I tried Acer’s crazy laptop with a built-in controller and... I didn't hate it

Intel and Qualcomm made some big announcements at IFA 2024, and PC makers like Lenovo, ASUS, and Acer have followed suit with laptop models built around the new chips. Most of these are quite iterative to put it mildly, though it’s always nice to see new technology make its way down to lower cost tiers.

Luckily, it wasn’t all just boring, safe iteration. Acer came up with a wild concept called Project DualPlay, and while I was initially skeptical, I did come around to it after checking it out. 

First, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way — this is just a concept right now, as Acer representatives on the ground quickly clarified. In fact the company wouldn’t even let media handle the DualPlay without a chaperone. Still, I got a product tour and was even able to play with the controller for a little bit. 

Here’s how this kooky contraption works — Acer essentially built the controller into the laptop’s touchpad and made it detachable. The controller attaches magnetically into a slot into the laptop’s chassis. I liked the nifty little trick that releases the touchpad-controller combo from the slot: touching an area just above the keyboard with two fingers simultaneously unlocks the controller and allows you to pry it out. It feels like something Q would build for James Bond, to be honest.

Just for kicks, removing the controller also makes a couple of 5W speakers pop out from the sides of the laptop. Was that flourish necessary? Absolutely not. But it’s still pretty fun.

Pick up the touchpad, flip it around, and boom, you have a controller. It looks like a Nintendo Switch that traded the display for a questionable tribal tattoo or any of the other gaming handhelds that have proliferated in recent years (Acer has one of those, too, but more about that at the end of this article).

The controller features a couple of joysticks (LED-illuminated, naturally), a D-pad, action buttons, shoulder triggers, and a pogo pin connector for charging. In other words, everything you need to ditch the keyboard when you play.

This controller-touchpad hybrid didn’t feel particularly premium, but it’s not bad either. In my short play time, it was responsive and easy to use.

Acer went a step further and turned the two sides of the controller into Joy-Cons of sorts. After detaching them, you get a pair of mini-controllers for you and a buddy to use in your favorite game. It’s not original, but it does add a little extra functionality, which I love. Speaking of games, Acer highlighted Capcom’s Street Fighter 6 in its demo.

The industrial design is precisely what you’d expect from a Predator-branded concept — sharp lines everywhere, a flood of multicolored LEDs, and an overall look you’ll either love or hate. 

The concept could have been more polished too. For example, the big gap between the controller and its slot would surely collect tons of debris in any real-world use. I could also spot visible contact marks on the areas the controller rested in its slot, while pressing on the touchpad resulted in visible flex. 

All these issues considered, I did like the idea of hiding the controller inside the laptop. It just adds a little more versatility and removes the need to carry a separate controller around. And the detachable mini-controllers are a fun little extra for the right user. Sure, it’s a gimmick, but it’s not the worst gimmick I’ve seen at these shows.

If you want something more conventional, Acer also came up with its answer to the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, and MSI Claw. Called the Nitro Blaze 7, it features a 7-inch Full HD IPS LCD display, an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS CPU, a Radeon 780M GPU, and 16GB of RAM. I do have some questions about the battery life (nominally, it’s a 50.04Wh unit) due to the power-hungry processor, but I’ll reserve judgment until I see the first reviews.

At the end of the day, I’ll give Acer kudos for not being afraid to try new things, even when it risks looking a little silly in the process. We have enough risk-averse manufacturers already.