You have no idea how informative this video was for me and how many channels fail to make these types of videos. I mean seriously dude. There are tons of channels that get every handheld gaming console/pc on the market but literally do not make videos specifying which is the best performing and most powerful out of them all. I subscribed for that reason alone! Thanks.
You can really see every year of experience at work with these devices. GPD has an unfairly large amount of experience in this space and I'm all for it.
I have a 6800U win4, and I totally agree with what you were saying about the form factor at the end, the mouse mode + slide out keyboard is a killer feature for me, and I’m hoping that as a form factor and feature set it continues to exist into the future
I am a fellow GPD Win 4 user (6800U from the IG campaign) and can say that the biggest reason I have been attracted to and purchased GPD devices (also have a GPD Win 3) bar the form factor has been the inclusion of a keyboard into the design. It is SO handy and provides that little bit extra quality of life when using it. I haven't actually had any issues thus far with either GPD Win 3 or 4 either which is good. Any manufacturer that is willing to incorporate a keyboard into the handheld design will have my attention, at this point it's almost a must for me. (I have had an AOKZOE A1 previously, and have a steam deck on the way)
@50086gt Yeah it makes a lot of things easier especially when you are on the go. I wanted to get a steam deck just to try out and see the "console like" experience from the handheld perspective. It arrived today which is great so I will get to tinker with it this weekend.
@@ecrescent4545How did you like the Steam Deck in comparison? I'm considering the Win4 and already have a Steam Deck, which I'll pass on to my son if I upgrade.
@@Madsynth1987 So far for the few days I've had it the steam deck has been good to use. I do like the "out of box" experience, it's pretty straight forward and I do like the OS/overlays. I do prefer the Win 4 form factor + keyboard, although the deck isn't large enough that it's uncomfortable for me. I think the Win 4 is a bit more versatile being windows based and all (though the steam deck can be modded of course). The slightly better performance is much of a muchness in that form factor I think (unless you were interested in docking the device), however in terms of game compatibility this would favour the Win 4 for now (emulation as well), though I'm aware there are workarounds for the deck and that valve is constantly working on games being steam deck compatible. I think honestly it comes down to your budget and how much you are willing to pay, as I'm aware the price difference between the two devices can be significant depending on where you live. I think I will probably bounce between them for different uses for quite sometime. (steam deck has just been games, whereas I use Win 4 for games, browsing and watching shows/streams)
@@thevalleyard3942 Good point! For me personally no, however I would say that I have average hand/finger size. (I'm about 5'11" and 75-80kgs for reference?) I think most people would be okay with the keyboard key-size but those with large hands/fingers I can see may have a bit of difficulty with that.
Real handheld review, starving for this rather than people massaging companies to keep getting future reviews. Honestly i hope the win 5 makes all the changes people are discussing, especially an oled panel/hall sticks/triggers
IMO even with all of the speculated devices thus far, the Win Max 2 wins the 2023 Handheld competition, hands down. Especially if you got their $799 and $1049 IGG deals
@@mix7893 I think the Max 2 is spectacular, but the Win 4 takes the cake for me. The fact that it fits nicely in my back pocket means it eliminated my need to carry a backpack or sling style laptop back to work. I take it to work, plug it up to the 2 docks I use, got a crapload of IO and 3 monitors running off it. Fingerprint for security. It's legit improves my social life because now I don't have to tote a bag with a laptop and check it, and constantly worry about it, when I go out for a drink or a date after work. Yeah...I've got a big ass handheld gaming looking thing in my back pocket, but so far women seem to be focusing on the other bulges in my pants. It's god tier. GPD got my dick sucked. Mic Drop Boom.
I wish all my other handhelds had come with a landscape-based display... The amount of troubleshooting you have to go through otherwise-especially on Windows-is a real bummer when opting for a daily driver with a portrait panel. Anyway... I was hoping to get see you video covering the GPD Win 4 refresh sometime this week-but you already delivered, and not only that, it's just the beginning of the week. Thanks for the amazing work and clean, concise content and benchmarks, Cary!
it comes down to cost, portrait displays are cheaper as they are meant for tablets where orientation isn't a problem because the tablet can tell andoird what orientation the tablet is being held in, this is why Valve chose one for the steam deck, its cheaper and they can correct it in software inside of steamOS
@@AugustineKusiDuah-bk4fr That's - unfortunately - not true and just oversimplification of a complicated issue. Every second game I start on portrait-based Windows handhelds (without Lossless Scaling in action) end up only covering half of the screen, not able to enter excl. full screen and stuff like that.
@@michaelmodernsonicfan5341 My Gpd Win 1 and Win max both stopped turning on after less than a year. My win 1 was sent to GPD to repair under warranty and they never sent it back, apparently GPD are known for not returning devices. The Win Max I investigated myself and the motherboard had fried.
To each their own. I've never had any issues with them. Whenever I had questions or issues and contacted them they always gotten back to me and offered solutions.
What a beautiful machine. How I wish this actually come from Sony. With their custom OS and graphic API this thing can easily run a 60fps games at lower res without needing to pair back any graphical setting.
I still can't figure out why Sony isn't back in the handheld market, they could ask AMD for a custom soc with 8 Zen4C cores and 18 RDNA3 CUs and that thing could absolutely run games in PS4 if not PS4 pro mode at 10W at around the same size as the 7840U. They could absolutely sell it for below 500$
@@maverickvgc4220they kind of are back in the market. If by back you mean- giving us a "console" that only works if you have both an internet connection and already own a ps5...
@@maverickvgc4220 these days Sony is barely able to keep their main console alive. Sadly. I think it's ok they are focusing on that instead of on branching out into more things and dividing their attention.
@@lucascarracedo7421 idk about that, it would be attention from the hardware team. Running games in PS4 pro mode means that you don't need devs to make games just for that platform, you can just run the same games as the home counterpart.
With GDP and their 7840U devices I am starting to think it is coming down to RAM type and speed and RAM configuration on top of drivers as well when comparing GPDWin's offerings vs like what Aya is offering with the 2S and the Geek 1S. GDPWin is using LPDDR5X @ 7500 MT/s and in Quad Channel configuration in the Max2 2023 version and I am assuming they are using a similar configuration for the Win4 since it is on par with the Max2 in the benchmarks. While Aya is using LPDDR5X memory right now for their preview units of the Geek 1s they are only using the RAM in compatibility mode @6400 MT/s instead of 7500 and also Aya isn't using Quad channel mode they are only using dual channel and the same goes with ASUS with the Ally only Dual Channel. So I am thinking that using Quad Channel LPDDR5X memory @ 7500 MT/s is really giving GDP a huge performance edge vs the other Windows based handhelds on the market. This is one of the reasons why Steam Deck is very good in some aspects is because they are using Quad Channel configuration for their RAM.
DDR4 has 64-bit/channel. DDR5 also has 64-bit by using 2 independent 32-bit channels. Which means that all DDR5 has dual-channel in single SoDIMM. Dual SoDIMM DDR5 config is a dual-channel 64-bit or quad-channel 32-bit. Steam deck's advantages were mainly due to Linux and its specific optimizations compared to Windows OS that GPD has.
If you check the few benchmarks GPD has on their own youtube channel, it looks like there's only about a 10% difference from the 7640u to the 7840u. Of course they're not doing extensive benchmarking but the general trend with power limited hardware seems to be you don't gain a whole lot using extra cores. Personally I like the idea of running the chip at full speed plugged in so more cores "should" show more advantage there.
I had the 6800u Win 4, and I loved it to bits. The keyboard and optical mouse was amazing since I mod my games frequently. Unfortunately the form factor made it so that the device would get very uncomfortable to play with after an hour of bedtime gameplay. The weight didn’t feel well distributed (makes sense given its size and proportional density), and the device got quite warm around where you’d hold it. Sold it off after a lot of wishy washy delaying and overthinking things
The 7640u is using up to 4-8W less Total System Power on all Powerlevels than the 7840u and in general it is a little better in Frames than the 6800u. So with Frames per System Watt the 7640u should be better than the 7840u and 6800u .
