GPD Win Max 2021 [11th Core CPU I7-1195G7-1TB] 8" Mini Handheld Win 10 Video Game Console Gameplayer 1280×800 Touchscreen Laptop Tablet PC 16GB RAM

I went into this already having a Win 3. I saw the 2021 Win Max and immediately regretted buying the Win 3, my main reason for buying it over the others that released at the same time was the keyboard, because this was hands down better in every way. Bigger and brighter screen, full physical keyboard (opposed to the Win 3's glass keyboard), better CPU (my Win 3 was the 1165g7 version), etc. I absolutely loved my Win 3 despite its shortcomings but after seeing the 2021 Win Max I knew it was my dream handheld.I went through tons of grief to get my 2021 Win Max. My first order was late and when it arrived the box had been opened before it got to me and was empty. I immediately contacted support and they said because it was over $1000 they had to refund instead of sending a replacement. After waiting the 3 day refund period I never got any email updates like I was promised so I called back. This representative sent me a replacement, even though I had been told this wasn't possible, and told me to ignore any email telling me to send back the first Win Max since I hadn't received anything. Well, that didn't work and I was double charged. After hours on the phone and on the chat I finally got someone who grasped the situation and was able to process a refund for the second charge.After all of that grief I was finally able to enjoy my 2021 Win Max. Let me tell you, the wait and the grief was worth it. The screen, while having some issues with after images if you leave something on screen for too long, is great when compared to the original Win Max and is considerably larger than the Win 3's screen that was too small for some games (like Civ 5/6, Pathfinder, Path of Exile, Factorio, CK2/3, Europe Universalis 4, and similar games).The physical keyboard also made those games much easier to play; I could map the most frequently used functions to the gamepad controls and for the ones that I didn't have room to map I could just move either of my thumbs down slightly to tap whatever key was needed. Much better than the the terrible touch sensitive keyboard on the Win 3 that had issues with double presses, rollover, and issues picking up that you were hitting a button at all. My only real critique with the Win Max keyboard is that the backlight shuts off way too fast. I'd prefer the end-user to have the option to change how long the backlight stays on but so far I've been unable to find a user friendly way to change it. I am sure there are ways to tweak it via command line but I'd prefer a user friendly GUI like other manufacturers provide. Other than that thought the keyboard is great despite it not being mechanical; there would be no way to fit a nice mech keyboard in this small of a package though so you have to make some sacrifices.Speakers on the 2021 Win Max aren't the best I've ever heard and them being downward firing speakers means you get subpar audio quality if you have the volume set to anything less than max volume. Thankfully there is a standard 3.5mm headphone jack as well as Bluetooth for Bluetooth headphones and 2 USB-C ports so you could use one for charging and one for USB-C headphones if you get sick of the subpar speakers and want better audio quality.The 2021 Win Max comes stock with a 1TB SSD which I upgraded to a 2TB Samsung 970 Evo Pro M.2 NVMe SSD as soon as I received my Win Max. For anyone considering changing out their stock SSD for a larger one you must make sure that you get the correct SSD. The Win 3 and 2021 Win Max CAN ONLY TAKE SINGLE SIDED SSDs, the 2TB 970 Evo Pro and the 2TB 980 are both single sided as are some others but most 2TB or larger drives are not single sided so before you purchase one you must make sure it is single sided if you want it to work. There is a little chip below the SSD plug that applied pressure to any chips on the back of a double sided SSD and raises the temps insanely high. Trying to make a double sided drive work just isn't worth the potential damage; doubly so when you consider the chip that you would be applying pressure to and damaging with a double sided drive is a RAM chip.Back to the review, I cloned the factory drive which strangely had issues but thankfully the built in recovery worked perfectly and had me up and running again quickly without me having to set up a W10 flash drive. After running the initial virus and malware scans (the Win 3 and other previous GPD devices have had issues with malware being included and later being found and removed) and finding nothing I set out to download a bunch of games and get everything set up and running. It took forever to download everything I wanted (I only have 60GB left on my SSD thanks to all of the games I've downloaded.Every single game I have played so far has been playable so far but that is also because I've paid attention to which games are having issues and need a driver update to work properly. For instance, until recently there were issues getting God of War to run on Tiger Lake chips. Intel published 2 drivers recently that fixed the issues and made GoW playable on their Tiger Lake chips. For a while there were driver issues with Persona 4 Golden. Intel and the developers worked together to fix the issue and about a month after the Win 3 had been in users hands we had a driver and game update that fixed all the issues and Persona 4 ran without an issue. While the drivers aren't as stable in brand new games as nVidia's "Game Ready" drivers they are stable and work in most games without issues. If they don't work on launch with a brand new game you can guarantee that Intel will be releasing a driver update ASAP to fix any issues.I personally have my 2021 Win Max, and Win 3 for that matter, set up to run at lower frequencies along with a tweaked EPP to begin with (it can ramp up after a few seconds if needed) to help conserve battery life. The stock Win Max clocks turbo all the time and it burns through battery life along with raising internal temperatures. With the tweaks that I've applied I have no issues reaching 30 FPS in demanding games like Horizon Zero Dawn, The Witcher 3 GOTY, Grand Theft Auto 5, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and every other AAA demanding game I've tried. Sometimes the settings need to be on low but in others you can have a mix of medium and low settings. On indie games and older games you can max out at 60 FPS and medium or high settings most of the time. Thanks to the tweaks I've got going I can get around 2½ to 3 hours in games like The Witcher 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn and around 7 to almost 8 hours in games like Stardew Valley and Graveyard Keeper. Ultimately you can tweak the 2021 Win Max to your hearts content and go for performance (you can get a stable 60 FPS in a lot of AAA games) and get less battery life or take a more battery conscious approach. It's all up to you.Ultimately the 2022 Win Max is a great product, perfect for almost any game you game throw at it and you can also use it for work. I've used it to edit photos, convert eBooks and load them on my e-Reader, play tons of games, surf the web, watch videos, and tons of other stuff. At its heart it is meant to be a gaming machine but Intel's Tiger Lake chips provide tons of power for absolutely anything you need and the full physical keyboard makes this not only a gaming machine but also a great all-in-one device that you can also use to get your work done. While I wish the screen didn't have after-image issues (they only last for 30 seconds and only occur if you've left a static image on your screen for a long amount of time but it is still super annoying), it had a bigger battery, and front facing speakers it is still a great machine. This is the type of machine I always dreamed about as a kid in the early 90s and now I have it and couldn't be happier.The one thing I would recommend to ANYONE that buys a GPD product, or really any of these handheld PCs like the Aya Neo or the OneXPlayer, is to join the GPD Discord. There are tons of resources there for you such as scripts (to help you control the frequency your handheld runs at, the TDP it runs at, along with plenty of other tweaks to help you get full control over your device), overlays that provide a nice way to monitor your temps, frequencies, % of CPU/GPU being used, current battery percentage, and estimated time left before the battery is depleted. There are also tons of people (I am SapientPearwood#4297) and other resources in the server to help you set up your device how YOU want it.To end this long review, if you have always wanted a handheld gaming PC with a full physical keyboard then the 2021 Win Max is the perfect device for you. If you're willing to sacrifice the physical keyboard then there are plenty of other devices on the market from Aya and OneXPlayer for you to choose from and pretty soon the Steam Deck will be out on the market. Ultimately it depends on what you want out of your handheld, I wanted an all-in-one so I could do more than game and I also wanted the physical keyboard for games that don't map properly/fully onto a controller but those may be sacrifices you're willing to make. If you want the full all-in-one handheld like I did then this is the best on the market. Think about what you want from your handheld and find the one they fits your needs.

