smach Z handheld games console with serious graphics power

for some time, handheld gaming was dominated by console-driven companies–the classic nintendo ‘gameboy’; sega’s ‘gamegear’; and sony’s ‘PSP’. it wasn’t until the rise of sophisticated smartphone technology that handheld gaming shifted away from these manufacturers, toward a more PC-friendly realm. as the apple app and google play stores continue to grow their game portfolios, true handheld PC gaming machines have been few and far between. that is until smach, a spain-based gaming company, releases its palm-sized gaming PC ‘smach Z’ that can play thousands of steam games.

battery life: five hours

while a fully portable console like this may bring with it comparisons to the forthcoming nintendo ‘switch’, the ‘smach Z‘ actually predates this product. smach had originally announced the ‘smach Z’–then under the name ‘steamboy’–back in mid-2015, with an intended release date this year. now, after a few delays and a successful kickstarter campaign, it seems that the ‘smach Z’ is on track to becoming a real, shipped piece of hardware.

integrated HDMI output

the ‘smach Z’ runs off AMD‘s ‘merlin falcon RX-421BD’ system; with an integrated radeon ‘R7’ GPU, which smach claims is enough to run graphically demanding PC games like ‘overwatch‘ or ‘skyrim‘ (albeit in 720p and at 25-30 frames-per-second). the base model of the ‘smach Z’ has 4 GB of RAM and a 64 GB hard drive; while the more advanced ‘smach Z pro’ doubles the RAM to 8 GB, hard drive space to 128 GB; plus adds a front-facing camera and 4G connectivity. both models feature an integrated 720p screen; and haptic touchpad controls, that are very much inspired by valve’s steam controller.

adjustable controls enhance ergonomics

the ‘smach Z’ handheld games console is currently reaching out for funding via its campaign on indiegogo, which can be viewed here.

refined with a sleeker form