Acer Predator Atlas 8 Hits Best Buy November 1 for $1,299.99

Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US price and date. The Intel Arc G3 Extreme model, the more powerful of the two versions Acer announced in May, goes on sale November 1 exclusively at Best Buy for $1,299.99 (The Verge, Engadget). The Verge reports it is the first Acer handheld to get an official US launch.

Already sold out once

Best Buy opened preorders last week, and they have already sold out. Acer says online orders reopen on November 1, the same day the handheld lands in stores (The Verge, Android Authority).

“Lower than expected” compared to what?

TweakTown, which called the price “much lower than expected,” measures it against the closest rival on the same chip: the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, which TweakTown lists at $1,799 with the Arc G3 Extreme, 32GB of memory and 1TB of storage. The Atlas 8 comes in about $500 lower, but with less memory (24GB) and half the storage (512GB). Acer’s May announcement said the handheld would reach North America in October without giving a price, and TweakTown says it had been bracing for a higher one given memory and storage costs.

For other reference points, The Verge notes $1,299.99 is the same price as the ROG Xbox Ally X20. It’s still enthusiast money: TweakTown itself says $1,300 “is still a lot to pay for a gaming handheld.”

Specs

From Acer’s announcement and the US listing as reported by TweakTown and HotHardware:

• Chip: Intel Arc G3 Extreme with Arc B390 graphics (12 Xe3 GPU cores, per The Verge and Engadget)
• Memory/storage (US model): 24GB LPDDR5x, 512GB SSD (Acer lists one M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 slot, up to 1TB)
• Display: 8-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS-level touchscreen, 16:10, 120Hz with VRR, 500 nits, 100% sRGB, Gorilla Glass Victus
• Controls: full-size sticks (TMR per TweakTown and The Verge; Acer’s spec sheet says “Carbon Film”), Hall-effect triggers with adjustable trigger switches, macro buttons, PredatorSense button
• Ports and wireless: two Thunderbolt 4, UHS-II microSD, 3.5mm jack, Killer Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Battery and weight: up to 80Wh; under 810g with the 80Wh battery
• Software: Windows 11 Home with Xbox Mode; Acer’s release lists 2 months of Xbox Game Pass Premium and 3 months of PC Game Pass

Acer hasn’t said whether US units ship with the 80Wh or 60Wh battery, and the smaller Predator Atlas 7 has no US release announced yet (Engadget).

The take

At $1,299.99 the Atlas 8 isn’t cheap, but it’s the lowest price yet for an Arc G3 Extreme handheld in the US, and the sold-out preorders suggest buyers were waiting for exactly that. Expect reviews to focus on whether 24GB and 512GB are enough at this price.