@@destronia123 Kind of ruins the purpose of having a smaller device. The gpd sucked to hold. It felt bulkier and less comfortable then even my giant steam deck. Plus the screen was too small for modern games.
@@M4r10h Yeah...but those have exactly what unique selling points. In my opinion...they are all essentially the same device. Only the GPD devices and the steam deck really matter to me. No matter what they throw in any competing device, it will always be less flexible and less useful overall than the GPDs. It's bizarre to watch to be honest. The market should be pushing hard for keyboards. Like....really hard.
@@cheeeeezewizzzbut for someone that has no care for rts type games and plays pretty much every game that consoles and controllers play, kind of makes pads keyboard and such pointless to those people so they will probably rather get something more sleek and compact, i think the aokzoe a2 looks really sleek, wish it comes with an OLED model
Thanks for the advice, I already have an Ayaneo 2 and was thinking of upgrading to ROG Ally or GPD Win 4 7840U. But you're right, the 10%-30% upgrade is not that worth it. I'll wait for Steam Deck 2 and upgrade then. I love the Steam Deck gyroscope function for FPS games.
10-30% upgrade isn’t that worth it? Man, you have got to check out the real performance numbers as in real fps in a lot of games before you make a decision not to get the 7840u. But if you have the 6800u aya neo 2, well then fine. It’s all up to you
@AugustineKusiDuah-bk4fr Yeah I bought the Aya 2 around 6 months ago for ~$800. I think I'll just wait for a more significant upgrade before pouring too much money chasing the newest best specs every 6 months. I'm still playing games that run smoothly on it anyway! I still have Dark Souls III and Sekiro to beat.
Remember that this is all BEFORE official Drivers. Those WILL further boost the performance of these Phoenix Apu's, without a doubt. Amd is taking their sweet time with the Drivers, but they will inevitability show up (likely sooner rather than later), and the performance gap will widen. That being said no need to upgrade from the AyaNeo 2 unless money isn't a big concern (or you can sell your device for over half the initial cost). Best to wait for Strix Point in about a year, which will have up to 12 Cores (8 full and 4 "c" cores which are the same just clocked lower) of Zen 5 and 16 CU of Rdna 3.5 (Which allegedly is more than just a simple refresh of Rdna 3 and actually has features and improvements from Rdna 4 in it), so that should bring another "10-30%" boost or so in performance. At that point it will be worthwhile to upgrade from the the 6800u devices since it will be a much more substantial difference.
@@slickrounder6045 nice, means the gap will be eeveen wider when Steam Deck 2 with its fully compatible drivers come, I'll be mind blown in hopefully 1 year.
I haven't made the plunge into a handheld (apart from the switch) and this is looking better and better. When there is a sale for the top end model with 64GB RAM, I'll pull the trigger ❤
as a owner of gpd win4 i can tell what it needs to improve for next model - design must the same, dont change anything, keep the same dpad❤ - put the finger print sensor in the power buttom - put the trackpad on the keyboard - put bigger frontal speakers now there is more space after removing the finger sensor and the trackpad - a better grip design will be nice - oled screen - rgb light on keyboard would be amazing
Hopefully if I wait long enough we can get 120hz and better analog sticks, I want this machine but I am still waiting for the best windows handheld and I think the next few years is going to be insane I just hope gpd keep the win4 line going til then.
This is the best review I've seen of this device yet. Your comments near the end about old games that require m+kb is extremely useful and appreciated.
I'm interested, but I'd want another model with 4 back buttons and possibly a larger display. Also the longterm support vs the Steam Deck has me concerned.
I already have a Steam Deck. I will wait for a 8000 series handheld probably next year. GPD Win 4 definitely has the best form factor of all the handhelds.
My feelings on the aesthetics aside, I’ll probably end up getting this. I know that Ayaneo has a slide at some point coming out, but I doubt it’ll have OCulink.
Do you think this model with the 64GB of RAM and the 4TB SSD would be able to play group content in World of Warcraft when docked with the G1 eGPU and peripherals? With a dock setup could this play WoW at max settings above/at 60 fps?
The ROG Ally's FreeSync range starts at 48Hz, even with LFC, which is a tremendous oversight. So, in the end, it's not much of a feature, but rather a gimmick.
@@deckverse Do you know what CRU is? If so you would know you are changing the VRR range and not referring to LFC. LFC also only goes down to 30. I am pushing VRR down to 20.
I always watch your video it helps me to decide if i will buy a product or not depends on the performance per watts. I learn a lot. Thanks The Phawx.... by the way gpd win mini will be the king of clam shell design.
As the Win 2 still is, until it leaves that role to the Win mini. It's insane it took this long. My IGG Win 2 is still in my desk all the time. With all it's shortcomings, nothing has come to beat it yet. And sadly, at least regarding form factor, I'm not sure the new Mini will actually do so either.
@@kaibigan_28 yeah I know they did their best, but nobody is interested in sacrificing that much performance it seems. Even with current hardware it may not even be possible given all APUs are considerably bigger. At some point I thought maybe this was it, time to replace my win 2, but no way.
@@lucascarracedo7421 well I hope they make that in the future when everything is optimized. I want to buy win2 before but im too late to purchase watching this channel i saw the win max then I bought it because i saw that they can play wiiu games and they are good for emulation but higher TDP. Now you can play some xbox 360 in 7000 series. If they can lower down to 10 to 15w for emulating xbox 360 that will be pretty sweet.
If they implemented hall-effect sticks, made the display OLED, and improved the quality of the plastic shell, this would be my favorite electronic device period. Beating out my actual desktop PC.
What I want most out of the next handhelds is 32GB ram as standard. Since ram is shared 16GB is too little especially with some games that are out now being such resource hogs (also don’t expect this to improve with the state of AAA releases) would love Oculink to be more prevalent in these handhelds as a eGPU option. Add trackpads!!!! Considering the steam deck and the ayaneo kun are the only ones with it is absolutely wild to me. Also Valve hurry up and release SteamOS to the public 😡😡😡😡
I would have kept my ally if it had trackpads. The steam deck is still the undisputed king of portable PC gaming imo. I don't get how Asus could miss that on a device they pushed as "play ALLYour games", is supposed to be a portable PC, and then they gimp the shit out of it and basically relegate it to playing console ports. I play all kinds of wild stuff on my deck that is meant to be played keyboard and mouse and thanks to the track pads and steams awesome input config you can get a great experience in damn near anything.
it's not wild. Those are huge devices. Getting that to fit on smaller footprint devices is a completely different game. About oculink, they probably will do. Sadly, usually GPD needs to do it first and then they follow if it catches on. GPD has been here before all of those, and is still the one trying out new things instead of copy pasting the switch and adding small details, only exception being the trackpads on the Deck. Also, the Kun is still in backing process while this is a second iteration device. And that beast weighs 900g also, which is ridiculous for anything that wants to call itself a handheld device. Most people will hold it in their lap or table.
I just compared the Temps on the Device with the Rog Ally, and this Device is 10+ Degress cooler than the Ally, in the Thermal Camera Test. I hated the Rog Ally Temperature on the Display.
If the next gen is as powerful as I’m hoping it’ll be, hall effect joysticks and triggers, a 120 Hz VRR display, and an x8 (or x16) Oculink port would make this virtually perfect. A lot to ask, I know, but if anybody’s headed that direction it’ll likely be GPD.
I had the 6800u gpd win 4. I found it uncomfortable to play on and the keyboard was not as useful as i thought it would be. It was pretty uncomfortable to use and you find you dont really ever use it anyway. What is nice with the gpd is the optical mouse. Takes up way less space then the steam deck track pads and just as useful for pretty much everything as i would never play a game with either device that used their track pads. I also found the 6" screen to be too small for modern games. Oh and the joysticks are pretty bad. If you played a switch and tried a fps game and found it lacking, you will feel exactly the same here.
I am a big fan for gpd also. Optical mouse is the best thing on all handheld. Sold my rog ally and ayaneo for gpd win 4. Even there costomer is the best.
