The Smach Z is a handheld gaming PC that’s been under development in one way or another since the developer released the first rendered images of a so-called “SteamBoy” handheld game system in 2014. Now Smach CEO Daniel Fernandez is getting ready to bring the Smach Z to market, hopefully in 2018.

This week we learned it would ship with an AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 series processor, and now Fernandez has shared an up-to-date spec sheet and a few pictures that give us a better idea of what to expect.

They also help dispel the idea that the Smach Z is some sort of scam. It may or may not live up to expectations, but it certainly looks like the Smach team is working on some actual hardware.

Originally envisioned as a device that would run Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS, the computer features a 6 inch full HD display with physical gaming buttons and dual touchpads on the left and right sides. There’s no physical keyboard, but the touchpads are similar to those found on a Steam Controller, which is designed to let you both play games that would normally use an analog stick and also games that rely on mouse or touchpad input.

The project has gone through several ups and downs over the past few years, so it’s not surprising that many folks were starting to wonder if the Smach Z was ever going to ship. Now that Fernandez is starting to show off actual hardware, the chances are looking better than ever.

If there’s any good news in the long series of delays, it’s that the Smach Z is nearing completion at a time when AMD has a new generation of processors that seem perfectly suited to a handheld gaming PC.

Fernandez says the Smach Z will be powered by an AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B processor. He says it offers graphics performance that’s on par with what you’d get from an AMD Ryzen 5 2500U laptop-class processor, but the V1605B is a smaller, lower-power option that’s easier to fit into a handheld device.

Here are some key characteristics:

12W – 25W TDP (The Smach Z will have the TDP set at 15W by default)

4 CPU cores (8 threads)

2 GHz base CPU frequency

3.6 GHz boost CPU frequency

1.1 GHz AMD Radeon Vega 8 GPU

2MB L2 cache

DDR4-2400 memory support

The Smach Z went up for pre-order through a Kickstarter campaign in 2016, and it will be available in at least two configurations.

A Smach Z Pro features 8GB of DDR4-2133 memory and 128GB of solid state storage, while the basic Smach Z has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

Here’s a table that outlines some of the other differences (and similarities between models.

SPECS SMACH Z SMACH Z PRO CPU AMD Ryzen™ V1605B GPU AMD Radeon™ Vega 8 Graphics RAM 4GB DDR4 2133MHz 8GB DDR4 2133MHz Storage 64GB SSD 128GB SSD Screen Touchscreen 6” 1920x1080px Camera none 5 Mpx Connectivity WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/d/e/h/i, Bluetooth v2.1+EDR/v3.0/v3.0HS/v4.0 In/out USB-C, USB-A, Micro USB, Display Port, SD card, Audio minijack. Charger USB-C 20V 2.25A 65W. Plug EU/US/UK SO Windows 10 or Linux

If that’s not good enough for you though, Fernandez says those are just the “pre-set configurations.” Customers will be able to customize their orders from the Smach website to get up to 16GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage.

It’s also worth pointing out that the Smach Z has two SODIMM slots that will let you upgrade or replace memory using regular laptop-sized sticks of RAM.

Oh, and if you’re worried that the Ryzen V1605B processor is going to overheat in such a tight space, don’t worry: the Smach Z has a nice big CPU fan. It remains to be seen whether that fan could possibly make this PC any noisier the GPD Win 2, another handheld gaming PC which has a rather active cooling system (in my experience).

According to handheld gaming PC expert Phawx, it’s likely that the Smach Z could offer up to 3 times better gaming performance than the GPD Win 2… at the cost of battery life. He estimates that you’ll only get about 90 to 120 minutes of battery life while gaming on a Smach Z, given what we now know about its specs.

Update: Fernandez tells me the system will have a 46 Whr battery that can provide up to 5 hours of battery life while gaming and that the fan noise “will be very similar to the Nintendo Switch, 31dB.”

Share this article: Share this: Facebook

Twitter

Reddit

Pocket

Tumblr

Pinterest

LinkedIn

Email

