The world of handheld gaming is set to witness a potential leap in technological innovation with the anticipated introduction of Intel Lunar Lake-powered consoles, potentially making their first appearance at the prestigious Computex event in Taipei. As rumors suggest, attendees may be treated to a sneak peek of the new console as early as June, well ahead of the expected launch in the fall.
Intel’s Core Ultra processors with integrated Arc GPU have been circulating in the handheld console market but haven’t outperformed AMD’s Phoenix versions to date. That said, Intel is not backing down and is set to introduce the Lunar Lake Core Ultra 200V-series as a competitive response to AMD’s Hawk Point and Strix Point APUs that are already in line for incorporation into future handhelds.
One name standing out in the race to leverage Intel’s advancements is Weibu, a company known for its mini-ITX motherboards, which appears to have ambitions to branch out into handheld console development. This was initially teased in an early 2024 post by a Weibu sales consultant and has more recently been substantiated by the listing of a Weibu GP10 console on the Computex site, implying that it may arrive in the portable gaming arena sooner than later.
The GP10 console from Weibu, distinguishable by its large 10.95-inch FHD+ display and detachable controllers, stands out from the crowd and mirrors the design aesthetics of the OneNetbook OneXPlayer X1. One important distinction is the screen resolution which is set at 1920 x 1200, though it still offers an impressive 120 Hz refresh rate. Noteworthy features include a copious amount of up to 64 GB LPDDR5X onboard RAM, a substantial storage option with an M.2 NVMe slot for up to a 2 TB SSD, and a suite of connectivity options including USB4, audio jack, and a TF card reader complemented by Wi-Fi 6E support.
The potential performance boost from Intel’s forthcoming Lunar Lake processors may hinge on the integration of the Battlemage Xe2-LPG iGPU, which is poised to become a strong competitor to AMD’s RDNA 3(.5) iGPUs integration in the portable gaming market. Memory speed has been identified as a bottleneck for Arc iGPUs in the past, something that Intel aims to rectify with high-speed LPDDR5X-8533 memory modules synchronized with the Lunar Lake CPU.
With Computex approaching, the gaming community awaits the unveiling of these technological advancements that could evoke a new wave of interest in handheld gaming consoles. As manufacturers like Weibu prepare to enter the fray with cutting-edge technology, this event may give us an early glimpse of the next milestone in portable gaming performance.