Honestly, now that there are 3D printed grips for it to make it usable for those like me with large hands, I would have bought the 64gb/4TB version currently on Indie Gogo. Would never have constant ram issues like my Ally nor storage capacity issues. And it amazes me, in AUD, how that setup is only about 20% more cost than an Ally. BUT, those sticks. I know they will eventually fail, and I don't want to deal with international support. I still can not understand why they refuse to put hall sticks on an otherwise such impressive device. If they ever do in the next incarnation, will look at it again then. I already returned one Ally for a faulty left analog stick, and never, ever again. I would rather go without than use a handheld device without hall based sticks, especially when they are tied to the main device itself. My PSP drifted also after a while, same with my Switch. I am OVER any sticks but hall based. And the fact that the tech is right there for them to implement at any time, and would stop likely 99 percent of any analog stick drifting issues, makes the fact that they won't use them on the Win 4 all the more confusing. Complete and utter dealbreaker. Such a shame, as with the landscape display trick (why I chose the Ally), it would have been a real contender as a long term long life machine with good sticks. I mean why spend all that money on a really kitted out one with maxed ram and storage and know the sticks will eventually drift?
Being already owning a 6800U handheld, I'm on the fence of getting the GPD WIN MINI 7840u version, or wait for the 8000 series APU. It makes a bit less sense for me now to own another PC with similar performance just for work purposes
That's what I did. Instead of getting the 2023 model I bought the G1 and a 4TB SSD for my Win4. I'm already satisfied with the performance I get with my Win4. I don't need 5-10 extra FPS for another 900$. I can wait for a GPD Win 5.
I have a question: I am considering gpd win 4 vs asus rog ally, the ally is more easily accessible for me to buy in my country but I like the gpd win 4 7840u is smaller and more portable. Fan noise though is a pet peeve of mine, how low do I need to get the wattage on either device to make the fan silent or barely audible? Is there any difference? Is there any advantage to performance in those power profiles to either device and/or access to changing wattage settings and/or available power options? I normally don't fiddle with power settings so I have no idea where to find those things. @@ThePhawx Oh, also... will the gpd win mini be better at reducing fan noise per power than the gpd win 4 while still staying pretty small?
Phawx do you recommend the GTD Win 4 or Win mini for an all around device?Emulation, triple A games etc? I currently have a Steam Deck OLED and considering selling it for one of those devices. What do you think? Great content by the way, keep up the grind. I came from Russ at Retro Core, Subscribed too!
Ngl other than a keyboard/option and specs, FAN NOISE is a big decider for me. WinMax2 is by far the best for fan noise out of all the devices ive had so far. Hoping the WinMini would be alright in that department but sceptical atm.
do you think I can use it as a laptop daily for 5 to 6 hours constantly at its max WATT without overheating? The performance of the 7840U is so wonderful that I could see myself replace my MacBook Pro m2 by adding an external monitor. I am just not sure if these handheld can be used for prolong hours with the dock due to heating issue? Otherwise I would love to have such handheld device as my main working "PC", connecting it to my 4K monitor at home or just a portable Usb C monitor at coffee place.
tbh I'm kinda disappointed in GPD for releasing a "2023" Win4 less than 6 months after shipping the first GPD Win4 in 2023 without even giving an upgrade option. I'm hoping that the Ayaneo 2S is as good as my Win4 because I don't want to buy from GPD any more after that :/
Can u even disable 4 cores to see if it helps with power draw numbers? it should not be that much different between 4c or 8c when the igpu is the limiting factor, i mean that is if you are after efficiency akin to steamdecks apu.
That's what I do on my 6800U Win 4. I set the cpu clock to top at 2.2ghz and limit it to 4cores. I still get 40-45fps in Spiderman at 11W but the battery last almost 2 hours now. The only time I unlock 8 cores is if I do Switch or PS3 emulation.
They announced the 7840U 2 months after shipping my january purchased 6800u. My 6800u was missing thermal pads and pasted terribly - Repasting and repadding resulted in a 10-11C DROP IN TEMPS, did not include the extra bottom screwcover runner all the reviewers said they got and QC was generally rough, and the device was nearly double the price of an outperforming ROG ally. It's a super neat device, but GPD's poor QC, support in general (sending one word replies, refusing to follow up on basic questions) really makes me think they aren't a good bet, long term and a domestic product like the ROG ally or steamdeck are a better bet for 99.9% of people. As an IT professional a full keyboard and dedicated mouse input is REALLY cool, but at the end of the day I always have a keyboard+mouse in my bag anyhow. I don't think this "landscape panel" magic is worth talking about. I don't know anyone who's run into this as an issue on the ROG Ally or the deck, and it doesn't seem like it's much of a feature to continue dedicating time to discussing. I do think it's worth addressing how awesome 120HZ is on the ally, and I wish the GPD refresh had this option. I'd recommend you pick up a non-review model of the GPD win4 and see how the thermals are on that. It's pretty clear GPD absolutely babies review units, but the shipped units tend to have poor QC, and much poorer thermals.
Yep, if you follow the gpd forums, quality control is a significant issue for gpd. On top of that they don’t support their products well when you have issues, and have been caught lying about specs frequently. And that is saying nothing of the viruses they ship with every device. I agree, I hope Phawx orders another unit with a fake name to see the actual experience.
I've picked up a pretty common theme with GPD and QC: 1. Review units are phenomenal 2. The first production batches (early IGG backers) have a ton of issues 3. Once they reach the "indemand" batches (like my March-ordered unit), all production issues are sorted, and we're back to gold Basically, you early backers are saving a few hundred Yuan and getting your devices early, but you're absolutely paying the early adopter tax. And as someone in the second wave who gained from your pain, I'll just thank you for your service. 😁
I don't know why you are jumping over the fact that the deadzone is wayyyyy too high (not just a little), its literally to the point that it is not usable. It also jumps from 0 to 20, when you push the joystick pass the deadzone, which is unacceptable. You know this for a fact, but you didnt mention it, because im sure you dont want GPD win 4 to look bad and lose sales, which will prevent them from sponsoring your future videos. 3 terrible parts of GPD win 4 customers need to know: 1) The deadzone is way too high (unusable). 2) Once pass the deazone circle, your joystick jumps from 0 to 20, making it impossible to aim with in shooters. 3) GPD knows this was an issue since day 1 and still shipped them out. There is no update to fix it, because i think the problem is with the joysticks themselves. Its an issue that a simple update can not fix, but they are not telling us that. All they do is repeat that they will have an update to fix the deadzone, but its been like a year now and still no fixes. This company will lose sales and customers, if it keeps shipping defective products and changing what was promised. We were promised native landscape, hall effect joysticks and none of this happened.
Haven't touched any GPD Win products ever since I got my Steam Deck. I was curious how the GPD Win 4 performed and I'm surprised to know that it runs pretty well. Still doesn't convince me to go back though.
Hi Phawx, i noticed that my Rog Ally has a total system power considerably lower than other 6800u and 7840u devices, for example at 15W is draws a total of 24W and at 18W about 30W, so usually about 4W less compared to devices like Ayaneo 2s, Aokazoe and GPD, could that be why it doesn't performs as well as some 7840u? Is it possible that Asus has a specific power plan on Ally made to save more battery sacrificing performance even at the same TDP as 7840u?
i want to see them make a handheld as close in size as the vita even at the expense of active cooling. i want something that fits in my pocket as easily as my phone, android handhelds have been doing that for a while, but its really frustrating that we dont see that in the pc space even though we have laptops thin as paper.
Finally somebody said that. Even tho it is smaller and much powerfull than anything else, it could still be a little bit smaller. For example they could add mini ssd as it have steamdeck. Also it is still too hungry in case of wattage/perfomance. 2 hours isn't that much. If you had psp you know that you could play on it almost whole day before you needed to charge it again
What is performance of 6800u (like Ayaneo 2) at 32 watts TDP vs GPD Win 4 at max TDP like? Your graphs show up to 25 watts for Win 4 but what's the max TDP?
I'm trying to install Handheld Control on my GDP Win 4, but I'm running into issues. The app downloads and extracts just fine, but when I try to launch the installer it claims something is missing, but it doesn't specify what that is. Is anyone else running into that issue? Are then apps I need to install first?
Does it mean that GPD Win 4 2023 models will have native landscape displays? Or these 7840U units are having same portrait orientation displays that are using IC to be always landscape?