Great production quality, it feels sturdy. The battery life is fine for the games I play, lasting a little over 4 hours. It is Windows 10 OS so it's compatible with all the games that I play on Steam and Epic Game Store. The built-in controllers are comfortable and responsive. This is definitely a great device to have while sitting on the couch relaxing and playing games.

Super Compact gaming PC with console like capabilities. Portable and amazingly capable for everyday tasks (MS Office, Adobe CS, light editing, etc) with the added benefit of having game controls built in for ease of use. You can play all type of retro games-no problem (NES,SNES,SMS,DS,GC,DC,PSX,PS2,PS3,XBX and much more) with ease. Play mid to low spec PC games on the go or at full potential if connected to an eGPU. It’s the best of both worlds with the only drawback being the battery life. If you travel a lot, or like having a compact but powerful pc for work/game on the go…this is the device your looking for.

After two different editions of Win Max (2021 and original) I feel certain that GPD has poor quality control.My first Win Max had a faulty keyboard. One key would respond to contact with the device with constant ghost-presses.My second Win Max (2021 edition) would creak and pop loudly when opened (the hinge seemingly snagging on the frame).I cannot recommend the GPD Win Max despite their novelty.

I love this laptop. I bought it for travelling and game development on the go. It quickly turned into me using it as my main PC. It is pretty much perfect. The keyboard is cramped, but you obviously know this will be the case before buying. But you can totally type on this no issues. Just like any other keyboard, it will take a bit to get use to it. If you are spending hours typing a good Bluetooth keyboard will improve your experience...but not necessary.Plays games well as long as you are realistic in your expectations though admittedly it handles games better than what I expected.Battery live is nuts. At GDC I would head to the convention center around 8 am using this to take notes during sessions, closing the lid (sleep) to move from room to room. I would still have >60% battery life when I got back to my hotel room around 9 or 10 pm. That was running it on battery saver the whole day.Could not live without this. Would buy again.

Really versatile in terms of size, performance and battery life - shipping was a bit tough due to supply chain issues but seller was able to eventually ship it.

If you are looking for a small laptop, this is the one to buy. All of the power and features of a full size computer in a small package. The only draw back is the small numeric keys at the top.

Love the Win Max.Runs a lot of my games and I like the performance. Very happy with GPD Company for making these products and they have excellent customer service.