plus two triggers on each shoulder. But the DualPlay Mini’s “flip-and-swivel design” allows you to flip the device open and swivel the screen round to instead line it up with a compact, backlit mini keyboard.
[Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/acer-project-dualplay-mini-2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all]
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