@@melxb Smaller battery is a big no until they can either make better batteries or make the devices more power efficient. I customized my Win 4 and worked real hard to optimizing it. I can play Spiderman at 45fps medium setting at 11W but that still only gives 2 hours of battery. If they made the battery smaller to cut half an inch of thickness on the device you would look at something that has 30 min of battery at max setting. It would be ridiculous.
@@chamoo232 personally i play all my portables while charging, the switch even when i use my phone, but i get that's not everybody, but yeah don't travel enough or when out doors find a perfect time to game, home laid back on couch or bed in peace is the best
How come you didn't touch on the RGB aspect of the refresh? It seems the shoulder buttons are very dark and this was a complaint on the previous gen where RGB was invisible.
What do you think about the aokzoe a1 pro? I’m looking into getting one of those. Although I love gpd’s form factor, it’s the much bigger battery that is making me want an aokzoe.
How well does the optical mouse work? I want an upgraded steam deck, but a good trackpad is an absolute must for some of the games I play? Can it be pushed down to activate a click (not a deal breaker)?
What do you have to say about battery life and ergonomics for comfort? It looks very painful to hold for long sessions. I agree that a 6" screen is too small. I might as well just stream my xbox games (and PC) on my S23 Ultra using stretch full screen mode with the XBplay app. I would pick up a gamevice flex for full analog sticks. Thank you for your very detailed review!
Hmm.. I don't really game on it at home. I'll either use a controller or play on my steam deck or main rig. I use the Win 4 as a portable work PC. It is my main travel PC though and I do use it to play on trains and planes and when commuting to the office. There the extra portability trumps screen size every time. I've played on it quite a lot though, maybe about 200 hours, and I can give you some input. The comfort initially is a bit odd. The balance shifts depending on the position of the screen. I found that it feels comfortable in either orientation, but the ergonomics actually get better when you open up the screen. Neat. Rather than hold the device I really kind of cradle it on top of my pinky, ring, and middle finger while my index sits up under, or on the shoulder buttons and triggers. It is not nearly as comfortable as the steam deck to hold. The Decks ergonomics are the best I've ever experienced with a handheld device. Feels like they made it specifically for my hands. I can fall asleep with it in my hands and not drop it. Still, after a couple of play sessions I've come to feel that the win 4 is very comfortable to use. Especially while standing or seated. If I had one gripe it would be that the comfort takes a hit when laying down. It takes a bit of trial before you figure out how to open the keyboard, use the mouse, etc while laying on your back and holding it up. I don't play it laying down on my back very often for that reason. But I did lay down and type out this entire thing on my back and it really wasn't that difficult. Not bad at all. Ill be using my win 4 for years. I love it.
@@cheeeeezewizzz thanks for the feedback. Due to injury I can't game at my desk for long sessions and was looking for a way to game in bed more. I used my phone an S23 Ultra to stream my games which is around 6.8" but wish the screen was a little bigger to read small txt like inventory items in an RPG. The Win4 reminds me of the PSVita except that the analogs are non symmetrically across. I loved my Vita but the flat holding made my hands uncomfortable. I tried using an xbox controller with my phone mounted above but the weight balance wasn't ideal when laying on my back. I was thinking of getting something like a backbone or a gamevice flex controller to give a more steamdeck feel to things. These windows handhelds appeal to me as well but comfort comes to mind a lot and I really don't know how big I should go with the screen as my eyes aren't as young as they used to be but I imagine a 16x10 screen is better to see in a small portable than 21 x 9 ratio although my desk uses a 34" ultra wide with the same native res go figure.
Too small of a display for me. 7" is borderline, so will stay with the Ally. Not to mention no Indiegogo or overseas shipping and customer service to deal with.
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
You have no idea how informative this video was for me and how many channels fail to make these types of videos. I mean seriously dude. There are tons of channels that get every handheld gaming console/pc on the market but literally do not make videos specifying which is the best performing and most powerful out of them all. I subscribed for that reason alone! Thanks.
Thats right, its kinda desesperating
You can really see every year of experience at work with these devices. GPD has an unfairly large amount of experience in this space and I'm all for it.
Makes you wonder if the deck would have happened (and be so cheap) if others weren't chugging along..
I have a 6800U win4, and I totally agree with what you were saying about the form factor at the end, the mouse mode + slide out keyboard is a killer feature for me, and I’m hoping that as a form factor and feature set it continues to exist into the future
Shitty jjoysticks are great as well
The only thing i want is a 7 inch screen
I am a fellow GPD Win 4 user (6800U from the IG campaign) and can say that the biggest reason I have been attracted to and purchased GPD devices (also have a GPD Win 3) bar the form factor has been the inclusion of a keyboard into the design. It is SO handy and provides that little bit extra quality of life when using it. I haven't actually had any issues thus far with either GPD Win 3 or 4 either which is good. Any manufacturer that is willing to incorporate a keyboard into the handheld design will have my attention, at this point it's almost a must for me. (I have had an AOKZOE A1 previously, and have a steam deck on the way)
@50086gt Yeah it makes a lot of things easier especially when you are on the go. I wanted to get a steam deck just to try out and see the "console like" experience from the handheld perspective. It arrived today which is great so I will get to tinker with it this weekend.
@@ecrescent4545How did you like the Steam Deck in comparison? I'm considering the Win4 and already have a Steam Deck, which I'll pass on to my son if I upgrade.
@@Madsynth1987 So far for the few days I've had it the steam deck has been good to use. I do like the "out of box" experience, it's pretty straight forward and I do like the OS/overlays. I do prefer the Win 4 form factor + keyboard, although the deck isn't large enough that it's uncomfortable for me. I think the Win 4 is a bit more versatile being windows based and all (though the steam deck can be modded of course). The slightly better performance is much of a muchness in that form factor I think (unless you were interested in docking the device), however in terms of game compatibility this would favour the Win 4 for now (emulation as well), though I'm aware there are workarounds for the deck and that valve is constantly working on games being steam deck compatible.
I think honestly it comes down to your budget and how much you are willing to pay, as I'm aware the price difference between the two devices can be significant depending on where you live. I think I will probably bounce between them for different uses for quite sometime. (steam deck has just been games, whereas I use Win 4 for games, browsing and watching shows/streams)
The keys look real small, have you not had many problems with them?
@@thevalleyard3942 Good point! For me personally no, however I would say that I have average hand/finger size. (I'm about 5'11" and 75-80kgs for reference?)
I think most people would be okay with the keyboard key-size but those with large hands/fingers I can see may have a bit of difficulty with that.
I love how it looks like larger PS Vita. But then again I like most of those portable gaming devices, so no wonder I like how it looks.
more psp than vita like, somewhere in between but yeah for sure always loved the design
All of gpds devices look like another handheld. They have one that looks like a 3ds xl...
Real handheld review, starving for this rather than people massaging companies to keep getting future reviews. Honestly i hope the win 5 makes all the changes people are discussing, especially an oled panel/hall sticks/triggers
GPD win the game for geek like me. they fulfills all my needs. i love my gpd win max 2, and know that there is no other laptop. Win 4 is also lovely
IMO even with all of the speculated devices thus far, the Win Max 2 wins the 2023 Handheld competition, hands down. Especially if you got their $799 and $1049 IGG deals
@@mix7893 I think the Max 2 is spectacular, but the Win 4 takes the cake for me. The fact that it fits nicely in my back pocket means it eliminated my need to carry a backpack or sling style laptop back to work. I take it to work, plug it up to the 2 docks I use, got a crapload of IO and 3 monitors running off it. Fingerprint for security. It's legit improves my social life because now I don't have to tote a bag with a laptop and check it, and constantly worry about it, when I go out for a drink or a date after work. Yeah...I've got a big ass handheld gaming looking thing in my back pocket, but so far women seem to be focusing on the other bulges in my pants. It's god tier. GPD got my dick sucked. Mic Drop Boom.
@@cheeeeezewizzzlol that's actually a really cool use for it that goes beyond gaming.
@@cheeeeezewizzz This is truly the best endorsement a gamer can give to a gaming device.
