[COMPUTEX 2025] ZOTAC Zone Handheld Now In Linux: A Sign Of Things To Come?

We personally tried out ZOTAC’s Zone handheld last year in COMPUTEX 2024, which at the time was still a prototype – but credit to the company, the development went seemingly pretty quick and it didn’t take long for the handheld to enter the market. The handheld returns this year with a standard hardware upgrade you’d expect, but there’s something more for the COMPUTEX 2025’s rendition: this prototype runs Linux.

ZOTAC Zone ft. Linux Manjaro

We know Valve (praise Lord Gaben) has been quietly but steadily laying the groundwork for gaming on Linux operating systems, with the maker of Steam already having some expertise from developing its Linux-based SteamOS operating system for Steam Deck. However, the beauty of Linux is that you don’t have to stick to what Valve does: Linux is simply an umbrella for many of the customized OSes (called ‘distros’), and in this case ZOTAC went with another relatively well-known distro called Manjaro.

To be fair, the stuff we can see from the unit on the COMPUTEX show floor is fairly limited outside of the game demos. Still, we know the refreshed model – now in white – will pack AMD’s latest Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor with Radeon 890M graphics, which is substantially faster than the previous generation; everything else remain unchanged from the previous model, which includes 48.5Wh battery capacity, 7-inch OLED display, and the same I/O ports as before (the company seemingly still hasn’t decided on the RAM capacity, however).

Now, let’s step back and look at the big picture. ZOTAC isn’t the first to join the Linux gaming handheld train, and if recent signs are anything to go by, they likely won’t be the last. Gaming on Linux has been fairly viable thanks to companies like Valve, and with more PC makers releasing Linux-powered handhelds and Microsoft inadvertently shooting its foot regarding recent OS-related decisions, it’s not impossible to see a future where Linux may dominate PC gaming in the far future.

Pokdepinion: One can hope Linux truly takes off in the mainstream.