Wow, that transition from thumbnail to a video was extremely nice
I wish all my other handhelds had come with a landscape-based display... The amount of troubleshooting you have to go through otherwise-especially on Windows-is a real bummer when opting for a daily driver with a portrait panel. Anyway... I was hoping to get see you video covering the GPD Win 4 refresh sometime this week-but you already delivered, and not only that, it's just the beginning of the week. Thanks for the amazing work and clean, concise content and benchmarks, Cary!
Potrait based displays are only a problem when you want to play older games. They are fine if you don’t want to play older games
Thank you
it comes down to cost, portrait displays are cheaper as they are meant for tablets where orientation isn't a problem because the tablet can tell andoird what orientation the tablet is being held in, this is why Valve chose one for the steam deck, its cheaper and they can correct it in software inside of steamOS
wonder if manufacturers could just flash the display controller to make it natively landscape
@@AugustineKusiDuah-bk4fr That's - unfortunately - not true and just oversimplification of a complicated issue. Every second game I start on portrait-based Windows handhelds (without Lossless Scaling in action) end up only covering half of the screen, not able to enter excl. full screen and stuff like that.
I haven't had a great experience with GPD products longterm, wish they sold them locally with warranties, until then I'll use the ROG Ally
why what was wrong?
@@michaelmodernsonicfan5341 My Gpd Win 1 and Win max both stopped turning on after less than a year. My win 1 was sent to GPD to repair under warranty and they never sent it back, apparently GPD are known for not returning devices. The Win Max I investigated myself and the motherboard had fried.
To each their own. I've never had any issues with them. Whenever I had questions or issues and contacted them they always gotten back to me and offered solutions.
@@DanThePianoManNZ thats weird huh, could it be from where you live?
They do have warranties...
Thank you for the video. I took mine too and can't wait for delivery :) Have a nice day man
What a beautiful machine. How I wish this actually come from Sony. With their custom OS and graphic API this thing can easily run a 60fps games at lower res without needing to pair back any graphical setting.
I still can't figure out why Sony isn't back in the handheld market, they could ask AMD for a custom soc with 8 Zen4C cores and 18 RDNA3 CUs and that thing could absolutely run games in PS4 if not PS4 pro mode at 10W at around the same size as the 7840U. They could absolutely sell it for below 500$
@@maverickvgc4220they kind of are back in the market. If by back you mean- giving us a "console" that only works if you have both an internet connection and already own a ps5...
@@justinpatterson5291 we don't talk about the Sony Wii U here
@@maverickvgc4220 these days Sony is barely able to keep their main console alive. Sadly. I think it's ok they are focusing on that instead of on branching out into more things and dividing their attention.
@@lucascarracedo7421 idk about that, it would be attention from the hardware team. Running games in PS4 pro mode means that you don't need devs to make games just for that platform, you can just run the same games as the home counterpart.
With GDP and their 7840U devices I am starting to think it is coming down to RAM type and speed and RAM configuration on top of drivers as well when comparing GPDWin's offerings vs like what Aya is offering with the 2S and the Geek 1S. GDPWin is using LPDDR5X @ 7500 MT/s and in Quad Channel configuration in the Max2 2023 version and I am assuming they are using a similar configuration for the Win4 since it is on par with the Max2 in the benchmarks.
While Aya is using LPDDR5X memory right now for their preview units of the Geek 1s they are only using the RAM in compatibility mode @6400 MT/s instead of 7500 and also Aya isn't using Quad channel mode they are only using dual channel and the same goes with ASUS with the Ally only Dual Channel.
So I am thinking that using Quad Channel LPDDR5X memory @ 7500 MT/s is really giving GDP a huge performance edge vs the other Windows based handhelds on the market. This is one of the reasons why Steam Deck is very good in some aspects is because they are using Quad Channel configuration for their RAM.
DDR4 has 64-bit/channel. DDR5 also has 64-bit by using 2 independent 32-bit channels. Which means that all DDR5 has dual-channel in single SoDIMM. Dual SoDIMM DDR5 config is a dual-channel 64-bit or quad-channel 32-bit. Steam deck's advantages were mainly due to Linux and its specific optimizations compared to Windows OS that GPD has.
@@3dr14ng4 Yes I have heard that about DDR5 from reading it somewhere.
Thank you for your work and all the effort. Really like what you doing.
looking forward to a good review on 7640u, price on the new GPD Win 4 seems like a sweet deal
If you check the few benchmarks GPD has on their own youtube channel, it looks like there's only about a 10% difference from the 7640u to the 7840u.
Of course they're not doing extensive benchmarking but the general trend with power limited hardware seems to be you don't gain a whole lot using extra cores.
Personally I like the idea of running the chip at full speed plugged in so more cores "should" show more advantage there.
I had the 6800u Win 4, and I loved it to bits. The keyboard and optical mouse was amazing since I mod my games frequently. Unfortunately the form factor made it so that the device would get very uncomfortable to play with after an hour of bedtime gameplay. The weight didn’t feel well distributed (makes sense given its size and proportional density), and the device got quite warm around where you’d hold it. Sold it off after a lot of wishy washy delaying and overthinking things
Fantastic video! Would love to see more info on the 7640u model. - Stubbs
The 7640u is using up to 4-8W less Total System Power on all Powerlevels than the 7840u and in general it is a little better in Frames than the 6800u. So with Frames per System Watt the 7640u should be better than the 7840u and 6800u .
Loved my Win 4. It just hurt my hands after long periods.
The printable grip makes it much more comfortable
@@destronia123it’s a problem all of the gaming pc don’t have the problems
@@destronia123 Kind of ruins the purpose of having a smaller device. The gpd sucked to hold. It felt bulkier and less comfortable then even my giant steam deck. Plus the screen was too small for modern games.
@@creaturecore13 That was my only concern about this device: the 6 inches display. Like you said, seems too small for modern PC games
I really wish GPD would start sourcing OLED screens.
Seems like today we're getting the reviews that ACTUALLY matter. The GPD Win 4 7840u, the OneXFly...I'm droolling
@@M4r10h Yeah...but those have exactly what unique selling points. In my opinion...they are all essentially the same device. Only the GPD devices and the steam deck really matter to me. No matter what they throw in any competing device, it will always be less flexible and less useful overall than the GPDs. It's bizarre to watch to be honest. The market should be pushing hard for keyboards. Like....really hard.
@@cheeeeezewizzzbut for someone that has no care for rts type games and plays pretty much every game that consoles and controllers play, kind of makes pads keyboard and such pointless to those people so they will probably rather get something more sleek and compact, i think the aokzoe a2 looks really sleek, wish it comes with an OLED model
@@melxbagree, not everyone wants trackpads
Dog alley hype died so fast😂😂😂
@@onomatopoeia5540 has it tho, still best bang for buck and more updates coming, drivers aren't even out yet just as phawx mentioned
Thanks for the advice, I already have an Ayaneo 2 and was thinking of upgrading to ROG Ally or GPD Win 4 7840U. But you're right, the 10%-30% upgrade is not that worth it. I'll wait for Steam Deck 2 and upgrade then. I love the Steam Deck gyroscope function for FPS games.
10-30% upgrade isn’t that worth it? Man, you have got to check out the real performance numbers as in real fps in a lot of games before you make a decision not to get the 7840u. But if you have the 6800u aya neo 2, well then fine. It’s all up to you
@AugustineKusiDuah-bk4fr Yeah I bought the Aya 2 around 6 months ago for ~$800. I think I'll just wait for a more significant upgrade before pouring too much money chasing the newest best specs every 6 months. I'm still playing games that run smoothly on it anyway! I still have Dark Souls III and Sekiro to beat.
How’s the software man? The temps? Playing at max? etc… geniunely curious tho…😅
Remember that this is all BEFORE official Drivers. Those WILL further boost the performance of these Phoenix Apu's, without a doubt. Amd is taking their sweet time with the Drivers, but they will inevitability show up (likely sooner rather than later), and the performance gap will widen.
That being said no need to upgrade from the AyaNeo 2 unless money isn't a big concern (or you can sell your device for over half the initial cost). Best to wait for Strix Point in about a year, which will have up to 12 Cores (8 full and 4 "c" cores which are the same just clocked lower) of Zen 5 and 16 CU of Rdna 3.5 (Which allegedly is more than just a simple refresh of Rdna 3 and actually has features and improvements from Rdna 4 in it), so that should bring another "10-30%" boost or so in performance. At that point it will be worthwhile to upgrade from the the 6800u devices since it will be a much more substantial difference.
@@slickrounder6045 nice, means the gap will be eeveen wider when Steam Deck 2 with its fully compatible drivers come, I'll be mind blown in hopefully 1 year.
Oh my god I saw that sonic in your shelf and old memories came flowing back. I had that same figure when I was little
I haven't made the plunge into a handheld (apart from the switch) and this is looking better and better. When there is a sale for the top end model with 64GB RAM, I'll pull the trigger ❤
Black Friday right around the corner
as a owner of gpd win4 i can tell what it needs to improve for next model
- design must the same, dont change anything, keep the same dpad❤
- put the finger print sensor in the power buttom
- put the trackpad on the keyboard
- put bigger frontal speakers now there is more space after removing the finger sensor and the trackpad
- a better grip design will be nice
- oled screen
- rgb light on keyboard would be amazing
6800U Win4 owner. I should just wait for next generation device (after 78xxU)
I really wanted the OculLink, but for now I'll settle with USB 4
@@destronia123 Yea. I hear you. For me, G1 isn't a big hype. Just want to play my backlog on my couch.
Hopefully if I wait long enough we can get 120hz and better analog sticks, I want this machine but I am still waiting for the best windows handheld and I think the next few years is going to be insane I just hope gpd keep the win4 line going til then.
Will you plan on making a video comparison with the Win 4 8000 series amd? Do you think GPD will make a Win 5 here soon?
can't wait for win mini, return of the king!
Do we have any word on if the mini supports VRR yes or no? That's really the one thing I wish more handhelds had
It definitely has enough power to handle lower end PCVR titles, but you're not going to be maxing the graphics on something that's normally GPU bound.
@@KentHambrock vrr and vr are different things
This is the best review I've seen of this device yet. Your comments near the end about old games that require m+kb is extremely useful and appreciated.
I'm interested, but I'd want another model with 4 back buttons and possibly a larger display. Also the longterm support vs the Steam Deck has me concerned.
Get xreal AR glasses for it, the gpd screen will never be used. Glasses make it much better
I already have a Steam Deck. I will wait for a 8000 series handheld probably next year. GPD Win 4 definitely has the best form factor of all the handhelds.
Yooooo that thumbnail technique was sick.
My feelings on the aesthetics aside, I’ll probably end up getting this. I know that Ayaneo has a slide at some point coming out, but I doubt it’ll have OCulink.
As a GPD Win 4, Ally, and Deck owner. The GPD is best off all. my only complaint is it gets warm and small face buttons.
Your work is much appreciated. Thank u man
Ram speed and ram timings make a difference too given all other things being equal.
I really want one of those but I don’t need it…
Do you think this model with the 64GB of RAM and the 4TB SSD would be able to play group content in World of Warcraft when docked with the G1 eGPU and peripherals? With a dock setup could this play WoW at max settings above/at 60 fps?
I think it has the horsepower for it. Depends on how many extras you throw on it. I'd wait for someone who knows more than me to give exact details
The fact it doesn’t have freesync is a dealbreaker compared to things like the rog ally tbh
The ROG Ally's FreeSync range starts at 48Hz, even with LFC, which is a tremendous oversight. So, in the end, it's not much of a feature, but rather a gimmick.
@deckverse You can edit the range with software down to 20hz. But I wouldn't expect someone called "deckverse" to know that.
@@SEVENTEENPOINT1 That's LFC for you, as I mentioned. Glad to see there are still enough people looking for some new tech background to learn!
@@deckverse Do you know what CRU is? If so you would know you are changing the VRR range and not referring to LFC. LFC also only goes down to 30. I am pushing VRR down to 20.
Thanks I bought the 6800u win max and was feeling some type of way that a new one came on❤
8:53 lol doo doo. Great video as always
I always watch your video it helps me to decide if i will buy a product or not depends on the performance per watts. I learn a lot. Thanks The Phawx.... by the way gpd win mini will be the king of clam shell design.
As the Win 2 still is, until it leaves that role to the Win mini. It's insane it took this long. My IGG Win 2 is still in my desk all the time. With all it's shortcomings, nothing has come to beat it yet. And sadly, at least regarding form factor, I'm not sure the new Mini will actually do so either.
@@lucascarracedo7421 how i wish the win mini is the same size to win 2.
@@kaibigan_28 yeah I know they did their best, but nobody is interested in sacrificing that much performance it seems. Even with current hardware it may not even be possible given all APUs are considerably bigger.
At some point I thought maybe this was it, time to replace my win 2, but no way.
@@lucascarracedo7421 well I hope they make that in the future when everything is optimized. I want to buy win2 before but im too late to purchase watching this channel i saw the win max then I bought it because i saw that they can play wiiu games and they are good for emulation but higher TDP. Now you can play some xbox 360 in 7000 series. If they can lower down to 10 to 15w for emulating xbox 360 that will be pretty sweet.
I would love this format but with 7” - 8” screen. 6’ screen is just too small to squint at.
If they implemented hall-effect sticks, made the display OLED, and improved the quality of the plastic shell, this would be my favorite electronic device period. Beating out my actual desktop PC.
Well my friend you're wish has been granted ayaneo kun reviews
What I want most out of the next handhelds is 32GB ram as standard. Since ram is shared 16GB is too little especially with some games that are out now being such resource hogs (also don’t expect this to improve with the state of AAA releases) would love Oculink to be more prevalent in these handhelds as a eGPU option. Add trackpads!!!! Considering the steam deck and the ayaneo kun are the only ones with it is absolutely wild to me. Also Valve hurry up and release SteamOS to the public 😡😡😡😡
I would have kept my ally if it had trackpads. The steam deck is still the undisputed king of portable PC gaming imo. I don't get how Asus could miss that on a device they pushed as "play ALLYour games", is supposed to be a portable PC, and then they gimp the shit out of it and basically relegate it to playing console ports. I play all kinds of wild stuff on my deck that is meant to be played keyboard and mouse and thanks to the track pads and steams awesome input config you can get a great experience in damn near anything.
it's not wild. Those are huge devices. Getting that to fit on smaller footprint devices is a completely different game.
About oculink, they probably will do. Sadly, usually GPD needs to do it first and then they follow if it catches on. GPD has been here before all of those, and is still the one trying out new things instead of copy pasting the switch and adding small details, only exception being the trackpads on the Deck. Also, the Kun is still in backing process while this is a second iteration device. And that beast weighs 900g also, which is ridiculous for anything that wants to call itself a handheld device. Most people will hold it in their lap or table.
32GB ram is standard on the AokzoeA1pro. There is also Chimera Os and Holo iso
@@AugustineKusiDuah-bk4fr yeah but every handheld should be starting at 32GB also I know of those options, would prefer direct from the source thooo
The AOKZOE A1 Pro would like to have word. Base 32GB of RAM.
Why no Ally on the benchmarks?
I have win Gpd 4 2023 is there an unlocked bios version?
I just compared the Temps on the Device with the Rog Ally, and this Device is 10+ Degress cooler than the Ally, in the Thermal Camera Test. I hated the Rog Ally Temperature on the Display.
All I want is better battery and cheaper price with the same performance of 6800u
If the next gen is as powerful as I’m hoping it’ll be, hall effect joysticks and triggers, a 120 Hz VRR display, and an x8 (or x16) Oculink port would make this virtually perfect. A lot to ask, I know, but if anybody’s headed that direction it’ll likely be GPD.
I had the 6800u gpd win 4. I found it uncomfortable to play on and the keyboard was not as useful as i thought it would be. It was pretty uncomfortable to use and you find you dont really ever use it anyway. What is nice with the gpd is the optical mouse. Takes up way less space then the steam deck track pads and just as useful for pretty much everything as i would never play a game with either device that used their track pads. I also found the 6" screen to be too small for modern games. Oh and the joysticks are pretty bad. If you played a switch and tried a fps game and found it lacking, you will feel exactly the same here.
That intro was fire
I still want to see the 7640U version whichs seems like a good mix of power vs battery especially if GPD is doing it.
7840u has higher performance at lower TDPs too, so it's better for battery life.
How long the 7840u battery life?
I am a big fan for gpd also. Optical mouse is the best thing on all handheld. Sold my rog ally and ayaneo for gpd win 4. Even there costomer is the best.
Love my winmax 2. Waiting for the gpdwin mini + next gen 8k series chips
Honestly, now that there are 3D printed grips for it to make it usable for those like me with large hands, I would have bought the 64gb/4TB version currently on Indie Gogo. Would never have constant ram issues like my Ally nor storage capacity issues. And it amazes me, in AUD, how that setup is only about 20% more cost than an Ally. BUT, those sticks. I know they will eventually fail, and I don't want to deal with international support. I still can not understand why they refuse to put hall sticks on an otherwise such impressive device. If they ever do in the next incarnation, will look at it again then. I already returned one Ally for a faulty left analog stick, and never, ever again. I would rather go without than use a handheld device without hall based sticks, especially when they are tied to the main device itself. My PSP drifted also after a while, same with my Switch. I am OVER any sticks but hall based. And the fact that the tech is right there for them to implement at any time, and would stop likely 99 percent of any analog stick drifting issues, makes the fact that they won't use them on the Win 4 all the more confusing. Complete and utter dealbreaker. Such a shame, as with the landscape display trick (why I chose the Ally), it would have been a real contender as a long term long life machine with good sticks. I mean why spend all that money on a really kitted out one with maxed ram and storage and know the sticks will eventually drift?
Until their customer support is better, they will not get another dime from me.
Shiver me timbers
@@foreskinracer8753 lol
if you have 6800u device it looks like a better upgrade would be GPD G1 egpu instead of a refresh upgrade
Being already owning a 6800U handheld, I'm on the fence of getting the GPD WIN MINI 7840u version, or wait for the 8000 series APU. It makes a bit less sense for me now to own another PC with similar performance just for work purposes
That's what I did. Instead of getting the 2023 model I bought the G1 and a 4TB SSD for my Win4. I'm already satisfied with the performance I get with my Win4. I don't need 5-10 extra FPS for another 900$. I can wait for a GPD Win 5.
I'm just waiting for the Win Mini, at this point.
It's all I really wanted: a more powerful Win 2.
I ordered a Win Max 2 (2023) already. I prefer this form factor in theory, but I think I'd find the Win Max 2's form factor more usable in daily use.
same goes for me. I wouldn't want to bring a gaming handheld to work or meeting.
I have gpd win max 1035g7, how much performance should I gain in MMORPGs like WoW and FF14?
Generally speaking, you should anticipate around 3-4x performance improvement per watt.
oh wow thank you very much for the answer, that's much more than I thought it would be@@ThePhawx
I have a question: I am considering gpd win 4 vs asus rog ally, the ally is more easily accessible for me to buy in my country but I like the gpd win 4 7840u is smaller and more portable. Fan noise though is a pet peeve of mine, how low do I need to get the wattage on either device to make the fan silent or barely audible? Is there any difference? Is there any advantage to performance in those power profiles to either device and/or access to changing wattage settings and/or available power options? I normally don't fiddle with power settings so I have no idea where to find those things. @@ThePhawx
Oh, also... will the gpd win mini be better at reducing fan noise per power than the gpd win 4 while still staying pretty small?
Phawx..I must..have THAT SHIRT. WHERE DID YOU GET IT!?!? Also damnit ur the best. Luv your vids helping me make smart decisions on these handhelds
Phawx do you recommend the GTD Win 4 or Win mini for an all around device?Emulation, triple A games etc? I currently have a Steam Deck OLED and considering selling it for one of those devices. What do you think?
Great content by the way, keep up the grind. I came from Russ at Retro Core, Subscribed too!
Can you please also compare the fan noise between 6800U and 7840U Win4s?
Ngl other than a keyboard/option and specs, FAN NOISE is a big decider for me. WinMax2 is by far the best for fan noise out of all the devices ive had so far. Hoping the WinMini would be alright in that department but sceptical atm.
Seeing 680M will induce unexpected nostalgia for those that have been around pcs for a while
Yup lol, I used to run a GTX680
Man I really wish they would have swapped the left analog stick and Dpad locations to make it symmetrical. I don't enjoy crooked hands control scheme.
do you think I can use it as a laptop daily for 5 to 6 hours constantly at its max WATT without overheating? The performance of the 7840U is so wonderful that I could see myself replace my MacBook Pro m2 by adding an external monitor. I am just not sure if these handheld can be used for prolong hours with the dock due to heating issue? Otherwise I would love to have such handheld device as my main working "PC", connecting it to my 4K monitor at home or just a portable Usb C monitor at coffee place.
tbh I'm kinda disappointed in GPD for releasing a "2023" Win4 less than 6 months after shipping the first GPD Win4 in 2023 without even giving an upgrade option. I'm hoping that the Ayaneo 2S is as good as my Win4 because I don't want to buy from GPD any more after that :/
so you want to be the first to get it and you are disappointed because they released a newer one?
Thank you for the review, question how do you feel about the GPD winmax 3?
The Phawx - What is the VRAM on the WIN 4? Nice Video
Can u even disable 4 cores to see if it helps with power draw numbers? it should not be that much different between 4c or 8c when the igpu is the limiting factor, i mean that is if you are after efficiency akin to steamdecks apu.
That's what I do on my 6800U Win 4. I set the cpu clock to top at 2.2ghz and limit it to 4cores. I still get 40-45fps in Spiderman at 11W but the battery last almost 2 hours now. The only time I unlock 8 cores is if I do Switch or PS3 emulation.
They announced the 7840U 2 months after shipping my january purchased 6800u. My 6800u was missing thermal pads and pasted terribly - Repasting and repadding resulted in a 10-11C DROP IN TEMPS, did not include the extra bottom screwcover runner all the reviewers said they got and QC was generally rough, and the device was nearly double the price of an outperforming ROG ally. It's a super neat device, but GPD's poor QC, support in general (sending one word replies, refusing to follow up on basic questions) really makes me think they aren't a good bet, long term and a domestic product like the ROG ally or steamdeck are a better bet for 99.9% of people.
As an IT professional a full keyboard and dedicated mouse input is REALLY cool, but at the end of the day I always have a keyboard+mouse in my bag anyhow.
I don't think this "landscape panel" magic is worth talking about. I don't know anyone who's run into this as an issue on the ROG Ally or the deck, and it doesn't seem like it's much of a feature to continue dedicating time to discussing. I do think it's worth addressing how awesome 120HZ is on the ally, and I wish the GPD refresh had this option.
I'd recommend you pick up a non-review model of the GPD win4 and see how the thermals are on that. It's pretty clear GPD absolutely babies review units, but the shipped units tend to have poor QC, and much poorer thermals.
Did you checked inside the box with the charger?
My screwcover was VERY hidden inside that.
Yep, if you follow the gpd forums, quality control is a significant issue for gpd. On top of that they don’t support their products well when you have issues, and have been caught lying about specs frequently. And that is saying nothing of the viruses they ship with every device.
I agree, I hope Phawx orders another unit with a fake name to see the actual experience.
I've picked up a pretty common theme with GPD and QC:
1. Review units are phenomenal
2. The first production batches (early IGG backers) have a ton of issues
3. Once they reach the "indemand" batches (like my March-ordered unit), all production issues are sorted, and we're back to gold
Basically, you early backers are saving a few hundred Yuan and getting your devices early, but you're absolutely paying the early adopter tax. And as someone in the second wave who gained from your pain, I'll just thank you for your service. 😁
@@mrsittingmongoosehe never will. He only cares about getting free devices from GPD.
@@GSBarlevyou good sir have nailed it. I've been on both sides. It's not fun being in the first. 😅
Thanks for this review
would be interesting to try with steamOS or chimeraOS
OCULINK my dude wooooohoo now if only the price point wouldn't be absolutely ridiculous.
I'm surprised that they couldn't fit Hall sticks on the Win 4 - are there any plans to sell upgrade kits?
Yes i am sure. They did the same for the 6800u win 4
@@AugustineKusiDuah-bk4fr they sold hall sticks? I heard they backed down on their promise to offer them post launch and canceled them.
Great vid! What oculink egpu dock would you suggest. I am planning to run a 3080.
I don't know why you are jumping over the fact that the deadzone is wayyyyy too high (not just a little), its literally to the point that it is not usable. It also jumps from 0 to 20, when you push the joystick pass the deadzone, which is unacceptable.
You know this for a fact, but you didnt mention it, because im sure you dont want GPD win 4 to look bad and lose sales, which will prevent them from sponsoring your future videos.
3 terrible parts of GPD win 4 customers need to know:
1) The deadzone is way too high (unusable).
2) Once pass the deazone circle, your joystick jumps from 0 to 20, making it impossible to aim with in shooters.
3) GPD knows this was an issue since day 1 and still shipped them out. There is no update to fix it, because i think the problem is with the joysticks themselves. Its an issue that a simple update can not fix, but they are not telling us that. All they do is repeat that they will have an update to fix the deadzone, but its been like a year now and still no fixes.
This company will lose sales and customers, if it keeps shipping defective products and changing what was promised.
We were promised native landscape, hall effect joysticks and none of this happened.
Haven't touched any GPD Win products ever since I got my Steam Deck. I was curious how the GPD Win 4 performed and I'm surprised to know that it runs pretty well. Still doesn't convince me to go back though.
good, don’t come back
@@ningyi5727 Yup. Thank you, you too.
Hi Phawx, i noticed that my Rog Ally has a total system power considerably lower than other 6800u and 7840u devices, for example at 15W is draws a total of 24W and at 18W about 30W, so usually about 4W less compared to devices like Ayaneo 2s, Aokazoe and GPD, could that be why it doesn't performs as well as some 7840u? Is it possible that Asus has a specific power plan on Ally made to save more battery sacrificing performance even at the same TDP as 7840u?
I don’t think so.
The Z1 extreme is a custom stripped down 7840U to save power.
For the Ally get Handheld Companion it's Auto TDP and TDP limiter are magic. I usually cap mine at 18w and it sits right at 20w total system power.
i want to see them make a handheld as close in size as the vita even at the expense of active cooling. i want something that fits in my pocket as easily as my phone, android handhelds have been doing that for a while, but its really frustrating that we dont see that in the pc space even though we have laptops thin as paper.
Finally somebody said that. Even tho it is smaller and much powerfull than anything else, it could still be a little bit smaller. For example they could add mini ssd as it have steamdeck. Also it is still too hungry in case of wattage/perfomance. 2 hours isn't that much. If you had psp you know that you could play on it almost whole day before you needed to charge it again
no VRR is whats making me consider the Ally over this, but this is superior in every other way
slick intro
What is performance of 6800u (like Ayaneo 2) at 32 watts TDP vs GPD Win 4 at max TDP like? Your graphs show up to 25 watts for Win 4 but what's the max TDP?
I'm trying to install Handheld Control on my GDP Win 4, but I'm running into issues. The app downloads and extracts just fine, but when I try to launch the installer it claims something is missing, but it doesn't specify what that is. Is anyone else running into that issue? Are then apps I need to install first?
Does it mean that GPD Win 4 2023 models will have native landscape displays? Or these 7840U units are having same portrait orientation displays that are using IC to be always landscape?
man what i would do for an OLED version without the keyboard making it thinner 🤔
It wouldn't be that much thinner. Maybe 1/4 of an inch. The bulk of the device is the battery.
@@chamoo232 well it would come with a smaller battery too i suppose kinda of like the ultra thin ayaneo 1s version with the OLED
@@melxb Smaller battery is a big no until they can either make better batteries or make the devices more power efficient. I customized my Win 4 and worked real hard to optimizing it. I can play Spiderman at 45fps medium setting at 11W but that still only gives 2 hours of battery. If they made the battery smaller to cut half an inch of thickness on the device you would look at something that has 30 min of battery at max setting. It would be ridiculous.
@@chamoo232 personally i play all my portables while charging, the switch even when i use my phone, but i get that's not everybody, but yeah don't travel enough or when out doors find a perfect time to game, home laid back on couch or bed in peace is the best
No keyboard would make it impossible to use.
How come you didn't touch on the RGB aspect of the refresh? It seems the shoulder buttons are very dark and this was a complaint on the previous gen where RGB was invisible.
What do you think about the aokzoe a1 pro? I’m looking into getting one of those. Although I love gpd’s form factor, it’s the much bigger battery that is making me want an aokzoe.
How well does the optical mouse work? I want an upgraded steam deck, but a good trackpad is an absolute must for some of the games I play? Can it be pushed down to activate a click (not a deal breaker)?
It works reasonably well all things considered but it's more of a means to have a very quick way to use mouse. Not as good as Lenovo nub
What has customer support been like from GPD? Responsive? Good with Legacy product support?
This is the future, I've come for your driver's, for ours are DOA
What do you have to say about battery life and ergonomics for comfort? It looks very painful to hold for long sessions. I agree that a 6" screen is too small. I might as well just stream my xbox games (and PC) on my S23 Ultra using stretch full screen mode with the XBplay app. I would pick up a gamevice flex for full analog sticks. Thank you for your very detailed review!
Hmm.. I don't really game on it at home. I'll either use a controller or play on my steam deck or main rig. I use the Win 4 as a portable work PC. It is my main travel PC though and I do use it to play on trains and planes and when commuting to the office. There the extra portability trumps screen size every time. I've played on it quite a lot though, maybe about 200 hours, and I can give you some input.
The comfort initially is a bit odd. The balance shifts depending on the position of the screen. I found that it feels comfortable in either orientation, but the ergonomics actually get better when you open up the screen. Neat. Rather than hold the device I really kind of cradle it on top of my pinky, ring, and middle finger while my index sits up under, or on the shoulder buttons and triggers. It is not nearly as comfortable as the steam deck to hold. The Decks ergonomics are the best I've ever experienced with a handheld device. Feels like they made it specifically for my hands. I can fall asleep with it in my hands and not drop it. Still, after a couple of play sessions I've come to feel that the win 4 is very comfortable to use. Especially while standing or seated. If I had one gripe it would be that the comfort takes a hit when laying down. It takes a bit of trial before you figure out how to open the keyboard, use the mouse, etc while laying on your back and holding it up. I don't play it laying down on my back very often for that reason. But I did lay down and type out this entire thing on my back and it really wasn't that difficult. Not bad at all.
Ill be using my win 4 for years. I love it.
@@cheeeeezewizzz thanks for the feedback. Due to injury I can't game at my desk for long sessions and was looking for a way to game in bed more. I used my phone an S23 Ultra to stream my games which is around 6.8" but wish the screen was a little bigger to read small txt like inventory items in an RPG. The Win4 reminds me of the PSVita except that the analogs are non symmetrically across. I loved my Vita but the flat holding made my hands uncomfortable. I tried using an xbox controller with my phone mounted above but the weight balance wasn't ideal when laying on my back. I was thinking of getting something like a backbone or a gamevice flex controller to give a more steamdeck feel to things. These windows handhelds appeal to me as well but comfort comes to mind a lot and I really don't know how big I should go with the screen as my eyes aren't as young as they used to be but I imagine a 16x10 screen is better to see in a small portable than 21 x 9 ratio although my desk uses a 34" ultra wide with the same native res go figure.
I have the 6800U Win 4 I wasn't convinced enough to upgrade to the 7840U Win 4 maybe the 8000U I will
Too small of a display for me. 7" is borderline, so will stay with the Ally. Not to mention no Indiegogo or overseas shipping and customer service to deal with.
is there any way to undervolt 7840u cpu ? i have a gpd win max 2 2023 and the cpu throttles a lot in 3dmark time spy.
thanks for debunking the stick circularity nonsense
thank you for saying there is no big need to change from 6800u to 7840u...